Effectiveness of Behavioral Activation and Mindfulness-Based Interventions on Emotional Balance and Cognitive Avoidance in Female Students with Depressive Symptoms

• Published in: Women’s Health Bulletin
• Main Authors: Seydeh Negar Barekat, Elham Foroozandeh, Seyed Mostafa Banitaba
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shiraz University of Medical Sciences 2025-01-01
• Subjects: behavior; mindfulness; emotions; cognitive; depression
• Online Access: https://womenshealthbulletin.sums.ac.ir/article_50579_3d6268fc544eead430ba8c2b9319c527.pdf

Background: Depression, a prevalent psychological disorder, significantly impacts emotional regulation and cognitive avoidance in the academic and professional performance of students. This study compares two interventions, behavioral activation and mindfulness-based, to improve emotional balance and reduce cognitive avoidance in college students experiencing depression.Methods: A quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test design with a 60-day follow-up period was used in this study. The target population comprised female students at Isfahan State University, Isfahan, Iran who exhibited depressive symptoms during the 2022-2023 academic year, and were referred to the university’s Counseling Center. A convenience sample of 45 participants was selected and randomly assigned to three groups of 15: behavioral activation, mindfulness-based intervention, and a control group. The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) and the Cognitive Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ) were administered to all participants at three time points. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc tests in SPSS version 16.Results: The study found that both mindfulness-based interventions and behavioral activation significantly improved positive emotions and reduced cognitive avoidance in college students with depressive symptoms. For the mindfulness group, positive emotions increased from 15.20±5.59 to 21.00±5.75 at the post-test and then to 18.00±2.85 at follow-up. Cognitive avoidance decreased from 84.66±8.33 to 67.60±7.93 at post-test and then remained stable at 66.93±6.28 at follow-up. The behavioral activation group showed similar trends, with positive emotions increasing from 16.00±6.49 to 19.20±7.07 at post-test and then decreasing to 18.53±5.05 at follow-up. Cognitive avoidance decreased from 80.26±11.78 to 60.93±7.07 at post-test and then increased slightly to 61.60±7.44 at follow-up (P=0.027). While both interventions were effective, behavioral activation had a more lasting impact on positive emotions (P=0.027).Conclusions: The findings of this study suggested that both behavioral activation and mindfulness-based interventions are effective in improving emotional balance and reducing cognitive avoidance in college students with depressive symptoms.