en other Orginal research <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height:2;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif=""><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b><i><span new="" roman="" times="">Background:</span></i></b></span> <span new="" roman="" times="">Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common disorder of the digestive system. Despite the long period of study on the treatment of IBS, only a small number of treatments have proven effective</span><span new="" roman="" times="">.</span></span></span><br> <span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif=""><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b><i><span new="" roman="" times="">Objectives: </span></i></b></span><span new="" roman="" times="">The current study aimed to determine the efficacy of compassion-focused therapy (CFT) in depression, anxiety, stress, and physical symptoms in patients with IBS.</span></span></span><br> <span new="" roman="" times=""><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b><i>Methods:</i></b></span><span style="color:black"> This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest, posttest, follow-up, and control group. The present study was carried out on a total of 30 patients with IBS (diagnosed by a gastroenterologist applying the Rome III criteria) selected and divided into CFT (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. The experimental group received eight sessions of CFT. All groups responded to the Severity of Symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-42 was administered as pre-post and follow-up tests.</span></span><br> <span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif=""><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b><i><span new="" roman="" times="">Results</span></i></b><b><span new="" roman="" times="">:</span></b></span><span new="" roman="" times=""> The results showed significantly lower mean scores in depression, anxiety, stress, and physical symptoms in the experimental group in the posttest. The follow-up test given 8 weeks after the posttest did not show any change in the results.</span></span></span><br> <span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span sans-serif=""><span style="color:#2980b9;"><b><i><span new="" roman="" times="">Conclusion:</span></i></b></span><span new="" roman="" times=""> The obtained findings support the efficacy of CFT in depression, anxiety, stress, and physical symptoms in patients with IBS.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div> Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Compassion-Focused Therapy, Depression, Anxiety 1 7 http://nmcjournal.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-840-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Kamyar Kaveh k.k.counsellor@gmail.com 100319475328460014270 100319475328460014270 No Department of Health Psychology, Kish International Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kish Island, Iran Maryam Kalhornia Golkar maryamgol1986@yahoo.com 100319475328460014271 100319475328460014271 Yes Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Karaj Branch Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran Ali Sahebi asahebi@gmail.com 100319475328460014272 100319475328460014272 No Clinical Psychologist, Senior Instructor, William Glasser International Institute, sidney, Australia