Abstract
Introduction: Drug addiction is one of the most serious psychological, social, economic, and health hazards that needs prevention and treatment considering its serious consequences for the individual and human society. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and quality of life improvement training (QOLT) on distress tolerance and self-destructive behaviors in substance abusers. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with pre- and post-test design and a control group. The statistical population included men over 20 years old referred to addiction treatment centers in Mashhad. The sample consisted of 45 volunteers who were selected by purposive sampling method and were divided into 3 groups (two experimental and one control group). Experimental groups received ACT and skills training based on the quality of life, while the control group did not receive any experimental intervention. The Distress Tolerance Scale (Simons and Gaher) and Self-destructive Behavior Questionnaire (Owens) were used as research tools in the study. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance using SPSS version 24.0 software. Results: The results of the analysis of covariance showed that the therapeutic methods used in this study were effective in improving distress tolerance and self-destructive behaviors in men with substance abuse (P<0.001). Moreover, according to the Bonferroni follow-up test, there was no significant difference between the two treatments. Conclusion: ACT and QOLT significantly improved distress tolerance and self-destructive behaviors in substance abusers.
Highlights
Drug addiction is one of the most serious psychological, social, economic, and health hazards that needs prevention and treatment considering its serious consequences for the individual and human society
The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and quality of life improvement training (QOLT) on distress tolerance and self-destructive behaviors in substance abusers
The results showed that both of the treatment groups were different from the control group (P < 0.01) in both distress tolerance and self-destructive behaviors
Summary
Drug addiction is one of the most serious psychological, social, economic, and health hazards that needs prevention and treatment considering its serious consequences for the individual and human society. There are many therapeutic methods used to prevent drug abuse and improve the health of the community, a relatively high percentage of relapse after receiving treatment for drug disorders and related dependencies has caused concern for the community.[9,10] Based on the studies on various aspects of rehabilitation and pathology of relapse, the most important contributing factor in people with substance abuse include awareness of emotions and thoughts, presence of conscious mind and value-driven goal of improving their skills and quality of life.[11] Life skills can be considered as a coherent and purposeful set of individual and social abilities in psychological and interpersonal dimensions.[12,13,14]. Awareness of the skills needed for improving the quality of life (i.e., quality of life improvement training [QOLT]) can affect many psychological aspects of one’s life.[16]
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