The effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on reducing perceived stress, anxiety, and psychosomatic symptoms in female patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Investigating the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on reducing perceived stress, anxiety, and psychosomatic symptoms in female patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group clinical trial

Women with obsessive-compulsive disorder who refer to the Ahvaz Psychological Counseling Center will be included in the study if they are eligible and will be randomized, two-group, and parallelly assigned to the intervention and control groups. This study will be conducted in an unblinded manner.

Inclusion criteria:Age between 20 and 45 years; A diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) confirmed by a psychiatrist;Agreement to comply with the rules of participation in the study. Exclusion criteria:Currently receiving pharmacological treatment for any Axis I or Axis II psychiatric disorder; Concurrent participation in any other treatment program during the study period.

Intervention group: Mindfulness skills training sessions include training in mindfulness techniques (such as body scanning, sitting meditation, and conscious stretching) and cognitive therapy skills to manage obsessive thoughts, reduce perceived stress, reduce anxiety, and modulate psychosomatic symptoms. They are held over 8 sessions, each session being held once a week for 120 minutes. The equipment used includes a quiet meeting room, guided meditation audio files, and homework booklets. Control group: No intervention will be performed.

Perceived stress, anxiety, and psychosomatic symptoms

Participants were allocated to two intervention groups (mindfulness-based cognitive therapy) and control groups in a 1:1 ratio. The method used is simple randomization, in which the randomization unit is the participant; cluster or stratified allocation methods were not used in this study. The random sequence was prepared using the random number generator of IBM SPSS Statistics software version 26 by a third party outside the main research team (independent of the implementation and evaluation process). For this purpose, an independent random number from a uniform distribution in the range [0,1] was generated for each of [N] participants using the RANDOM function and by fixing the initial number for sequence reproducibility; participants whose generated number was less than 0.5 were placed in the intervention group and the rest in the control group. In order to ensure allocation concealment and prevent group prediction, opaque, opaque, sealed, and numbered envelopes in sequential order (from 1 to [N]) were used. The name of the group (intervention or control) is written on cards and placed inside the envelopes according to the random sequence prepared. The identification code of each participant is written on the relevant envelope only after his/her entry into the study is confirmed and informed consent is obtained. The envelope is opened only by the main study administrator, in the presence of the participant and after the registration and baseline assessments are completed. In this way, the researcher and the participant remain unaware of the relevant group until the final moment of allocation.