@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2383-3483    Journal of Police Medicine 2018;7(1):1-5

Background
… [1, 2]. Based on the report of the world health organization, about 200 million people below 15-46 years old take an illegal drug every year among whom 25 million people are categorized as drug abusers [3]. Drug abuse significantly affects the different aspects of life such as the quality of life [4]. … [5-14].
Previous Studies
In recent years, many studies conduct on the use of acceptance and commitment therapy for the patients with drug abuse. In this regard, Kiani et al. [15] show that ACT and mindfulness are effective due to the common components of therapy in reducing the mental damages due to taking Amphetamines. Tekizu et al. [16] show that ACT significantly increases the time for non-use among the patients with comorbidity between alcohol dependence and emotional disorders. In addition, the group under therapy reports the less anxiety and depression significantly. Muhammadi et al. in a study shows that the acceptance and commitment therapy affected the improvement of emotion regulation in the males under treatment by Methadone [17]. The study of Rezaei et al. [18], shows that the acceptance and commitment therapy significantly affect the reduction of depression symptoms among the addicted … [19, 20].
Aim(s)
Based on the relationship between addiction treatment methods and specialized research areas of police drug, this study was conducted for using the methods and findings in the area of addition and drug abuse. This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on the reduction of addition potential and increase of quality of life among the patients with drug dependence.
Research type
This research is a semi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design and control group.
Research society, place and time
This study was conducted in the last four months of 2016 among all male patients with drug dependence that voluntarily referred to the drug rehabilitation centers in Amol, Iran.
Sampling method and number
Based on the Cochran’s formula, 24 subjects were selected by convenience sampling method and divided randomly into two groups of experimental and control with 12 subjects in each group.
Used devices&materials
Two tools of Addiction Potential Scale and short form of World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire were used for data collection. The validity of Addiction Potential Scale was obtained as 0.90 by using the Cronbach’s alpha method [21]. The quality of life questionnaire was composed of four sub-scales including physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment. Reliability coefficient in four dimensions was reported as 80%, 76%, 66%, and 80% [22]. The experimental group received an acceptance and commitment therapy during 15 sessions of 19 minutes (Table 1). The control group received no intervention during that time. The participants of this study had informed consent and could withdraw at any step of the study. From the pre-test step to post-step, one subject from the experimental group and two subjects from the control group withdrew from the study. All participants had the right to choose a nickname to stay anonymous. The obtained data were kept confidential and the principles of keeping privacy, confidentiality, and lack of discrimination between the participants were observed. In order to study the consistency of the studied groups before applying the intervention therapy, the independent T- test was performed. The pre-assumptions of normal distribution and homogeneity of variances were studied by using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Levene's tests. The data were analyzed by using the multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) in SPSS 21 software.
Findings by Text
The difference of mean age in all participants in two groups of control and experimental with values of 38.3±7.6 and 39.0±8.3 years was not significant (p=0.81; t=0.35). This difference in the mean parameters of withdrawal duration in two groups of experimental and control with values of 28.0±4.2 and 27.0±4.8 months (p=0.023; t=0.98) and history of addition with values of 52.0±11.7, 49.0±10.3 months (p=0.15; t=0.70) were not significant. Thus, the studied groups were consistent. The mean scores of quality of life in the experimental group in the pre-test and post-test steps were respectively 48.10±6.43 and 47.90±5.89. By using the MANCOVA test, the different effect of the two groups in the mean scores of this parameter was significant (p<0.001). in addition, the mean scores of addition potential in the experimental group in the pre-test and post-test were respectively 60.45±9.79 and 54.72±11.34 and in the control group with pre-test and post-test levels were 61.70±7.55 and 60.90±7.59. The different effect between the two groups in terms of the mean score of addition potential was significant (p<0.015).
Main comparison to the similar studies
Ganzalez et al. [23] in their study have shown that the behavioral–cognitive interventions based on acceptance and commitments are effective in the treatment of drug abuse. In addition, the meta-analysis results of Lee et al. [24] shows that the acceptance and commitment therapy is a hopeful intervention for drug abuse disorders. This meta-analysis shows the small to average effect of acceptance and commitment therapy after the treatment during the controlled conditions. Saeedi in a study confirms the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on the reduction of depression and recovery of drug addiction but no result as the effectiveness on anxiety is obtained. Takiz et al. in a study find that the patients under treatment have significantly higher withdrawal duration and non-use [16]… [25-33].
Suggestions
Based on using the hidden mechanisms in treatment such as acceptance, increase of awareness, mindfulness, observation without judgment, and avoiding the experimental avoidance, the effectiveness of treatments can be used by adding the cognitive behavioral therapy technique. Due to the increasing prevalence of drug abuse in the youth, the therapists of this area are suggested to use this medical approach especially and broadly to increase the effects and efficiency of treatment in these patients. It is suggested to conduct the study on both groups of females and males. Due to the successful significance and effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on the reduction of drug abuse, it is suggested to support and teach this method in a more comprehensive way to the therapists of the addition area by the relevant organizations such as the Welfare Organization.
Limitations
One of the limitations of this study was the high number of male addicts in the above-mentioned center than females. In addition, the awareness of samples (experimental and control groups) on the type of intervention and treatment caused some problems in the study.
Conclusions
The acceptance and commitment therapy affects the addiction potential and quality of life in the patients with drug dependence and increases the quality of life and reduces the addiction potential. Acknowledgments The authors of this study would like to appreciate all those participated in this study especially the drug rehabilitation centers in Amol, Iran.
Acknowledgments

Conflict of interest
No case was reported.
Ethical Permissions
No case was reported.
Funding Sources
No case was reported.

TABLES and CHARTS

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