Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Emotional Regulation, Psychological Flexibility, and Stress in Children of Veterans With PTSD: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

The present study aims to investigate the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on emotional regulation, psychological flexibility, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children of veterans with PSTD.

This is a randomized controlled clinical trial with a pre-test/post-test/follow-up design. Participants were 70 children of veterans with PTSD (boys and girls) aged 15-19 years, who were selected using simple random sampling method and randomly divided into two groups of 35 including ACT and control. Before, immediately after, and 12 months after the intervention, people were measured using the acceptance and action questionnaire-II, difficulty in emotional regulation scale, and the PTSD checklist for DSM-5. The intervention group received group ACT at 8 sessions of 60-90 minutes. For the control group, life skills education was presented at 7 sessions of 60-90 minutes. Finally, the data was analyzed using SPSS software, version 22.

The results of analysis of covariance showed a significant difference in difficulty in emotional regulation, psychological flexibility and PTSD symptoms in the post-test and follow-up phases in two groups (P<0.01). Moreover, the two ACT and control groups were significantly different in the hyperarousal symptom of PTSD at follow-up phase, but there was no significant difference in two symptoms of re-experiencing trauma and negative alterations in mood/avoidance (P>0.05).

The ACT can improve emotional regulation skills and psychological flexibility and reduce PTSD symptoms in children of veterans with PTSD. Therefore, this method can be used in counseling and mental health centers to improve these children’s symptoms.