Comparison of the Effectiveness of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy with Logotherapy on the Quality of Life & Demoralization Syndrome of Women with AIDS

  In addition to addressing the physical problems of patients with AIDS, special attention should be paid to their psychological problems, the best of which is using psychological interventions. Therefore, this study aims to compare the efficacy of acceptance & commitment therapy & logotherapy on quality of life & demoralization syndrome in patients with AIDS.

This study was semi-experimental with a pretest-posttest control group design. The population of this study consisted of all women with AIDS referred to medical clinics in Tabriz in 2019. In total, 30 women were selected by purposive sampling method, who were randomly divided into three groups. Members of both experimental groups received their treatment, respectively, in 8 sessions of 1.5 hours; however, the control group did not receive any treatment.

In the pretest, the mean and standard deviation for the quality of life & demoralization syndrome was 39/90±4/77 & 44/80±6/64 in acceptance & commitment therapy group, 38/40±4/57 & 45/00±6/65 in the logotherapy group, and 40/70±4/11 & 45/70±5/65 in the control group, respectively (p<0.518 and p<0.946). The results showed that acceptance & commitment therapy and logotherapy compared to the control group in the posttest led to increased quality of life & reduced demoralization syndrome in AIDS patients (p<0.001). In the follow-up phase, the effect of acceptance & commitment therapy and logotherapy on the quality of life and demoralization syndrome persisted (p<0.001). The results further showed that the effect of acceptance & commitment therapy and logotherapy on the quality of life and demoralization syndrome at posttest and follow up was not different (p<0.05).

Acceptance & commitment therapy and logotherapy are likely to increase acceptance, thus increasing the quality of life in AIDS patients and reducing their demoralization syndrome.