Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Individual and Social Adaptation of Addicts

Abstract

Background: Addiction is a pervasive problem that causes physical problems and affects the adaptation of addicts. This study investigates the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment group therapy (ACT) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on individual and social adaptation of addicts referred to comprehensive health service centers in Birjand.
 Methods: The present experimental study utilized a pretest-posttest design with a control group. All addicted people referred to health centers in the suburb of Birjand, which is among the city’s vulnerable areas, were selected in 2020. The subjects were selected by a conveniencemethod and randomly divided into three groups of 32 persons according to the study’s objectives. The study questionnaire was the California test of personality. Cognitive-behavioral group therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy based on treatment protocols were held in 12 sessions of 60 minutes. The questionnaires were completed before the intervention and one month after the intervention in the three groups. Then, the data were entered into SPSS version 16 software. Analysis of variance, paired t, independent t, and chi-square tests analyzed the data. In all analyses, a significance level of less than 05.0 was considered.
 Results: There was no difference between the three groups regarding age, occupation, and education level. The mean scores of social adaptation after the intervention were 57.47 ± 12.33 and 47.90 ± 5.93 in the ACT and CBT groups, respectively. The variance analysis showed that the mean scores of social adaptation were significantly different in three groups before and after the intervention (P < 0.001). Also, the mean score of social adaptation in the ACT group significantly increased after the intervention compared to before (P = 0.02), but there was no significant difference in the CBT and control groups before and after the intervention. After controlling for social and individual adaptation before the intervention, the variance analysis showed a significant difference in the score of social adaptation between the ACT, CBT, and control groups (P < 0.001). There was also a significant difference in individual adaptation scores between the three groups (P < 0.001).
 Conclusions: Both treatments based on acceptance and commitment and cognitive-behavioral therapy were influential on the individualsocial adaptation of addicts. Nevertheless, the acceptance and commitment therapy approach had a more significant impact on improving the social adaptation of addicts.