The Effect of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Emotion-Regulation Training on Rumination and Social Anxiety in Teenagers Prone to Addiction

Background: The issue of addiction among teenagers is critically important due to the sensitive nature of this life stage and its role in their future life. The present study aims to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and emotion-regulation training on rumination and social anxiety in teenagers prone to addiction living in group foster care centers in 2018. Materials and Methods: This is an experimental research with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design. The statistical population included all male teenagers aged 13 to 18 years living in group foster care centers of Tehran in 2018. Using the convenience sampling method, 45 teenagers were selected and randomly divided into two experimental groups and a control group (n= 15 per group). The research instrument included the Addiction Potential Scale (APS), the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), and the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS). SPSS version 22.0 was further used to analyze the data. Results: The mean of the post-test scores of rumination and physiological symptoms in the cognitive therapy group (55.00±2.00 and 10.47±1.88, respectively) and the emotion-regulation group (61.80±5.28 and 11.40±1.24, respectively) were significantly lower than them in the control groups (69.07 ± 1.99 and 13.00 ± 1.55, respectively). The results indicated a significant effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and emotion-regulation training on rumination and social anxiety in teenagers (p<0.05). Conclusion: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and emotion-regulation training can be used to reduce the social anxiety and rumination of teenagers prone to addiction.