Effectiveness of ACT vs Guided Imagery on Emotional Regulation of Cardiac Patients

Background: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Guided Imagery (GI) in the Emotional Regulation (ER) of cardiovascular patients referred to a cardiac rehabilitation department. Methods: This was an experimental study with a pre-test, po...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Abbasali Shahabi, Parvin Ehteshamzadeh, Parviz Asgari, Behnam Makvandi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Gonabad University of Medical Sciences 2021-05-01
Series:Journal of Research & Health
Subjects:
Online Access:http://jrh.gmu.ac.ir/article-1-1826-en.html
_version_ 1818601161179004928
author Abbasali Shahabi
Parvin Ehteshamzadeh
Parviz Asgari
Behnam Makvandi
author_facet Abbasali Shahabi
Parvin Ehteshamzadeh
Parviz Asgari
Behnam Makvandi
author_sort Abbasali Shahabi
collection DOAJ
description Background: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Guided Imagery (GI) in the Emotional Regulation (ER) of cardiovascular patients referred to a cardiac rehabilitation department. Methods: This was an experimental study with a pre-test, post-test design and a 45-day follow-up. Using the purposive sampling method, 45 patients with cardiovascular diseases were selected among those who referred to the cardiac rehabilitation ward of Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad City, Iran, from March to August 2017; the patients were then assigned into three groups. The intervention groups received ACT or GI programs. Also, the patients completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in three stages of pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. Results: The obtained data indicated a significant difference between the ACT and GI groups, concerning positive and negative ER. Also, the analysis of variance suggested the effectiveness of both interventions in the studied subjects (P<0.001). Besides, the effectiveness of ACT was significantly greater than that of GI in increasing positive and negative ER among the studied patients. Conclusion: The present findings reveal that experiential avoidance—as one of the main cores of psychological inflexibility in ACT—is significantly and negatively correlated with adaptive ER strategies. One of the main goals of ACT is to reduce avoidance, thus, ACT can improve adaptive ER strategies. Accordingly, ACT is more effective than GI in increasing positive ER strategies in patients with cardiovascular diseases.
first_indexed 2024-12-16T12:46:59Z
format Article
id doaj.art-eb66788acb8d43a2b284326277994a43
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2423-5717
2423-5717
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-16T12:46:59Z
publishDate 2021-05-01
publisher Gonabad University of Medical Sciences
record_format Article
series Journal of Research & Health
spelling doaj.art-eb66788acb8d43a2b284326277994a432022-12-21T22:31:16ZengGonabad University of Medical SciencesJournal of Research & Health2423-57172423-57172021-05-01113191202Effectiveness of ACT vs Guided Imagery on Emotional Regulation of Cardiac PatientsAbbasali Shahabi0Parvin Ehteshamzadeh1Parviz Asgari2Behnam Makvandi3 Department of Health Psychology, Khorramshahr-Persian Gulf International Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khorramshahr, Iran. Department of Psychology, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran. Department of Psychology, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran. Department of Psychology, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran. Background: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Guided Imagery (GI) in the Emotional Regulation (ER) of cardiovascular patients referred to a cardiac rehabilitation department. Methods: This was an experimental study with a pre-test, post-test design and a 45-day follow-up. Using the purposive sampling method, 45 patients with cardiovascular diseases were selected among those who referred to the cardiac rehabilitation ward of Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad City, Iran, from March to August 2017; the patients were then assigned into three groups. The intervention groups received ACT or GI programs. Also, the patients completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire in three stages of pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. Results: The obtained data indicated a significant difference between the ACT and GI groups, concerning positive and negative ER. Also, the analysis of variance suggested the effectiveness of both interventions in the studied subjects (P<0.001). Besides, the effectiveness of ACT was significantly greater than that of GI in increasing positive and negative ER among the studied patients. Conclusion: The present findings reveal that experiential avoidance—as one of the main cores of psychological inflexibility in ACT—is significantly and negatively correlated with adaptive ER strategies. One of the main goals of ACT is to reduce avoidance, thus, ACT can improve adaptive ER strategies. Accordingly, ACT is more effective than GI in increasing positive ER strategies in patients with cardiovascular diseases.http://jrh.gmu.ac.ir/article-1-1826-en.htmlacceptance and commitment therapyimageryemotional regulationscardiac rehabilitation
spellingShingle Abbasali Shahabi
Parvin Ehteshamzadeh
Parviz Asgari
Behnam Makvandi
Effectiveness of ACT vs Guided Imagery on Emotional Regulation of Cardiac Patients
Journal of Research & Health
acceptance and commitment therapy
imagery
emotional regulations
cardiac rehabilitation
title Effectiveness of ACT vs Guided Imagery on Emotional Regulation of Cardiac Patients
title_full Effectiveness of ACT vs Guided Imagery on Emotional Regulation of Cardiac Patients
title_fullStr Effectiveness of ACT vs Guided Imagery on Emotional Regulation of Cardiac Patients
title_full_unstemmed Effectiveness of ACT vs Guided Imagery on Emotional Regulation of Cardiac Patients
title_short Effectiveness of ACT vs Guided Imagery on Emotional Regulation of Cardiac Patients
title_sort effectiveness of act vs guided imagery on emotional regulation of cardiac patients
topic acceptance and commitment therapy
imagery
emotional regulations
cardiac rehabilitation
url http://jrh.gmu.ac.ir/article-1-1826-en.html
work_keys_str_mv AT abbasalishahabi effectivenessofactvsguidedimageryonemotionalregulationofcardiacpatients
AT parvinehteshamzadeh effectivenessofactvsguidedimageryonemotionalregulationofcardiacpatients
AT parvizasgari effectivenessofactvsguidedimageryonemotionalregulationofcardiacpatients
AT behnammakvandi effectivenessofactvsguidedimageryonemotionalregulationofcardiacpatients