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STUDY PROTOCOL article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology for Clinical Settings
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1369577
This article is part of the Research Topic Contextual-Behavioral Approaches to Improving Well-Being and Mental Health in Chronic Physical Illness View all 7 articles

eLIFEwithIBD: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of an online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and compassion-based intervention in inflammatory bowel disease

Provisionally accepted
Cláudia Ferreira Cláudia Ferreira 1Joana Pereira Joana Pereira 1Inês Matos-Pina Inês Matos-Pina 1David Skvarc David Skvarc 2Ana Galhardo Ana Galhardo 3Nuno Ferreira Nuno Ferreira 4Sérgio A. Carvalho Sérgio A. Carvalho 1Paola Lucena-Santos Paola Lucena-Santos 1Barbara S. Rocha Barbara S. Rocha 1Sara Oliveira Sara Oliveira 1Francisco Portela Francisco Portela 5Inês A. Trindade Inês A. Trindade 6*
  • 1 University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
  • 2 Deakin University, Geelong, Australia
  • 3 Instituto Superior Miguel Torga, Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
  • 4 University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus
  • 5 Coimbra Hospital and University Center, Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
  • 6 Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) entails physical, psychological, and social burden and holds a significant impact on quality of life. Experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, shame, and selfcriticism have been identified as possible therapeutic targets for improving mental health in people with IBD. Traditional face-to-face psychological therapy continues to provide obstacles for patients seeking assistance. Online psychological therapies centered on acceptance, mindfulness, and compassion have been shown to improve psychological distress in other populations.Objective: This paper presents the study protocol of a two-arm Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of an ACT and compassion-based, online intervention -eLIFEwithIBD -on the improvement of psychological distress, quality of life, work and social functioning, IBD symptom perception, illness-related shame, psychological flexibility, and self-compassion.The eLIFEwithIBD intervention is an adaptation of the LIFEwithIBD programme (delivered through an in-person group format) and entails an ACT, mindfulness, and compassion-based intervention designed to be delivered as an e-health tool for people with IBD. This protocol outlines the structure and contents of the eLIFEwithIBD intervention. Participants were recruited by an advertisement on the social media platforms of Portuguese Associations for IBD in January 2022. A psychologist conducted a brief interview with 80 patients who were interested in participating. Fifty-five participants were selected and randomly assigned to one of two conditions [experimental group (eLIFEwithIBD + medical TAU; n = 37) or control group (medical TAU; n = 18)]. Outcome measurement took place at baseline, post-intervention, and 4-month follow-up. All analyses are planned as intent-to-treat (ITT).The eLIFEwithIBD intervention is expected to empower people with IBD by fostering psychological strategies that promote illness adjustment and well-being and prevent subsequent distress.The eLIFEwithIBD aims to gain a novel and better understanding of the role of online contextual behavioral interventions on improving the quality of life and mental health of people with IBD.

    Keywords: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, compassion, inflammatory bowel disease, mindfulness, randomized controlled trial, study protocol

    Received: 12 Jan 2024; Accepted: 20 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ferreira, Pereira, Matos-Pina, Skvarc, Galhardo, Ferreira, Carvalho, Lucena-Santos, Rocha, Oliveira, Portela and Trindade. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Inês A. Trindade, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.