The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Health Anxiety and Cognitive Emotion Regulation in Depressed Individuals

Abstract

The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on health anxiety and cognitive emotion regulation among depressed individuals referred to counseling centers. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test, and control group. The statistical population consisted of depressed individuals referred to counseling centers in Tehran in 2026. A total of 30 participants were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups (15 participants in each group). Data were collected using the Health Anxiety Questionnaire and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. The experimental group received eight 2-hour sessions of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, while the control group received no intervention. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The results of ANCOVA demonstrated that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy had a significant effect on reducing health anxiety among depressed individuals (F=9.783, P<0.05). In addition, the intervention significantly improved cognitive emotion regulation in the experimental group (F=9.456, P<0.05). The mean score of health anxiety in the experimental group decreased from 41.38 at pre-test to 30.78 at post-test, whereas the mean score of cognitive emotion regulation increased from 50.96 to 61.17. The findings indicated that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is an effective approach for reducing health anxiety and improving cognitive emotion regulation in depressed individuals. By enhancing awareness of thoughts and emotions, encouraging nonjudgmental acceptance of internal experiences, and strengthening adaptive emotion regulation strategies, this therapeutic approach contributes significantly to the psychological well-being of individuals with depression.