The effectiveness of mindfulness- based cognitive therapy on Alexithymia and cognitive impairment in women with Depressive disorder

Introduction: Depressive disorder is associated with various consequences such as Alexithymia and Cognitive impairment, whichtheir elimination is of importance. Aim: The aim of the present researchwas to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness- based cognitive therapy on alexithymia and cognitive impairment in women with depressivedisorder. Method: The present researchwas an experimental study (pre-test and post-test) with a one-month follow-up. The statistical population included all women with depression (2018) in Khoram Abad. Thirty women referred to Siddiq Psychiatric Clinic in Khorramabad, who had received a diagnosis of major depression based on psychiatrist's diagnosis and researcher's clinical interview, were selected by purposeful sampling methodas a research sample and randomly divided into two experimental and controlgroups with 15 participants in each group. Beck Depression questionnaire (BDI-II), Alexithymia questionnaire (TAS-20), Cognitive impairment questionnaire (CFQ) were used to measure the variables. The experimental group received Segal, Williams and Tizdel (2000) mindfulness- based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for 8 sessions of 2 hours, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that mindfulness- based cognitive therapy has lead to reduce alexithymia and cognitive impairmentand these results were maintained in the follow- up phase (P = 0.000). Conclusion: Mindfulness- based cognitive therapy is effective in reducing alexithymia and cognitive impairment in women with depression and can be considered in addition to medication interventions.