Effect of a group-based acceptance and commitment therapy intervention on cognitive emotion regulation and psychological flexibility in patients with bipolar disorder.
Jun-Yan Shi, Long Na, Yan-Hong Du et al.
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In 30 seconds
This randomized controlled trial assessed whether group-based acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) added to treatment as usual (TAU) improved cognitive emotion regulation (CER) and psychological flexibility (PF) in 55 Chinese inpatients with bipolar I or II disorder. Twenty-eight participants received ACT plus TAU in 10 group sessions, and 27 received TAU alone. At the 5-week post-treatment assessment, the ACT-plus-TAU group showed greater improvements in CER and PF, as well as residual mania and depressive symptoms, than the TAU group. The abstract reports no numerical effect estimates.
Key findings
- At 5 weeks, CER improved more with ACT plus TAU than with TAU alone.
- The ACT-plus-TAU group showed greater improvement in PF than the TAU group.
- Residual mania and depressive symptoms improved more in the ACT-plus-TAU group.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that a structured group ACT intervention may address emotion regulation and psychological flexibility alongside residual mood symptoms in people receiving care for bipolar disorder. These processes may be relevant treatment targets, although the abstract provides no effect estimates to indicate the magnitude of benefit.
What to keep in mind
The study involved 55 inpatients at one tertiary psychiatric hospital in China, and outcomes were assessed only at baseline and 5 weeks; longer-term effects are not reported.