The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Group Therapy on Anxiety, Depression, Stress, and the Intolerance of Uncertainty in Infertile Women

Abstract

Objectives: The present study aimed to examine the effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) group therapy on anxiety, depression, stress, and the Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) in infertile women receiving In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Methods: This was a randomized clinical trial with a pre-test/post-test and 3-month follow-up design. The study sample included 30 women with infertility who referred to Taleghani Hospital in Tehran City, Iran in 2018. We enrolled 30 individuals in the present study. The study samples were randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control (n=15/group). All study participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), and the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS) before and after providing the intervention. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS. Results: The current research results revealed a significant difference between the MBSR and control groups in IU, stress, depression, and anxiety. Furthermore, there were significant differences in all dependent variables between pre-test and post-test scores except for IU in the experimental group. Discussion: The provided MBSR group therapy could reduce the rate of depression, anxiety, and stress in infertile women receiving IVF; however, it presented no significant effect on IU. In other words, IU may be a complex phenomenon, i.e. amenable to treatment and further studies are required to examine its reasons.

The effect of mindfulness-based nursing support on the psychosocial status of women receiving infertility treatment

“…In a randomized controlled trial, study participants (n = 15) in the MBSR group received 2 hours of face-toface mindfulness meditation once a week for 8 weeks. As a result of the study, as in our study, a signi cant difference was found between the post-test scores of the experimental group and the control groups in terms of depression, anxiety and stress scores (Mousavi et al, 2020).…”

Differential reduction of psychological distress by three different types of meditation-based mental training programs: A randomized clinical trial

“…The discovery of improved uncertainty management aligns with the Buddhist origins of the MBSR program, which aims to cultivate equanimity in an ever-changing world ( Eberth et al, 2019 ). Research on MBSR's impact on coping with uncertainty has primarily focused on physical medical diagnoses such as breast cancer ( Janusek et al, 2019 ) and infertility ( Mousavi et al, 2020 ). Our findings imply that strengthening uncertainty coping skills is possible even in the absence of current health issues, offering promising avenues for enhancing resilience during future health challenges.…”

Identifying modifiable factors associated with psychological health in women experiencing infertility

“…A majority of these studies were uncontrolled and did not measure changes in mindfulness, nor include mediational analyses to examine whether mindfulness or related psychological processes were responsible for changes in psychological health outcomes. A few studies measured changes in self-compassion, intolerance of uncertainty, and experiential avoidance, with mixed results (Galhardo et al, 2013a, 2019; Li et al, 2016; Mousavi et al, 2020), suggesting that the effects on these variables may vary based on the specific type of mindfulness intervention being implemented.…”

“…Further, a number of studies have found that those who participate in mindfulness training report reductions in experiential avoidance and intolerance of uncertainty and improvements in positive affect and self-compassion compared to controls (Chiesa et al, 2014; Khaddouma et al, 2017; Victorson et al, 2017; Zautra et al, 2008). One small study of Iranian women undergoing IVF randomized to Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) versus a control condition reported significant reductions in anxiety but not reductions in intolerance of uncertainty compared to controls (Mousavi et al, 2020). Further research is indicated to see if specific types of mindfulness interventions are more likely to impact intolerance of uncertainty as well as anxiety.…”