Preliminary Evaluation of a 1-Day Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workshop for Increasing Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity in Adults with Overweight or Obesity

Weight self-stigma, in which individuals internalize stigmatizing messages about weight, is a prevalent problem that contributes to poor quality of life and health. This pilot randomized controlled trial evaluated acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) guided self-help using The Diet Trap for 55 overweight/obese adults high in weight self-stigma. Participants were randomized to the ACT self-help book plus phone coaching (GSH-P; n = 17), self-help book plus email prompts only (GSH-E; n = 20), or a waitlist condition ( n = 18), with online self-report assessments at baseline and posttreatment (8 weeks later). Participants reported high satisfaction ratings and engagement with the ACT self-help book, with no differences between GSH-P and GSH-E. Both GSH-P and GSH-E improved weight self-stigma relative to waitlist with large effect sizes. There were mixed findings for health outcomes. The GSH-P condition improved more on healthy eating behaviors and general physical activity, but neither ACT condition improved more than waitlist on self-reported body mass index, emotional eating, and a second measure of physical activity. Results suggest an ACT self-help book with email prompts can reduce weight self-stigma and potentially improve some health behavior outcomes. Phone coaching may provide additional benefits for generalizing ACT to diet and physical activity.

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Physical Activity of Patients With Chronic Pain Receiving Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Behaviour Change ◽

10.1017/bec.2014.6 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 131-143 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Katherine VanBuskirk ◽

Scott Roesch ◽

Niloofar Afari ◽

Julie Loebach Wetherell

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Chronic Pain ◽

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy ◽

Acceptance And Commitment Therapy ◽

Psychological Treatment ◽

Behavioural Therapy ◽

Tailored Interventions ◽

Commitment Therapy ◽

Acceptance And Commitment ◽

Cognitive Behavioural

Physical activity is positively related to various indices of quality of life and is found to reduce symptoms in individuals with chronic pain. This manuscript presents findings from a post hoc analysis investigating whether treatment-related improvements from psychological treatment for chronic pain are mediated by changes in physical activity (PA). Secondary analyses sought to determine predictor variables of PA in patients with chronic pain and to determine the relationship between objective and self-report measurements of PA. The effect of psychological treatment on physical activity was assessed using accelerometers in a sample of participants with chronic pain in a randomised controlled trial comparing 8 weeks of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Participants wore actigraph accelerometers for 7 consecutive days at baseline, post-treatment, and at 6-month follow-up. Hierarchical linear modelling analyses found that the variance in physical activity was not significantly predicted by time (b = 104.67, p = .92) or treatment modality (b = −1659.34, p = .57). Women had greater increases in physical activity than did men (b = 6804.08, p = .02). Current ‘gold standard’ psychological treatments for chronic pain were not found to significantly increase physical activity, an important outcome to target in the treatment of physical and mental health. These results suggest that tailored interventions with greater emphasis on exercise may complement psychological treatment for chronic pain. In particular, gender-tailored interventions may capitalise on physical activity differences found between men and women.

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The efficacy of a self-managed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention DVD for physical activity initiation

British Journal of Health Psychology ◽

10.1111/bjhp.12098 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 115-129 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Robyn Moffitt ◽

Philip Mohr

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Acceptance And Commitment Therapy ◽

Commitment Therapy ◽

Acceptance And Commitment ◽

Therapy Intervention

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A randomized controlled trial of online acceptance and commitment therapy to improve diet and physical activity among adults who are overweight/obese

Translational Behavioral Medicine ◽

10.1093/tbm/ibaa123 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Michael E Levin ◽

Julie M Petersen ◽

Carrie Durward ◽

Brittany Bingeman ◽

Elizabeth Davis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Nutrition Education ◽

