Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Exposure and Response Prevention and Schema Therapy with Exposure and Response Prevention on Obsession: An Effectiveness Comparison

Aim: Obsessive-compulsive disorder is one of the common disorders and there are many interventions for this disorder, but some patients do not get the desired results from the interventions. The aim of this research was to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy along with exposure and response prevention (ACT+ERP) with schema therapy along with exposure and response prevention (ST+ERP) of the intensity of obsessions and obsessive beliefs of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental having pre-test and post-test with a control group. The statistical population included all patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder in the year 2023 in Isfahan city. Sixty people were selected through convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to 2 experimental groups and one control group (20 people in each group). The experimental groups received eight 60- minute sessions of ACT+ERP and ST+ERP. In this research, Obsessional Beliefs Questionnaire -44 (Group of Experts Working on Obsessive-Obsessive Cognitions, 1997) and Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) (Goodman et al., 1989) were used. Multivariate analysis of covariance statistical tests was used to analyze the hypotheses. Results: compared to the control group, ACT+ERP and ST+ERP had significant effect on the intensity of obsessions and obsessive beliefs of patients (p<0.001). Conclusion: Based on the research findings, ACT+ERP and ST+ERP are effective in reducing the severity of obsessions and obsessive beliefs of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Also, ACT+ERP compared to ST+ERP had a greater effect on reducing the severity of obsessions and compulsions in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder