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Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
Published in: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research Article

Acceptance and commitment therapy universal prevention program for adolescents: a feasibility study

Authors: Rowan Burckhardt, Vijaya Manicavasagar, Philip J. Batterham, Dusan Hadzi-Pavlovic, Fiona Shand

Published in: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Background

There is a need to prevent anxiety and depression in young people and mindfulness contains important emotion regulation strategies. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a mindfulness-based therapy, has yet to be evaluated as a prevention program, but has demonstrated an ability to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in adult and adolescent populations. This study examines the feasibility of using an ACT-based prevention program in a sample of year 10 (aged 14–16 years) high school students from Sydney, Australia.

Methods

Participants were allocated to either their usual classes or to the ACT-based intervention. Participants were followed for a period of 5 months post-intervention and completed the Flourishing Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, and a program evaluation questionnaire. Analyses were completed using intention-to-treat mixed models for repeated measures.

Results

The results indicated that the intervention was acceptable to students and feasible to administer in a school setting. There were no statistically significant differences between the conditions, likely due to the small sample size (N = 48). However, between-group effect sizes demonstrated small to large differences for baseline to post-intervention mean scores and medium to large differences for baseline to follow-up mean scores, all favouring the ACT-based condition.

Conclusion

The results suggest that an ACT-based school program has potential as a universal prevention program and merits further investigation in a larger trial.
Trial registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry. Trial ID: ACTRN12616001383459. Registered 06/10/2016. Retrospectively registered.
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Metadata
Title
Acceptance and commitment therapy universal prevention program for adolescents: a feasibility study
Authors
Rowan Burckhardt
Vijaya Manicavasagar
Philip J. Batterham
Dusan Hadzi-Pavlovic
Fiona Shand
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1753-2000
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-017-0164-5

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