The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of metacognitive therapy (MCT) on symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) and on symptoms of thought-fusion, by means of a wait-list controlled clinical trial. Participants were referred from dermatology and cosmetic surgery clinics in the city of Isfahan, Iran, and 20 patients were selected on the basis of DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for BDD. They were randomly assigned to either the experimental or the wait-list control group. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD-YBOCS) and the Thought-Fusion Inventory (TFI) were used as the outcome measures. The experimental group received 8 weekly metacognitive intervention sessions. The control group was in the waiting-list until the end of the follow-up. Measures were taken at pre-test, post-test (after 2 months) and follow-up (after 6-months). The results of analysis of variance showed that MCT significantly reduced the symptoms of BDD and of thought-fusion, compared to the wait-list. Effects on both outcome measures were maintained at 6-months follow-up.
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