Comparison of the Effectiveness of Emotion-focused Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Health locus of Control of Patients with Coronary Heart Patients

Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are the most important cause of mortality in the world. In addition to physical problems, they are also influenced by psychological factors and psychological therapies along with biological therapy can help to improve these patients. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and emotionfocused therapy (EFT) on Health locus of control of coronary heart patients. Method: This was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design with control group. The statistical population of the study included patients with coronary heart disease in the city of Karaj. Patients were 30 to 60 years old who referred to Shahid Rajaee Hospital in Karaj. Samples were selected using convenient sampling method and were assigned randomly into two experimental and one control group. Data were collected using health locus of control questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and analysis of covariance. Results: outcomes showed that ACT and EFT are effective on adjusting the Health locus of control in patients with coronary heart disease, and there was a significant difference between the experimental and control group (F = 7.25, p <0.05).But there was no difference between the efficacy of the two treatments. Conclusion: Psychological therapies such as ACT and EFT increase self-care in cardiac patients by increasing control and increasing sense of responsibility.