Comparing the Effectiveness of Narrative Therapy and ACT, in Quality of Life and Existential Anxiety on Elders

The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of narrative therapy and acceptance & commitment therapy, on quality of life and existential anxiety on elders. This study was of an experimental design with random assignment (pre-test and post-test with control group) Type .The population included older adults residing at nursing homes. Thirty of elders were selected in a form of cluster sampling. They were randomly assigned into 3 groups of 10 members. Then they passed pre-test, by using of (WHO) quality of life questionnaire and Good's existential anxiety inventory. Afterward the first experimental group received narrative group therapy and the second experimental group received acceptance and commitment group therapy, while no intervention was administered to the control group. Compared to the control group the findings of repeated measurements-MANCOVA revealed that, NT and ACT led to an improved quality of life (p<0.01) and reduction of existential anxiety (p<0.01) on elders. Both therapics, significantly had the same effectiveness in quality of life (p>0.05) and existential anxiety (p>0.05) on elders. According to the results, both narrative and acceptance & commitment therapies were suitable for increasing quality of life and reducing existential anxiety on elderly people.