The effectiveness of commitment-based acceptance therapy on flexibility and perfectionism of physical appearance in body deformity disorder

Body deformity disorder is a chronic and distressing condition that can lead to severe social, occupational, educational and family problems. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of commitment-based acceptance treatment on flexibility and perfectionism of physical appearance in body deformity disorder.

In a quasi-experimental study of pre-test-post-test-follow-up designs with a control group, 30 female students with deformity who are studying at the Islamic Azad University of Tehran University of Medical Sciences during the months of November to January 2017 were selected by available sampling method. Subjects were then randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups through Excel Office software. The experimental group (n = 15) underwent commitment-based admission treatment for 8 weekly sessions of 90 minutes each session. The flexibility questionnaire and the Physical Appearance Perfectionism Questionnaire (PAPS) were collected in three baseline stages after quarterly intervention and follow-up. Data were entered in SPSS statistical software version 21 and analyzed using repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance.

The results showed that the group undergoing commitment-based acceptance treatment, the mean score of flexibility and perfectionism of physical appearance was significantly lower than the control group (P <0.001).

The results of this study showed that commitment-based acceptance therapy can be effective in improving the perfectionism of physical appearance and flexibility in students with deformity.