The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Death Anxiety and Mental Health in Women With HIV in Abadan City, Iran

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on death anxiety and mental health in women with HIV in Abadan City, Iran. Methods This study has a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test and control group. A sample of 30 patients referring to Abadan Behavioral Disease Counseling Center in 2015, were randomly assigned to either experimental (n=15) or control group (n=15). The experimental group received 8 sessions of acceptance and commitment treatment in two 90-minute sessions per week. The study data were collected using Templar death anxiety scale and Goldberg general health questionnaire in 3 time points; before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and one and a half months later as the follow-up. The obtained data were analyzed by analysis of covariance in SPSS V. 16. Results The results of covariance analysis showed that acceptance and commitment treatment reduced death anxiety (P<0.001) and increased mental health (P<0.001) in the experimental group compared with the control group at the post-test and follow-up period. Conclusion Acceptance and commitment therapy can be effective in reducing death anxiety and improving the mental health of patients with HIV. Therefore, acceptance and commitment treatment as a complementary therapy along with therapeutic treatments in these patients is recommended to improve the psychological symptoms.