comparison of the effectiveness of compassion-focused and rational-emotional behavior therapy on weight self-efficacy and self-criticism

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of compassion-focused intervention and rational-emotional behavior therapy among women on weight self-efficacy and self-criticism on an overweight diet. this study was a quasi-experimental design using a pre-test and post-test with a control group. the statistical population consisted of all women on an overweight diet that was referred to therapy clinics in tehran from december 2019 to april 2020. through a convenience sampling method, 45 overweight females were selected based on inclusion criteria and randomly assigned to a control and two experimental groups. both experimental groups1(n=15), and 2 (n=15) were treated with compassion-focused therapy and rational-emotional behavior therapy for ten and eight weekly 90-minute sessions, but the control group (n=15) did not receive any treatment. at the start of the study, all participants completed using the weight efficacy lifestyle questionnaire (wel) and the levels of self-criticism (losc) scale. multivariate analysis of covariance (mancova) and one-way analysis of covariance (ancova) were applied by the spss-25 program (p < 0.05). furthermore, there was a significant difference between post-test scores of compassion-focused intervention (cft) and rational-emotional behavioral therapy (rebt) groups in terms of self-efficacy and self-criticism. the people in the rebt intervention group had better self-efficacy and self-criticism scores (p = 0.001). the findings showed that compassion-focused intervention (cft) and rational-emotional behavioral therapy interventions could help with overweightness. therefore, both intervention programs are recommended for improving weight self-efficacy and decreasing self-criticism among women on an overweight diet.