Acceptance And Commitment Therapy ◽

Healthy Eating ◽

Health Program ◽

Healthy Eating Index ◽

Psychological Inflexibility ◽

Self Help ◽

Commitment Therapy ◽

Acceptance And Commitment

Abstract Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has shown benefit for improving diet, physical activity, and weight among adults who are overweight and obese. However, research to-date in this area has primarily evaluated ACT delivered through in-person interventions, which has more limited access relative to online formats. The present study evaluated an online guided self-help program that integrated ACT with nutrition education to improve healthy eating and physical activity. A sample of 79 adults who were overweight/obese was randomized to receive the 8-week ACT on Health program plus weekly phone coaching or to a waitlist. Participants completed 5.5 ACT sessions on average (out of 8) and reported moderately high program satisfaction. Participants in the ACT condition improved significantly more than the waitlist at posttreatment on the primary outcome of healthy eating index (HEI; based on 24-hr recall assessments) and almost all secondary outcomes assessing self-reported eating behaviors, weight, mental health, weight self-stigma, and psychological inflexibility. However, no intervention effects were found for self-reported physical activity. At 8-week follow-up, improvements were maintained for most outcomes in the ACT condition, but not for the HEI. Improvements in psychological inflexibility mediated treatment effects on some outcomes, but not HEI or weight. Overall, delivering ACT through online guided self-help combined with nutrition education appears promising for improving healthy eating, weight, and self-stigma, but results for physical activity and long-term behavior change are unclear, possibly due to limitations in the ACT on Health program.

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The Effectiveness of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness Group Intervention for Enhancing the Psychological and Physical Well-Being of Adults with Overweight or Obesity Seeking Treatment: The Mind&Life Randomized Control Trial Study Protocol

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18094396 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (9) ◽

pp. 4396

Author(s):

Idoia Iturbe ◽

Eva Pereda-Pereda ◽

Enrique Echeburúa ◽

Edurne Maiz

Keyword(s):

Acceptance And Commitment Therapy ◽

Study Protocol ◽

Group Intervention ◽

Well Being ◽

Physiological Variables ◽

Commitment Therapy ◽

Acceptance And Commitment ◽

The Mind ◽

Overweight Or Obesity

Although several interventions that target obesity have been examined, the success of these interventions in generating and maintaining positive results has yet to be confirmed. This study protocol therefore presents a trial aimed at analyzing the effectiveness of a well-being-centered acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)- and mindfulness-based group intervention following the valued-based healthy living (VHL) approach (Mind&Life intervention) for individuals experiencing overweight-related distress. A randomized controlled trial with two parallel groups will be conducted in 110 adults attending primary care units with overweight or obesity. Participants will be randomly allocated to one of the two study conditions. Interventions will either be the treatment as usual (TAU) or the Mind&Life intervention—an ACT- and mindfulness-based intervention—plus the TAU intervention. Quality of life, weight self-stigma, general health status, eating habits, physical activity, eating behavior, anthropometric, body composition, cardiovascular, and physiological variables, as well as process variables, will be examined at baseline, posttreatment, 6-month follow-up, and 1-year follow-up. This trial aims to offer a novel psychological approach for addressing the psychological and physical impairments suffered by people with overweight or obesity in the current environment. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03718728.

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Development and Evaluation of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Delivered by Psychologists and Non-Psychologists in an NHS Community Adult Mental Health Service: a Preliminary Analysis

Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy ◽

10.1017/s1352465817000285 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 121-127

Author(s):

Thomas Richardson ◽

Lorraine Bell ◽

Helen Bolderston ◽

Sue Clarke

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Mental Health Service ◽

Health Service ◽

Acceptance And Commitment Therapy ◽

Preliminary Evaluation ◽

Community Mental Health Service ◽

Commitment Therapy ◽

Acceptance And Commitment ◽

Post Therapy

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is effective for depression and may be useful for complex transdiagnostic clients. Aims: To conduct a preliminary evaluation of whether ACT is feasible and effective when delivered by psychologists and non-psychologists for complex clients in a National Health Service (NHS) community mental health service for adults. Method: Staff were trained in ACT and conducted one-to-one therapy with clients. Measures on general mental health, depression, fusion and values were given pre-therapy, post-therapy and at 3-month follow-up. Results: Standardized measures showed significant improvements post-therapy for global mental health, depression, cognitive fusion and values post-treatment. These were partially maintained at follow-up and remained after an intent-to-treat analysis. There were no differences in outcomes between psychologists and non-psychologists. Conclusions: ACT may be delivered effectively with limited training for complex cases in secondary care, though further research is needed.

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