Acceptance and commitment therapy significantly reduced depressive symptoms in older adults (SMD -0.22; 95% CI -0.38 to -0.06; p<0.001), but had no significant effect on anxiety symptoms.
Meta-Analysis (n=576)
Does acceptance and commitment therapy reduce depressive and anxiety symptoms in older adults?
Acceptance and commitment therapy provides a small but significant reduction in depressive symptoms among older adults, though its effect on anxiety remains non-significant.
Standardized Mean Difference: -0.22 (95% CI -0.38–-0.06)
p-value: p=< 0.001
OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms in older adults. DESIGN: A systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: Nine databases were searched for publications up to 2 April 2024, using combinations of search terms related to depression, anxiety, ACT, older adults and randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Two researchers were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction and methodological quality evaluation, and Stata 16.0 software was used for meta-analysis. RESULTS: Seven articles were included in a systematic review and six were in a meta-analysis. The results indicated that, compared to the control group, ACT had a small but significant effect in reducing depressive symptom (SMD = -0.22, 95% CI, -0.38 to -0.06, p < 0.001; 576 older adults; low-quality evidence), while it showed a small, non-significant effect on reducing anxiety symptoms (SMD = -0.29, 95% CI, -0.73 to 0.15, p = 0.194; 576 older adults; very low-quality evidence). Subgroup analysis based on the different control conditions may have some enlightenment on the sources of heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: ACT can be an important component of future psychotherapy for older adults, as it may alleviate depressive symptoms. However, high-quality studies with large samples, multiple centres and long follow-up durations should be performed to further reliably assess the treatment effects of depressive symptoms and explore potential benefits for anxiety symptoms.
Sun et al. (2024) conducted a meta-analysis in Depression and anxiety (n=576). Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) vs. Control group was evaluated on Depressive symptoms (SMD -0.22, 95% CI -0.38 to -0.06, p=< 0.001). Acceptance and commitment therapy significantly reduced depressive symptoms in older adults (SMD -0.22; 95% CI -0.38 to -0.06; p<0.001), but had no significant effect on anxiety symptoms.