Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Psychological Distress, Marital Satisfaction and Quality of Life in Women with Multiple Sclerosis

Psychological factors play a major role in the escalation and relapse. Because Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic disease which is the leading cause of many psychological problems. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on psychological distress, marital satisfaction and quality of life in women with multiple sclerosis.
This research was a quasi-experimental and pretest-posttest study design using control group for follow up. Among all women with Multiple Sclerosis at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Iran, 24 MS patients with relapsing-remitting were selected through convenience sampling and they were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups respect to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Then, experimental group went under 8 treatment sessions of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. During this period, the control group did not receive any intervention. Both groups were evaluated before and after treatment and at follow-up with QOL questionnaire, psychological distress and marital satisfaction questionnaires. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and inferential statistics including mixed analysis of variance (p The mean age in the experimental and control groups respectively, were 30±9.64 and 29± 10.25 years, and the mean of infection in intervention and control groups respectively, were 5±6.61 and 4±6.12 years. Both groups of patients were married and had relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis. The results showed that average of variables such ad psychological distress, marital satisfaction and quality of life increased while; control group was not observed this trend. Also, mixed analysis of variance indicated that acceptance and commitment therapy resulted in a significant reduction in psychological distress, enhance the quality of life and marital satisfaction in women with Multiple Sclerosis, The effects lasted for up to three months after treatment.
According to the present study results and impact of psychological factors in process of MS, it is suggested that acceptance and commitment therapy should be used to improve the situation of women who suffering from Multiple Sclerosis.