Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Clinical Symptom Severity and Cognitive Distortions in Individuals with Social Anxiety Disorder
Keywords:
Acceptance and commitment therapy, severity of clinical symptoms, cognitive distortions, people with social anxiety disorderAbstract
Introduction and Aim: Social anxiety disorder is one of the most common anxiety disorders characterized by intense fear of negative evaluation, avoidance of social situations, and maladaptive cognitive distortions that impair emotional and social functioning. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on clinical symptom severity and cognitive distortions in individuals with social anxiety disorder.
Methodology: This study employed a semi-experimental pretest–posttest design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of individuals with social anxiety disorder who referred to counseling centers in Tehran in 2026. Thirty participants were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups (15 participants in each group). Data collection instruments included the Clinical Symptoms Questionnaire and the Cognitive Distortions Questionnaire. The experimental group received eight weekly 90-minute ACT sessions, while the control group received no intervention. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance.
Findings: The findings indicated that the mean scores of clinical symptom severity and cognitive distortions significantly decreased in the experimental group at posttest compared with pretest. Analysis of variance demonstrated that ACT had a significant effect on reducing clinical symptom severity in individuals with social anxiety disorder (P=0.001, F=244.966). Furthermore, ACT significantly reduced cognitive distortions among participants with social anxiety disorder (P=0.001, F=125.658). These results support the effectiveness of ACT in improving psychological outcomes in socially anxious individuals.
Conclusion: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, by enhancing psychological flexibility, emotional acceptance, and cognitive defusion, effectively reduced clinical symptom severity and cognitive distortions in individuals with social anxiety disorder. Therefore, ACT can be considered an effective therapeutic intervention for counseling and treatment settings targeting anxiety disorders.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Hana Faraji , Mobina Arab, Maedeh Rajabi (Author); Farnaz Zarie; Masoumeh Oboori (Author)
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