About this Research Topic

Background

Living with chronic illness detrimentally impacts well-being and results in low quality of life. Considerable variability is reported on the relationship between illness severity, functioning, and quality of life, which suggests that an interplay of genetic, biological, psychological and sociocultural factors contribute to illness disability and overall well-being. In the last 30 years, emerging contextual-behavioral approaches (e.g., acceptance-, mindfulness-, compassion-based) have contributed to a better understanding of the risk and protective psychosocial factors associated with the psychological suffering that accompany chronic illness. This has resulted in a shift of target in psychological interventions for chronic illnesses from changing cognition and control of emotional experiences to modifying unworkable behaviors and promoting flexible, valued, and compassionate responding.

Although mounting research has addressed the many contextual-behavioral psychosocial processes implicated in the mental health of people with chronic illness (e.g., psychological flexibility, mindfulness, interoceptive awareness, compassionate responding, social connectedness, emotional regulation), the conceptual overlap between these middle level processes calls for an in-depth examination of the nuances of their contribution, particularly following research designs that overcome the limitations of cross-sectional studies (e.g., longitudinal, experimental). Also, most efficacy studies on contextual-behavioral approaches focus on Mindfulness-Based Interventions, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and few have tested other functional approaches (e.g., FAP, Clinical RFT, Compassion-based interventions). Furthermore, efficacy studies tend to be conducted with WEIRD samples (participants from western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratized countries), which posits questions regarding the sociocultural factors associated with the pervasiveness of relevant psychological processes, the universality of the psychological programs, and the generalizability of results. Finally, different contextual-behavioral approaches are theoretically compatible and complementary, which has led to integrative interventions. However, these lack large sample sizes, follow-up assessment, and/or mechanisms of change analyses.

The current Research Topic welcomes study protocols, position papers, original research, case reports, short communications, narrative and systematic reviews, and meta-analysis on the following topics:
• New developments in contextual-behavioral approaches to chronic illness
• Efficacy studies of contextual-behavioral programs in improving mental health indicators in chronic illness (preferentially, but not limited to, RCTs)
• Mechanisms of therapeutic change of contextual-behavioral approaches to chronic illness
• Longitudinal and experimental studies exploring the role of contextual-behavioral processes underlying the trajectories of functioning, well-being, and quality of life in chronic illness
• The relationship between genetic, biological, psychological and/or sociocultural factors that posits an increased risk or protection against chronic illness-related psychological suffering
• Contextual-behaviorally consistent theoretical considerations and empirical studies on socioeconomic, education, gender and racial disparities in accessing and responding to contextual-behavioral programs for chronic illness.

Keywords: Chronic illness, Mental health, Contextual-Behavioral, Acceptance, Mindfulness, Compassion, Psychological Flexibility

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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