The Online Strength-Informed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Among COVID-19-Affected Adolescents.

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This study develops and investigates the changes in anxiety symptoms and quality of life (QoL) among participants of the online Strength-informed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (SACT) across three tests. METHODS: A small-scale, quasi-experiment with no control group was conducted. Repeated-measures analysis was employed to assess the changes of the three tests, which were the pre-experimental, post-test, and 3-month follow-up test. A total of 47 adolescents (ages 10-12) completed the 45-min intervention that lasted 10 weeks. RESULTS: Compared with the pre-experimental, the post-test indicated significant anxiety symptoms reduction but not a statistically significant increase in QoL. The 3-month follow-up test indicated reduced anxiety symptoms and improved QoL compared with the pre-experimental. The with-in subject changes were substantial. CONCLUSIONS: The online SACT is a promising model to reduce anxiety symptoms and promote QoL among adolescents during the current COVID-19 pandemic, which show both short- and long-term benefit to the participants.