Effectiveness of Group Psychotherapy Based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Difficultes Emotion Regulation and Distress Tolerance in Substance Abusers

Background & Objective: Today, third wave therapy in psychotherapy, instead of a challenge with cognition, emphasizes the awareness and acceptance of emotions, cognition, and behaviors. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the effectiveness of group psychotherapy based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on the degree of difficulties emotion regulation and distress tolerance of substance abusers. Materials & Methods: This research, which was conducted in 2017-18, was quasi-experimental and a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with the control group were used. The statistical population of this study is all abusers of materials referring to addiction treatment centers in Kermanshah. The sample consisted of 40 people, who were selected by convenience sampling method. They were divided into experimental (n=20) and control group (n=20 ACT was performed on the experimental group for 10 sessions. Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scales and distress tolerance were completed in 3 stages including before intervention, after the intervention, and follow-up 3 months later by all participants. The data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA with SPSS 20. Results: There was a significant difference in the difficulty in emotional regulation and distress tolerance after intervention between the experimental and control groups (p<0.01). There was also a significant difference between the mean scores of difficulty in emotional regulation and distress tolerance before, after intervention, and follow-up in the experimental group (p<0.001). Conclusion: ACT has a significant effect on reducing the difficulty in emotional regulation and increasing the distress tolerance of abusers.