The Effectiveness of Integrative Acceptance and Commitment and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (ACT-CBT) on Reduction of Craving and relapse Prediction in Addicts Introducing Dezful Addiction Treatment Centers

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the combined treatment of acceptance and commitment and cognitive-behavioral (ACT-CBT) on the temptation to use and prevent relapse in addicts representing Dezful addiction treatment centers.

The present study is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design and a control and follow-up group. The statistical population of this study included all self-reported addicts to Dezful addiction treatment centers. To conduct the research, the first two Dezful addiction treatment centers were selected and the research plan was justified for the managers of the centers, and they announced their readiness to cooperate in conducting the research. Using the random sampling method, 30 self-reported addicts of these centers (15 people in each center) were selected and after performing the pre-test, based on the obtained scores, into two homogeneous groups (15 people tested and 15 witnesses) were divided. Then a meeting was held to explain the goals of the research and to attract their participation and obtain their informed consent to participate in the research. Inclusion criteria include willingness and satisfaction to participate in the study, masculinity, no acute or chronic psychological and psychiatric disorders, non-participation in parallel treatment during the study, and exit criteria include non-cooperation, non-performance of homework provided In sessions and absences there were more than two sessions in treatment sessions. The experimental and control groups answered the tempting beliefs questionnaire and the return prediction scale in the pre-test stage. Then, the experimental group was trained by an experienced therapist (with 10 years of experience in training and treatment) in 10 sessions of 60 minutes (one session per week) based on the protocol of integrated cognitive-behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment. The control group did not receive any treatment during this period. At the end of the treatment sessions, the experimental and control groups answered the tempting beliefs questionnaire and the return prediction scale again in the post-test and follow-up stages (two months later). To analyze the data, in this research, the following statistical methods have been used using SPSS-20 software:1) Descriptive statistics such as frequency table and percentage and column chart, mean and standard deviation; 2) Inferential statistics including Leon test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, independent t-test and ANCOVA analysis of covariance. In addition, for all hypotheses, a significance level of a= 0.05 has been considered.

The results showed that the combination of acceptance, commitment, and cognitive-behavioral therapy had a significant effect on reducing the temptation to use and preventing relapse (desire and likelihood of use) in self-reported addicts in the experimental group compared to the control group. These results also remained in the follow-up phase.

The results showed that the combination therapy of acceptance and cognitive-behavioral commitment is an effective strategy to reduce the temptation to use and prevent recurrence in self-reported addicts and can be used as an effective treatment.