The effects of group mentalization-based treatment-P on cognitive emotion regulation and tic symptoms in children with tic disorders.

OBJECTIVES: This research aimed to assess the effectiveness of MBT-P in improving cognitive emotion regulation (CER) and reducing tic disorder (TD) symptoms in children diagnosed with TD. METHODS: The study employed a quasi-experimental design, including pre- and post-intervention assessments and a control group. Participants were children exhibiting TD symptoms who visited counselling centres and clinics in Mako, Iran, during the latter half of 2023. A total of 30 mothers of children with TD were randomly assigned to two groups of 15-an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group participated in 15 sessions of mentalization-based group therapy, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Both groups completed the Persian versions of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire-Children's Form (CERQ-K-P) and the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) during pre- and post-assessment phases. Data analysis involved mixed multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). RESULTS: The mixed MANOVA demonstrated that group therapy focused on mentalization significantly improved children's cognitive emotion regulation (p < .001). In addition, the ANCOVA results showed that this intervention significantly reduced overall tic severity scores among children with TD symptoms (p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that mentalization therapy delivered in groups may improve emotional regulation and decrease tic severity among children with TD. Further research with larger participant pools and more extended follow-up periods is necessary to confirm these findings.