Comparison of the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy on health anxiety, psychosocial adjustment and cognitive emotion regulation of divorced women

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Health Psychology, Khorramshahr-Persian Golf International Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khorramshahr, Iran

2 Department of Psychology, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Divorce is described continuously as one of the most stressful events in life, which increases the sensitivity to mood illnesses. The purpose of this study was effectiveness of Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) on health anxiety, psychosocial adjustment and cognitive emotion regulation in divorced women referring to counseling centers in Tehran.
Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design on two experimental and one control groups. The population of this research includes all women who referred to counseling centers in Tehran in 1397 and are affected by the divorce consequences. The sample consisted of three groups of 15 people (15 received Acceptance Commitment Therapy, 15 received dialectical behavioral therapy and 15 were control group). In this study, available sampling method was used to select the samples. The research instruments were Social Anxiety, Social Anxiety Inventory, Cognitive Critical Thinking Questionnaire, Acceptance and Acceptance Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).
Result:  The mean posttest of the health anxiety variable in the dialectic treatment group was lower than the commitment and acceptance treatment group. Health anxiety in both treatment groups is less than the control group. The mean of compatibility variable in the treatment and acceptance group was less than that of the dialectic treatment group, and both treatment groups were less than the control group. The mean of emotional regulation in the dialectic treatment group is lower than the commitment and acceptance therapy group and the mean of the variables in both groups is more than the control group.
Conclusion: The results showed that both therapy protocols were effective, but Dialectical Behavioral Therapy was more effective than Acceptance and commitment Therapy in reducing health anxiety, increasing the psychosocial adjustment, and cognitive emotion regulation. Implementing ACT and DBT training appears to be beneficial in reducing social, interaction and adjustment problems and anxiety of divorced women.

Keywords

References

References
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medical journal of mashhad university of medical sciences
Volume 61, supplment1
January and February 2019
Pages 79-88

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