Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms, Psychological Inflexibility, and Self-Compassion in IPV Survivor University Women

Abstract

The aim of this study is to measure the effectiveness of an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)-based group intervention program on post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, psychological inflexibility, and self-compassion in intimate partner violence (IPV) survivor university women. The research was conducted at a state university in & Idot;stanbul, T & uuml;rkiye. Participants consisted of 22 IPV survivor university women with 10 in the treatment group and 12 in the waitlist-control group. Participants were assigned to groups based on their preferences. The treatment group participated in a 12-session ACT intervention group, each lasting 120 to 150 min. During this period, no intervention was applied to the waitlist-control group. At the end of the treatment, the intervention group's average PTS symptom scores and psychological inflexibility scores significantly decreased, while their self-compassion scores significantly increased. This effect persisted during the 1-month follow-up period. On the other hand, no changes were observed in the PTS, psychological inflexibility, and self-compassion levels of the control group. When comparing the treatment group with the control group, it was observed that the treatment group had significantly lower levels of PTS and psychological inflexibility and significantly higher levels of self-compassion in both the post-test and follow-up assessments. Consequently, the results revealed the effectiveness of the program on PTS, psychological inflexibility, and self-compassion among a group of IPV survivor university women. Thus, we concluded that ACT may serve as an effective therapy for addressing IPV among university women and that it is culturally applicable to the Turkish context.