Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for Family Members After a First Psychotic Attack

May 2, 2026 updated by: Duygu Özer, PhD, Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi

The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Self-Stigmatization, Coping With Stress and Psychological Resilience Levels of Family Members After First Psychotic Attack Diagnosis

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of ACT administered online to family members on self-stigmatization, coping with stress, and psychological resilience levels after the first psychotic attack (FPA).

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study is a pretest, posttest, follow-up, randomized controlled experimental study. This study will be conducted with family members of individuals diagnosed with FPA who come to the psychiatry outpatient clinic of a training and research hospital. According to the results of G-power analysis, the minimum sample size of the study was calculated as 32 (intervention 16, control 16). Personal Information Form will be applied to the individuals before randomization. The computer-aided https://www.random.org/integers/ program will be used to assign the intervention and control groups without bias. It is planned that the intervention group will consist of 8-12 participants and the program will be implemented as two intervention groups. The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Based Intervention Program will be implemented online in eight sessions. Each session will last 60-90 minutes on average. Two sessions will be held for one group per week. The control group will not receive any intervention from the researcher. The intervention groups will be followed up with a post-test after the program is completed and three months later, while the control group will be followed up with a post-test four weeks and three months later.

In the preparation of the interventions and planning of the sessions based on ACT, the researcher utilized studies in the literature and the basic ACT training she had received. The sessions were prepared based on six components of psychological flexibility found at the basis of ACT.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

41

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Acceptance to participate in the research,
  • Being responsible for the care of an individual who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders according to DSM-5 diagnostic criteria at least six months ago and at most five years ago,
  • Living with the patient for at least one year,
  • First-degree relatives (mother, father, siblings, adult children and spouse),
  • The home environment is suitable for online interviewing (having a computer/smartphone, internet at home, the patient can be alone in the room during the session, etc.),
  • Being literate,
  • Communication is not a problem.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Refusal to participate in the research,
  • Responsible for the care of an individual diagnosed with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders for less than six months or more than five years according to DSM-V diagnostic criteria,
  • Living with the patient for less than one year,
  • No first-degree relatives (mother, father, siblings, adult children and spouse),
  • The home environment is not suitable for online counseling (having a computer/smartphone, internet at home, the patient can be alone in the room during the session, etc.),
  • Illiteracy,
  • Communication problems.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental: ACT
''Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) Based Intervention Program was applied to the intervention group.
Behavioral: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Based Intervention Program was applied to the intervention group in eight sessions online. Each session will last an average of 60-90 minutes. There will be two sessions for one group per week.
No Intervention: Control
Arm Description: Only data collection was carried out. No attempt was made by the researcher during the study.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Self-Stigma Inventory for Families (SSI-F)
Time Frame: 6 month
The scale was developed to assess the self-stigmatization of family members of individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. The scores that can be obtained from the scale, which includes 3 factors and 14 items in total, including internalized stereotypes and withdrawal from society, concealment of the disease and perceived worthlessness, vary between 14-70. A high score indicates a high level of self-stigmatization of the family member.
6 month

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Stress Coping Scale
Time Frame: 6 month
The scale consists of 23 items and is a 5-point Likert type. It includes 3 sub-dimensions: seeking social support, problem-focused coping and avoidance-focused coping. Items 10, 17 and 20 of the scale are reverse-scored. The total score and subscale scores obtained from the scale provide information about individuals' coping strategies with stress. The scale gives scores ranging from 23 to 115 reflecting the general level of coping strategies used by individuals to cope with stress. High scores obtained from the scale and its subscales indicate an increased tendency to use relevant coping mechanisms.
6 month
Brief Resilience Scale
Time Frame: 6 month
The scale was developed to measure the psychological resilience of individuals. This scale, which consists of 6 items in 5-point Likert type, is a self-report measurement tool. It is scored between "not at all appropriate" (1) and "completely appropriate" (5). Items 2, 4 and 6 of these 6 items are reverse coded. High scores indicate a high level of psychological resilience and low scores indicate a low level of psychological resilience.
6 month

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Duygu Özer, Asst. Prof., Bartın Unıversity

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 20, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 30, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 19, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 22, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

October 23, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 7, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 2, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • BARU-SBF-DO-1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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