Effect of Acceptance and Commitment-based Group Therapy on Existential Anxiety, Distress Tolerance, and Meta-worry in Elderly Women with Cardiovascular Disease in Mehr Hospital of Ahvaz City in 2018

Elderly women with cardiovascular disease have major problems in psychological health. One of the intervention methods for reducing psychological issues is acceptance and commitment therapy. As a result, the present research aimed to determine the effect of acceptance and commitment-based group therapy on existential anxiety, distress tolerance, and meta-worry in elderly women with cardiovascular disease.

This study was a semi-experimental pre-test/post-test design with a control group. From the elderly women with cardiovascular disease referred to Mehr hospital of Ahvaz city in 2018, 40 people were selected by the available method and then randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group was trained 10 sessions of 60 minutes with group therapy based on acceptance and commitment method. Data were collected by questionnaires of existential anxiety, distress tolerance, and meta-worry; then, they were analyzed by t-tests and multivariate analysis of covariance.

In the pre-test, there was no significant difference in existential anxiety, distress tolerance, and meta-worry (p>0/05); however, in the post-test, there was a significant difference in the three variables (p<0/001). In other words, the group therapy based on acceptance and commitment method led to decrease existential anxiety plus meta-worry and increase distress tolerance in elderly women with cardiovascular disease (p<0/001).

The results indicated that acceptance and commitment-based group therapy decreased existential anxiety plus meta-worry and increased distress tolerance. Therefore, clinical psychologists and therapists perhaps can use this treatment along with other therapeutic methods for intervention in existential anxiety, distress tolerance, and meta-worry.