Experimental Studies on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This research aimed to provide a systematic review of postgraduate theses that investigate the effectiveness of group interventions prepared based on acceptance and commitment therapy. Following this purpose search was carried out in several databases to include articles and theses written in Turkish on acceptance and commitment therapy without any year restrictions. As a result of the screening, 907 theses and articles were evaluated according to the PRISMA guideline and the selection criteria for the current research 2 article and 7 doctoral theses meeting the criteria were included in the research. It is seen that the studies examined within the scope of the research were prepared in the form of a psychoeducational program to proceed with different variables such as “coping competence, the meaning of life, peer bullying, decision-making strategies, body image flexibility, social appearance anxiety, fear of negative evaluation and test anxiety” and carried out by the researcher themselves. The articles selected for the research were inspected in terms of research model, research group, research design, characteristics of group interventions, measurement tools used, and the effectiveness of group interventions. Acceptance and commitment therapy-based programs examined within the scope of the research seem to be effective on the dependent variable. In the results obtained, it is recommended to use acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in protecting and preventive mental health services to prepare adolescents and young adults.

Keywords

• acceptance and commitment therapy
• psychoeducation
• group intervention
• systematic review
• young adult
• adolescent