a comparison of the effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on self-criticism and intolerance of uncertainty in women with generalized anxiety disorder

Aim: in women with generalized anxiety disorder (gad) the combination of high levels of self-criticism and intolerance of uncertainty are factors that impede treatment effectiveness. both compassion focused therapy and mindfulness based cognitive therapy have been established as effective methods for treating anxiety disorders and yet limited evidence comparing their relative effects on these two main components- particularly in women with gad- exist.most existing studies have assessed only one construct, despite their combined role to maintain anxiety. therefore, this study aims to compare the effectiveness of compassion‑focused therapy and mindfulness‑based cognitive therapy in reducing self‑criticism and intolerance of uncertainty among women with generalized anxiety disorder in ahvaz. methods: the research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest–posttest design with a control group. the statistical population comprised all women with gad who sought services at ahvaz psychological clinics  in 2025. forty-five women were selected by the purposive sampling and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group (15 participants per group). the research instruments included the levels of self-criticism scale (thompson & zuroff, 2004), and the intolerance of uncertainty scale (freeston et al., 1994). the experimental groups underwent 10 ninety-minute sessions following the protocols of compassion-focused therapy (gilbert, 2009) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (segal et al., 2018), while the control group received no intervention. results: repeated measures anova results indicated that mean scores of self-criticism components and intolerance of uncertainty in the compassion therapy group and the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy group decreased significantly at posttest and follow-up. bonferroni follow-up tests also indicated that the effects of the therapies persisted through the follow-up stage (p<.05). for the intolerance of ambiguity, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was more effective than compassion therapy at posttest and follow-up (p<.05), but no significant difference between the two therapies was observed for self-criticism (p>.05). conclusion: the results revealed that both treatments yielded persistent improvements in both self-criticism and intolerance of uncertainty; mindfulness based cognitive therapy proved to be more successful at increasing tolerance of uncertainty.therefore, mbct may be considered a more efficient approach to reduce the chronic worry and enhancing tolerance of ambiguity in women with gad. aim: in women with generalized anxiety disorder (gad) the combination of high levels of self-criticism and intolerance of uncertainty are factors that impede treatment effectiveness. both compassion focused therapy and mindfulness based cognitive therapy have been established as effective methods for treating anxiety disorders and yet limited evidence comparing their relative effects on these two main components- particularly in women with gad- exist.most existing studies have assessed only one construct, despite their combined role to maintain anxiety. therefore, this study aims to compare the effectiveness of compassion‑focused therapy and mindfulness‑based cognitive therapy in reducing self‑criticism and intolerance of uncertainty among women with generalized anxiety disorder in ahvaz. methods: the research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest–posttest design with a control group. the statistical population comprised all women with gad who sought services at ahvaz psychological clinics  in 2025. forty-five women were selected by the purposive sampling and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group (15 participants per group). the research instruments included the levels of self-criticism scale (thompson & zuroff, 2004), and the intolerance of uncertainty scale (freeston et al., 1994). the experimental groups underwent 10 ninety-minute sessions following the protocols of compassion-focused therapy (gilbert, 2009) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (segal et al., 2018), while the control group received no intervention. results: repeated measures anova results indicated that mean scores of self-criticism components and intolerance of uncertainty in the compassion therapy group and the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy group decreased significantly at posttest and follow-up. bonferroni follow-up tests also indicated that the effects of the therapies persisted through the follow-up stage (p<.05). for the intolerance of ambiguity, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was more effective than compassion therapy at posttest and follow-up (p<.05), but no significant difference between the two therapies was observed for self-criticism (p>.05). conclusion: the results revealed that both treatments yielded persistent improvements in both self-criticism and intolerance of uncertainty; mindfulness based cognitive therapy proved to be more successful at increasing tolerance of uncertainty.therefore, mbct may be considered a more efficient approach to reduce the chronic worry and enhancing tolerance of ambiguity in women with gad.