Effectiveness of Trauma-Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Love Trauma Syndromes and Depressive Symptoms in Students with a History of Love Trauma

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD student in Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shahid Madani University of Azerbaijan, Tabriz, Iran.

2 Associate professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran

3 Associate professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction: Love trauma can act as a trigger for significant psychological distress such as depression, love trauma syndrome, and impaired daily functioning.

Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of trauma-focused ACT on love trauma symptoms and depressive symptoms in students with experience of love trauma.

Method: The research followed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest and three-month follow-up, including a control group. The statistical population consisted of university students in Kermanshah who had experienced love trauma in 2024. Using convenience sampling, 28 participants were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Love Trauma Syndrome Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory-II were administered at three time points: pretest, posttest, and follow-up. The experimental group received ten 75-minute sessions of trauma-focused ACT based on Harris's (2021) protocol. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results: The results indicated that the effects of time and the time × group interaction on the dependent variables were significant at the 0.001 level, while the effect of group was significant at the 0.05 level. The Bonferroni post-hoc test for comparing means showed that the difference in means in the experimental group at the pre-test - post-test and pre-test - follow-up stages was statistically significant (p < 0.05). But it is not significant at the post-test follow-up stage (p > 0.05).

Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that trauma-focused ACT can be utilized by psychotherapists as an effective approach to reduce love trauma syndromes and depressive symptoms.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Clinical Psychology
Volume 17, Issue 3 - Serial Number 67
September 2025
Pages 33-48

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History

  • Receive Date: 05 February 2025
  • Revise Date: 13 July 2025
  • Accept Date: 19 June 2025

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