title: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for generalized anxiety disorder in older adults: a preliminary report.
abstract: Some evidence suggests that acceptance-based approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) may be well-suited to geriatric generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The primary goal of this project was to determine whether ACT was feasible for this population. Seven older primary-care patients with GAD received 12 individual sessions of ACT; another 9 were treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy. No patients dropped out of ACT, and worry and depression improved. Findings suggest that ACT may warrant a large-scale investigation with anxious older adults.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Diego, Department of Psychiatry, La Jolla, CA 92093-9111, USA. jwetherell@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Julie Loebach
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wetherell
authors.forename: Niloofar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Afari
authors.forename: Catherine R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Ayers
authors.forename: Jill A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Stoddard
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruberg
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Sorrell
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Petkus
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Thorp
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Patterson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D001521:Behavior Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects