Effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on perfectionism and resilience in migraine patients

Abstract

Aims: According to the World Health Organization, migraine is the twentieth rank among all disability-causing disorders. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on perfectionism and resilience in migraine patients. Materials and Methods: The research method was semi-experimental with a pretest–posttest design and a control group. The statistical population of the study included all patients with migraine who presented to neurologists in Tehran in the fall of 2018, from which thirty patients were selected using convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The data were collected by the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Ahvaz Perfectionism Scale (APS). The experimental group received ACT in eight weekly sessions, while the control group was on the waiting list. The data were analyzed using the multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: Findings showed that there was a difference between the control and experimental groups in perfectionism and resilience means at the posttest level. Regarding the means of the variables after the intervention, results showed that those patients who received the intervention had more resilience and lower perfectionism than those who were in the waitlist control group. Therefore, the ACT was effective on perfectionism (P < 0.001) and resilience (P < 0.001) of migraine patients. Conclusion: Given the effectiveness of ACT, it is recommended to use the ACT as a supplementary therapy with medical treatments for migraine patients. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the discussion section.

Keywords

• acceptance and commitment therapy
• migraine
• perfectionism
• resilience