The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Sexual Self-Efficacy and Sexual Quality of Life in Reproductive-Age Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Acceptance and commitment therapy is one of the approaches in improving sexual problems. This study aimed to investigate the effect of acceptance and commitment group counseling on sexual self-efficacy and sexual quality of life in reproductive-age women. This study was conducted on 58 women referred to selected clinics in IRAN who were randomly divided into the experimental (N = 29) and the control group (N = 29). The experimental group received eight sessions of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The data was collected by sexual self-efficacy and sexual quality of life questionnaire before, after, and one month after the intervention. In the intervention group, the average score of sexual self-efficacy and sexual quality of life was significantly higher than the control group after the intervention (8^th week) and follow-up period (12^th week)(P > 0.005). It seems that counseling based on the ACT is effective in promoting sexual self-efficacy and the sexual quality of life of reproductive-age women.

Acknowledgements

This article extracted from a master thesis in the field of counseling in midwifery. This study was funded by Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences. Researchers would like to thank all women participating in this research project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Data availability statement

The study data will be available by the corresponding author upon request.

Trial registration

This study has been retrospectively registered in Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials, IRCT20181208041893N1. Registration date: 2019-05-13.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences under Grant [number 6006].