The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Psychological Flexibility of Substance-Dependent Women

Abstract

Background: Addiction as one of the crises in the current century has affected all societies and is one of the most harmful and common phenomena in the family system. Addiction is the cause of many social, familial, and personal disabilities. Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on the psychological flexibility of drug-dependent women. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population included female drug addicts attending addiction treatment camps in Zahedan, who had undergone detoxification. Using a single stage cluster sampling method, 27 drug-dependent women were selected and allocated randomly in either experimental (13 subjects) or control (n = 14) groups. The Dennis cognitive flexibility inventory (CFI) was used in the pre-test and post-test and the data were analyzed using multivariate covariance analysis in the SPSS version 23 software. Results: The results of the study showed that acceptance and commitment therapy increased psychological flexibility and its dimensions (alternatives, control, and perceived ability) in the experimental group when compared to the control group at the post-test stage (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Group-based acceptance and commitment treatment is effective in increasing the psychological flexibility of drug-dependent women. This method can be effective in reducing the psychological problems of addicts and decrease their tendency to return to substance use. Therefore, the use of this therapeutic approach is recommended to improve the health status of addicted women.