Comparison of the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Logotherapy on the Psychological Well-being and Death Anxiety of Women with AIDS

In addition to addressing the physical problems of patients with AIDS, special attention should be paid to their psychological problems, and one of the best ways is to use psychological interventions. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and logotherapy (LT) on psychological well-being and death anxiety in patients with AIDS.

This semi-experimental study was performed based on a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with a control group. The study population consisted of all women with AIDS in Tabriz who referred to medical clinics in Tabriz in 2019. In total, 30 women were selected using the purposive sampling method who were randomly divided into three groups. Members of both experimental groups received their treatment in eight 1.5-h sessions. The findings were analyzed through repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc test.

In the pre-test stage, the mean values of psychological well-being and death anxiety of the ACT group were 45.8±6.6 and 10.1±2.2, respectively. Furthermore, in the LT group, the mean values of psychological well-being and death anxiety were 44.0±5.1 and 9.9±2.2, respectively. Moreover, in the control group, the mean values of psychological well-being and death anxiety were 43.3±6.4 and 10.2±2.3, respectively. Based on the results, in the post-test stage, the ACT and LT increased the psychological well-being and reduced the death anxiety in AIDS patients, compared to the control group (P<0.001). In the follow-up phase, the effects of ACT and LT on psychological well-being and death anxiety persisted (P<0.001). The results also showed that the effects of ACT and LT on psychological well-being and death anxiety during the post-test and follow-up stages were not different (P>0.05).

The ACT and LT are likely to lead the AIDS patients to the acceptance of the disease and conscious exposure to the death anxiety. Therefore, it can help them to better cope with the disease and also increased their psychological well-being.