The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Test Anxiety and Psychological Well-being of High School Students

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on test anxiety and psychological well-being. Methods: This study was an experimental with a pre-test and post-test design and control group. Participants were consisted of 60 male of high-school students (each group 30 persons) that were selected by multi-stage sampling method among Najafabad city students. The experimental group received 8 sessions of 90 minutes by ACT intervention and control group received no intervention. Data was analyzed with using the SPSS-19 software and by multivariate analysis of covariance (MONCOVA) method. Results: The findings showed that there is a significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores of experimental and control groups. In the other hand, ACT therapy led to significant decrease test anxiety and significant increase psychological well-being (p<0/001). Conclusion: The results showed ACT method is effective in decrease test anxiety and increase psychological well-being. Therefore, counselors and therapist can use ACT therapy for decrease test anxiety and increase psychological well-being.