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Hengameh Boloorsaz Mashhadi; Eisa Jafari; Fereshteh Fereshteh Pourmohseni koluri
Abstract
Objective: Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common diagnosis among functional gastrointestinal disorders and is the cause of 25 to 50 percent of referrals to gastroenterologists (Frozanfar et al., 2023). In a review study, the prevalence of this syndrome in Iran was reported to be between 1.1 and ...
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Objective: Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common diagnosis among functional gastrointestinal disorders and is the cause of 25 to 50 percent of referrals to gastroenterologists (Frozanfar et al., 2023). In a review study, the prevalence of this syndrome in Iran was reported to be between 1.1 and 25 percent (Sheykhan and Goudarzi 2024). People with this syndrome report significant symptoms of psychological disorders and emotional disturbances. Among the symptoms that may be important in this disease, emotional dysregulation can be mentioned (Khoshchin Gol et al., 2021). A review of scientific reports over the past decade clearly shows that emotional dysregulation is of particular importance in the field of physical diseases (Boloorsaz Mashhadi et al., 2025). Irritable bowel syndrome does not lead to dangerous conditions in most patients, but due to side effects such as chronic pain and fatigue, it can increase the patient's medical costs and increase the patients' absence from work (Liu et al., 2025). In this context, Qian and Zhang (2024) showed in a study that stress and emotional dysregulation affect digestive function by activating the brain-gut axis, hormonal changes, and neuroimmune pathways, and thus, one of the most common health problems that causes patients with digestive disorders to seek medical care and treatment is abdominal pain. A review of the findings shows that sensitivity to pain and anxiety-related experiences are higher in patients with irritable bowel syndrome than in other digestive disorders (Prospero et al., 2025; Erfan et al., 2021). Because irritable bowel syndrome reduces the strength of the patient's immune system and muscles, the person may report high muscle and abdominal pain during the disease. For this reason, patients may sometimes experience greater pain intensity for various reasons, such as pain catastrophizing, which should be evaluated (Bagheri Sheykhangafshe et al., 2024). Various pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments have been used for patients with irritable bowel syndrome. According to research evidence, one of the non-pharmacological treatments to reduce adverse psychological effects in these patients is mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, a type of cognitive therapy. This treatment, which uses mindfulness and includes various meditations, stretching yoga, education about stress management, anxiety, anger, and depression, and cognitive therapy practice (Seng et al., 2025). For example, Reilly et al (2025) concluded in a systematic review and meta-analysis that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduced perceived pain intensity and symptoms of depression and anxiety in patients with spinal cord injury. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on emotional dysregulation and pain indicators (acceptance-catastrophizing) in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Method: The research method was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group and a two-month follow-up. All male patients with irritable bowel syndrome who referred to the internal medicine clinic of Moheb Hospital, Tehran, in 1404 constituted the statistical population of the study. For experimental and quasi-experimental studies, 15 people were recommended for each of the experimental and control groups. The Dysregulation of Emotion Questionnaire (DERS), Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ), and Pain Catastrophizing Questionnaire (PCS) were among the instruments used in the present study. The statistical method used for data analysis was two-way analysis of variance with repeated measures. Before statistical analysis, the assumptions of parametric statistics related to analysis of variance were first examined and confirmed. Results: According to the results of Table 1, since the significance level related to time is less than 0.05, it can be accepted that there is a significant difference between the mean scores of emotional dysregulation and its components, as well as between the mean scores of pain acceptance, pain catastrophizing and their components in different stages of measurement (pre-test-post-test and follow-up).Conclusion: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on emotional dysregulation and pain indices in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. The results showed that participating in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy sessions reduced emotional dysregulation in patients with irritable bowel syndrome, and this effect remained stable during the follow-up period. Another result of the study showed that participating in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy sessions increased pain acceptance in patients with irritable bowel syndrome, and this effect remained stable during the follow-up period. The final finding of the study indicated that participating in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy sessions reduced pain catastrophizing in patients with irritable bowel syndrome, and this effect remained stable during the follow-up period.
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Hengameh Boloorsaz Mashhadi; Eisa Jafari; Ali Moghadamzadeh
Abstract
Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the chronic diseases that affects various aspects of human life in old age and causes many problems, physical disabilities and negative psychological consequences. Therefore, it is important to investigate and identify educational and therapeutic protocols to ...
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Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the chronic diseases that affects various aspects of human life in old age and causes many problems, physical disabilities and negative psychological consequences. Therefore, it is important to investigate and identify educational and therapeutic protocols to reduce psychosocial problems in elderly people. This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on anxiety sensitivity, pain perception and emotion management in elderly women with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Method: The method of the current research was, semi-experimental with pre-post-test design, two experimental and control groups. The statistical population included all elderly women with Rheumatoid Arthritis who referred to Milad Hospital`s clinical centers in Tehran (1401). 28 people were selected by available sampling method and randomly assigned to two groups of 14 people. Consent and desire to participate, 60 years and older age range, gender (female) and ability to participate in treatment sessions were the inclusion criteria for the research. Individual's lack of consent and desire to cooperate, suffering from psychiatric disorders, receiving other psychological interventions at the same time or in the last 6 months were the exclusion criteria. Acceptance and commitment therapy was implemented according to Hayes and Strossal (2013) treatment protocol. This procedure was conducted with the aim of improving the psychological conditions of participants during 8 sessions of each 90 minutes (1.5 hours). The control group, did not receive any interventions. Data were collected by Anxiety Sensitivity Questionnaire (Peterson and Reiss, 1992), Standard Pain Intensity Questionnaire (Quebec et al., 1995) and Emotion Regulation difficulty Questionnaire (Gratz & Roemer, 2004). In order to analyze the data, independent and paired t-tests of multivariate analysis of covariance were used by SPSS/26 statistical software. Results: The results of the research showed that the mean score of anxiety sensitivity in the experimental group in the post-test stage had a significant difference compared to the control group (P<0.05). Also, the analysis of covariance showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the mean score of perceived pain intensity and emotional management of the two groups in the post-test stage (P<0.05). It can be said that Acceptance and Commitment therapy has reduced anxiety sensitivity and pain perception, as well as emotional management in elderly women with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Conclusion: The results indicated that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is effective in reducing anxiety sensitivity, pain perception and emotion management of elderly women suffering Rheumatoid Arthritis. According to the obtained results, it is suggested, professionals who involve in the field of elderly mental health should provide the necessary platform for improving the mental health of these people. which it can be done by reducing the level of anxiety sensitivity and pain perception and emotion management. The results of this research can provide practical implications for therapists to reduce the patients emotional-behavioral problems who suffer Rheumatoid Arthritis, especially in elderly women. It must be said that these therapies would be effective along with drug therapy.
