The Comparison of the Effectiveness of Mindfulness Based Therapy and Spiritual Therapy on Irrational Beliefs and Anxiety in the Older Women

people in the old age are increasingly exposed to mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, due to the prevalence of numerous losses such as spouse, relatives, friends, occupation, social and economic status, beliefs, and suchlike. Therefore,the aim of the current study was to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) and spiritual therapy (ST) on irrational beliefs and anxiety in the older women. This was a semi-experimental study with pretest-posttest and follow-up with a control group design. The statistical population included all the elderly women who were the member of Jahandidegan center, Tehran among whom 45 (three groups containing 15 people) with the mean age of 60-70 (SD=4.58) were selected using convenience sampling method along with inclusion and exclusion criteria and assigned randomly into two experimental and one control group. Participants underwent Kabat’s MBT and Gallanter and Siegel’s ST in 90-minute sessions twice a week, and a follow-up test was performed one month after the posttest. Used to collect data were Jones's Irrational Belief and Spielberger's Overt and Covert Anxiety scales. The obtained data were analyzed by univariate analysis of covariance altogether with Bonferroni post-hoc. The results showed that both treatments were effective in reducing irrational beliefs and overt and covert anxiety, and this effect was persistent during the follow-up period (p < 0.001). The comparison of MBT and ST showed that although there is no difference between the effectiveness of the two kinds of therapy on irrational beliefs, MBT is more effective than ST in reducing overt and covert anxiety (p < /span><.001). According to the results, mindfulness-based and spiritual therapy can be used as effective interventions for reducing irrational beliefs and anxiety when it comes to designing programs regarding the promotion of mental health in the elderly.
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