2 research outputs found
Process of psychological adjustment to multiple sclerosis: comparing the roles of appraisals, acceptance, and cognitive fusion.
Background:
Research in psychological adjustment to multiple sclerosis (MS) suggests that the
way individuals appraise their condition can have an impact upon their psychological
well-being and adjustment to their condition. Such research has influenced the
development of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) interventions in this
population. In recent years, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has
gathered increasing interest in relation to chronic health conditions. ACT does not
target the content of thought, but rather focuses on the contexts in which thought
occurs (i.e. how individuals relate to their experiences).
Aim and Primary Hypothesis:
A cross sectional design was used to compare the extent to which cognitive
appraisals and ACT constructs (‘acceptance’ and ‘cognitive fusion’), mediate the
relationship between physical symptoms of MS and psychological adjustment
outcomes. It was hypothesised that in comparison to cognitive appraisals, ACT
constructs would serve as stronger mediators of the relationship between physical
symptoms of MS and outcome measures. This study also piloted a newly adapted
measure of MS related acceptance, the Multiple Sclerosis Acceptance Questionnaire
(MSAQ).
Method and Results:
Participants (N = 133) completed self-report measures of: MS symptom severity,
various cognitive constructs (cognitive appraisals and ACT constructs), symptoms of
psychological distress, and satisfaction with life. Multiple mediation analysis was
then used to compare competing mediational hypotheses. In comparison to all
measures of cognitive appraisals, the ACT constructs tended to be stronger mediators
of the relationship between symptoms and outcome measures (both psychological
distress, and satisfaction with life). There was also some evidence for appraisals of personal control mediating the relationship between symptoms of MS and
psychological distress.
Conclusions:
This research suggests that ACT constructs may be relevant to the process of
psychological adjustment to MS, and that ACT based interventions may be worthy of
investigation in this population. The newly adapted MSAQ also shows preliminary
promise as a measure of MS related acceptance
The development and initial validation of The Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) emphasizes the relationship a person has with their thoughts and beliefs as potentially more relevant than belief content in predicting the emotional and behavioral consequences of cognition. In ACT, ‘defusion’ interventions aim to ‘unhook’ thoughts from actions and to create psychological distance between a person and their thoughts, beliefs, memories and self-stories. A number of similar concepts have been described in the psychology literature (e.g. decentering, metacognition, mentalization and mindfulness) suggesting converging evidence that how we relate to mental events may be of critical importance. Whilst there are some good measures of these related processes, none of them provides an adequate operationalization of cognitive fusion. Despite the centrality of cognitive fusion in the ACT model, there is as yet no agreed measure of cognitive fusion. This paper presents the construction and development of a brief, self-report measure of cognitive fusion: The Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire (CFQ). The results of a series of studies involving over 1800 people across diverse samples show good preliminary evidence of the CFQ’s factor structure, reliability, temporal stability, validity, discriminant validity, and sensitivity to treatment effects. The potential uses of the CFQ in research and clinical practice are outlined