The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Body Shame, Interpersonal Sensitivity, and Selective Attention in Girls with Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Islamic azad university of urmia

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Urmial Branch, Islamic Azad University,Urmia, Iran

Abstract

Body Dysmorphic Disorder involves excessive preoccupation with imagined or minor defects in appearance. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in reducing body shame, interpersonal sensitivity, and improving selective attention in girls with this disorder. The present study was a quasi-experimental design with a pretest–posttest and a control group. Of 400 screened female students using the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Metacognition Questionnaire (BDMCQ), 30 individuals with the disorder (mean age 16–17 years) were randomly assigned to two groups: experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15). The experimental group received eight 60-minute sessions of ACT, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. The findings indicated that ACT significantly reduced body shame (η² = 0.552; P < 0.001; F(34) = 3.549), interpersonal sensitivity (η² = 0.531; P < 0.001; F(31) = 3.705), and improved selective attention (η² = 0.543; P < 0.001; F(33) = 2.229) in the experimental group. The results suggest that ACT is an effective intervention for reducing symptoms associated with Body Dysmorphic Disorder in adolescents.

Keywords

Clinical Psychology Studies
Volume 16, Issue 60
September 2025

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics