Comparison of the effectiveness of combination therapy based on virtual reality and mindfulness with brief mindfulness training on cognitive emotion regulation and mindfulness among people with panic disorder

Background: Panic disorder and panic attacks are two of the most common problems seen in the world of psychiatry.This disorder is not a disease with a good prognosis and can significantly affect the quality of life and lead to depression and inability to perform daily tasks, so new approaches to psychotherapy in the direction of cognitive and emotional problems can be effective. Aims:The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of a combined treatment based on virtual reality and mindfulness with short-term mindfulness intervention on the cognitive regulation of emotion and mindfulness in people with panic disorder.Methods: The present study is applied research and in terms of data collection is a quasiexperimental study with pretest-posttest and 45-day follow-up with the control group.The statistical population of the research was all people with symptoms of panic disorder who referred to the counseling centers of the 6th and 11th districts of Tehran in 1401.The research sample was 45 people, who were selected in a purposeful way and randomly assigned to three groups (15 people in each group).Experimental groups; received combined therapy and short-term mindfulness therapy separately, during 8 sessions, and the control group did not receive intervention.Research tools were cognitive emotion regulation questionnaires (Granofsky and Kraij, 2006) and mindfulness (Toronto, 2006).And the data were analyzed by repeated measurement variance analysis and Bonferroni post hoc test in SPSS23 software.Results: The effectiveness of both the combined treatment of virtual reality and mindfulness and short-term mindfulness intervention in the post-test and follow-up phase was significant in the cognitive regulation of emotion (adaptive and incompatible strategies) and mindfulness.However, the combined treatment in the variable of mindfulness It has been more effective than short-term mindfulness therapy (p< 0.05). Conclusion:According to the results of this study, therapists can use both treatments in psychological interventions to improve the cognitive regulation of emotion and combined therapy to facilitate mindfulness in people with panic disorder.