Comparison of the Effect of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and Positive Psychotherapy on Perceived Stress and Quality of Life in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome: a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

This study aimed to compare dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and positive psychotherapy (PPT) effects on perceived stress (PS) and quality of life (QOL) among patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Seventy six eligible patients with a Rome- IV diagnosis were randomly allocated in DBT (n = 18), MBCT (n = 20), PPT (n = 18), and control groups (n = 20). All the patients were evaluated for PS by perceived stress scale (PSS) and QOL by irritable bowel syndrome quality of life (IBS-QOL) on the studied groups at the time of their inclusion in the study and 8 weeks after it. Each of the intervention groups took part in 8 group sessions. Conversely, the control group were evaluated without any intervention. 46 female and 27 male in 4 groups completed the study. The results showed significant differences between the groups based on the variables of the PSS and IBS-QOL (p < 0.05). In addition, levels of PS were significantly lower for the MBCT intervention compared with the other groups; besides, the significant effects of the QOL variables represented the higher scores of the PPT compared to the treatment groups. The interventions could not be generalized to other samples. Some other limitations included the lack of conducting a follow-up plan. This study provides initial evidence that MBCT and PPT are more effective than other treatment groups on PS decrease and QOL improvement among patients with IBS, respectively.