Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the quality of attachment and altruism of the children with externalized behavioral problems

The present study was conducted aiming to investigate the effectiveness of ACT on the quality of attachment and altruism of the children with externalized behavioral problems. The research method of the present study was quasi-experimental with pretest, posttest and control group design. The statistical population of the present study included all the children with externalized behavioral problems in the city of Tehran in 2016-17. Non-probable available sampling and random replacement were used in the present study in a way that 30 children were selected through available method and replaced into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received teaching interventions in nine sixty-minute sessions during two-and-a-half months. The applied questionnaires in the present study included children’s behavioral inventory (Akhenbach and Reskorla, 2001), attachment disorder questionnaire (Randolf, 2004) and abilities and problems questionnaire (Goodman et.al, 1997). The data gotten from the study were analyzed through ANCOVA method via SPSS24 software. The results showed that ACT has been effective on the quality of attachment and altruism in the children with externalized behavioral problems (P<0.001) in a way that this therapy could decrease the children’s attachment problems and improve their altruism. According to the findings of the present study it can be concluded that ACT can be employed as an efficient therapy to improve the attachment quality and altruism of the children with externalized behavioral problems.