Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Promote Value Attainment Among Individuals with overweight: A multiple baseline evaluation

Although overweight is typically associated with lower quality of life, weight loss in itself does not necessarily improve quality of life. Therefore, there is an increase of studies investigating the effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to promote values-based behavior among people with overweight. However, few have evaluated the use of brief self-help interventions with minimal therapist support. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact with regard to value attainment related to health and weight related experiential avoidance as well as the acceptability of a self-help intervention based on ACT with therapist support via telephone. A single subject multiple baseline design with temporal staggering and randomization of treatment onset was used. Participants with overweight or obesity (n = 13, 100% women) with a mean age of 42 (SD = 13.79) were recruited through social media. The intervention consisted of a workbook and weekly telephone support during a 3-week treatment period. Primary and secondary outcome measures were collected daily and before, after and at 3-months follow up. Results indicate that the intervention improved daily ratings of value attainment related to health among seven participants and reduced experiential avoidance among five of the participants. Effect sizes for those who improved were medium to large. Remaining participants did not improve with regard to the primary outcomes. Moreover, results indicate that the intervention was associated with acceptable adherence and treatment satisfaction. Future studies are needed in order to understand more about for what types of clients a brief self-help ACT intervention may be helpful to improve values based behavior.

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