The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Anxiety Tolerance and Cognitive Flexibility in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Background: People with diabetes face psychological challenges. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to cognitive therapies based on mindfulness in this field. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on anxiety tolerance and cognitive flexibility in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of the present study was all type 2 diabetic patients referred to the Maternal Diabetes Center, Touba Specialized and Sub-Specialized Clinic and Mostafavian Clinic in Sari in 2019-2020. Simple randomization was substituted in experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. However, no intervention was performed on the control group during this period. The Simon and Gaher (2005) Emotional Distress Scale and the Doyce and Woodwall (2010) Scale were used to collect data. mean, standard deviation and multivariate analysis of covariance were used to analyze the research data. Results: The results showed that the effect of Mindfulness-based cognitive therapywas on distress tolerance (F= 28.74, P<0.001) and on Cognitive flexibility (F= 31.57, P<0.001). Conclusion: Considering the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on anxiety tolerance and cognitive flexibility, it seems that this treatment can be used to reduce psychological problems in patients with type 2 diabetes.