Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on the Cognitive Fusion and Catastrophizing the Pain in the Women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

IBS causes cognitive and psychological damages in the people due to chronic physiologic effects. Therefore, the present study was investigated to investigate the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on the cognitive fusion and catastrophizing the pain in the women with IBS. the present study was quasi-experimental study with pretest, posttest, control group and two-month follow-up design. The statistical population of the present study included the women with IBS who referred to gastroenterologists in the city of Ramsar in the summer 2021. 30 women with IBS were selected through convenient sampling method and they were randomly accommodated into experimental and control groups (each group of 15 women). 26 people (13 in the experimental and 13 in the control group) remained after the exit of some subjects. Experimental group received eight seventy-five-minute sessions of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (Lovas, Schuman-Olivier, 2018) during two-and-a-half months. The applied questionnaires in this study included cognitive fusion questionnaire (Gillanders, et.al, 2010) and the questionnaire of catastrophizing the pain (Sullivan, et.al., 1995). the results showed that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy had significant effect on the cognitive fusion and catastrophizing pain in the women with IBS (p<0.001) and led to the decrease of cognitive fusion and catastophzing pain in these women. the findings of the present study revealed that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy can be applied as an efficient therapy to decrease cognitive fusion and catastrophizing pain in the women with IBS through employing techniques such as modifying cognitive process, mindful attention, acceptance and mindful behaviors.