Feasibility Study of Acceptance Commitment Group Therapy on Social Anxiety Symptom Reduction in College Students With Low Self-Esteem

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.201125.008How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), self-esteem, social anxiety

Abstract

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a troublesome mental disorder affecting both social and academic life in college students. Social anxiety levels in college students are related to problems with social abilities, difficulty maintaining attention, and learning. Furthermore, individuals with SAD display hypersensitivity to processes related to self-assessment and dependence on social approval, which manifests as low self-esteem. Therefore, psychological intervention is necessary, particularly to help students address the thoughts and emotions that cause social anxiety. This study examines the feasibility of Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) to reduce social anxiety and increase self-esteem in college students. This study used a quasi-experimental one-group, pretest/post-test design involving four participants. Each participant completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS) and the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (RSES). The goal was to decrease social anxiety symptoms and increase self-esteem for college students with social anxiety problems. The participants’ LSAS scores decreased and their RSES scores increased. The interviews indicated that ACT helped the participants eliminate their need for avoidance through a process of mindfulness, being in the present, and better acceptance and commitment. The ACT also improved their capacity to realize that thoughts and feelings are part of their minds and not facts about themselves.

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Fadhilah Eryananda
AU  - Imelda Ika Dian Oriza
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/11/27
TI  - Feasibility Study of Acceptance Commitment Group Therapy on Social Anxiety Symptom Reduction in College Students With Low Self-Esteem
BT  - Joint proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Intervention and Applied Psychology (ICIAP 2019) and the 4th Universitas Indonesia Psychology Symposium for Undergraduate Research (UIPSUR 2019)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 94
EP  - 105
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.201125.008
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.201125.008
ID  - Eryananda2020
ER  -