The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) upon weight management and psychological well-being of adults with overweight or obesity: A systematic review.

Several studies have examined acceptance and commitment therapy's (ACT) effectiveness for addressing physical and psychological distress people with obesity can face. Nevertheless, no review focusing specifically on ACT analyzing randomized controlled trials (RCT) has been done up to date in this field. The present systematic review was developed following the PRISMA statement and aimed to examine ACT's effects on weight management and psychological well-being of adults with overweight or obesity. A conjunction of keywords related to ACT and excess weight was searched in four databases (Medline, PubMed, Psycinfo, and Scopus) for articles meeting inclusion criteria. The literature search yielded 2074 papers and sixteen were included in the review, finally. In 71.43% of the studies, ACT was effective to enhance psychological well-being; in 50% effectively targeted process variables and health behaviors related to weight management; in 31.82% of studies physical variables were improved; and 21.38% of studies showed evidence in favor of ACT for eating behavior modification. The present review supports ACT for promoting emotional aspects of individuals immersed in such weight-related battles and highlights the benefits of psychological well-being oriented ACT in the context of obesity treatment. More studies targeting psychological well-being primarily and with longer follow-ups are required.