THE EFFECTIVENESS OF WEB-BASED ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY INTERVENTIONS ON PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AND MINDFULNESS IN PREGNANT WOMEN IN URMIA : A CLINICAL TRIAL STUDY

Although pregnancy is the most critical and cheerful experience in women's lives, hormone changes affect their physical and mental health. Meanwhile, the psychological distress of pregnant women is an expression of emotional suffering that is explained by the symptoms of depression and anxiety, and mindfulness in the sense of an open, non-judgmental attitude and paying full attention to the present moment can help a person adapt to difficult conditions. So, the challenging nature of these problems would be considered a crucial public health concern. Therefore, this research aimed to determine the effectiveness of web-based acceptance and commitment therapy on psychological distress and mindfulness in pregnant women.

This research clinical trial with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with a control group was conducted from February to March 2023. Fifty pregnant women referred to Urmia's health centers were selected by available sampling and randomly allocated to two groups (25 control and 25 intervention). The intervention group received eight online individual psychotherapy sessions from March to June 2023 and was followed up again in July 2023. Kessler's standard psychological distress, Brown and Bryan's mindfulness questionnaires, and demographic data were used to collect data. The data was analyzed using a statistical variance analysis method with repeated measurements and SPSS version 22 software.

The results indicate that the intervention group's mean psychological distress and mindfulness at the beginning of the study was 25.84 and 51.60, and it changed to 23.76 and 61.16 at the end of the study. At the same time, there was no significant change in the control group. So, web-based acceptance and commitment therapy was effective in the psychological distress and mindfulness of patients (P<0.05).

Web-based acceptance and commitment therapy increases psychological flexibility in people and creates an atmosphere for them to let the challenges go to control their unpleasant thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and emotions. They chose to take a step to achieve their goals and values for life. Therefore, Web-based acceptance and commitment therapy led to a decrease in psychological distress and an increase in mindfulness in pregnant women.