Comparison of the Effectiveness of Reality Therapy and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy on Social Anxiety and Parenting Self-Agency in Female Household Heads in Sari City

Female household heads are exposed to numerous psychological and social harms. This study aims to compare the effectiveness of reality therapy and acceptance & commitment therapy on social anxiety and parenting self-agency in female household heads with symptoms of social anxiety.

This study was semi-experimental with pretest, posttest, follow-up, and control group. The statistical population of this study included all female household heads referring to Baran and Navid social work clinics in Sari city in 2019, of which 45 were selected by purposeful sampling method based on the inclusion criteria and assigned in experimental and control groups by simple randomization. The experimental groups underwent reality therapy and acceptance & commitment therapy. Data were collected by Parental Self-Agency Measure and Jerabek Social Anxiety Scale. Then, they were analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance at a significance level of 0.05.

Data analysis showed that reality therapy and acceptance & commitment therapy were effective in improving parenting self-agency with within-group effect (F =19.69, P = 0.00), between-groups effect (F = 8.25, P = 0.002), and the between-groups and within-group interaction effect (F = 12.84, P = 0.00) and also in social anxiety with within-group effect (F=16.46 , P = 0.00), between-groups effect (F =29 /19, P = 0.00), and the between-groups and within-group interaction effect (F = 15.21, P = 0.00) in female household heads with symptoms of social anxiety. Therefore, both treatment approaches were effective in improving social anxiety and parenting self-efficacy in female household heads with symptoms of social anxiety.

Based on this research results, psychological interventions, such as reality therapy and acceptance & commitment therapy, can be effective in improving parenting self-agency and social anxiety in female household heads with symptoms of social anxiety.