The effectiveness of acceptance and commitment based therapy on aggression, emotion regulation and life expectancy of socially disadvantaged girls

The aim of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of the treatment based on acceptance and commitment on aggression, emotion regulation and life expectancy of socially damaged girls. The design of the research was semi-experimental and of pre-test-post-test type with the control group. The statistical population was all the socially disadvantaged girls in the welfare rehabilitation center of Gorgan, from among whom 30 girls were selected by available sampling method and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. To collect data, Garnevsky and Kraij, (2001), Aggression and Bass and Perry (1992) and Miller's (1988) life expectancy questionnaires were used in the pre- and post-treatment phases. The experimental group received Hayes (2007) acceptance and commitment group therapy for 8 sessions, but the control group did not receive any treatment. Research data were analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance. The findings showed that group therapy based on acceptance and commitment has a significant effect on reducing aggression, improving emotion regulation and life expectancy of socially disadvantaged girls (P<0.05). Therefore, the findings of this research have practical implications in clinical situations that have been discussed.