Steven Hayes wants psychotherapy to escape its branded boxes. Kindly register for ACT BootCamp® on the way out.

Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of studies on ACT to assess its effects with respect to psychosomatic outcomes and quality of life.

If you're finding yourself glued to your phone these days, scrolling the news, here's how to change your habits and get moving instead.

Background: Family caregivers of children and youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities report higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression than other caregivers, yet few evidence-based mental health services are available to support them. Our previous research demonstrated that caregivers benefitted from our in-person group-based acceptance and commitment training (ACT) workshop, which increased their psychological flexibility and improved their mental well-being. During the #covid19 pandemic, we adapted this intervention to be delivered virtually. Objective: In this study, we evaluated the program’s impact on caregivers’ psychological flexibility and mental well-being, as well as the acceptability of the virtual program. Methods: A total of 205 family caregivers of neurodivergent people or people with disabilities who registered for a virtual, group-based ACT intervention (10-12 hours across 5 or 6 weeks) from 1 of 27 teams across Canada participated in this research. ACT process (measured via the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, Self-Compassion Scale–Short Form, and Valued Living Questionnaire) and mental well-being outcomes (measured through the Patient Health Questionnaire, Parenting Stress Index, Multi-System Model of Resilience Inventory, and Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale) were measured before and after the intervention and again at an 8-week follow-up. An acceptability survey was completed after the intervention, including items on satisfaction with virtual aspects of the intervention. Results: There was high intervention acceptability related to the virtual format (at least >80% satisfaction) despite variability in individual preferences (preferred in-person format: 28/91, 31%; preferred virtual format: 37/91, 41%; no preference: 26/91, 29%). Significant improvements were found for most ACT processes (fusion: F2,279=63.96; psychological flexibility: F2,264=38.81; values: F2,244=8.32; self-compassion: F2,170=33.59; P

Background: Health anxiety by proxy is characterized by ruminations about severe illness in one's child which can cause severe distress in affected parents. Health anxiety by proxy may lead to repeated unnecessary medical consultations and/or checking the child's body for symptoms, as well as heightened attention to their child's behavior, sign of illness and bodily symptoms. It has been hypothesized that health anxiety by proxy may pose a risk for transmission of maladaptive symptom coping and health anxiety from the parent to their child. In spite of this, no targeted treatment has previously been evaluated. Therefore, we developed an internet-delivered psychological treatment containing 8 modules based on cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the #feasibility and effect of the internet-delivered treatment PROXY for parents with health anxiety by proxy. Methods: Four participants with HA by proxy entered a replicated randomized single-case experimental design. They were randomly allocated to a baseline period of 7-26 days before entering the eight-week treatment and 14-33 days follow-up phase. The primary outcomes were daily measures of anxiety, impact of anxiety and value-based actions measured using 5 questions answered on a scale of 1-10 through a text-message link. The primary outcomes were analyzed using visual analysis, and supplemented with statistical randomization tests. Secondary outcomes were standardized questionnaire measures of anxiety-related symptoms, experience of the treatment and negative effects of the treatment reported using descriptive statistics for each participant individually. Results: Visual and statistical analyses indicated that PROXY was an effective treatment for two participants as the primary outcomes changed in the preferable direction for both of them. The effect of PROXY was questionable for the remaining two participants, although visual analysis showed that impact of anxiety decreased for one of them. The two participants with questionable effect also thought that the treatment was too short. All four participants were happy with the treatment but two participants experienced that health anxiety for their own health deteriorated during treatment. Conclusions: PROXY holds potential as a treatment for HA by proxy. However, more work is required to determine when and how PROXY should be introduced to parents with HA by proxy, particularly in relation to duration of treatment, possible comorbidities, and the need for findings to be replicated in larger groups. Clinical Trial: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04830605

Background: Family caregivers of individuals with dementia face significant mental health challenges. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) has emerged as a promising intervention for improving these caregivers’ mental health. While various delivery modes of ACT have been explored, there is a need for evidence on the efficacy of videoconference-delivered ACT programs for this population. Objective: This pilot randomized controlled trial, conducted in the United States, aims to assess the effects of a videoconference-delivered, therapist-guided ACT program on reducing depressive symptoms and improving other mental health outcomes among family caregivers with depression who give care to individuals with dementia, compared to a control group that received psychoeducation materials only. Methods: This 2-arm, parallel-group pilot randomized controlled trial randomly assigned 33 family caregivers to either a 10-week videoconference-delivered ACT program (n=16, 48%) or a control group that received psychoeducation materials alone (n=17, 52%). Depressive symptoms (primary outcome) were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Secondary outcomes included anxiety, stress, psychological quality of life (QoL), caregiver burden, predeath grief, guilt, and ACT process measures. Outcomes were assessed in the pretest, posttest (10-12 weeks after pretest), and a 3-month follow-up (3 months after posttest, approximately 5-6 months after pretest). An intent-to-treat approach was used for all outcome analyses. Linear mixed-effects models for repeated measures were used to analyze outcomes. Results: The ACT group reported significantly greater improvements in stress (P=.043) and psychological QoL (P=.014) in the posttest compared to the control group. Within the ACT group, participants experienced a significant decrease in depressive symptoms, with a mean (SE) change of –6.09 (1.16) points (95% CI –8.42 to –3.76; P

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A new intervention, developed in collaboration with young people living with obesity, could increase adolescents’ motivation to manage their weight. Bristol BRC researchers led the team developing the...