The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on High-risk Behaviors of Delinquent Adolescents in a Juvenile Detention Center

Introduction: A juvenile detention center is a place where teenagers with risky behaviors, such as competitiveness, separation from family, impatience, aggression, physical abuse, suicide, addiction, and theft, are kept to be corrected and trained. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) can greatly...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jamileh Farokhzadian, Nargess Sohrabzadeh, Yunes Jahani, Esmat Nouhi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Guilan University of Medical Sciences 2023-09-01
Series:Journal of Holistic Nursing and Midwifery
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hnmj.gums.ac.ir/article-1-2226-en.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849235813887377408
author Jamileh Farokhzadian
Nargess Sohrabzadeh
Yunes Jahani
Esmat Nouhi
author_facet Jamileh Farokhzadian
Nargess Sohrabzadeh
Yunes Jahani
Esmat Nouhi
author_sort Jamileh Farokhzadian
collection DOAJ
description Introduction: A juvenile detention center is a place where teenagers with risky behaviors, such as competitiveness, separation from family, impatience, aggression, physical abuse, suicide, addiction, and theft, are kept to be corrected and trained. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) can greatly reduce high-risk behaviors in these individuals. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of ACT on the risk-taking behaviors of delinquents in a juvenile detention center.  Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 60 male juvenile delinquents aged 12-18 years in a juvenile detention center in Southeast Iran. The participants were recruited by the census method and assigned to the intervention and control groups (30 in each group) using simple random sampling. The participants in the intervention group attended eight 90-min sessions of ACT, and the participants in the control group received routine training in the center. Iranian adolescents’ risk-taking scale was used to assess the risk-taking of samples before and one month after the ACT intervention. The study data were analyzed using descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent samples t-test, paired-samples t-test, chi-square test, and the analysis of covariance). Results: Most adolescents in the intervention and control groups were in the age group of 16-20 years (96.7%, and 93.3%, respectively) and had a middle school degree (56.7%, and 40%, respectively). A comparison of the mean risk-taking behaviors scores in the intervention (56.53±11.4) and the control groups (57.28±11.18) showed that the participants in both groups were engaged in high-risk behaviors and were similar. However, in the post-test stage, the mean risk-taking behaviors score in the intervention group decreased (39.64±10.26) compared with the control group (56.31±11.5) with a significant intergroup difference (P<0.05). Also, the Mean±SD risk-taking scores after the intervention were higher than the control group calculated by the covariance analysis for the intervention group participants. These differences were statistically significant (Cohen’s d=15.24, 95% CI, 10.91%-19.56%). Conclusion: According to the results, ACT reduced high-risk behaviors in juvenile delinquents. Thus, such psychological interventions can be performed to reduce high-risk behaviors in vulnerable groups such as adolescents in juvenile detention centers. Also, the effectiveness of these interventions can be evaluated in longitudinal studies.
