Mohsen Mohammadpour - Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
Sasan Amiri - Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
Roya Farnoodi - Department of Clinical Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran
Adel Bahari - Department of Health Education and Health Promotion, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
Golfam Goodarzi - Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran
Aliakbar Foroughi - Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran

Abstract Introduction: Social anxiety is a prevalent disorder among university students which interferes with their functions. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is one of the new approaches for treating psychological disorders. This research aims to study the effectiveness of group mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in university students suffering from social anxiety. Method: The design of this study was quasi-experimental with pretest, posttest and follow-up assessments for control and intervention groups. For this purpose, ۲۴ students diagnosed with social anxiety were randomly allocated to control and intervention groups. The intervention group received ۸ sessions of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. The students completed the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure (IPSM) and the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) in both pretest and posttest. Follow-up assessments were done after ۲ months. The data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: According to the findings of the present study, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces social anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity significantly. Also, it can increase the components of self-compassion significantly in the intervention group compared to the control group. Conclusion: Due to the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in reducing social anxiety in students, considering and utilizing this kind of psychotherapy is of great importance.

Keywords: Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy, social anxiety, interpersonal sensitivity, self-compassion