The effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on cognitive fusion, symptoms of anxiety, and quality of life in the female patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) decreases the quality of life of the patients. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on cognitive fusion, cognitive and anxiety symptoms, and quality of life in the female patients with MS.

50 female patients with MS were randomly assigned to receive ACT and life skills training (LSE). ACT treatment was performed for 8 consecutive weeks and each session was 90 minutes for the intervention group. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and SPSS-24 software.

Variance analysis showed no significant difference between the two ACT and LSE groups in terms of changes in cognitive fusion, physical symptoms of anxiety, cognitive symptoms of anxiety and quality of life and the score of all variables was significantly decreased in the two groups (P<0.05). Also, there was a significant relationship between time and cognitive fusion (F=11.38, P<0.001), physical symptoms of anxiety (F=5.62, P<0.01), cognitive anxiety symptoms (F=7.17, P<0.006), and quality of life (F=4.17, P<0.01) conveying that over time the above variables were changed.

Based on this study, ACT therapy can be used to treat and reduce cognitive fusion, cognitive and physical symptoms of anxiety, and improve the quality of life female patients with MS.