The efficacy of Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in VA primary care.

Focused Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (FACT) is a brief intervention based on traditional Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Although there is a growing body of research on the efficacy of ACT for a variety of populations and disorders, there is little research to date on the use of FACT in group settings. This project is 1 of the first of its kind, as it examines data on psychological flexibility, health and mental health status, and symptom reduction from a 4-week FACT group. Participants in this study were 51 patients who attended this group as part of routine clinical care in a VA integrated primary care and mental health setting. They completed pre- and posttreatment measures of well-being, depression, anxiety, stress, psychological flexibility, and perceptions of physical and mental health functioning. Pre- to posttreatment analyses of variance demonstrated large effects for quality of life, F(1, 51) = 21.29, p < .001, η2 = 0.30, moderate effects for depressive symptoms, F(1, 51) = 11.47, p < .001, η2 = 0.08, and perceptions of mental health functioning (MCS scale), F(1, 51) = 9.67, p = .003, η2 = 0.11, and small effects for perceptions of perceived stress, F(1, 51) = 4.08, p = .04, η2 = 0.03, and physical health functioning (PCS scale), F(1, 51) = 6.60, p = .01, η2 = 0.08. There was a statistical trend for reductions in anxiety, F(1, 51) = 3.29, p = .07, η2 = 0.01, and a nonsignificant effect for psychological flexibility, F(1, 51) = 2.05, p = .16, η2 = 0.04. These data provide initial support for the implementation of a group-based FACT protocol within a VA primary care setting and help to lay a foundation for further, more controlled studies on Group FACT in future research. (PsycINFO Database Record

The clinical utility of the Five Factor Model of personality disorder.

Previous research has suggested that clinicians would be unable to recover DSM-IV-TR personality disorder diagnoses on the basis of information provided by the Five Factor Model (FFM) of personality disorder. However, the prior research did not provide all of the information that would be available to a clinician when determining a personality disorder diagnosis; more specifically, the maladaptive personality traits associated with each FFM trait elevation. In the current study, 201 clinicians provided DSM-IV-TR personality disorder diagnoses on the basis of either the DSM-IV-TR criterion sets or the respective FFM maladaptive personality traits. Accuracy using the FFM maladaptive traits was much improved over the prior research and comparable to the accuracy obtained with the criterion sets. The clinicians also rated the FFM and the DSM-IV-TR as comparably useful for obtaining a DSM-IV-TR personality disorder diagnosis.