Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Academic Procrastination of Adolescents with ADHD

ACT, as a promising approach, has received a lot of attention in the treatment of children and adolescents problem. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on ADHD symptoms and academic procrastination of ADHD adolescents.
Following a pretest-posttest with control group quasi-experimental design, 16 adolescents with ADHD were selected from among clients of Psychiatric and Psychological Service centers with regard to the inclusion criteria and then randomly assigned into experimental (n=8) or control groups (n=8). Child Symptom Index (CSI-4) and Savari’s Academic Procrastination Scale were completed prior to the interventions by all participants and then participants of experiment group individually received a 10-session ACT intervention, while control group received no intervention. After the intervention, the in instruments were completed by participants again.
The results of covariance analysis showed that the intervention had no significant effect on inattentiveness, but it was effective on hyperactivity/impulsivity. Also, the results showed that interventions reduced deliberate procrastination, caused by physical-mental fatigue and lack of schedule, and the total score of procrastination.
, Findings implicate that ACT is effective and promising intervention, specially for hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms and procrastination.