The effectiveness of family mode deactivation therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance-commitment therapy on depression and anxiety of adolescent girls with behavioral problems

Depression and anxiety are variables that undermine adolescentschr('39') mental health. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of family mode deactivation therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance-commitment therapy on depression and anxiety of adolescent girls.

The research method was quasi-experimental, and the research design was four groups in three stages: pre-test, post-test, and two-month follow-up. Among mothers of 120 adolescent girls aged 14-18 years, in Isfahan in the summer of 2019, the mothers of 60 adolescent were assigned to three experimental groups and one control group (each group with 15 adolescents) based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Kovas depression inventory and the Cattle anxiety questionnaire were used. Family mode deactivation therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance-commitment therapy groups received therapy in 10 sessions. The data were analyzed by repeated measure analysis of variance and post-hoc Bonferroni test.

The results showed that in depression and anxiety, there was a significant difference between family mode deactivation therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance-commitment therapy compared with the control group (p<0.01). There was also no significant difference between the three treatments in depression, but there was a significant difference in anxiety between family mode deactivation therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (p<0.01).

This study showed that family mode deactivation therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance-commitment therapy were among the therapies that can treat depression and anxiety in adolescent girls.