The Effect of Mindfulness Therapy on Tolerance of Uncertainty and Thought-Action Fusion in Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Mindfulness therapy increased tolerance of uncertainty and reduced thought-action fusion in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. In a semi-experimental study with 30 patients, those receiving 10 sessions of 75 minutes of mindfulness intervention over three months showed significant improvements compared to a control group. The statistical effect of mindfulness therapy on tolerance of uncertainty was 40% and on thought-action fusion was 73%. These effects were maintained at a two-month follow-up.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a serious disorder that affects psychological, communicative, social, and emotional processes. Accordingly, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of mindfulness therapy on tolerance of uncertainty, and thought-action fusion in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Method: this was a semi-experimental study with pre-test-post-test control group design with a follow-up of two months. The sample consisted of 30 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder in Isfahan during the academic year of 2017-18.They were selected by purposeful sampling this was a semi-experimental study with pre-test-post-test control group design with a follow-up of two months randomly this was a semi-experimental study with pre-test-post-test control group design with a follow-up of two months The experimental group received mindfulness intervention in 10 sessions of 75 minutesduring three months. Maudsley obsession questionnaire (Hajson and Rachman, 1980), tolerance of uncertainty (Mcleen, 1993), and thought-action fusion questionnaire (Shefran et.al, 1996) were used to collect data.Data were analyzed by repeated measure ANOVA. Findings: The results showed that mindfulness therapy had a significant effect on the tolerance of uncertainty and thought-action fusion in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (F = 11.13, F = 79.98, P <0.001).Also, the effect of this treatment is maintained during the follow-up phase (P <0/001). The degree of statistical effect of mindfulness therapy on tolerance of uncertainty and thought-action fusion were 40% and 73% respectively. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that by creating knowledge of thoughts and feelings, the mindfulness therapy can increase tolerance of uncertainty and reduce the thought-action fusion in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder.