The effectiveness of compassionate Mind Training (CMT) on social anxiety symptoms, & cognitive emotion regulation among female students with social anxiety disorder of Shahid Chamran University of Ahv

Background and Aim : The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of compassionate mind training on symptoms of social anxiety disorder and emotion regulation strategies in female students with social anxiety disorder in Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. Social anxiety disorder is one of the common, chronic and disabling anxiety disorders which is one of the important causes of social and academic performance decline in students. Several environmental-psychological components have been proposed to explain this disorder. One of these variables is cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Emotion regulation can be defined as the process of initiating, maintaining, modifying, intensity, or continuity of the inner feeling and emotion associated with social, psychological, and physical processes in accomplishing one s goals (Gross, 2007). As research expands, a new structure called self-compassion has been introduced by Neff in psychology. Findings indicate that individuals with social anxiety report lower levels of self-compassion and self-compassion is negatively correlated with the severity of social anxiety symptoms (Warner, Jazaieri, Goldin, Ziv, Heimberg, & Gross, 2012). Gilbert(2005) attempted to use this construct in therapy sessions and eventually put forward the theory of compassionate mind training . Compassionate mind training is the core of compassion focused therapy. Compassionate Mind Training aims to help clients learn the key skills needed to develop key aspects and characteristics of compassion. So Given the importance of self-compassion and the lack of research literature in this field within the country, special attention should be paid to studies, especially treatment. Also, most importantly, given the high prevalence and the devastating consequences of social anxiety, the researcher considers it necessary to conduct research in this sample group and has selected this group as the sample in the study.Methods : In this study, a single-case multiple baseline trial design was used. The statistical population of the study consisted of 150 female volunteer students residing in Shahid Chamran University dormitory in Ahwaz University in the academic year 95-96 that answered the Conor Social Anxiety Questionnaire (2000) and among the volunteer students with the highest score. After a diagnostic interview session based on DSM-5 criteria, six volunteers with a diagnosis of social anxiety disorder and entrance criteria were selected by available sampling. Subjects were trained one session per week for 8 weeks. Subjects were assessed using the Connor, Davidson, Churchill, Sherwood, Foa, & Weisler (2000) social anxiety scale and Garnefsky, Kraaij, & Spinhoven (2001) Cognitive Emotion Regulation Scale Results : The results showed that compassionate mind training (CMT) on reducing symptoms of social anxiety disorder (0.35 percent overall recovery) and nonadaptive emotion regulation strategies (0.34 percent overall recovery) and increased adaptive strategies for emotional adjustment (0.58 percent overall recovery). It is significantly effective in people with social anxiety disorder. The study of changes in the follow-up period based on the mean scores of the subjects indicates the relative stability of these effectsConclusion : Data analysis showed that compassionate mind training reduces symptoms of social anxiety disorder and nonadaptive emotion regulation strategies and increases adaptive strategies of emotion regulation in individualswith social anxiety disorder.

Keywords:

cognitive emotion regulation , compassionate mind training , self-compassion , social anxiety