Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

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Sadeghi E, Sajjadian I, Nadi M. Comparing the Effects of Compassion-Based Mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Emotional Empathy and Life Orientation in Female Students. MEJDS 2021; 11 :155-155
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-2288-en.html

Background & Objectives: Students are potential resources of Iran. Students are expected to start a family and work after graduation. Establishing future demands requires biopsychological health. Life Orientation (LO) through the cognitive procedure can affect students' health. Empathy positively impacts individuals' interactions. However, studies indicated that students' mental health is poor; thus, interventions are required in this area. The mindfulness-based intervention is among the most attractive approaches in promoting health; it potentially integrates different interventions. Moreover, compassion-based interventions presented good efficacy in improving mental illnesses. Furthermore, integrated approaches are recommended in studies. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effects of Compassion-Based Mindfulness (CBM) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) on Emotional Empathy (EE) and LO in female students.
Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest-follow-up (30 days) and a control group design. The study population included all students of Chalus Branch, Islamic Azad University, in the academic year of 2018-2019 (N=10000). According to the Krejcie & Morgan's Table (1970), 384 subjects were initially selected by convenience sampling method and evaluated by General Health Questionnaire (GHQ; Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). Among the students who received a score above 24 (69 students), 45 female students were eligible to enter the study. The study's inclusion criteria were scoring above the cut-off point (>24) in the GHQ, female gender, willingness to attend sessions, the age range of 18-30 years, being a student, and not participating in other psychological treatment. The exclusion criteria included psychiatric medication use, a history of acute psychiatric disorders, absence from>2 sessions, and discontinued participation. The study participants (n=45) were randomly placed in 3 CBM, MBCT, and control (n=15/group). All study participants were assessed before, after, and one month after the interventions by Basic Empathy Scale (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006) and Life Orientation Test (Scheier et al., 1994). The intervention groups received eight 90-minute weekly intervention sessions. The control group received no intervention in this period. The MBCT sessions were conducted per Segal et al.'s package (2002). CBM was developed for the first time in this study. To compile the content of CBM sessions, Attride-Stirling's theme analysis method (2001) was used. Descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics including repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni post-hoc test, were used to analyze the obtained data in SPSS at the significance level of 0.05.
Results: There was a significant change in pretest, posttest, and follow-up scores, regardless of the group effect, for EE (p<0.001). Furthermore, the group's impact presented a significant difference in EE (p=0.038). The pessimism and optimism scores also reflected a significant difference at pretest, posttest, and follow-up, regardless of the group effect (p<0.001). Groups comparison respecting pessimism indicated a significant difference between the study groups (p=0.022). Regarding optimism, there was a significant difference (p<0.001) between the study groups. There was a substantial difference between the MBCT and CBM groups and the controls in the posttest and follow-up stages concerning optimism, pessimism, and EE (p<0.001). Moreover, a significant difference was observed between MBCT and CBM on the mentioned variables in the posttest and follow-up stages (p<0.001).
Conclusion: According to the current research findings, MBCT and CBM effectively increased empathy and optimism and reduced pessimism in students; however, CBMT was more effective in posttest and follow-up stages than MBCT on these variables.