Effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy in improving interpersonal problems, quality of life, and worry in patients with body dysmorphic disorder
Maryam Akbari Dehbaneh 1 *
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1 Ma, Clinical Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Rasht branch, Rasht, Iran* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Background:
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a relatively common yet understudied disorder of perceived flaws in one’s appearance.

Aims:
To evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in improving interpersonal problems, quality of life, and worry in patients with BDD.

Methods:
This was a single-case research with multiple baseline design. Six eligible cases were recruited from among the clients of a cosmetic center in Tehran city during 2015–16. Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder, the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, WHOQOL-BREF, and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire were used for data collection. The intervention included 8 weekly sessions of acceptance and commitment therapy. Data were collected before intervention, after 4th session, after intervention, and 3-month follow-up. Descriptive statistics was used for data analysis by using SPSS 22.

Results:
Mean score for interpersonal problems decreased from 65 at pre-intervention to 39 at 3-month follow-up, and that for worry decreased from 59 to 33. All domains of quality of life increased at 3-month follow-up compared with pre-intervention: physical domain increased from 41 to 75, psychological domain from 36 to 72, social domain from 32 to 75, and environment domain from 41 to 73.

Conclusion:
ACT can be considered an effective approach to improving interpersonal problems, quality of life, and worry in patients with BDD.

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Original Article

ELECTRON J GEN MED, 2019, Volume 16, Issue 1, Article No: em105

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejgm/93468

Publication date: 28 Dec 2018

Online publication date: 15 Jul 2018

Article Views: 2935

Article Downloads: 4594

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