Effect of an Integrated Cognitive-Behavioral, Acceptance, and Commitment Intervention on Generalized Anxiety Disorder among University Students

Background and Objective: Regarding the importance of generalized anxiety disorder, this study aimed to investigate the effect of an integrated cognitive-behavioral, acceptance, and commitment intervention on generalized anxiety disorder among students of Islamic Azad University of Toyserkan, Iran. Materials and Methods: This interventional study was conducted on 18 students referring to the counseling center of Toyserkan Azad University to receive counseling services using a pretest-posttest design in 2017. The study population was selected by a psychiatrist based on the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorder criteria through convenience sampling technique. The data were collected using a two-part questionnaire, including the demographic information and Standardized Beck Depression Inventory. The integrated program consisted of 12 educational sessions. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software (version 16) by means of paired sample t-test and Chi-square test. Results: According to the results, the integrated intervention reduced the student's mean generalized anxiety disorder to 8.27%. Moreover, this intervention led to anxiety reduction from severe level to moderate level in 83.3% of the students. Conclusion: As the findings of the present study indicated, the integrated intervention was effective in the mitigation of generalized anxiety disorder symptoms among the students. Therefore, this intervention was concluded to be as efficient as other interventions, such as the cognitive-behavioral, acceptance, and commitment programs, in decreasing the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder