Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Management Based on Mindfulness and Treatment Based on Acceptance and Commitment on Psychological Well-being in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Multiple sclerosis is one of the most important disabling neurological diseases in adults, particularly in youths in which the myelin sheaths in central nervous system (CNS) are destroyed. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral management based on mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy on psychological well-being in multiple sclerosis patients. The research method was semi-experimental and the research design was three groups with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. The statistical population of the study consisted of all women with MS in Sari in 2016, and the sample consisted of 45 individuals who were randomly assigned to three groups of 15. In the implementation of the research, the control group did not receive any intervention, while the other two groups were the experimental ones, one of which received cognitive-behavioral management stress based on mindfulness and the other group received acceptance and commitment treatment for 8 sessions. To assess psychological well-being, Ryff and Keyes (1995) psychological well-being questionnaires were used . The research data were analyzed using ANOVA with repeated measures analysis via SPSS-24 software. The results showed that both cognitive-behavioral management based on mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy have led to an increase in the total score of psychological well-being and its six components (p<0.001). The results of Bonferroni's post hoc test for the comparison of couples in groups showed that cognitive-behavioral management stress based on mindfulness rather than the one based on acceptance and commitment has had a greater impact on both post-test and follow-up on the total score of psychological well-being and autonomy components, environmental mastery, purposeful life, and personal growth (p<0.001). The results emphasize the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral management based on mindfulness on psychological well-being in women with multiple sclerosis. This approach can be used forthe cognitive-behavioral management based on mindfulness as an effective treatment to improve the psychological well-being of women with MS.