ثمانه زارعی

Considering the prevalence and consequences of non-suicidal self-injury, it is necessary to identify and treat the mechanisms involved in NSSI. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy specifically targets mechanisms thought to be involved in the initiation and maintenance of NSSI; therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on alexithymia, experiential avoidance and rumination in people with non-suicidal self-injury.

The current study was a semi-experimental type with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. Among the people referring to the clinics and counseling centers in Tehran, 30 people who had the highest score in the non-suicidal self-injury questionnaire were selected by convenience sampling and randomly divided into two experimental groups and The control group (15 people) was replaced. The experimental group received 8 sessions of Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, but the control group did not receive any specific intervention. The research tools were: nonsuicidal self-injury questionnaire, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, Ruminative Response Scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 software and Multivariate analysis of covariance analysis method.

The results indicate the significant effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in reducing alexithymia, experiential avoidance and rumination in people with non-suicidal self-injury in the post-test stage (P<0.05).

mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, by directly addressing the mechanisms involved in the initiation and maintenance of non-suicidal self-injury, offers great promise as a transdiagnostic therapy that can be a successful intervention for individuals who engage in self-injurious behaviors. Therefore, according to the obtained findings, therapists can use this intervention to reduce alexithymia, experiential avoidance and rumination in people with non-suicidal self-injury.

Impairments in emotional processing and rumination associated with a traumatic event such as cancer are important factors that may influence the development and maintenance of PTSD symptoms. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of memory specificity training on deficits in emotional processing and rumination in cancer patients with PTSD symptoms.

This research was of experimental type (pre-test-post-test with control group). The statistical population of this research included all patients with a definite diagnosis of cancer and PTSD symptoms who referred to hospitals and medical centers in Tehran in 1402. 30 cancer patients with PTSD symptoms were selected as a sample by available sampling and randomly replaced in two experimental (15 people) and control (15 people) groups. The experimental group underwent memory specificity training one day a week during 6 sessions of 90 minutes, but no intervention was done for the control group. Both groups (control and experimental) before and after the intervention answered the questionnaires of the emotional processing scale-revised Baker et al.'s (2010) and the rumination response scale of Nolen-Hoeksema (1991). To analyze the data, the method of multivariate analysis of covariance was used using SPSS version 28 software.

There was a significant difference between the average post-test scores of the intervention group and the control group, so that the memory specificity training significantly led to a reduction in the deficits in emotional processing and rumination in the intervention group (P<0.05).

Memory specificity training to reduce cognitive and emotional symptoms in cancer patients with PTSD symptoms is a short-term and cost-effective treatment that reduces cognitive and emotional symptoms by increasing memory specificity. Therefore, it is recommended as an effective intervention to reduce cognitive and emotional problems of cancer patients with PTSD symptoms.