Effects of Mindfulness Training on Alexithymia and Resilience of Psychosomatic Patients

Background: A psychosomatic illness is a mental disorder that manifests physical symptoms without any clear physiological cause.    Objectives: The main objective of this research was to investigate the effects of mindfulness training on the levels of alexithymia and resilience in individuals suffering from psychosomatic disorders.  Methods: This study was conducted using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design.   It specifically examined women who were diagnosed with psychosomatic disorders and sought treatment in Tehran in ۲۰۱۹. A total of ۳۰ women were selected via convenience sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group took part in eight ۱۵۰-minute sessions of mindfulness intervention. The tools used for assessment during the pre-test and post-test phases were the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version ۱۹) using analysis of covariance.   Results: The multivariate analysis of covariance demonstrated a significant difference between the two groups in dependent variables (P<۰.۰۵). The results of the univariate analysis of covariance for the variables of alexithymia and resilience revealed that mindfulness training had a significant impact on alexithymia and resilience in psychosomatic women during the post-test phase, as compared to the control group (P<۰.۰۵).  Conclusion: As evidenced by the results of this study, mindfulness training had a significant effect on decreasing alexithymia and boosting resilience in women with psychosomatic symptoms.

کلیدواژه ها:

alexithymia ، Mindfulness ، Psychosomatic ، resilience