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The effect of mentalization-based therapy on alexithymia and impulsivity in people with eating disorders
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Elham Mahboubi   , Toktam Amanalikhani * , Maryam Shabrang moridani , Nafiseh Yousefi |
| Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. , Toktamalikhany@gmail.com |
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Abstract: (56 Views) |
Introduction: Eating disorders, as an emerging public health crisis, are associated with enduring patterns of psychopathology, including alexithymia and impulsivity. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mentalization-based therapy on alexithymia and impulsivity in individuals with eating disorders.
Methods: It was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. Among all people with eating disorders who referred to clinics and counseling centers in Tehran in 2025, 30 people were selected using convenience sampling and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and a control group (15 people). The experimental group received 20 sessions of mentalization-based therapy, but the control group did not receive any specific intervention. The research tools were: Eating Attitudes Test, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance in SPSS-26 software.
Results: The results indicate a significant effect of mentalization-based therapy in reducing alexithymia and impulsivity in people with eating disorders in the post-test phase (P<0.05).
Conclusions: The findings showed that mentalization-based therapy, by affecting the underlying emotional mechanisms, leads to a reduction in emotional alexithymia and impulsivity in people with eating disorders; an approach that can provide new perspectives in the field of clinical interventions for this disorder. Therefore, these results highlight the importance of using this approach as an effective intervention in the management and treatment of eating disorders.
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| Keywords: eating disorders, impulsivity, Mentalization-based therapy, alexithymia. |
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Type of Study: Applicable |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2025/07/28 | Accepted: 2025/10/2 | Published: 2025/10/2 | ePublished: 2025/10/2
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