scholarly journals Development and initial validation of a brief questionnaire on the patients’ view of the in-session realization of the six core components of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Probst ◽  
Andreas Mühlberger ◽  
Johannes Kühner ◽  
Georg H. Eifert ◽  
Christoph Pieh ◽  
...  

Background Assessing in-session processes is important in psychotherapy research. The aim of the present study was to create and evaluate a short questionnaire capturing the patients’ view of the in-session realization of the six core components of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Method In two studies, psychotherapy patients receiving ACT (Study 1: n = 87) or Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) (Study 2, Sample 1: n = 115; Sample 2: n = 156) completed the ACT session questionnaire (ACT-SQ). Therapists were n = 9 ACT therapists (Study 1) and n = 77 CBT trainee therapists (Study 2). Results Factor structure: Exploratory factor analyses suggested a one-factor solution for the ACT-SQ. Reliability: Cronbach’s alpha of the ACT-SQ was good (Study 1: α = .81; Study 2, Sample 1: α = .84; Sample 2: α = .88). Convergent validity: The ACT-SQ was positively correlated with validated psychotherapeutic change mechanisms (p < .05). Criterion validity: Higher ACT-SQ scores were associated with better treatment outcomes (p < .05). Conclusion The study provides preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the ACT-SQ to assess the in-session realization of the six core components of ACT in the patients’ view. Further validation studies and ACT-SQ versions for therapists and observers are necessary.

2021 ◽  
pp. 025371762199673
Author(s):  
Joel Philip ◽  
Vinu Cherian

Recent years have witnessed an increased interest in the use of “third-wave” psychotherapies in treating psychiatric disorders. These newer therapies are fundamentally different from the existing techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy in terms of their guiding principles and processes of change. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is the most prominent among these “third wave” psychotherapies. However, there have not been any reports from India, thus far, that have studied the use of ACT in treating obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). We describe a case of OCD that was successfully treated with eight sessions of ACT, with the results being maintained over a one-month follow-up period. Postintervention tests revealed a significant decrease in obsessive–compulsive symptoms and an associated increase in psychological flexibility. This case study highlights the possible utility of ACT as a therapeutic intervention in OCD, especially when combined with pharmacotherapy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S809-S809
Author(s):  
Julie L Wetherell ◽  
Matthew Herbert ◽  
Niloofar Afari

Abstract A recent randomized comparison of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) vs. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for chronic pain found a clear age interaction effect, such that older adults benefitted more from ACT. In a subsequent study comparing ACT delivered in person to ACT delivered via telehealth to a sample of veterans (N=128, mean age 51.9, SD 13.3, range 25-89), we found no significant age by modality interactions, suggesting that older veterans responded as well as younger people did to telehealth delivery. Consistent with our previous findings, we found a trend for older adults to experience greater reduction in pain interference (p = .051) and significantly greater reduction in pain severity (p = .001) than younger adults following ACT. In younger veterans, change in pain acceptance from baseline to posttreatment was related to change in pain interference from baseline to 6-month follow-up (r = -.38), but change in pain interference from baseline to posttreatment was not related to change in pain acceptance from baseline to follow-up (r = .14), suggesting that, consistent with the ACT model, increased pain acceptance at posttreatment was related to reduced pain interference at follow-up. By contrast, in older veterans, both correlations were significant and of comparable magnitude (rs = -.43 and -.46, respectively), providing no support for the idea that change in pain acceptance drove change in pain interference. Overall, our findings suggest that ACT may work better in older adults with chronic pain than in younger adults, but via a different mechanism.


2020 ◽  
Vol 84 (Supplement A) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hassan Davazdahemami ◽  
Abolfazl Bayrami ◽  
Julie M. Petersen ◽  
Michael P. Twohig ◽  
Maryam Bakhtiyari ◽  
...  

The authors investigated the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for the treatment of death anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with eight adult women in Iran. The ACT protocol was conducted in weekly solo sessions with each participant for 8 weeks (45 minutes each). The results were analyzed by visual analysis method and improvement percentage. ACT resulted in a 60%–80% decrease in death anxiety and a 51%–60% decrease in obsessive-compulsive symptoms, thereby indicating promise for ACT as a treatment for OCD and death anxiety.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. NP1-NP10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward W. Gondolf ◽  
Larry Bennett ◽  
Eric Mankowski

The “Evaluation of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) curriculum for domestic violence offenders” illustrates the methodological issues associated with interpreting program evaluations and applying them to policy. Despite the “preliminary” evidence, the authors promote ACTV as more effective in terms of recidivism compared with DU/CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) programming. A more critical consideration of the research, however, exposes further limitations that counter the initial speculations and interpretations of the study outcome. Consequently, the effectiveness of ACTV over the DU/CBT option remains in question and raises the need for a broader discourse on program effectiveness.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Kelson ◽  
Audrey Rollin ◽  
Brad Ridout ◽  
Andrew Campbell

BACKGROUND Anxiety conditions are debilitating and prevalent throughout the world. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an effective, acceptance-based behavioral therapy for anxiety. However, there are treatment barriers (eg, financial, geographical, and attitudinal), which prevent people from accessing it. To overcome these barriers, internet-delivered ACT (iACT) interventions have been developed in recent years. These interventions use websites to deliver ACT information and skill training exercises on the Web, either as pure self-help or with therapist guidance. OBJECTIVE This systematic review aimed to examine the therapeutic impact of iACT on all anxiety conditions. METHODS The EMBASE, MEDLINE, ProQuest Central, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched up to September 2018. The titles and abstracts of remaining records after deduplication were screened by 2 authors with a total of 36 full-text articles being retained for closer inspection next to eligibility criteria. Empirical studies of all designs, population types, and comparator groups were included if they appraised the impact of iACT treatment on any standardized measure of anxiety. Included studies were appraised on methodological quality and had their data extracted into a standardized coding sheet. Findings were then tabulated, and a narrative synthesis was performed because of the heterogeneity found between studies. RESULTS A total of 20 studies met inclusion criteria. There were 11 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 9 uncontrolled pilot studies. Participants across all studies were adults. The anxiety conditions treated were as follows: generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), illness anxiety disorder (IAD), and general anxiety symptoms, with or without comorbid physical and mental health problems. A total of 18 studies reported significant anxiety reduction after iACT treatment. This was observed in studies that delivered iACT with (n=13) or without (n=5) therapist guidance. The average attrition rate across all included studies during the active iACT treatment phase was 19.19%. In the 13 studies that assessed treatment satisfaction, participants on average rated their iACT experience with above average to high treatment satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS These findings indicate that iACT can be an efficacious and acceptable treatment for adults with GAD and general anxiety symptoms. More RCT studies are needed to corroborate these early iACT findings using empirical treatments in active control groups (eg, internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy). This would potentially validate the promising results found for SAD and IAD as well as address the full spectrum of anxiety disorders.


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