Comparative Efficacy of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Background: Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behaviour therapy (CBT) researchers carry assumptions about the characteristics of these therapies, and the extent to which they differ from one another. This article examines proposed differences between ACT and CBT for Generalised anxiety disorder, including aspects of treatment components, processes, and outcomes. Cognitive Behaviour therapy (CBT) is an empirically supported treatment for anxiety disorders. However, not all individuals respond to treatment and many who show improvement do not maintain their gains over the long-term. Thus, alternative treatments are explored. Methods: The current study (N=30) was a three group design, comparing Cognitive Behaviour  Therapy (CBT), Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Control group of participants with ICD 10 diagnosis of Generalised Anxiety Disorder has been taken. Participants completed 12 sessions of CBT or ACT or a 12-week waiting period. Baseline assessment done with all the participants and post-treatment assessment was done after completion of the therapy sessions. Assessments consisted of clinician ratings measures. As it is a three group design so Kruskal-Wallis H test has been used for the analysis of data to examine between-group differences on outcomes measures. Result: Both treatment groups control group, with no significant differences observed between CBT and ACT on post assessment. Conclusion: Overall improvement was similar between ACT and CBT, indicating that ACT is a highly viable treatment for anxiety disorders as CBT.