Acceptance and commitment therapy for obsessive compulsive disorder: Cross-cultural systematic review and...

Area of Science:

• Clinical Psychology
• Psychotherapy Research
• Cross-Cultural Psychiatry

Background:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) demonstrates potential for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• The cross-cultural applicability and global efficacy of ACT for OCD require further investigation.
• Existing research lacks comprehensive analysis of ACT's effectiveness across diverse cultural settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and meta-analyze the global efficacy of ACT in treating OCD.
• To assess ACT's effectiveness across different cultural contexts (Western vs. Eastern).
• To evaluate ACT's performance against various control groups (inactive, pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy).

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search across multiple databases (MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, ClinicalTrials.gov).
• Inclusion of nine randomized controlled trials (RCTs) meeting specific criteria.
• Subgroup analyses based on control type and cultural setting (Western: USA, Denmark; Eastern: Iran, South Korea).

Main Results:

• ACT demonstrated a moderate effect size favoring it over inactive and pharmacotherapy controls for OCD symptom reduction.
• No significant differences in efficacy were found when comparing ACT to other psychotherapies.
• Initial cross-cultural comparisons suggested higher effectiveness in Eastern studies, but sensitivity analyses controlling for comparator type found no significant differences between Eastern and Western contexts.

Conclusions:

• ACT appears to be a culturally adaptable treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• The current evidence base is limited by a scarcity of high-quality RCTs, particularly in Eastern cultural settings.
• Further controlled studies in Western settings are necessary to solidify ACT's efficacy and applicability across diverse populations.