The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Therapy (MBSR) on the Reduction of Anxiety Symptoms and Improvement of Cognitive-Emotion Regulation in Adolescents with Anxiety Problems

Experiencing an episode of negative emotions in adolescence, is considered as a risk factor for incidence of anxiety symptoms and also reducing emotional and cognitive regulation. This study aimed to study the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy (MBSR) on the reduction of anxiety symptoms and improvement of cognitive-emotion regulation in adolescents with anxiety problems. The study population included adolescents aged 10 to 14 years old with a diagnosis of anxiety disorder in Mashhad city which were selected through available sampling 64 people were selected and 32 were replaced in each group. The research tools used in this study was a Multidimensional anxiety scale for children (1997), Garnefski’s Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (2002) and structured clinical interview (SCID-5-CV). During eight sessions, each one 90 minutes, Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Therapy was done for the experimental group, and the control group received no intervention. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to analyze the data.  The results showed that mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy (MBSR) on the reduction of anxiety symptoms in adolescents with anxiety problems is statistically significant (p= 0<0/005). Also, mindfulness-based stress reduction therapy (MBSR) made a significant difference in improvement of cognitive-emotion regulation of experimental group compared to the control group (p= 0<0/005). Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Therapy (MBSR) is useful in the Reduction of Anxiety Symptoms and Improvement of Cognitive-Emotion Regulation in Adolescents with Anxiety Problems.