Effects of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on assertiveness and interpersonal anxiety of university students with interpersonal anxiety

The purpose of this study was to explore effects of acceptance-­commitment therapy on assertiveness and interpersonal anxiety of university students with interpersonal anxiety. Twelve students are selected of three hundred thirty students who completed an assertiveness sacle and a social anxiety scale, and finally six students were assigned to an experiment group and the others to a control group. ACT program consisting of 8 sessions twice a week approximately 120minutes is provided for experiment group, on the other hand, nothing is provided for control group. All participants completed an assertiveness sacle, a social anxiety scale at pre-­test, post-­test, and 6 weeks follow­-up periods. In the experimental group, the assertiveness score was improved after ACT program but not in the control group. The improvement observed in the experimental group was maintained until the follow-­up test. In the anxiety test, the experimental group showed a larger decrease than the control group, and the difference was also found in the follow­-up test. Finally, the implications and limitations of this study, along with suggestions for future study were discussed.

본 연구는 수용­-전념 치료가 대인불안이 있는 대학생의 주장성과 대인불안에 미치는 효과를 알아보기 위한 것이다. 4년제 대학생 330명을 대상으로 대인불안, 주장성 척도를 실시하였으며, 이를 토대로 12명의 대학생을 치료집단에 6명, 통제집단에 6명씩 배정하였다. 치료집단에는 주 2회, 약 120분씩 총 8회기로 구성된 수용­-전념 치료 프로그램이 실시되었으나, 통제집단에게는 어떠한 처치도 행해지지 않았다. 모든 참가자들은 프로그램 시작 전과 종료 직후 그리고 6주 후에 주장성, 대인불안 척도에 응답하였다. 치료집단에서 수용전념 치료 프로그램 후 주장성은 향상되었으나, 통제집단에서는 그렇지 않았다. 치료집단에서의 이러한 향상은 추적조사까지 유지되었다. 대인불안 검사에서, 치료집단은 통제집단 보다 더 큰 감소를 나타냈고, 이러한 차이점은 추적조사에서도 발견되었다. 끝으로 연구의 의의, 제한점 및 후속 연구에 대한 제언이 논의되었다.