Effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy for improving quality of life and mood in individuals with multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

An Overview of Reviews on the Effects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Depression and Anxiety

“…Of these, three articles lacked a systematic review or meta-analysis methodology and five articles did not examine the effects of ACT on anxiety or depression. Therefore, 25 articles were included in our study: 14 systematic review and meta-analysis studies ( 21 - 34 ) and 11 systematic reviews ( 35 - 45 ). Details of included articles are shown in Table 1 .…”

“…All studies were of moderate to high quality. These studies have investigated the effects of ACT on depression and anxiety in populations of children ( 26 , 29 , 36 , 45 ) or adults, mental health patients ( 23 , 28 , 30 , 38 , 40 , 41 , 44 ), patients with different cancers or multiple sclerosis ( 25 , 31 , 34 , 37 , 42 ), people with audiological problems ( 32 ), parents or caregivers of children with mental or physical illnesses ( 22 , 24 , 26 , 39 ) as well as normal people. Most of the findings of these studies have been reported by comparing ACT effects with waiting list control groups, treatment as usual and CBT.…”

“…However, it should be noted that the main consensus of these articles is on the small to moderate effect sizes of ACT on depression and anxiety symptoms in different populations. Only one study reported no significant effect of ACT on depression and anxiety symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis ( 34 ). However, it should be noted that the reviewed studies found that ACT can be effective only for depressed people with mild symptoms, not moderate or severe symptoms.…”

Fostering quality of life in young adults living with multiple sclerosis: a pilot study of a co-created integrated intervention

“…Mindfulness-based interventions have been effective in enhancing quality of life and in mental health in different chronic conditions ( Demarzo et al, 2015 ; Crowe et al, 2016 ; Haller et al, 2017 ; Fisher et al, 2023 ) including MS ( Simpson et al, 2022 ). Both Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) have yielded positive results on insomnia, fatigue, paresthesia, depression emotional competencies, and stress in people living with MS ( Sadeghi-Bahmani et al, 2022 ); however, a recent review unexpectedly did not find an improvement on quality of life after ACT ( Thompson et al, 2022 ). The efficacy of dance as physical activity in improving quality of life has been highlighted in a previous study on people living with MS ( Ng et al, 2020 ).…”

The mediating role of psychological flexibility in the relationship between resilience and distress and quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis

“…Consistent with the psychological flexibility framework, higher psychological flexibility is related to better mental health outcomes across a wide range of contexts and populations (Gloster et al, 2017; Hayes et al, 2006; Kashdan and Rottenberg, 2010; Marshall and Brockman, 2016; Stabbe et al, 2019). Reviews suggest that ACT interventions show promise in promoting mental health and QoL in people with chronic illnesses (Graham et al, 2016), people with neurological disorders (Han et al, 2023; Robinson et al, 2019) and specifically PwMS (Thompson et al, 2022; Zarotti et al, 2023). Moreover, evidence suggests that ACT produces therapeutic change through psychological flexibility, the mechanism of action proposed by the psychological flexibility framework (Stockton et al, 2019).…”