Comparison of the Effectiveness of Positive Thinking Group Training and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Psychological Well-being and Risky Behaviors of Patients with HIV

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of positive thinking group training and acceptance and commitment therapy on psychological well-being and risky behaviors of patients with HIV.

A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest research method was used with a control group. Accordingly, 45 HIV patients, referring to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, were selected and randomly assigned to groups 1-3, including positive thinking (n=15), ACT (n=15), and control (n=15) groups, respectively. Scales of Psychological Well-being by Ryff (1989) and Risk Behaviors Standard Scale (2010) were administered for all three groups (pretest). Subsequently, the participants of the experimental groups attended eight 90-minute sessions of group training.  The posttest was performed two weeks after training. Multivariate and univariate analyses of variance (MANCOVA and ANCOVA) were used to analyze the data.

The results showed that positive thinking group training was effective in promoting psychological well-being and reducing high-risk behaviors. The results also demonstrated that acceptance and commitment therapy was effective in promoting psychological well-being and reducing high-risk behaviors. According to the findings, there was no significant difference between the effectiveness of positive thinking group training and acceptance and commitment therapy on psychological well-being and risky behaviors of people living with HIV (p >0.05).

Both educational interventions (positive thinking and ACT approach) can increase psychological well-being and reduce high-risk behaviors of HIV+ patients, and there was no significant difference between the two intervention approaches. Therefore, both approaches have beneficial effects on improving the quality of life among people living with HIV.