The Efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Psychological Resilience in Women with Substance Use Disorder

Drug addiction, defined as a chronic brain disease, leads to worse physical and psychological content that makes the most damaging impact on the family system.

This study investigated the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on psychological resilience in women dependent on drugs.

A semi-trial design study was done by a pre-test/post-test and the control group. The statistical population of this study was drug abuser women who bedded in addiction treatment camps in Zahedan and got detoxification. The single-stage cluster was sampling method; twenty-seven females were randomly divided into the trial (n = 13) and control groups (n = 14). Resilience questionnaire (CFI) was developed by Connor and Davidson in 2003, which comprised of 25 items.

There was a significant change in the interpersonal competence, negative affective tolerance, and spiritual effects in the post-test in the experimental group compared with the control group. According to the Eta coefficients report, the most effective one was the imagination of individual competence, with the effect and difference equal to 34% in post-test scores, which is the effect of ACT.

Acceptance and commitment program appears to be an effective therapeutic intervention in improving psychological resilience in drug abuser women. As such, it is suggested that therapists should use ACT to promote significant psychological resilience along with medical treatments for drug abuser women that need critical care of their psychological functioning.