A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Reducing Anxiety in Patients with Somatic Symptom Disorder

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy in reducing anxiety among patients with somatic symptom disorder. This quasi-experimental study employed a pretest–posttest design with a one-month follow-up and included 45 patients with somatic symptom disorder recruited from counseling centers in Bojnord; participants were randomly assigned to cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, or control groups, and data were analyzed using the Beck Anxiety Inventory and repeated-measures analysis of variance. The results indicated a significant main effect of time on anxiety reduction (p<0.001), with both treatment groups showing significantly lower anxiety scores than the control group; however, neither the time×group interaction nor the difference between the two therapeutic approaches was statistically significant (p>0.05). Both cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy are effective interventions for reducing anxiety in patients with somatic symptom disorder, with no significant difference in their comparative efficacy.