A third Generation therapies Approach in Long COVID patients: efficacy of an intervention program with Spanish adults

Abstract

Long COVID is attracting increasing attention due to the repercussions it is having, both at the individual level on the patient as well as globally on the health system, producing a continuous increase in the demand for assistance. The objective of this study is to offer evidence on the efficacy of a psychological intervention program based on third-generation therapies in the adult population with Long COVID. 70 patients diagnosed with Long COVID participated in the study (M=46, SD=8,4), divided into experimental and control (waiting list) groups. With the experimental group, a third-generation psychological intervention program of 10 sessions was carried out for 10 weeks. Both groups were assessed before and after the intervention on subjective well-being, self-compassion, perceived stress, state/trait anxiety, and depression. The results showed increased subjective well-being, reduced state anxiety and trait anxiety, improved total self-compassion and reduced self-judgment in the treatment group versus the control group after the intervention. It is concluded that this study can serve as a starting point for the implementation of this type of intervention programs in the context of Long COVID or chronic diseases.