Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Anxiety and Emotion Regulation in Girls

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in reducing anxiety and improving emotion regulation in adolescent girls.

Methods and Materials: This study employed a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design with 30 adolescent girls from Tehran, randomly assigned to either the ACT intervention group (n = 15) or a control group (n = 15). The ACT group participated in eight 90-minute therapy sessions, while the control group received no intervention. Standardized measures, including the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), were administered at pre-test, post-test, and five-month follow-up. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance with repeated measurements (ANOVA-RM) and the Bonferroni post-hoc test in SPSS-27 to examine within-group and between-group differences.

Findings: The results showed a significant reduction in anxiety scores in the ACT intervention group from 35.24 (SD = 5.12) at pre-test to 21.75 (SD = 4.85) at post-test and 19.88 (SD = 4.77) at follow-up, while the control group’s anxiety scores remained stable (p = 0.001). Similarly, emotion regulation significantly improved in the intervention group, with scores increasing from 45.32 (SD = 6.23) at pre-test to 60.21 (SD = 5.90) at post-test and 62.98 (SD = 5.78) at follow-up, whereas the control group showed no significant changes (p = 0.002). Bonferroni post-hoc analysis confirmed that these improvements were statistically significant and sustained over time.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that ACT is an effective intervention for reducing anxiety and enhancing emotion regulation in adolescent girls, with long-term therapeutic benefits. Given these results, ACT could be integrated into adolescent mental health programs to improve emotional well-being and coping strategies.