Comparison of the Effectiveness of Group Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Self-Worth, Resilience and Emotion Regulation among Women with Obesity in Amol City

Overweight and obesity are associated with many psychological symptoms. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of group therapy based on acceptance and commitment and cognitive-behavioral group therapy on self-esteem, resilience, and emotion regulation among women with obesity in Amol

The method of this research was quasi-experimental with pre-test-post-test design and two-month follow-up-period with the control group. 75 women with obesity who met the inclusion criteria were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to three equal groups (two experimental groups and one control group). Acceptance and commitment group therapy sessions and cognitive-behavioral group therapy sessions were held once a week in twelve 90-minute sessions. The instruments used in this study were a self-esteem questionnaire, a resilience questionnaire and the short-form emotion regulation questionnaire. Data were analyzed by analysis of covariance using SPSS software version 22.

The mean (SD) age of participants in the acceptance and commitment therapy group was (6.6) 38.9, in the cognitive-behavioral therapy group (6.2) 37.7, and in the control group (6.5) 38.4 years. In the acceptance and commitment treatment group, the mean (SD) of self-worth increased from (4.4) 138 in the pre-test to (5.3) 149.5 in the post-test and (4.8) 149.9 increased in the follow-up stage (P <0.001) and in the group of cognitive-behavioral therapy from (5.3) 138.1 in the pre-test to (5.4) 143.9 post-test and (5.2) 143.5 increased in the follow-up stage (P<0.001), but in the control group from (4.5) 137.8 in the pre-test to (4.5) 139.3 post-test and (3.4) 139.2 in the follow-up stage, the difference was not significant. In the acceptance and commitment treatment group, the mean (SD) of resilience increased from (4.7) 65.7 in the pre-test to (4.9) 74.7 in the post-test and (5.1) 74.4 in the follow-up stage it increased (P<0.001) and in the cognitive-behavioral therapy group from(4.7) 65.9 in the pre-test to (4.5) 72.8 post-test and (4.3) 73.6 increased in the follow-up stage (P<0.001) but in the control group from (4.6) 65.8 in the pre-test to (4.7) 67.7 post-test and (4.7) 67.8 at the follow-up stage, the difference was not significant. In the acceptance and commitment therapy group, the mean (SD) of emotion regulation increased from (4.7) 26.9 in the pre-test to (4.9) 34.7 in the post-test and (4.9) 33.7 in the follow-up stage increased (P<0.001) and in the cognitive-behavioral therapy group from (2.5) 27.1 in the pre-test to (5.3) 33 post-test and (5.3) 32.3 in the stage follow-up increased (P<0.001) but in thecontrol group from (5.7) 26.8 in the pre-test to (5.7) 28.6 post-test and (5.3) 28.4 in the follow-up stage. It turned out that the difference was not significant. The findings confirmed that acceptance and commitment-based group therapy was significantlymore effective than cognitive-behavioral group therapy on self-worth (p=0.002). However, for resilience (p=0.418) and emotion regulation (p=0.152), no significant difference had been found.

The study showed that acceptance-based therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy increase self-esteem, resilience, and emotion regulation in obese women. There was no significant difference between the two treatments in terms of resilience and emotion regulation. However, acceptance and commitment therapy had a more significant effect than cognitive-behavioral therapy in terms of self-esteem.