Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain
Unknown statusNot applicableNCT02778737
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This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.
Brief summary (from the registry)
Chronic pain is a long-term condition which is related to a number of negative consequences including reduced productivity at work, increased number of sick leave , depression and emotional difficulties among others. Psychological interventions, particular Cognitive Behavioral therapies (CBT) are deemed effective in reducing the negative consequences following a diagnosis of a chronic pain condition. Though research provides substantial evidence for the CBT effectiveness, not all patients manage to reduce pain intensity or improve their physical and psychosocial functioning. Also, CBT appears with only small effect sizes on variables considered to be core domains in chronic pain. Finally, there are criticism targets on the lack of clear mechanisms underlying the process of change in CBT. New CBT therapeutic approaches, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focus on changing individuals' relation with their inner experiences. They utilize mindfulness and acceptance processes, instead of directly changing or controlling the content of internal experiences, as CBT does. ACT has received support for its effectiveness in chronic pain but there are very few clinical randomized trials to compare it with traditional CBT. The purpose of this study is to determine whether an ACT-based intervention when compared with a CBT-based intervention designed for chronic pain patients is efficacious in reducing pain interference, pain-related disability, and psychological distress. Also this study aims to examine whether any therapeutic effects result due to the effect of acceptance, for those participating in the ACT group or control appraisal, for those participating in the CBT group. Better knowledge of the mechanism of therapeutic change can help us to recognize which patients can be benefit from which approach.
Study details
- Official title
- An Innovative Psychosocial Intervention for the Treatment of Chronic Pain Patients and Their Families
- Conditions
- Interventions
- Behavioral: ACT-based intervention
- Behavioral: CBT-based intervention
- Sponsor
- University of Cyprus
- Collaborators
- University of Crete
- Start date
- 2013-09
- Primary completion
- 2016-06
- Sex
- All
- Age range
- from 18 Years to 70 Years
- Results posted
- No results posted in this snapshot
- Countries
- Greece
- Total sites listed
- 1
Eligibility criteria
Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion Criteria: * Presentation of chronic pain episodes * Significant impact of the chronic pain condition on quality of life * Having a medical diagnosis of chronic pain * Stable medical treatment for at least 2 months * Reading ability sufficient to comprehend self-monitoring forms as well as competence in the Greek language Exclusion Criteria: * An active non pharmacologically-controlled psychotic spectrum condition or manic episode, suicidal ideation/ intent or substance use problems within the 6 months prior to recruitment * Having a severe medical condition in the present (e.g. cancer) * No significant cognitive impairment, as assessed using the Mini-mental Status Examination (MMSE). * Age under 18 or above 70 years * Receiving any other psychological intervention which is based on CBT
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02778737