The Effectiveness of Mentalization Training on Compassion Fatigue and Adaptability in Caregivers of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mentalization training on compassion fatigue and adaptability in caregivers of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The research employed a quasi-experimental design with a nonequivalent control group and pretest-posttest-follow-up phases. The statistical population consisted of all caregivers of MS patients in 2024. From this population, 40 individuals were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria through purposive sampling and were randomly assigned to three groups. While the control group remained on the waiting list, the experimental group received mentalization training. All participants were assessed using the following research instruments at three stages (pretest, posttest, and follow-up): the Compassion Fatigue Scale (Figley, 2002) and the Adaptability Scale (Yousefi et al., 2011). The collected data were analyzed at two levels: descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test). The results showed that mentalization training was effective in reducing compassion fatigue and improving adaptability. Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that mentalization is an appropriate method for enhancing compassion fatigue and adaptability in caregivers of MS patients.