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Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. , Z.naghsh@ut.ac.ir
Abstract: (48 Views)
Background: Adolescence is a developmental period characterized by various emotional challenges, including aggression, which can negatively affect academic performance and social functioning. Given the limitations of traditional therapeutic approaches, there is a growing need to examine third-wave and positive-oriented interventions for managing anger in adolescents. Although the effectiveness of these approaches has been established individually, few studies have simultaneously compared them among adolescent girls.
Aims: The present study aimed to determine and compare the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and positive psychology training in reducing aggression among female students in upper secondary school.
Methods: This study was applied in nature and employed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest and a control group. The statistical population included all female high school students (second level) in District 11 of Tehran during the academic year 2024–2025. A total of 45 eligible students were selected using convenience sampling and randomly assigned to three groups: two experimental groups (n = 15 each) and a control group (n = 15). The experimental groups received interventions based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes et al., 2012) and Positive Psychology (Seligman et al., 2005), respectively. The instrument used to collect data was the Ahvaz Aggression Questionnaire (Zahedifar et al., 1999). Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) in SPSS version 26. The significance level was set at 0.05 in all analyses.
Results:The results of MANCOVA indicated that both interventions—Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Positive Psychology—led to a significant reduction in overall aggression and its subscales (anger and rage, insult and aggression, and stubbornness and hostility) compared to the control group in the posttest phase (P< 0.01). Moreover, Bonferroni post hoc tests revealed significant differences between the control group and each of the two intervention groups, while no significant difference was found between the effectiveness of the ACT and Positive Psychology interventions (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: The findings suggest that both Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Positive Psychology are effective school-based interventions for reducing aggression among adolescent girls. Therefore, both approaches may be utilized as practical methods for enhancing emotional regulation and mitigating aggressive behaviors in educational settings.
Aims: The present study aimed to determine and compare the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and positive psychology training in reducing aggression among female students in upper secondary school.
Methods: This study was applied in nature and employed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest and a control group. The statistical population included all female high school students (second level) in District 11 of Tehran during the academic year 2024–2025. A total of 45 eligible students were selected using convenience sampling and randomly assigned to three groups: two experimental groups (n = 15 each) and a control group (n = 15). The experimental groups received interventions based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes et al., 2012) and Positive Psychology (Seligman et al., 2005), respectively. The instrument used to collect data was the Ahvaz Aggression Questionnaire (Zahedifar et al., 1999). Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) in SPSS version 26. The significance level was set at 0.05 in all analyses.
Results:The results of MANCOVA indicated that both interventions—Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Positive Psychology—led to a significant reduction in overall aggression and its subscales (anger and rage, insult and aggression, and stubbornness and hostility) compared to the control group in the posttest phase (P< 0.01). Moreover, Bonferroni post hoc tests revealed significant differences between the control group and each of the two intervention groups, while no significant difference was found between the effectiveness of the ACT and Positive Psychology interventions (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: The findings suggest that both Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Positive Psychology are effective school-based interventions for reducing aggression among adolescent girls. Therefore, both approaches may be utilized as practical methods for enhancing emotional regulation and mitigating aggressive behaviors in educational settings.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2025/10/2 | Accepted: 2025/12/22 | Published: 2026/04/21
Received: 2025/10/2 | Accepted: 2025/12/22 | Published: 2026/04/21
References
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This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)