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Aims Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT) and Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) are psychotherapy approaches offering specific methods for the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Therefore, this study compared the effectiveness of MBT and CAT on improving the ego strength and defense mechanisms in people with BPD. Methods & Materials This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest and a control group design and follow-up stage. In total, 40 men with BPD were selected by purposive sampling technique. The samples were selected from males admitted to Isar psychiatric Hospital and the psychiatric department of Fatemi Hospital in Ardabil City, Iran, in 2018. The samples were randomly assigned into two experimental groups and one control group. The first experimental group received 20 sessions of MBT, and the second experimental group received 16 sessions of CAT. To collect data, we used psychological inventory ego strength and defense styles questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed using mixed model Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Scheffe posthoc test. Findings The collected results suggested that both interventions were effective in improving the ego strength and defense mechanisms of people with BPD (P<0.001). However, the effect of MBT on the overall score of the ego strength and the immature defenses was higher than that of the other intervention (P<0.05). Moreover, there was no significant difference in neurotic defense between the two interventions (P>0.05). Conclusion The present research results can support the use of these therapies as part of a non-pharmaceutical treatment program in different treatment centers or psychiatric hospitals.

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The purpose of this s tudy was to inves tigate the role of religious coping, spiritual intelligence, and spiritual well-being in predicting perceived s tress in patients with cancer. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional s tudy, 120 patients, with cancer who were admitted and treated in blood and oncology department of Imam Khomeini hospital of Ardabil in 2019, were selected as target sample. Data collection tools consis ted of perceived s tress scale, religious coping scale, spiritual intelligence scale, and spiritual well-being ques tionnaire. Results: There was a negative and significant relationship between the perceived s tress with the spiritual well-being (β=-0/359: p<0/001), spiritual intelligence (β=-0/170: p<0/007), positive religious coping (β=-0/172: p<0/011) and positive and significant relationship with negative religious coping (β=0/328: p<0/001) in subjects with cancer. The spiritual well-being, religious coping and spiritual intelligence predicted 70% of variance of perceived s tress scores of patients with cancer (p<0/01). Conclusion: Our findings indicate that positive and negative religious coping, spiritual intelligence, and spiritual well-being are associated with perceived s tress and can explain one's attitude toward illness. Therefore, training patients to empower them in these areas have beneficial effects on their health-related quality of life.

Pos t-traumatic s tress disorder (PTSD) is one of the prominent psychological consequences of war that is seen in some veterans. Mentalization-based therapy (MBT) is a psychoactive intervention that can target a range of psychological impairments. The purpose of the present s tudy was to inves tigate the effectiveness of MBT on the reduction of emotional dysregulation and impulsivity of veterans with PTSD. Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental s tudy with pretes t-pos ttes t design, 40 veterans with PTSD who referred to Isar Ardabil psychiatric hospital in 2018 were selected through convenient sampling and randomly assigned to two groups of experimental and control subjects. The data were collected using a PTSD checklis t-military (PCL-M) of Weathers, difficulties in emotion regulation Scale (DERS) of Gratz and Roemer and Barratt impulsivity Scale (BIS). Then, the sessions of MBT were performed for 20 sessions of 75 minutes for the experimental group. Results: After control of pretes ting effects, a significant difference between the mean pos ttes t scores of the two groups in emotional dysregulation and impulsivity variables has been observed. Conclusion: MBT is a suitable s trategy for improving the emotional dysregulation and reducing impulsivity of veterans with PTSD and can be used as an effective intervention method.