Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for People with Multiple Sclerosis: A NonConcurrent Multiple Baselines Design

Author Info

Caroline van Heugten Ieke Winkens Iris de Marez Oyens Nicole Geschwind Yvonne Bol

Corresponding Author

Ieke Winkens
Department of Neuropsychology & Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

A B S T R A C T

Objective: People with multiple sclerosis often suffer from distress, reduced societal participation and low quality of life. Evidence-based psychological treatment options for multiple sclerosis are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on participation and quality of life for people with multiple sclerosis. Methods: We performed a non-concurrent multiple baselines design study. Six female patients with multiple sclerosis participated. Randomization was implemented by assigning participants randomly to a baseline (waiting) period of three, six or nine weeks. We measured quality of life, and participation on a daily basis, and acceptance and cognitive defusion on a weekly basis. Statistical analyses were performed using randomization tests. Results: After Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, five participants showed statistically significant increases in quality of life and three participants showed statistically significant improvements in participation. Acceptance increased in two patients, and cognitive defusion improved in one patient. Conclusion: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy seems promising for improving the quality of life and participation in people with multiple sclerosis. Mechanisms underlying improvement are not clear yet. Further large-scale controlled studies with more representative samples and a longer follow-up period are justified.

Article Info

Article Type

Research Article

Publication history

Received: Wed 13, May 2020
Accepted: Tue 02, Jun 2020
Published: Fri 05, Jun 2020

Copyright

© 2023 Ieke Winkens. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.NNB.2020.02.13