Introduction and purpose: Generalized anxiety disorder is a disorder in which a person constantly worries about and fears future events, leading to chronic and morbid worry about events. According to this the present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of treatment based on mentalization on interpersonal problems and alexitimia of people with generalized anxiety disorder.
Methodology: The current study was a semi-experimental application with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group and a two-month follow-up period. The statistical population included people with generalized anxiety disorder who referred to the counseling centers of district one of Tehran in the Fall quarter of 2023. In this research, 34 people with generalized anxiety disorder were selected by purposive sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (17 people in the experimental group and 17 people in the control group). The people in the experimental group received treatment based on mentalization during eightweeks in eight 90-minute sessions. General Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GADQ), Interpersonal Problems Questionnaire (IPQ) and Alexitimia Questionnaire (AQ) were used in the present study. The data were analyzed through mixed ANOVA via SPSS23 software.
Findings: The results showed that treatment based on mentalization has significant effect on the interpersonal problems (p<0.001, Eta=0.65, F=59.57) and alexitimia (p<0.001, Eta= 0.60, F=48.51) of people with generalized anxiety disorder.
Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, treatment based on mentalization can be used as an efficient method to decrease interpersonal problems and alexitimia of people with generalized anxiety disorder through employing techniques such focusing on the teaching normal skills and attitudes, strengthening flexibility and dealing with stress, increasing communication capacity, being receptive to others' points of view, and creating a successful mindset.