Comparing the effectiveness of mindfulness training with schema therapy on self-referential thinking and cognitive fusion among female nurses

BACKGROUND: Nurses are a powerful force in the health care system and play an important role in the development, improvement, and promotion of care. Therefore, this research was conducted to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness programs with schema therapy on cognitive fusion and referential thinking in female nurses. METHODS: The research was semi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design and follow-up with a control group. The statistical population of the research included all the female nurses of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, Iran, in 2021, from September to November, from whom 60 nurses were selected by convenience sampling method and replaced in three groups of 20 people, taking into account the entry criteria. Research tools included the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (CFQ) and Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire (RTQ). The intervention program was implemented for each of the experimental groups during 8 weekly sessions (1 hour). But the control group did not receive these programs. To analyze data, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and SPSS software were used. RESULTS: In addition to the effect of time and group, the interaction effect of group × time for referential thinking (h2 = 0.327, P = 0.001, F = 12.41) and cognitive fusion (h2 = 0.263, P = 0.001, F = 9.11) was significant. This finding indicates that the implementation of mindfulness-based therapy and schema therapy has affected the variables of referential thinking and cognitive fusion in nurses. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of the current research, it is recommended to use schema therapy programs as well as mindfulness programs as effective psychological methods to improve referential thinking and cognitive fusion of the staff working in the field of treatment, especially nursing personnel.