Examining the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment-Based Stress Management Training on Anxiety and Depression of the Railroad Employees

Most railroad employees with their different tasks, long working hours, excessive work, lack of job security, load workplace noise, occupational hazards and possible injuries in the workplace, relationships with superiors and subordinates in the workplace and various occupational encounters in the workplace, are more likely to suffer from anxiety, stress Job, depression, and job and emotional burnout. Stress management training based on acceptance and commitment enables people to transform their knowledge, values, and attitudes into actual abilities. This training is effective on people’s sense of themselves and others. Also, by reducing anxiety and depression, acceptance and commitment therapy causes adaptability and increases self–confidence and mental health of people, and plays an effective role in preventing mental illnesses and behavioral problems. So, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of stress management training based on acceptance and commitment on the employees’ anxiety and depression.

The present research method was quasi–experimental with a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The study population comprised all employees of the General Directorate of Railways of South Zagros (1300 people), and the sample size was 60, which was selected by simple random method. Employees were assigned to the control and experimental groups (each group 30 persons). The inclusion criteria were the age range between 25 and 60 years, not having a psychiatric disease, not participating in other treatment programs at the same time, signing informed consent to participate in the research, having at least five years of experience, and bearing at least a diploma. The data collection tool was the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ–28) (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). Acceptance and commitment therapy was implemented in eight 90–min sessions once a week for two months only for the experimental group. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (univariate covariance analysis) in SPSS version 22 software at a significance level of 0.05.

The results showed that the treatment based on acceptance and commitment therapy was effective in reducing anxiety (p<0.001) and depression (p<0.001) in the posttest in the experimental group. Eta squared values of the acceptance and commitment therapy for the anxiety and depression variables were 0.58 and 0.48, respectively.

According to the results, stress management training based on acceptance and commitment has reduced the anxiety and depression of the employees of The Railways of South Zagros.