Effectiveness of Commitment and Acceptance Therapy on Academic Procrastination and Behavioral Maladaptation of Male Students with Test Anxiety: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Behavioral incompatibility of students is currently one of the concerns of the educational system. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of commitment-based treatment and acceptance on academic procrastination and behavioral maladaptation of students with test anxiety.

The present study was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all seventh-grade male students in the District 2 of Kerman in the academic year 2019. Thirty students were selected as the research sample and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups (15 in each group). First, Sinha and Singh’s Behavioral Adjustment Questionnaire and Solomon and Rothblum’s Academic Procrastination Questionnaire were administered as a pretest in both groups. Then, the treatment based on acceptance and commitment was performed in the experimental group for 2 months. The control group did not receive any treatment. Data were analyzed using MANCOVA.

The mean (standard deviation) of academic procrastination in the pre-test stage was 77.39 (5.74) in the experimental group and 76.79 (5.66) in the control group, and in the post-test stage it was 54.82 (5.12) in the experimental group and 74.25 (6.94) in the control group (p<0.001). Also the mean (standard deviation) of behavioral incompatibility in the pre-test stage was 48.15 (7.04) in the experimental group and 49.12 (6.37) in the control group, and in the post-test stage it was 35.87 (5.12) in the experimental group and 48.29 (6.61) in the control group (p<0.001).

Considering the effectiveness of commitment and acceptance therapy, it is recommended to be used to improve and reduce academic procrastination and behavioral maladaptation of students with test anxiety.