The effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on the mental health of students with an emotional breakdown

Seyedeh Maryam Noormohamadi; Mokhtar Arefi; Karim Afshaini; Keivan Kakabaraee

doi:10.1515/ijamh-2019-0096

The effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on the mental health of students with an emotional breakdown

Int J Adolesc Med Health. 2019 Jun 11;34(1). doi: 10.1515/ijamh-2019-0096.

Authors

Seyedeh Maryam Noormohamadi¹, Mokhtar Arefi², Karim Afshaini¹, Keivan Kakabaraee¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology and Counseling, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran.
² Department of Psychology and Counseling, Kermanshah Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah, Iran, Phone: +98-9183308112.

PMID: 31188778
DOI: 10.1515/ijamh-2019-0096

Abstract

Background: Mental health is a significant part of one's health and it is very important to pay attention to mental health.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to examine the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on the mental health of adolescents with an emotional breakdown (EB).

Methods: This was a semi-experimental study, in which the students with an EB were divided into two groups: the experimental and control groups. Twenty people were selected using the convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to the ACT and control groups (each with 10 people). After obtaining consent to participate in the study, they were asked to fill the questionnaires as a pre-test. Then, the experimental group was treated for nine individual sessions (weekly one session). As this was a repeated measurement method, in sessions 3, 6 and 9, the questionnaires were completed again and the follow-up period was 1 month after the end of the interventions.

Results: Before the intervention, there was no difference between the score of the impact of love and rumination among the students in the experimental and control groups (p > 0.05); but after the intervention, the score of the impact of love and rumination in the experimental group decreased (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: It is suggested that ACT should be used at counseling centers of universities and educational institutions.

Keywords: acceptance and commitment therapy; adolescent; student.