The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Interpersonal Difficulties and Internet Addiction among High School Students

The aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Internet addiction and interpersonal difficulties among high school students in Tehran. The method of the present study is quasi-experimental with pretest and posttest and a control group with one-month follow-up. The participants of the study were 40 male students (20 in experimental group and 20 in control group) of secondary school in academic year 2019-2020, who were selected by random sampling method. The research instruments were Young’s Internet Addiction Questionnaire (IAT) and Engels, Hidalgo and Mendens’s Questionnaire about Interpersonal Difficulties for Adolescents (QIDA). After administering the questionnaires to the students, the subjects who scored the cut score of Young’s Internet Addiction Questionnaire were randomly assigned to the control and experimental groups. The experimental group received eight two-hour group sessions of therapeutic intervention. After the therapy sessions, a posttest was administered to both groups and a follow-up test was administered after one month. Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS 26 software and analysis of variance with repeated measures. The results of the data analysis showed that the scores for Internet addiction and interpersonal difficulties decreased significantly in the experimental group at the posttest. These results were verified in a one-month posttest. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can decrease the components of Internet addiction and interpersonal difficulties. This treatment can be considered as an effective intervention method to achieve satisfactory interpersonal relationships.