Comparing the Effectiveness of Compassion Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Body Image in Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Chronic pain can change the body image in patients with musculoskeletal pain.  The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of compassion therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy on the body image in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Method and Materials:

 This study is a semi-experimental research in nature with an unequal control group and pretest/post-test-follow-up , which was conducted in 2023. The statistical population of this research included all patients with musculoskeletal pain in Tehran. The sample of this study included 45 patients with musculoskeletal pain whose scores were low on the body image scale which were selected by convenience sampling method. These people were divided into two groups of experimental and control and one group of control (15 participants in each group). For intervention group eight 90-minute sessions of compassion therapy and for control group nine 90-minute sessions of acceptance and commitment therapy were held weekly Body image questionnaire was completed by all three groups pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages. The data were analyzed with SPSS software version 26.

The analysis of covariance with repeated measurements indicated there is no significant difference between experimental groups of compassion therapy and acceptance / commitment therapy (P<0.05), but both experimental groups were significantly different from the control group (P=0.001).

It seems, compassion therapy and acceptance / commitment therapy can improve body image in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.