format Article
id doaj-art-d04c0c227cbd4e67853d6ca573c9ea8c
institution Kabale University
issn 2588-3712
language English
publishDate 2023-09-01
publisher Guilan University of Medical Sciences
record_format Article
series Journal of Holistic Nursing and Midwifery
spelling doaj-art-d04c0c227cbd4e67853d6ca573c9ea8c2025-08-20T04:02:40ZengGuilan University of Medical SciencesJournal of Holistic Nursing and Midwifery2588-37122023-09-01334259267The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on High-risk Behaviors of Delinquent Adolescents in a Juvenile Detention CenterJamileh Farokhzadian0Nargess Sohrabzadeh1Yunes Jahani2Esmat Nouhi3 Associate Professor, Nursing Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Nursing (MSN), Student Research Committee, Razi Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Professor, Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Razi Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Introduction: A juvenile detention center is a place where teenagers with risky behaviors, such as competitiveness, separation from family, impatience, aggression, physical abuse, suicide, addiction, and theft, are kept to be corrected and trained. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) can greatly reduce high-risk behaviors in these individuals. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of ACT on the risk-taking behaviors of delinquents in a juvenile detention center.  Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed on 60 male juvenile delinquents aged 12-18 years in a juvenile detention center in Southeast Iran. The participants were recruited by the census method and assigned to the intervention and control groups (30 in each group) using simple random sampling. The participants in the intervention group attended eight 90-min sessions of ACT, and the participants in the control group received routine training in the center. Iranian adolescents’ risk-taking scale was used to assess the risk-taking of samples before and one month after the ACT intervention. The study data were analyzed using descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent samples t-test, paired-samples t-test, chi-square test, and the analysis of covariance). Results: Most adolescents in the intervention and control groups were in the age group of 16-20 years (96.7%, and 93.3%, respectively) and had a middle school degree (56.7%, and 40%, respectively). A comparison of the mean risk-taking behaviors scores in the intervention (56.53±11.4) and the control groups (57.28±11.18) showed that the participants in both groups were engaged in high-risk behaviors and were similar. However, in the post-test stage, the mean risk-taking behaviors score in the intervention group decreased (39.64±10.26) compared with the control group (56.31±11.5) with a significant intergroup difference (P<0.05). Also, the Mean±SD risk-taking scores after the intervention were higher than the control group calculated by the covariance analysis for the intervention group participants. These differences were statistically significant (Cohen’s d=15.24, 95% CI, 10.91%-19.56%). Conclusion: According to the results, ACT reduced high-risk behaviors in juvenile delinquents. Thus, such psychological interventions can be performed to reduce high-risk behaviors in vulnerable groups such as adolescents in juvenile detention centers. Also, the effectiveness of these interventions can be evaluated in longitudinal studies.http://hnmj.gums.ac.ir/article-1-2226-en.pdfadolescentdangerous behaviorrisk-takingbehavior therapy
spellingShingle Jamileh Farokhzadian
Nargess Sohrabzadeh
Yunes Jahani
Esmat Nouhi
The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on High-risk Behaviors of Delinquent Adolescents in a Juvenile Detention Center
Journal of Holistic Nursing and Midwifery
adolescent
dangerous behavior
risk-taking
behavior therapy
title The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on High-risk Behaviors of Delinquent Adolescents in a Juvenile Detention Center
title_full The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on High-risk Behaviors of Delinquent Adolescents in a Juvenile Detention Center
title_fullStr The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on High-risk Behaviors of Delinquent Adolescents in a Juvenile Detention Center
title_full_unstemmed The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on High-risk Behaviors of Delinquent Adolescents in a Juvenile Detention Center
title_short The Effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on High-risk Behaviors of Delinquent Adolescents in a Juvenile Detention Center
title_sort effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on high risk behaviors of delinquent adolescents in a juvenile detention center
topic adolescent
dangerous behavior
risk-taking
behavior therapy
url http://hnmj.gums.ac.ir/article-1-2226-en.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT jamilehfarokhzadian theeffectofacceptanceandcommitmenttherapyonhighriskbehaviorsofdelinquentadolescentsinajuveniledetentioncenter
AT nargesssohrabzadeh theeffectofacceptanceandcommitmenttherapyonhighriskbehaviorsofdelinquentadolescentsinajuveniledetentioncenter
AT yunesjahani theeffectofacceptanceandcommitmenttherapyonhighriskbehaviorsofdelinquentadolescentsinajuveniledetentioncenter
AT esmatnouhi theeffectofacceptanceandcommitmenttherapyonhighriskbehaviorsofdelinquentadolescentsinajuveniledetentioncenter
AT jamilehfarokhzadian effectofacceptanceandcommitmenttherapyonhighriskbehaviorsofdelinquentadolescentsinajuveniledetentioncenter
AT nargesssohrabzadeh effectofacceptanceandcommitmenttherapyonhighriskbehaviorsofdelinquentadolescentsinajuveniledetentioncenter
AT yunesjahani effectofacceptanceandcommitmenttherapyonhighriskbehaviorsofdelinquentadolescentsinajuveniledetentioncenter
AT esmatnouhi effectofacceptanceandcommitmenttherapyonhighriskbehaviorsofdelinquentadolescentsinajuveniledetentioncenter