Women’s Health Bulletin (Jul 2024)

The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Self-control of Single-parent High School Students in Kerman, Iran

  • Negar Bahremand Nia,
  • Azam Vaziri Nasab

DOI
https://doi.org/10.30476/whb.2024.102100.1281
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 3
pp. 195 – 202

Abstract

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Background: Many single-parent or parentless individuals tend to engage in social misconduct due to family and community incompetence and lack of support. The present study investigated the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on the self-control of single-parent high school students in Kerman, Iran.Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The study population were single-parent high school students in Kerman, Iran in the academic year 2023-2024. A total number of 30 participants were selected through convenience sampling and randomly divided into two groups of 15. First, all participants completed the Tangney Self-Control Scale (SCS) as a pre-test measure. The experimental group underwent eight sessions of acceptance and commitment therapy, while the control group did not receive any intervention. Then, the research instruments were applied as a post-test measure. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 25, particularly for univariate analysis of covariance.Results: There was a significant difference in self-control at the post-test stage between the two groups of Acceptance and commitment therapy and the control group, even after accounting for the pre-test scores (P=0.003). Additionally, the data revealed a significant contrast in self-control improvement from the pre-test to the post-test stage within the acceptance and commitment therapy group (P=0.002). However, no notable change was observed in self-control in the control group throughout the study (P=0.484). Furthermore, no significant difference was found between the pre-test and post-test stages in the control group (P=0.233).Conclusions: According to our results, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is effective in improving self-control among single-parent high school students in Kerman, Iran. Thus, ACT is recommended in counseling and psychotherapy centers, especially for students who lack proper supervision and have only one guardian.

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