The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy on Cognitive Fusion and Self-care Behaviors in Patients with type 2 Diabetes

Promoting self-management behaviors and controlling cognitive factors such as cognitive fusion in patients with diabetes is one of the most important goals of psychotherapy interventions and programs in these patients. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment group therapy based on cognitive fusion and self-care behaviors in patients with type 2 diabetes.

This was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test-post-test design and a control group with a follow-up period. The statistical population included all patients with type 2 diabetes referred to the diabetes clinic of Dey Hospital in Tehran, Iran in 2021. Forty eligible individuals were selected by available sampling method and randomly assigned into two groups (20 experimental and 20 controls). The experimental group participated in 8 sessions of acceptance and commitment therapy developed by Hayes et al. (2011), but the control group was on the waiting list. Data collection tools were cognitive fusion questionnaire (CFQ; Gillanders et al., 2014) and Diabetes Self-Care Activities Questionnaire (Toobert & Glasgow, 1994).

The acceptance and commitment therapy was effective in reducing cognitive fusion (p<0.01) and increasing self-care behaviors (p<0.01) in patients with type 2 diabetes and these results continued in the follow-up period (p<0.01).

The current findings showed that the use of acceptance and commitment group therapy is associated with reduced cognitive fusion and improved self-care behaviors of patients with type 2 diabetes. Therefore, it can be used as a complementary therapy to improve the psychological status of these patients.