The Effectiveness of Treatment Based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Psychological Capital, Weight and Fat Mass in Obese Women

Mehdi  Tavallaei; Motahareh  Hesarki Sharq; Maryam  Seyhoon; Negin  Tahvilian; Mahdieh  Hosseinzadeh

doi:10.18502/tbj.v23i4.17044

Mehdi Tavallaei Assistant Professor of Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Non-Profit Institute of Higher Education Imam Javad, Yazd, Iran.
Motahareh Hesarki Sharq Master of General Psychology, Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Imam Javad Non-Profit Higher Education Institute, Yazd, Iran.
Maryam Seyhoon Master of Nutritional Sciences, Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Health, Shahid Sadougi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran
Negin Tahvilian Ph.D. student of Nutrition Sciences, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadougi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran.
Mahdieh Hosseinzadeh Associate Professor of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadougi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/tbj.v23i4.17044

Keywords: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Psychological Capital, Weight Loss, Fat Mass, Women

Abstract

Introduction: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on psychological capital, weight and fat mass of obese women.

Method: This study is a semi-experimental, involving a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The research population comprised all overweight and obese women living in Yazd in 2021. According to the inclusion criteria, 30 people were selected and randomly replaced in two experimental and control groups (15 people in each group). The research instruments included a demographic information questionnaire, the psychological capital questionnaire, and the ACT treatment protocol. Following the pre-test, subjects in the control group underwent ACT treatment training sessions as the independent variable. The intervention consisted of nine group therapy sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the data.

Results: At the beginning of the research, the average weight in the experimental group was 73.85 kg and in the control group was 74.01 kg. The findings of the research showed that the treatment based on ACT was able to play an effective role in increasing the psychological capital of overweight and obese women in Yazd city (p=0/001). This treatment was also effective in reducing the fat mass and weight of the participants (p=0/001).

Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, it seems that ACT can play an effective role in solving the problems of overweight women and increase their psychological capital and reduce their weight and fat mass.