A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Body Image Dissatisfaction and Weight Self-Stigma in Adults

© 2018, The Author(s). Body image dissatisfaction (BID) and weight self-stigma are prevalent and associated with physical and psychological ill-health. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is increasingly employed for both, yet little is known about its effectiveness. Searches of 12 databases identified six studies using online, face-to-face or self-help ACT interventions for BID or weight self-stigma, of varying duration and intensity. Their effectiveness and quality were evaluated. Two reported improved BID, three improved weight self-stigma, and one reported no impact on weight self-stigma. Methodological issues (small sample sizes, lack of allocation concealment, attention control and long-term follow up) impacted the validity of findings. Due to the small number of studies and poor study quality, the effectiveness of ACT for BID and weight self-stigma remains unclear. Nonetheless findings suggest psychological flexibility may facilitate reduction in BID and weight self-stigma and indicate that brief online as well as lengthy face-to-face delivery may be useful. Suggestions for further research are made

A Novel High Throughput Assay for Anthelmintic Drug Screening and Resistance Diagnosis by Real-Time Monitoring of Parasite Motility

Parasitic worms cause untold morbidity and mortality on billions of people and livestock. Drugs are available but resistance is problematic in livestock parasites and is a looming threat for human helminths. Currently, new drug discovery and resistance monitoring is hindered as drug efficacy is assessed by observing motility or development of parasites using laborious, subjective, low-throughput methods evaluated by eye using microscopy. Here we describe a novel application for a cell monitoring device (xCELLigence) that can simply and objectively assess real time anti-parasite efficacy of drugs on eggs, larvae and adults in a fully automated, label-free, high-throughput fashion. This technique overcomes the current low-throughput bottleneck in anthelmintic drug development and resistance detection pipelines. The widespread use of this device to screen for new therapeutics or emerging drug resistance will be an invaluable asset in the fight against human, animal and plant parasitic helminths and other pathogens that plague our planet

The Meaning and Doing of Mindfulness: The Role of Values in the Link Between Mindfulness and Well-Being

The role of values-based action in facilitating change is central to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy but more peripheral in more traditional mindfulness-based interventions. This paper examined the role of values-based action in the relationship between mindfulness and both eudemonic and hedonic well-being in two samples—an undergraduate sample (n = 630) and a postgraduate sample (n = 199). It was hypothesized that mindfulness would be related to well-being indirectly through values-based action, measured as decreases in psychological barriers to values-based action and increases in values-congruent behavior. In both samples, significant indirect effects were identified from mindfulness to hedonic and eudemonic well-being through values-based action. These studies provide initial evidence that mindfulness effects well-being partly through facilitating meaningful behavioral change. The implication of this finding is that mindfulness interventions may be enhanced with an explicit focus on values clarification and the application of mindfulness to values-based behavior