Comparison of the Effectiveness of Intensive Short-Term Psychodynamic Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Stigma and Disease Adaptation in Patients with Psoriasis
Keywords:
Intensive intensive short-term psychodynamic therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, stigma, disease adaptation, psoriasisAbstract
The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of intensive short-term psychodynamic therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on stigma and adaptation to illness among patients with psoriasis. This quasi-experimental applied study employed a pre-test–post-test design with two experimental groups and one control group along with a follow-up phase. A total of 45 patients with clinically confirmed psoriasis were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to intensive short-term psychodynamic therapy (n=15), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (n=15), or a control group (n=15). Interventions followed standardized protocols—eight weekly 90-minute sessions based on Davanloo’s short-term dynamic psychotherapy manual and Segal, Williams, and Teasdale’s mindfulness-based cognitive therapy program. Participants completed the Internalized Stigma Questionnaire (Ritscher et al., 2003) and the Psychosocial Adaptation to Illness Scale (Dragtis, 1968) at pre-test, post-test, and three-month follow-up. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA with within-subject (time) and between-subject (group) factors, followed by Tukey post-hoc tests. Repeated-measures ANOVA showed significant between-group effects for stigma (F(2,42)=39.575, p<0.01, η²=0.885) and disease adaptation (F(2,42)=42.228, p<0.01, η²=0.845). Within-group effects across pre-test, post-test, and follow-up were also significant for both variables (p<0.01). Tukey post-hoc comparisons indicated that both treatments significantly reduced stigma and improved adaptation from pre-test to post-test and follow-up (p<0.001), while no significant differences were observed between post-test and follow-up, reflecting treatment stability. Comparative results demonstrated that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy produced significantly greater improvements than intensive short-term psychodynamic therapy across outcome measures (p<0.05). Both intensive short-term psychodynamic therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy were effective in reducing stigma and enhancing disease adaptation among patients with psoriasis, with mindfulness-based cognitive therapy showing superior therapeutic impact and greater stability of outcomes across time.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Mahshid Azizi Broujeni (Author); Shahnaz Khaleghipour; Alireza Taghvaei, Seyyed Mostafa Banitaba (Author)
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