Minoo Khalaj Asadi; Ziba Barghi Irani; Mahnaz Aliakbari
Abstract
Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and progressive nervous system disease. The present study aimed tocompare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) onthe psychosocial adjustment to illness and expanded disability of multiple sclerosis ...
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Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and progressive nervous system disease. The present study aimed tocompare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) onthe psychosocial adjustment to illness and expanded disability of multiple sclerosis patients.
Method: This research was a pretest-posttest controlled quasi-experimental study with a three-month and six-monthfollow-up. The research population was comprised of all MS patients in Tehran in 2021. Using the purposeful samplingmethod, 60 people were selected and randomly assigned to ACT and CBT experimental groups and the control group.Drogits’ (1986) Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS) and expanded disability status scale (EDSS) wereused to collect data. The ACT group received eight 120-minute sessions, the CBT group received eight one-hoursessions, and no intervention was provided for the control group. Covariance analysis and post hoc tests were used toanalyze the data.
Results: The results demonstrated that ACT had a higher effect than CBT in enhancing psychosocial adjustment toillness (P=0.024) and reducing expanded disability (P=0.024), which has been constant in the follow-up stages.
Conclusion: In general, both ACT and CBT interventions significantly improved the psychosocial adjustment to illnessand reduced the expanded disability of MS patients. However, it is suggested that professionals use ACT intervention formore effectiveness.
