The effect of acceptance and commitment therapy-based group counseling program on psychological flexibility and coping strategies with dating violence among emerging adults

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-Based Group Psychological Counseling (ACT-GPC) on psychological flexibility and coping strategies for dating violence among emerging adults. The study was conducted with 16 university students in the emerging adulthood phase who have experienced dating violence. The intervention group received a 9-session online ACT-GPC program designed to enhance psychological flexibility and functional coping behaviors for dating violence, while the control group did not receive any intervention. In this study, which includes mixed measures, the time-dependent measurements (pre-test, post-test, and follow-up) of the experimental and control groups were examined using a factorial design. The Psychological Flexibility Scale and the Coping with Dating Violence Scale were used as data collection tools for time-dependent measurements in both groups. These scales were administered at three different times: at the beginning of the sessions, at the end of the sessions, and two months later. The Independent Samples t-Test was used to analyze whether there were significant differences between groups in the pre-test results. The effectiveness of the experimental procedure was evaluated using a Two-Way Analysis of Variance for Repeated Measures. In cases where the assumption of sphericity was not met, the Greenhouse-Geisser correction was applied. When the measurement × Group main effect was statistically significant, the Bonferroni Multiple Comparisons Test was used to investigate the source of the difference. The data obtained were analyzed using RStudio, and the significance level was set at .05. According to the research findings, the measurement × group main effect of the ACT-GPC intervention on psychological flexibility and functional coping strategies for dating violence was found to be significant (p < .05). However, the main effect on non-functional coping strategies for dating violence was not significant (p > .05). After examining the effect of the ACT-GPC intervention on psychological flexibility and total scores for both functional and non-functional coping with dating violence, the impact of the intervention on each sub-dimension of the dependent variables was further investigated. The intervention was found to be effective in all dimensions except for the sub-dimensions of psychological flexibility, namely defusion and contextual self, and in all sub-dimensions of functional coping with dating violence, except for self-support. To identify the dimensions contributing to significant changes, the Bonferroni Multiple Comparisons Test was conducted. The findings indicate that the implemented ACT-GPC was effective in increasing the levels of psychological flexibility and functional coping skills for dating violence among participants. This effect continued to be observed at the 2-month follow-up. Based on these findings, the results have been discussed, and practical recommendations for researchers have been provided.