Exploring the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on social anxiety of female high school students in Kashan city

Social or performance situations where the individual is exposed to possible scrutiny from others (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). It is recognized as a prevalent, complex, and disabling disorder that, if left untreated, is unremitting. Adolescents with SAD show impairments in academic performance and general mental health. These difficulties are often compounded by a high degree of comorbidity with other mental disorders. Negative outcomes of this disorder are higher and more pervasive in adolescents than in children and adults. Given the high prevalence and impairment associated with this disorder, a number of psychotherapies have been attempted to improve the understanding and treatment of SAD. ACT is part of the third wave of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and focuses on the context and function of the psychological phenomena which has evolved from experimental work regarding the influence of language on behavior and is, in part, informed by Relational Frame Theory. ACT is a trans-diagnostic therapeutic approach that conceptualizes psychological suffering as primarily a function of attempts to avoid unwanted private experiences (experiential avoidance) and /or contingent reduction in personally-meaningful pursuits. ACT aims to reduce experiential avoidance (in the service of increasing values-consistent behavior) by fostering psychological flexibility – “the ability to contact the present moment more fully as a conscious human being, and to change or persist in behavior when doing so serves valued ends”. Within ACT, psychological flexibility is conceptualized as a product of six distinct but interrelated sub-processes: acceptance; diffusion; self as context; present moment awareness; values,   committed action. Consistent with ACT theory, psychological flexibility has been found to mediate important therapeutic outcomes, with higher levels of psychological flexibility being associated with lower levels of psychological distress and improved quality of life. Several studies had found that individuals with social anxiety disorder had lower level of flexibility and more experimental avoidance. It seems that interventions for increasing psychological flexibility may resulted in reducing social avoidance and improve in social anxiety signs. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on social anxiety of female high school students in Kashan city. This quasi-experimental research was conducted with pre-posttest design with control groups. The population consisted of all female students with a diagnosis of social anxiety who received counseling from the psychological services centers in schools, Convenience sampling was used to recruit 30 students with social anxiety Disorder. The participants were randomly divided to an experimental and control group. All patients were assessed by Jerabek social anxiety scale at pre and posttest. The experimental group received 8 sessions of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Analysis of covariance at posttest stage, showed a significant improvement in the variable in the experimental group (p<0.05). According to the findings Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an effective method for reducing signs os social anxiety in female high school students with social anxiety disorder.