Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Majid Baradaran ¹
• Farzaneh Ranjbar Noushari ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The purpose of this study was the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on anxiety sensitivity and cognitive fusion in university students with body dysmorphic disorder. This study was a semi-experimental study with a pretest and post-test. The statistical population of this study included university students of Payame Noor University of Amlash in academic year 2023-2024. Subjects were first screened using the inclusion and exclusion criteria. therefore, 40 university students with body dysmorphic disorder were selected by available sampling method and randomly divided into experimental and control groups (20 persons in each group). All of the sample groups completed anxiety sensitivity (Floyd et al, 2005) and Cognitive Fusion Scales (Gillanders et al, 2010). The ACT group in 8 sessions based on Hayes et al (1999) model while the control group did not receive any treatment. For data analysis, multivariate analysis of covariance was used. Results showed that there were significant differences between two groups on anxiety sensitivity and cognitive fusion (P <0.01). ACT as a third wave treatment, can be an effective intervention to reduce the anxiety sensitivity and cognitive fusion in university students with body dysmorphic disorder.

Keywords

• Acceptance and commitment therapy
• anxiety sensitivity
• cognitive fusion
• body dysmorphic disorder

Main Subjects

• Psychology