Long-Term Effects of Brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Psychosis

Abstract

A previous report explored the impact of a brief (four session) acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) intervention as compared with treatment as usual (TAU) on rehospitalization over 4 months in a sample of 80 inpatients with psychosis. The present study extended the follow-up period to 1 year and used a more sophisticated survival analysis to take previous hospitalization and length of the current hospitalization into account. Those in the ACT condition showed reduced hospitalization as compared to those in TAU at 4 months post discharge and again at 1 year post discharge. A test of proportionality of hazard showed that survival curves continued to diverge in the 5- to 12-month postdischarge period after adjusting for differences in the 0 to 4 month period. Future directions are discussed.