| This study examined the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) and severe mental illness (SMI). Individuals with ID are at equal or greater risk of developing mental illness; however, research into effective treatments for individuals in this population has lagged behind other populations. ACT relies on language and metaphors, and so receptive language deficits may also impact the efficacy. Participants for this study (N = 23) were recruited from a local psychosocial rehabilitation center for individuals with ID and SMI. Participants were divided into 2 randomly assigned groups to assess the efficacy of ACT on distress related to mood, internalized stigma, quality of life, and acceptance actions. Overall, Overall, ACT was as effective as treatment as usual for this population in terms of quality of life (Wilk's lambda = .90, F (1, 20) = 2.26, p = .149), acceptance (Wilk's lambda = .982, F (1, 21) = .38, p = .545), internalized stigma (Wilk's lambda = .99, F (1, 20) = .15, p = .704), self-esteem (Wilk's lambda = 1.00, F (1, 20) = 3.60, p = .074), and reported mood (Wilk's lambda = .81, F (8, 13) = .38, p = .915). Some significant differences did emerge---namely, in terms of ratings of Sad, Tired, Tense, and Confused on mood self-report. In addition, receptive language skills neared significance as predictive of internalized shame (Wilk's lambda = .83, F (1, 18) = 3.60, p = .074). |
