The effectiveness of group cognitive therapy training based on mindfulness, upon decreasing negative self-concept thoughts and improving depression among depressed female students in Ardabil boarding schools

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of group cognitive therapy training based on mindfulness, upon decreasing negative self-concept thoughts and improving depression among depressed female students in Ardabil boarding schools. Research methodology was quasi – experimental (pre-test, post-test type upon the control group). The statistical population was all the female students studying in Ardabil province boarding schools since the years of 1393 to 1394 total 670 female students. For sample selection, a multi-stage cluster sampling was used. Among all the Ardabil province boarding schools, randomly Nir city was selected and among the schools of this city two boarding schools named Bahar and Zeinabiyeh were selected. After completing Beck Depression Questionnaire and Negative Self-Concept Questionnaire, 40 female students with scores higher than a standard deviation were selected and then randomly placed on experimental and control groups (20 subjects in each group). All the participants completed Beck Depression Questionnaire and Negative Self-Concept Questionnaire before the study and after it. The experimental group received mindfulness group training for 8 sessions (a weekly two-hour session) but the control group did not receive any training. The covariance analysis showed that the group cognitive therapy methods based on mindfulness significantly (P> 0.05) can decrease the negative self-concept thoughts and depression among female students. Therefore we concluded that the group cognitive therapy method based on mindfulness, can be used to lower the students' depression and negative self-concept thoughts.