The comparison of the effectiveness of the acceptance and commitment based therapy with the self-compassion focused training on the levels of self-criticism in students with suicidal thoughts

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PHD OF PSYCHOLOGY AZAD UNIVERSITY

2 Department of Psychology, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran.

10.22098/jrp.2024.14775.1226

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment based therapy and self-compassion focused training on the levels of self-criticism in students with suicidal thoughts. The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with an unequal control group. The statistical population of this study was all the students of Islamic Azad University, Ardabil branch in the academic year of 2022-2023, and after screening all students, 60 people were selected as a statistical sample through convenience sampling method; and by simple random sampling, they were replaced in three groups: the acceptance and commitment based therapy, the self-compassion focused training and control group, and each of the groups consisting of 20 people. In order to collect data, Beck suicide scale ideation and Self-Criticism Levels Scale were used. Data analysis was done with analysis of variance with repeated measures and Bonferroni post hoc test with SPSS22 statistical software. The findings show that the both of the interventional methods had a significant effect on reducing the levels of the self-criticism (internal self-criticism, comparison self-criticism) in students with suicidal thoughts (P<0/01). The test result of Bonferroni post hoc indicated that there was no significant difference between the effectiveness of two interventional methods on the research variable (P>0/05). The results showed the usefulness of both treatment intervention methods based on acceptance and commitment based therapy and self-compassion focused training on reducing the levels of self-criticism in students with suicidal thoughts.

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