Mental Health in Women with Premature Menopause: A Comparison of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Healthy Lifestyle Education
Keywords:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; Healthy Lifestyle; Mental Health; Premature Menopause; Psychological DistressAbstract
Purpose: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and healthy lifestyle education in improving mental health among women with premature menopause.
Methods and Materials: This quasi-experimental study used a pretest–posttest design with two experimental groups and one control group. The statistical population consisted of women with premature menopause in Tehran in 2026. A total of 45 eligible participants were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to three groups: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, healthy lifestyle education, and control, with 15 participants in each group. The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group received ten 90-minute group sessions based on the protocol of Izadi and Abedi, while the healthy lifestyle education group received eight 90-minute group sessions based on the protocol of Mehravar et al. The control group received no intervention during the study period. Mental health was assessed using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, and the general psychological distress index was used as the main outcome variable. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance and Bonferroni post hoc comparisons.
Findings: After controlling for pretest scores, the results of univariate analysis of covariance showed a significant difference among the three groups in posttest scores of the general psychological distress index, F(2, 41) = 39.55, p < .001, η² = .651. Bonferroni pairwise comparisons indicated that both Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and healthy lifestyle education significantly reduced psychological distress compared with the control group, p < .001. Moreover, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy produced a significantly greater reduction in psychological distress than healthy lifestyle education, p < .001.
Conclusion: The findings indicate that both interventions were effective in improving mental health among women with premature menopause; however, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy demonstrated superior effectiveness. Therefore, this approach may be considered a more appropriate psychological intervention for reducing mental health problems and psychological distress in women experiencing premature menopause.
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