The effect of acceptance commitment therapy-based group psychoeducation on neurocognitive functions in individuals with somatization symptoms

Somatization is the expression of mental distress and stress through physical symptoms. Somatization, which is associated with many other psychological symptoms such as depression and anxiety disorders and negatively affects quality of life, also has negative effects on neurocognitive functions. Many scientific studies have shown that acceptance and commitment therapy has an effect on somatization. However, as far as we know, there is no study investigating how an intervention involving acceptance and commitment therapy will have an effect on the neurocognitive processes of people with somatization symptoms. In this study, participants with somatization symptoms according to the Psychological Symptom Screening Scale (SCL90) were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups, and an 8-week acceptance and commitment therapy-based group psychoeducation was applied to the experimental group. SCL90, Perth Alexithymia Scale, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Acceptance and Action Form were used for pre- and post-application assessments and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Stroop Test, Trail Making Test and Öktem Verbal Memory Processes Test were used for neuropsychological assessments. SPSS version 20 was used in the analyses. The research findings indicate significant differences favoring the experimental group in SCL90 scores related to somatization, depression, obsessive symptoms, interpersonal sensitivity, psychoticism, paranoid ideation, phobic anxiety, and total scores, as well as in all sub-scale scores of the Perth Alexithymia Scale, Pain Catastrophizing scores, and Acceptance and Action scores. In the analysis of neuropsychological tests, significant differences were found in the total correct responses and perseveration sub-scores of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, whereas no significant differences were observed in the Stroop, Trail Making, and Öktem Verbal Memory Processes tests.