Assessing the Effects of Acceptance-Commitment and Psychodrama Therapies in Nurses with Social Anxiety Disorder

Introduction: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is one the most prevalent psychiatric disorders and generates severe negative effects on patients' mental, individual, and social health. Decreased responsibility, absenteeism, and poor life quality can be the consequences of this disorder. Considering the effective empirical background of both therapeutic approaches in reducing social anxiety symptoms and the lack of research on combining both interventions to reduce anxiety, this study was performed to determine the effects of acceptance-commitment therapy (ACT) and psychodrama therapy on nurses' social anxiety. Methods: This randomized trial research was conducted at Torbat Heydarieh University of Medical Sciences in 2017 with a pretest-posttest design. A total of 48 nurses with SAD who were referred to the university counseling center were chosen at random and entered into 4 equal groups (12 subjects) (an intervention group and 3 control groups). The intervention group received a combination of psychodrama and ACT therapies in twelve 90-minute treatment sessions (2 meetings every week). The control groups were provided with psychodrama therapy, ACT, and no treatment. The study data were collected by Connor's Social Anxiety Questionnaire (2000). The collected data were analyzed by analyses of variance and covariance. Results: A decrease was observed in the social anxiety scores in the four groups of the study after psychological therapies. The average ± SD of the social anxiety score in the treatment group based on psychodrama was 64.75±13.37 before the study period and 49.08±6.71 after that. While in the ACT group, it was 59.65±12.21 and 42.66±8.05 before and after the study, respectively, and in the group provided with a combination of both therapies, it was 62.75±13.49 before the study period and 35.75±7.19 after that. A lack of significant difference (P = 0.86) could be detected in the average anxiety score in the group of control. However, the social anxiety score of the group with a combination of both therapies significantly decreased (P<0.001) compared to other studied control groups.   Conclusion: The data analysis showed that a combination of ACT and psychodrama therapies significantly reduced the social anxiety of nurses.