Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Psychological Distress and Rumination among Colostomy Patients

Background and Aim: The most common conditions leading to a stoma (abdominal surgery) include colorectal bowel cancers and inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on psychological distress and rumination in colostomy patients. Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with the control group. The statistical population of this study included colostomy patients referred to the psychosomatic ward of Imam Khomeini hospital in Sari in 2019, of which 50 were selected by convenience sampling method based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and were divided into experimental and control groups (each group consisted of 25 people). The experimental group was placed weekly in 8 sessions of 120 minutes. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, psychological distress scale (Kessler et al., 2002), and rumination response questionnaire (Nolen-Hoeksema and Marrow, 1993) and analyzed by covariance analysis SPSS.22 software. The significance level of the tests was 0.05. Results: The results of this study showed that acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) was effective on psychological distress (p <0.001) and rumination (p <0.001) in colostomy patients. Conclusion: Considering the positive effect of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on psychological distress and rumination of colostomy patients, it is recommended to use these capacities and training in planning mental health programs, especially in colostomy patients.