Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy on Irrational Beliefs and Anxiety among People with Borderline Personality Disorder

Abstract

Background: It is necessary to help people with a personality disorder solve the problems related to this disorder, recognizing the factors affecting irrational beliefs, and anxiety of these people that can be improved using different approaches. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on irrational beliefs and anxiety in people with borderline personality disorder. Methods: The present study was semi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with the control group. The statistical population included women (diagnosed with bipolar disorder) referred to a counseling center in Tehran between January and March 2020 (112 women). The sample was selected by the convenience sampling method due to limitations in the sampling of patients. This study obtained data through a borderline personality test (1984), Beck anxiety questionnaire (1997), and Jones Irrational Beliefs Questionnaire (1968). Data were analyzed using the repeated measure analysis of variance by SPSS.22.Results: The results showed that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy had a significant effect on decreasing anxiety (p <0.001), and irrational beliefs (p <0.001).Conclusion: It can be concluded that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy affects irrational beliefs and anxiety in people with a borderline personality disorder.