Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Self-care and Psychological Capital of Patients with Diabetes

Acceptance and commitment therapy has been used as one of the effective methods for the treatment and reduction of psychological symptoms of chronic diseases, such as diabetes. The present study aimed to determine the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on the self-care and psychological capital of patients with diabetes.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted based on a pre-test-post-test control group design and follow-up period (3months). For this purpose, 30 people with type 2 diabetes who had a medical record in Shahrekord Diabetes Association were selected using purposive sampling and randomly assigned to two groups of experimental and control (n=15 in each group). The data collection tools included a self-care questionnaire and psychological capital which were completed by the participants. Finally, the data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 20).

The results showed a significant difference in psychological capital between the two study groups in the post-test and follow-up stages (P<0.05). Moreover, the difference between the self-care of the two groups in the post-test and follow-up stages was significant (P<0.05). Furthermore, the effect of the intervention was stable in the experimental group, and there was a significant difference between the groups (P<0.05).

As evidenced by the results of this study, it can be concluded that the use of acceptance and commitment therapy, along with medical therapies, can enhance self-care capacity and psychological capital in diabetes patients.