Abstract

Background and purpose: Forgiveness and self-compassion are important constructs that are the opposite of high levels of anxiety and depression in the elderly, and their improvement can help reduce the problems of psychological symptoms in the elderly, so this research aims to compare the effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy combined with self-compassion along with cognitive-motor activities and specific cognitive-motor intervention was conducted on forgiveness and self-compassion of the elderly. Research method: The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test with a control group and a follow-up period. For this purpose, a sample consisting of 42 people (21 women and 21 men) over 60 years of age living in Mashhad city in 2021 who met the entry criteria were selected and after random assignment in three groups of the first experiment (combined cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention self-compassion with cognitive-motor activities); The second experimental group (intervention of cognitive-motor activities) and the control group (without any intervention) underwent interventions in 18 sessions during 9 weeks. Findings: The data obtained from the questionnaires of the Heartland Forgiveness Scale and the Self-Compassion Questionnaire were analyzed by the multivariate analysis of covariance method with repeated measurements, and the results showed that there was a significant difference between the test groups and the control group, in the mean scores of forgiveness (p<0.001) and self-compassion (p<0.001) in the post-test and follow-up. Also, between the two test groups, a significant difference in the mean scores of self-compassion in the post-test and follow-up (p<0.00). 001) was obtained.