Comparing the effectiveness of compassion-based therapy and cognitive-behavioral hypnotherapy on distress tolerance of women with premenstrual dysphoria

The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of compassion-based therapy and cognitive-behavioral hypnotherapy on the distress tolerance of women with premenstrual dysphoria. The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group with a three-month follow-up phase. The statistical population consisted of all women aged 25 to 40 in Sari city with premenstrual dysphoria in 2019 who were referred to psychological counseling centers by gynecologists. 45 people from this community were selected in a purposeful way and randomly assigned in three groups of 15 people. The research tools were: Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS) and Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST). Compassion-based therapy was implemented in 8 sessions of 90 minutes and cognitive-behavioral hypnotherapy was implemented in 8 sessions of 90 minutes. Meanwhile, the control group did not receive any intervention during the research. Mixed variance analysis was used to analyze the data. The results showed that both treatment groups focused on compassion and cognitive-behavioral hypnotherapy had significant and stable effectiveness compared to the control group (P=0.001). Also, the results showed that there is no significant difference between the two experimental groups (P<0.05). The results indicated that psychologists and specialists can use any of these two treatments to improve distress tolerance in women with premenstrual dysphoria.