Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a Mindfulness-Based Approach for Treatment of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain
CompletedNot applicableNCT04502992
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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)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has been recognized as an effective, non-pharmacologic treatment for a variety of CP conditions. However, little is known about the neurologic mechanisms underlying ACT. The investigators conducted an ACT intervention in women (n=9) with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected pre- and post-ACT, and changes in functional connectivity (FC) were measured using Network-Based Statistics (NBS). Behavioral outcomes were measured using validated assessments such as the Acceptance \& Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II), the Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the NIH Toolbox Neuro-QoLTM (Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders) scales. Results suggest that, following the four-week ACT intervention, participants exhibited reductions in brain activation within and between key networks including self-reflection (default mode, DMN), emotion (salience, SN), and cognitive control (frontal parietal, FPN). These changes in connectivity strength were correlated with changes in behavioral outcomes including decreased depression and pain interference, and increased participation in social roles. This study is one of the first to demonstrate that improved function across the DMN, SN, and FPN may drive the positive outcomes associated with ACT. This study contributes to the emerging evidence supporting the use of neurophysiological indices to characterize treatment effects of alternative and complementary mind-body therapies.
Study details
- Official title
- Neural Mechanisms of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain: A Network-Based fMRI Approach
- Conditions
- Chronic Musculoskeletal Disease
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Acceptance and Committment Therapy
- Sponsor
- University of New Hampshire
- Collaborators
- University of Texas at Austin
- Start date
- 2018-08-31
- Primary completion
- 2019-04-30
- Sex
- All
- Age range
- from 18 Years to 65 Years
- Results posted
- No results posted in this snapshot
- Countries
- United States
- Total sites listed
- 1
Eligibility criteria
Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion Criteria: * greater than or equal to 18 years of age * Chronic musculoskeletal pain duration for greater than or equal to 3 months * Pain interference greater than or equal to 4 on Brief Pain Inventory (BPI; 0-10 scale) * No known contraindication to participate * Access to regular transportation * No plans to move or become pregnant in the next 3 months * MRI safe * Personal cell phone with the ability to receive text messages and access web-based material (e.g. short surveys) Exclusion Criteria: * Unstable medical condition, including a movement disorder, such as restless leg syndrome or Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder such as Alzheimer's disease, history of stroke or brain lesion, a psychiatric disorder such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder * Significant cognitive impairment * Pregnancy(a test must be conducted on each scan day) * A recent history of: cancer, malignancy, accident or trauma, palliative care, acupuncture, chiropractic care, cognitive-based psychotherapy, other form of alternative care to treat pain condition * Metal in the body of any sort - implants, pacemaker, pins, screws
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04502992