The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Anxiety, Depression, and Stress in Patients with Spinal Cord Injuries

Saharalsadat Torabian,Vahid Hemmati Sabet,Farahnaz Meschi

doi:10.15171/icnj.2019.10

Abstract

Background: Since the number of patients with spinal cord injuries is increasing, paying attention to these patients’ psychological problems is a priority. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with spinal cord injuries. Methods: The present study had utilized a single-subject approach in the form of multiple baseline design. The samples were selected using purposive sampling based on convenience sampling method. The statistical population included all patients in Hamadan city with spinal cord injuries who referred to the Shahid Beheshti hospital in this city. The total numbers of them were 181 people in 2016. The researchers informed the patients about the research and presented them with informed consent forms. Among 50 screened patients, five patients (4 males and one female) selected and entered the treatment process: anxiety, depression, and stress measured by Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). Acceptance and commitment therapy conducted in 8 treatment sessions on anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with spinal cord injuries. Results: The results of the graphic and chart analysis, reliable change index (RCI) and the percentage of recovery showed that acceptance and commitment therapy affected anxiety, depression, and stress in the patients with spinal cord injuries. Conclusion: Findings indicated that acceptance and commitment therapy improved people’s mental health by working on acceptance and mindfulness processes and behavior change processes. This therapy decreased anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with spinal cord lesion.

Highlights

When a human accepts something beyond his control, he commits himself to the acts that can improve his or her life quality. This fact can help individuals to initiate a meaningful and prolific life so that he efficiently manipulates and adjusts the pains and pressures which inevitably has entered into his life.[1]. Such commitment and acceptance could take from a type of treatment called acceptance and commitment therapy that is rooted in behavioral therapy and is one of the empirical clinical psychology branches
The research results have designated that acceptance and commitment therapy has a long-lasting effect on depression, anxiety, and stress in patients.[4]
Since the treatment sessions’ mean scores in all five patients were less than the cut-off score, it could be mentioned that the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on patients’ anxiety with spinal cord lesion was clinically significant

Summary

Introduction

When a human accepts something beyond his control, he commits himself to the acts that can improve his or her life quality. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with spinal cord injuries. Acceptance and commitment therapy conducted in 8 treatment sessions on anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with spinal cord injuries. Results: The results of the graphic and chart analysis, reliable change index (RCI) and the percentage of recovery showed that acceptance and commitment therapy affected anxiety, depression, and stress in the patients with spinal cord injuries. Conclusion: Findings indicated that acceptance and commitment therapy improved people’s mental health by working on acceptance and mindfulness processes and behavior change processes. This therapy decreased anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with spinal cord lesion.

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Conclusion