The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Education with an Attitude of Islamic Concepts on Impulsive Decision Making and Cognitive Flexibility of Women Drug Users

The aim of this study was the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment based on education with emphasis on Islamic concepts on impulsive decision making and cognitive flexibility of addicted women.

The research method was quasi-experimental of pretest, posttest and follow-up design with control group. The statistical population included all women using drugs referred to addiction treatment clinics in Mashhad in 2018. Thirty people were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received 8 sessions of acceptance and commitment treatment with an attitude towards Islamic sources. Data were collected using questionnaires of impulsivity and cognitive flexibility and analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance.

The results showed that acceptance and commitment training with an attitude towards Islamic sources significantly increased cognitive flexibility and reduced impulsive decision making in the experimental group compared to the control group and these results remained stable in the two-month follow-up.

This study provides empirical support for acceptance and commitment therapy with an attitude towards Islamic sources, to reduce impulsive decision making and increase cognitive flexibility of addicted women.