The Effectiveness of Mentalization-Based Therapy on Reducing Negative Automatic Thoughts and Difficulty in Emotion Regulation in Adolescent Girls with Moderate Depression

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Given the high negative emotional characteristics in people with depression, the present research was conducted with the aim of determine the effectiveness of mentalization-based therapy on reducing negative automatic thoughts and difficulty in emotion regulation in adolescent girls with moderate depression.

Methodology: The present research was a quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The population of this study was adolescent girls with moderate depression who referred to counseling centers of Ahvaz city in the spring season of 2025 year. After reviewing the inclusion criteria number of 40 people were selected by purposive sampling method and randomly assigned into two equal groups, including experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent 10 sessions of 90 minute by mentalization-based therapy, and the control group remained on the waiting list for treatment. The instruments of this study included the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (Hollon & Kendall, 1980), Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale (Gratz & Roemer, 2004), and Beck Depression Inventory II (Beck et al., 1996). The data of this research were analyzed using the methods of chi-square test and multivariate analysis of covariance in SPSS-25 software at a significant level of 0.05.

Findings: The results of this research indicated that there was no significant difference between depressed adolescent girls in terms of age and parental education (P>0.05). Also, mentalization-based therapy reduced negative automatic thoughts and difficulty in emotion regulation in adolescent girls with moderate depression (P<0.001).

Conclusion: According to the results of the present research, counselors and psychologists can use mentalization-based therapy alongside other therapeutic methods to reduce negative emotional characteristics in vulnerable groups, including those with depression.