The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Dysfunctional Attitudes and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Among University Students in Malaysia

The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on Dysfunctional Attitudes and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Among University Students in Malaysia.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can reduce dysfunctional attitudes and difficulties in emotion regulation among university students in Malaysia.The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Will participants who receive ACT show statistically significant reduction in dysfunctional attitudes scores compared to those in the control group?
• Will participants who receive ACT show statistically significant reduction in difficulties in emotion regulation scores compared to those in the control group?
• Will participants who receive ACT show statistically significant reduction in dysfunctional attitudes scores from pre-test to intermediate-test and from pre-test to post-test?
• Will participants who receive ACT show statistically significant reduction in difficulties in emotion regulation scores from pre-test to intermediate test and from pre-test to post-test?

Researchers will compare ACT group to a waitlist control group to see if ACT work to reduce dysfunctional attitudes and difficulties in emotion regulation.

Participants in the ACT group will

• attend six weekly individual sessions of ACT intervention (1 hour per session) conducted online
• complete the outcome measures at three different time points (week 1, week 3, and week 6)

Meanwhile, participants in the waitlist control group

• will not receive any intervention during the data collection period
• will be asked to complete same outcome measures at three different time points (week 1, week 3, and week 6)

Inclusion Criteria:

• Malaysian citizens
• currently enrolled as a university student
• be proficient in both Malay and English languages
• aged between 18 and 32 years old
• reported mild to moderate depression, anxiety, and/or stress levels according to the DASS-21

Exclusion Criteria:

• reported severe depression, anxiety, and/or stress on the DASS-21
• expected to graduate before study ends
• had been diagnosed with any psychological disorder prior to the study
• were currently receiving psychotherapeutic medication and/or psychological interventions.