Comparing the effectiveness of online acceptance and commitment therapy and behavioral activation therapy on repetitive negative thinking in obsessive patients

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of online acceptance and commitment therapy and behavioral activation therapy on repetitive negative thinking in obsessive patients. 

In this study, 45 obsessive-compulsive patients who were referred to psychotherapy clinics in Mashhad city, Iran in 2020 were selected and randomly divided into 3 equal groups (2 experimental groups and one control group). They responded to McEvoy et al. (2010) and the obsessive-compulsive disorder questionnaire of Maudsley (1997). The first experimental group underwent eight sessions of an online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and the second experimental group underwent eight sessions of ninety-minute group behavioral activation therapy. The control group did not receive any intervention. The data analyzed through descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Chi-square tests, Shapiro-Wilk test, repeated measures analysis of variance, and SPSS software version 22.

The results showed that the mean of negative thinking in the ACT group and behavioral activation in the post-test was significantly decreased (P< 0.05). In the ACT group, the effect of intervention was persistent in the follow-up. 

The results showed that both therapies were effective on repetitive negative thinking in obsessive-compulsive individuals, but online ACT intervention was significantly more effective than behavioral activation therapy.