The effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapy and short-term solution-focused therapy on the resilience and happiness of women with Multiple Sclerosis

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) and short-term solution-focused therapy (STSFT) on resilience and happiness in MS patients.

This study used a randomized clinical trial with pre-test, post-test, follow up, and the control group. The population under study consisted of all women with MS in Tabriz who were members of MS Society in Tabriz in 2019. In total, 30 women were selected by purposive sampling as the participants and randomly divided into three groups. The members of both experimental groups received their own treatment respectively in 8 and 7 sessions each lasting 1.5 hours.

The mean and standard deviation of resilience and happiness MBT group in pretest (44.70±3.44 & 35.30±3.19), STSFT group (45.50±2.87 & 36.00±3.45), and the control group was (45.40±2.75 & 37.20±2.57). The results showed that the MBT (52.00±3.12 & 43.80±2.54) and STSFT (54.00±2.90 & 42.50±5.01) compared to the control group (44.60±2.27 & 36.90±3.24) increased the resilience and happiness in MS patients on the posttest (P=0.001). Besides, the effect of MBT (52.00±3.16 & 44.00±2.58) and STSFT (53.70±2.66 & 42.60±4.94) on the resilience and happiness (44.60±2.27 & 36.70±4.83) persisted in the follow-up phase (P<0.001). It was also shown that the MBT and STSFT did not show any significant differences in terms of their effects on the resilience and happiness at posttest and follow-up phases (P>0.05).

It was found that the MBT and STSFT can reduce the patientschr('39') stress and thus enabling them to better cope with their illness, this in turn can increase the resilience and happiness in patients with MS.