The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Negative Emotions and Cognitive Regulation of Emotions in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Clinical Trial Study

Introduction: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system. Patients with MS suffer from problems such as negative emotions and poor emotion regulation. The present study investigated the effectiveness of mindfulness integrated cognitive behavioral therapy (MICBT) on negative emotions and emotion regulation in patients with MS. Methods: This research was a semi-experimental study using a pre-test-post-test with a control group. A total of 52 patients with MS referring to Shafa Hospital in Kerman city, were selected by the convenience sampling method in 2023 and were randomly divided into two experimental (26 people) and control (26 people) groups. Patients completed the questionnaire of depression, anxiety and stress scale-21 items (DASS-21) and cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire of Garnefski in the pre-test and post-test. The data were analyzed in the descriptive section using independent t-test and chi-square tests, and in the inferential section using multivariate analysis of covariance, using SPSS-24 software. Results: The results of covariance analysis showed that there was a significant difference between the groups in depression, stress, anxiety, positive and negative emotional strategies in the post-test (P< 0/001). Comparison of mean values showed that in the MICBT group, depression (14/46), stress (16/85) and anxiety (11/38) and negative emotion regulation strategies (M=35/38) decreased, while positive emotion regulation strategies (M=75/35) increased significantly. Conclusion: MICBT is suggested as an effective method in reducing depression, stress, anxiety and improving cognitive regulation of emotions in patients with MS.