the effectiveness of virtual reality exposure therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on meta emotional dimensions in adolescents with social anxiety

Introduction: social anxiety disorder is a prevalent and debilitating condition among adolescents, often maintained by dysfunctional meta-emotional beliefs. the present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of virtual reality exposure therapy (vret) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (mbct) on meta-emotional dimensions in adolescents with social anxiety in ahvaz, iran. methods: this study utilized a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with a control group. the statistical population included all adolescents with social anxiety disorder who sought treatment at counseling centers in ahvaz between march and june 2024. a convenience sample of 45 participants was selected and then randomly assigned to two experimental groups (vret, n=15; mbct, n=15) and a control group (n=15). vret consisted of eight weekly 45-minute sessions, while mbct consisted of eight weekly 90-minute sessions. data were collected using diagnostic interviews and the meta-emotion questionnaire (meq), and analyzed using a repeated-measures anova. results: both the vret and mbct groups showed significant improvement in metaemotional dimensions compared with the control group. furthermore, vret demonstrated a slightly greater improvement, although both therapies maintained their positive effects at the three-month follow-up. conclusion: the results indicate that both vret and mbct are effective interventions for improving meta-emotional dimensions in adolescents with social anxiety. these findings highlight the potential for integrating technology-based and mindfulness-based approaches into clinical practice to enhance therapeutic outcomes.