The Effects of Schema Conceptualization-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Patience and Psychological Symptoms in Married Women WithAnxiety

Anxiety symptoms include various anxiety, panic, worry, restlessness, and fear that require early diagnosis and intervention. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) using Schema Conceptualization (SC) on patience and psychological symptoms in married women with anxiety symptoms.

This was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test and a control group. The statistical population consisted of all married women referring to the Education Counseling Center of Birjand City, Iran, in 2019. Among the individuals who received anxiety scores >30 in the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), based on a simple random sampling method, 30 subjects were selected; they were placed in two experimental and control groups. To collect the necessary data, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), the BAI, and the Patience Scale was used. Data analysis was performed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA).

The ANCOVA results indicated that ACT using SC effectively increased patience (P=0.001) and decreased psychological symptoms (P=0.002) in the explored subjects with anxiety symptoms. There was a significant difference between patience and the post-test scores of depression, anxiety, and stress in the experimental and control groups.

The present research results suggested that ACT using SC was effective on patience and psychological symptoms in women with anxiety symptoms.