The Effectiveness of Mentalization-Based Therapy on Reducing Self-Harming Behaviors and Emotional Distress in Adolescent Girls with Self-Harming Behaviors

Omid Bakhtiari, Nikoo; Naziri, Ghasem; Davoodi, Azam; Omidvar, Banafsheh

doi:10.22059/japr.2026.393445.645217

The Effectiveness of Mentalization-Based Therapy on Reducing Self-Harming Behaviors and Emotional Distress in Adolescent Girls with Self-Harming Behaviors

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Nikoo Omid Bakhtiari ¹

Ghasem Naziri ²

Azam Davoodi ³

Banafsheh Omidvar ³

¹ Department of Psychology, Shi.C. Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran.

² Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Shi.C. Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran.

³ Department of Psychology, Shi.C. Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran.

10.22059/japr.2026.393445.645217

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of mentalization-based therapy on reducing self-harming behaviors and emotional distress in adolescent girls with self-harming behaviors. The current study was a experimental application with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group and a two-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the present study consisted of adolescent girls with self-harming behaviors who referred to education counseling centers in Isfahan in the academic year 2023-2024. In this research, 36 adolescent girls with self-harming behaviors were selected by purposeful sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (18 adolescent in the experimental group and 18 adolescent in the control group). The adolescent in the experimental group received the mentalization-based therapy during eight weeks in eight 90-minute sessions. Self-Harm Behaviors Questionnaire (SHBQ) and Emotional Distress Questionnaire (EDQ) were used in the present study. The data were analyzed through mixed ANOVA via SPSS23 software. The results showed that mentalization-based therapy has significant effect on the self-harming behaviors (p<0.0001) and emotional distress (p<0.0001) in adolescent girls with self-harming behaviors.

Keywords

Adolescent Girls

Emotional Distress

Mentalization-Based Therapy

Self-Harming Behaviors