The effectiveness of compassion focused therapy on distress tolerance, difficulty in emotion regulation and anxiety sensitivity in patients with cardiovascular disease

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are among the most common, chronic and debilitating diseases. This study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of compassion focused therapy on distress tolerance, difficulty in emotion regulation and anxiety sensitivity in patients with cardiovascular disease. Methods: It was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test and a control group. The statistical population included all cardiovascular patients in Mashhad city in 2019-2020. The sample consisted of 30 cardiovascular patients referred to Valiasr clinic that were selected by available sampling method and placed in experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent compassion focused therapy for 8 sessions of 2 hours and, at the end, both groups received post-test. The measurement tools were distress tolerance scale, difficulties in emotion regulation scale and anxiety sensitivity scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the variables of distress tolerance, difficulty in emotion regulation and anxiety sensitivity (P<0.05); In other words, compassion focused therapy has been effective on distress tolerance, difficulty in emotion regulation and anxiety sensitivity in patients with cardiovascular disease. Conclusion: Based on the results, this therapeutic approach can be used to increase distress tolerance and reduce difficulty in emotion regulation and anxiety sensitivity in cardiovascular patients