Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Interpersonal Problems and Psychological Flexibility in Female High School Students With Social Anxiety Disorder.

Sayedeh Monireh Azadeh,Mohammad Ali Besharat,Hamid Kazemi-Zahrani

doi:10.5539/gjhs.v8n3p131

Sayedeh Monireh Azadeh, Mohammad Ali Besharat + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.5539/gjhs.v8n3p131

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Abstract

Social anxiety is a psychological disorder which has devastative and pernicious effects on interpersonal relationships and one's psychological flexibility. The aim of this research was to determine the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on interpersonal problems and psychological flexibility in female high school students with social anxiety disorder. With a semi-experimental design, the subjects were assessed using the Social Anxiety Scale and clinical interview. The statistical population of the research was high school female students studying in 5 areas of Isfahan. 30 individuals were purposively selected as the sample. The subjects of the research were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy was given in 10 sessions of 90 minutes in the experimental group and the control group did not receive any treatment. Pre-test and post-test scores of Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance & the results showed that after the intervention, there was a significant difference between the scores of the subjects in the experimental and control groups. This means that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can influence interpersonal problems and their six dimensions and psychological flexibility as well.

Highlights

Social anxiety disorder is characterized by the main symptom of a given and persistent fear or anxiety in certain situations in which a person may be scrutinized by others precisely such as being in a group or community, being observed, or giving a speech in front of others (APA, 2013)
Pre-test and post-test scores of Inventory of Interpersonal Problems, and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance & the results showed that after the intervention, there was a significant difference between the scores of the subjects in the experimental and control groups
Students who got high scores in Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents were identified and were clinically interviewed.In the second stage, 30 students with social anxiety disorder were randomly assigned to two groups as follows: 15 individuals were put in the experimental group with ACT and 15 were assigned in the control group

Summary

Introduction

Social anxiety disorder is characterized by the main symptom of a given and persistent fear or anxiety in certain situations in which a person may be scrutinized by others precisely such as being in a group or community, being observed, or giving a speech in front of others (APA, 2013) It is one of the most common disorders among chronic psychological disorders (Andrews, Henderson, & Hall, 2001; McEvoy, Grove, & Slade, 2011) that is seen in almost 13% of people living in the community (Kessler, Petukhova, Sampson, Zaslavsky, & Wittchen, 2012) and has many devastating effects on one’s job, education, interpersonal functioning or performance (Hofmann & Otto, 2008), body and personal life (Ruscio et al, 2008; Furmark, 2002) and uniquely predicted by anxiety sensitivity social concerns (Carter, Sbrocco, & Avati, 2009; Thibodeau, Gomez-Perez, & Asmundson, 2012; Olthuis, Watt, & Stewart, 2014). Interpersonal relationships are so important that a special share or contribution is considered for their role in the constitution and persistence of www.ccsenet.org/gjhs

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