Introduction: Depression negatively impacts quality of life and involves cognitive avoidance, reduced resilience, and rumination. This study evaluates Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as a potential effective intervention to address these cognitive and emotional patterns in individuals with depression.
Methods: This study employed a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test control group design with 40 female patients diagnosed with depression recruited from counseling centers in Ahvaz, Iran, in 2023. Participants were assigned to either an experimental group, which received eight weekly 90-minute sessions of ACT, or a control group that received no intervention. The ACT intervention focused on acceptance, mindfulness, values clarification, and committed action. Outcome measures included the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). All participants provided informed consent prior to participation. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with SPSS version 25.
Results: Results of the study demonstrated that ACT significantly decreased cognitive avoidance and rumination, while simultaneously increasing resilience and self-differentiation in the experimental group compared to the control group (P<0.001).
Conclusion: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of ACT in addressing cognitive and emotional patterns associated with depression, including cognitive avoidance, diminished resilience, and rumination. By providing strategies for managing negative thoughts and behaviors, ACT shows promise as a beneficial intervention for improving the mental health and well-being of women with depression. These findings have important implications for clinical practice, indicating that ACT can be a valuable tool for clinicians seeking to address the core symptoms and underlying processes of depression in women.