چکیده:
Objective: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) tries to increase the psychological acceptance of individuals during mental experiences (thoughts, emotions, etc.) and to decrease their ineffective control of behaviors. This study aimed to determine the impact of ACT on the psychological flexibility of students with thalassemia in Zahedan City, Iran.
Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental interventional study with experimental and control/ waiting groups. The subjects were evaluated in the pre-test, post-test, and two-month follow-up stages. The statistical population included all students with thalassemia studying in senior elementary and junior high schools in Zahedan. A total of 60 volunteers were selected and randomly assigned into two groups (control and experimental), each one including 30 subjects. The research tool was the Psychological Flexibility Test. ACT was conducted during 8 sessions (Two 120-minute sessions per week during one month), and a follow-up test was taken two months after the end of the intervention. The study data were analyzed through repeated measures analysis of variance.
Results: The results indicated a significant effect of ACT on increasing the cognitive flexibility in patients with thalassemia and supported the stability of this psychotherapy at the follow-up stage (F=63.823, P=0.001).
Conclusion: ACT can be used to increase cognitive flexibility and to treat psychological disorders. Comparing cognitive flexibility scores of the samples in the pre-test, post-test, and follow up stages suggest that ACT is an effective method for improving cognitive flexibility in students with thalassemia major.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Research Paper: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Improves Psychological Flexibility of Students with Thalassemia Major: A Randomized Controlled Trial Homeira Mahmoudi Souran1, Gholam Reza Sanagouyemoharer1* /, Mahmoud Shirazi2 1.
107 Article info: Received: 06 Sep 2018 Accepted: 16 Jan 2019 Available Online: 01 Apr 2019 Keywords: Acceptance and commitment therapy, Cognitive flexibility, Thalassemia major, Student ABSTRACT Objective: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) tries to increase the psychological acceptance of individuals during mental experiences (thoughts, emotions, etc.
Comparing cognitive flexibility scores of the samples in the pre-test, post-test, and follow up stages suggest that ACT is an effective method for improving cognitive flexibility in students with thalassemia major.
In this study, we investigated the effec-tiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy method, which is a safe, cost-effective, and easy to perform method to help patients manage their psychological problems related to thalassemia.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a psychotherapy method that is specifically designed and de-veloped to improve cognitive flexibility (Hayes, Pistorello, & Levin, 2012).
These results show the sustainability of the effect of ACT therapy on the variable of psychological flexibility in the experimental group in the follow-up phase.
Mazzone, Battaglia, Andreozzi, Romeo, and Mazzone (2009) in their study tried to screen the effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Family Therapy (CBFT) on emotional impact in children with β-thalassemia major.
Moreover, the results of this study show the durability of the ACT method in increasing the psychological flexibil-ity of the patients with thalassemia in the follow-up phase.