The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Based Training on the Maladaptive Schemas of Female Students with Bulimia Nervosa

Background & Aims of the Study: Recently, a lot of discussions have been done about thethird wave of behavioral and cognitive approaches, particularly in areas with eatingdisorders. The aim of current research is the effectiveness of acceptance and commitmentbased training on the maladaptive schemas of female students with bulimia nervosa.Materials & Methods: The design of current study is as quasi-experiment research withpre-test and post-test with control group. Statistical population consist of all high schoolfemale students of Arak city in the 2013-14 academic years. Samples were selected at firstby multi stage cluster sampling method and after completing young schema questionnaireshort form and Diagnostic Interview, were placement using random sampling method intwo experimental and control groups (N=20 per group). The experimental groupparticipated in 8 sessions of acceptance and commitment based training and control groupreceived no intervention. The gathered data were analyzed using Multivariate analysis ofcovariance (MANCOVA).Results: The results show that there exist significant differences between the pre-test andpost-test scores of the experimental group. This difference is significant at the level of 0.01.Therefore it seems that acceptance and commitment based training decreased maladaptiveschemas of students with bulimia nervosa.Conclusions: The results of current research explain the importance of acceptance andcommitment therapy in decreasing maladaptive schema of female students with bulimianervosa. Thus, interventions based on this approach in schools for students lead todecreasing the psychological problems.