The effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on the mental health of students with an emotional breakdown

Abstract

Abstract Background Mental health is a significant part of one’s health and it is very important to pay attention to mental health. Objectives The aim of the study was to examine the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on the mental health of adolescents with an emotional breakdown (EB). Methods This was a semi-experimental study, in which the students with an EB were divided into two groups: the experimental and control groups. Twenty people were selected using the convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to the ACT and control groups (each with 10 people). After obtaining consent to participate in the study, they were asked to fill the questionnaires as a pre-test. Then, the experimental group was treated for nine individual sessions (weekly one session). As this was a repeated measurement method, in sessions 3, 6 and 9, the questionnaires were completed again and the follow-up period was 1 month after the end of the interventions. Results Before the intervention, there was no difference between the score of the impact of love and rumination among the students in the experimental and control groups (p > 0.05); but after the intervention, the score of the impact of love and rumination in the experimental group decreased (p < 0.05). Conclusions It is suggested that ACT should be used at counseling centers of universities and educational institutions.