Comparison of the effectiveness of treatments based on compassion, acceptance and commitment, and mindfulness on anxiety disorders and depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background

Recently, anxiety and depression disorders have spread among different societies and have had unpleasant effects on people involved with the disease and societies, so the treatment of these disorders should be prioritized. In recent years, the use of various psychotherapy methods, such as acceptance and commitment-based therapies (ACT), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and compassion-based therapy (CFT) for the treatment of many disorders related to mental illness have been noticed. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of compassion-based therapy, acceptance and commitment-based therapy, and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on anxiety and depression disorders.

Methods

In this study, the electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar search engines were systematically searched for studies that show the effectiveness of compassion-based interventions, acceptance and commitment-based therapy, and mind-based cognitive therapy. Reports of awareness up to May 2023 were searched. Random effects model was used to perform the analysis. Data analysis based on the mean and standard deviation of anxiety disorders or depression before and after the intervention separately and Also, the difference between the mean before and after the intervention was done, the heterogeneity of the studies was investigated using the I² test and the publication bias was investigated using Egger's test.

Results

After the search, 3433 studies were obtained from 6 research repositories, which left 1969 studies after removing duplicate studies. After the primary and secondary review, 1876 other studies were excluded from the study, and finally 93 studies remained and the information obtained from them was used in this study. On this basis, it was proved that all three interventions, MBCT, ACT and CFT, are effective in reducing the symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders, but the greatest effect on reducing the symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders was observed in ACT.

Conclusion

Considering the positive effect of ACT, MBCT and CFT in reducing the symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression, therapists can use these treatment methods as less expensive and uncomplicated treatment methods to improve the condition of patients with such disorders. order to reduce treatment costs for communities and people involved with this category of disorders.