Acceptance and Commitment Based Therapy on Disease Perception and Psychological Capital in Patients with Type II Diabetes

Aims: As a prevalent metabolic disease, diabetes can be followed by severe mental outcomes leading to problems affecting the daily life. The aim of the study was to determine the effects of acceptance and commitment-based intervention on illness perception and psychological capital in persons with type II diabetes.

Materials & Methods: In the controlled pretest-posttest semi-experimental study, 34 patients with type II diabetes were studied in the Diabetes Clinic of Chamran Hospital of Ferdows City in 2015. The subjects, selected via available sampling method, were randomly divided into two groups including control (n=17 persons) and experimental (n=17 persons) groups. Data was collected by short illness perception questionnaire (IPQ) and Luthans’ psychological capital questionnaire (PCQ). Eight 60-minute acceptance and commitment-base intervention sessions were weekly conducted in experimental group. Data was analyzed by SPSS 18 software using descriptive statistics and covariance analysis test.

Findings: The pretest score having been adjusted, the acceptance and commitment-based intervention significantly increases the scores of illness perception and its sub-scales (p=0.0001) except the personal control sub-scale. In addition, it significantly increases the scores of the psychological capital and its sub-scales (p=0.0001) in patients with type II diabetes.

Conclusion: The acceptance and commitment-based intervention can considerably improve the illness perception and the psychological capital in persons with type II diabetes.