The effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction model in reducing pathologic worry

Introduction: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction model in reducing pathologic worry about non-clinical population. Materials and Methods: The statistical population of this research consists of all undergraduate female students in all faculties of the Shahed University of Tehran, Iran. After selection of qualified participants, the individuals were divided into two groups of mindfulness-based stress reduction (n= 11) and control group (n= 9). The experimental group participated in the course which was hold at the faculty of humanities of Shahed University for two months (eight sessions), while the control group did not receive training at all. The Pennsylvania State Worry Questionnaire and the meta-worry subscale of Wells Anxious Thought Inventory were given to both groups before and after training. The data were analyzed using the U Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, via SPSS software. Results: The mindfulness-based stress reduction model reduces the level of pathologic worry (P 0.05) and meta-worry (P 0.05) in the experimental group than the control group. Also observed differences were significant with comparison the mean of pre-test scores with post-test, first follow-up, and second follow-up in the variables of pathological worry and meta-worry (P 0.05). Conclusion: Based on the results, the mindfulness-based stress reduction model is effective in reducing the pathologic worry.