Efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for psychological distress in patients with systemic lupus erythematous

Background: Prolonged physical  illnesses and  resultant  health conditions  may  give rise  to  mental health  problems  and psychological distress. Aim: To  see  the  efficacy of  Acceptance  and Commitment  Therapy  (ACT) for  patients suffering  from Systemic  Lupus Erythematous. Study Design: Randomized Control Trials. Methodology: A purposive sample of forty adult patients with a mean age of 29.25 years (SD= 6.37) suffering from SLE were enrolled for the research after their signed written informed consent. The sample was drawn from two public hospitals with the prior  permission of authorities. Randomized Control  Trials  were carried  out  on forty  patients  with SLE  after  the random assignment to the experimental group and control group. Pre and post-treatment assessment was completed with the help of a demographic questionnaire, medical history Performa and psychological distress scale. Results: Equal number of men and women were included in the present research. Most of the participants' education level was matric and  they  belong to  middle socioeconomic status.  Results  indicated that ACT significantly contributed  to  the reduction  of psychological  distress among  the  patients of  the  experimental group  p<0.01  i.e. 0.00, (M=19.85,  SD=2.27);  suggesting a decrease  in  the level  of  psychological distress  with  a large  effect  size whereas no  significant  difference in  pre  and post-test scores of control group p>0.05 i.e. 0.66, was observed. Conclusion: It was concluded that ACT proved an efficacious mode of treatment for psychological distress in patients with SLE.