Effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on psychological well-being and quality of life among individuals living with HIV
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Abstract
Background: Psychiatric issues are notably common among individuals with HIV, heavily impacting the overall quality of life and the success of their treatment. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a recent cognitivebehavioural therapy that puts great emphasis on psychological flexibility. However, while the model has been extensively studied in clinical settings, research on its application for psychological well-being and quality of life among individuals with HIV remains limited.
Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on psychological well-being and quality of life among individuals living with HIV.
Materials and methods: A total of 55 individuals with HIV met the inclusion criteria, from which 33 individuals with HIV provided consent to participate in the study. Before the randomization of the groups, 3 participants were dropped out of the study due to relocation from their living facility. The remaining 30 individuals with HIV were selected and assigned to either the experimental group (N=15) or the control group (N=15) through simple randomization using the lottery method in which participants retrieved sequentially numbered opaque sealed envelopes. The quality of life and psychological well-being were assessed using the WHOQOL HIV-BREF and Ryff’s psychological well-being scale. The experimental group received Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, while the control group underwent conventional occupational therapy for three months. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 23.0, with paired and independent t-tests applied.
Results: Post-test scores showed statistically significant improvements in the experimental group than in the control group in both quality of life (p<0.001) and psychological well-being (p<0.001). The results of this study showed that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy was effective in enhancing both quality of life and psychological well-being among individuals with HIV.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy effectively enhanced quality of life and psychological well-being of Individuals living with HIV positive following intervention in experimental group.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Personal views expressed by the contributors in their articles are not necessarily those of the Journal of Associated Medical Sciences, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiang Mai University.
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