The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Death Anxiety, Happiness and Resilience in the Elderly

Aging is one of the most important stages of human life, and people at this stage are faced with various issues, among which issues such as death anxiety, happiness and resilience appear to be the most common issues of mental health in the elderly that can be improved using appropriate interventions. Therefore, the current study aims to examine the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on death anxiety, happiness and resilience in the elderly. This was a quasi-experimental study with the pretest-posttest control group design. The statistical population of the present study included all the elderly living in Lahijan, Iran, among whom 30 people were selected using convenience sampling method and randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups. Both groups completed the Templer’s death anxiety, Oxford happiness, and Conner and Davidson’s resilience questionnaires in pretest and posttest phases. Experimental group underwent eight 60-minute sessions of ACT, while control group received no treatment at this time. Data were analyzed by univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), the results of which revealed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of death anxiety, happiness and resilience in the posttest phase. Put in other words, ACT resulted in a decrease of death anxiety and an increase of happiness and resilience in the elderly. According to the results of the current study, ACT can be used as an effective treatment method to improve the mental health of the elderly.