The philosophical core of Acceptance‐Commitment Therapy (ACT) is that all humans experience suffering. ACT is theoretically based on basic behavioral principles and the Relational Frame Theory (RFT) that is a behavioral theory of language. The ACT model postulates that language processes are at the core of psychological and behavioral inflexibility, and therefore at the root of human suffering. ACT regards language as a double‐edged sword which has a dark side and a light side. The aim of ACT is to create a rich and meaningful life while accepting the pain that inevitably goes with it. So the goal of ACT is to undermine language processes in ways that improve people's ability to contact the present moment more fully and with awareness, and that allow them to move valued directions. Six core therapeutic processes of ACT are acceptance, defusion, present‐moment awareness, self ‐as‐context, values, and commitment action. The use of metaphors in psychotherapy has received considerable attention in the clinical literature. Metaphors and experiential exercises also play a central role in ACT, helping undermine the adverse effects of language by creating contexts with the consequence of valued action. With RFT, functional contextualism, and the six core therapeutic processes in ACT, therapists and clients can understand, use, and create metaphors. Haiku may be a new therepeautic device combined with metaphors.
Previous research studies have indicated that biofeedback treatment and relaxation techniques are effective in reducing psychological and physical symptoms (Hammond, 2005; Manzoni, G. M., Pagnini, F., Castelnuovo, G., & Molinari, E., 2008). However, dearth of studies has compared heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback treatment and relaxation training to reduce trait anxiety. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of HRV biofeedback treatment and relaxation training in reducing trait anxiety compared to control group without any treatment using students in a science and engineering university of South Korea. For the present study, a total of 15 graduate students with moderate level of trait anxiety were recruited for 4 individual sessions every two weeks. They were randomly assigned into three groups: biofeedback treatment (n = 5), relaxation training (n = 5), and no treatment control group (n = 5). Our results revealed significant difference in change score of trait anxiety between the HRV biofeedback treatment and the no treatment control group. However, no significant difference was found between the relaxation training group and the no treatment control group. In addition, there was no significant difference between the HRV biofeedback treatment and the relaxation training. Results of the present study indicate that there is potential benefit in utilizing HRV biofeedback treatment for stress management programs and/or anxiety reduction treatment.
The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of Acceptance–Commitment Therapy(ACT) on binge eating behavior, experiential avoidance, and psychological well–being of college students prone to binge eating disorders. Two hundred and fifty college students in Chonbuk province completed a Binge Eating Scale(BES), a Acceptance & Action Questionnaire-16 (AAQ-16), and a Psychological Well-Being Scale(PWBS). Fourteen patients selected by those scales were randomly assigned, seven of them to the ACT group and seven to the control group. The ACT program was administered for eight sessions. All participants completed BES, AAQ-16, and PWBS at pre-test, post-test, and at eight week follow-up periods. The results of this study were as follows: Binge eating behavior and experiential avoidance of the therapy group decreased more than for the control group. Psychological well-being of the therapy group increased more than for the control group. Finally, the implications and the limitations of this study, and the suggestions for future study were also discussed.
This study investigates the effects of direct exposure to vegetables on young children’s consumption of vegetables, with actual nutritional recording. A total of 47 young children with ages ranging from 1 to 4 years old participated in this research. Among these, 24 children were assigned to a 6-month direct vegetable exposure program. Children were assessed on their vegetable consumption before and after the exposure program. The results indicate that the exposure increased the consumption of vegetables compared with the control group. It is noteworthy that those who were exposed to vegetables consumed more nutrients, and more specifically, more ascorbic acid(vitamin C) and folic acid, which are both related to vegetable consumption. These findings suggest that a direct exposure program may not only be effective in correcting children's inappropriate eating habits but may also have positive effects on overall nutrient intake. The limitations of this study as well as the directions for future research are discussed.
Body checking includes any cognition and behavior aimed at gaining information about one’s weight, shape, or size. Body checking can increase body dissatisfaction through selective attention to disliked body parts and is one of the strongest correlates of eating disturbance. This study was performed to identify the mediated-moderating effects of body checking cognition and behavior between anxiety and eating disorder related symptoms in a non-clinical group. 398 college students (215 males, 183 females) completed measures of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Body Checking Cognition Scale (BCCS, Mountford et al., 2006), the Body Checking Questionnaire (BCQ, Reas et al., 2002), and the EAT-26 (Garner et al., 1982). The results were as follows: first, the risk group for eating disorders had higher STAI, BCCS, and BCQ scores than the non-risk group. Second, a standard multiple regression analysis suggested that anxiety and body checking behavior predict eating disorder severity in males, but all three psychological variables predict eating disorder symptoms in females. Third, the results of standard multiple regression analysis indicated that anxiety was directly and indirectly (mediated by body checking behavior) related to eating disorder symptoms in females. Additionally, the interactions between anxiety and body checking cognition significantly increased the variations in eating disorder symptoms (moderating effect) in females. Lastly, the mediated-moderating effect of body checking cognition and behavior in eating disorder symptoms, which was analysed using SPSS Macro as suggested by Preacher et al. (2007), was confirmed in this study. This mediated-moderation indicates the effect of anxiety on eating disorder symptoms via a mediator (body checking behavior) and differs depending on the levels of the moderator (body checking cognition) in females. The limitations and implications of the study were discussed.
The purpose of the study is to examine the influence of self-concept clarity, physical comparison, and body dissatisfaction on disordered eating behaviors. The participants were 386 females aged 10 to 29 years, recruited by online survey. They received questionnaires to measure their self-concept clarity(SCCS), physical comparison(PACS+SACS), body shape(BSQ), and disordered eating behaviors(KEAT-26) scale. Based on previous studies, the researcher constructed one research model and four alternative models to navigate the most suitable explanation for the data, and verified the influence of variables and the significance of the mediating effect. In order to compare the one research model and four alternative models, structural equation modeling(SEM) was used. The SEM revealed that the full dual mediation model fit the data well. The findings suggest that low self-concept clarity might contribute to disordered eating behaviors because it increases women’s vulnerability to physical comparison tendencies and body dissatisfaction. Finally, the implications and limitations of this study and suggestions for future study were addressed.
This study adapted structured clinical interview for pathological gambling (SCI-GA) for diagnosis of gambling addiction based on DSM-IV(APA, 1994) to the situation in Korea and verified its reliability and validity. To examine the inter-rater reliability, two clinicians interviewed independently with 65 local casino regular visitors and 4 college students who reported serious gambling problems through Korean Structured Clinical Interview for Gambling Addiction(K-SCI-GA) and to examine the convergent and concurrent validity, analyzed correlation of the self-reported scores and the interviewed scores those were diagnosed with K-NODS and K-CPGI. Findings in the present study showed that K-SCI-GA had good reliability(Kappa=.89) and validity(r=.74~.84) diagnose gambling addiction people who have gambling problems. Lastly, investigated how the limit of self-reporting evaluation can be supplemented through K-SCI-GA and explained utilizations of how to transform when applying DSM-5(APA, 2013)