The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Psychological Symptoms, Quality of Life and Stress in Patients with Physical Symptoms Disorder

This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of treatment based on acceptance and commitment on psychological symptoms, quality of life and stress in patients with physical symptoms disorder. The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of people with physical symptoms who referred to psychological counseling centers in West Tehran in 2001, and 30 people were selected by purposive sampling and placed in two experimental and control groups (15 people in each group). The research tools were questionnaires on psychological symptoms by Najarian and Davoudi (2010), quality of life by War et al. (1993) and perceived stress by Cohen et al. (1983). The research data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance test. The findings showed that the treatment based on acceptance and commitment is effective on psychological symptoms, quality of life and stress in patients with physical symptoms disorder. The results of the research indicate that treatment based on acceptance and commitment by using cognitive skills leads to a reduction in psychological symptoms, perceived stress and an increase in the quality of life of patients with physical symptoms.