Comparing the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Compassion Therapy on Interpersonal Forgiveness in Unaccompanied/Abused Adolescents

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Unaccompanied and abused adolescents in life face many challenges, especially in the area of ​​interpersonal forgiveness. Therefore, the aim of this study was comparing the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and compassion therapy on interpersonal forgiveness in unaccompanied/abused adolescents.

Methodology: This study was a quasi-experimental with a pre-test, and post-test design with a control group. The population of the present research was all adolescent girls aged 14-18 years living in care centers under the custody of the Welfare Department of District five of Tehran city in 2023 year. The samples of this study were 45 people who were selected using the available sampling method and randomly assigned into three equal groups. Each of the experimental groups underwent 8 sessions of 90 minute by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and compassion therapy, respectively, and the control group remained on the waiting list for intervention. Data were collected using the Interpersonal Forgiveness Scale (Ehteshamzadeh et al., 2011) and analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance in SPSS-22 software at a significance level of 0.05.

Findings: The results of this research showed that both methods of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and compassion therapy significantly increased interpersonal forgiveness in unaccompanied/abused adolescents, and the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in increasing interpersonal forgiveness in them was greater than compassion therapy (P<0.001).

Conclusion: According to the aforementioned results, counselors and psychologists can use both methods of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and compassion therapy, especially mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to increase interpersonal forgiveness in unaccompanied/abused adolescents.