IMPACT OF THOUGHT-ACTION FUSION ON THERAPEUTIC OUTCOMES IN OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER THROUGH A COMPARISON OF COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY AND ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY
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Keywords
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Thought-Action Fusion, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
Abstract
This research study aimed to assess and compare the efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This study further seeks to determine the role of thought-action fusion in the management of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The sample's age range was 18 to 45 years (with a mean age of 30.76). The sample consisted of (N=60) diagnosed patients who meet the diagnostic criteria of DSM-5 for obsessive-compulsive disorder. The purposive sampling technique was used to collect the data from the Department of Psychology of public sector universities and private and public sector hospitals of Peshawar. A quasi-experimental design with a pre and post-test was used in the current study. Subsequently, these patients were allocated into two groups, each with 30 patients. The patients in the control group (group I) received Cognitive Behavioral Therapy while those in the experimental group (group II) received Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. The therapeutic outcome of the study was measured through the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), and Thought-Action Fusion Scale Revised (TAFS-R). A total of 13 individual sessions were conducted weekly with all patients to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for clients with OCD. The results of the Paired Sample t-test indicated significant differences in mean scores from the pre-test to the post-test revealing that both interventions played a significant role in the improvement of Thought Action Fusion, and the overall severity level of OCD. The Independent Sample t-test was used to compare the efficacy of CBT and ACT based on the Thought Action Fusion. Consequently, both interventions were efficacious on all measures. They significantly contributed toward lowering the severity of OCD symptoms. Still, some differences did emerge, in that ACT showed high efficacy in the improvement of Thought-Action Fusion as compared to CBT. In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggest that ACT is a viable therapeutic alternative to CBT, the current gold standard treatment for OCD. Further, they pave the way for future investigation to identify the shared versus unique mechanisms of therapeutic change.
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Salma Rehman
Department of Psychology, Islamia College Peshawar
Erum Irshad
Department of Psychology,University of Peshawar