A Comparison of the Effect of Existentialism Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy and Compassion-Focused therapy on Affective Capital of Depressed Adolescent Girls

Introduction: Depression is one of the most common and debilitating mental disorders in adolescents that has a devastating effect on their abilities, performance, relationships, and other areas of adolescents' life. This disorder is often accompanied by a decrease in affective capital, which is associated with sadness, lack of energy, inattention, and lack of interest. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of existentialism acceptance and commitment therapy and compassion-focused therapy on the affective capital of depressed adolescent girls. Methods: The method of the present study was quasi-experimental with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up periods. The statistical population consisted of depressed adolescent girls in district 3 of Isfahan in the fall of 2021 year. From the statistical population, 45 people were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. Kutcher depression scale was used for initial screening and Golperor affective capital questionnaire was used to measure the dependent variable in three stages. For the experimental groups, ten sessions of compassion-based therapy and existentialism acceptance and commitment therapy were performed and during this time, the control group did not receive any treatment. Data were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc test. Results:  The results showed that in affective capital, the difference between the two treatment groups and the control group was significant (P <0.05), But there was no significant difference between the two treatment groups (P> 0.05). Conclusions:  With the concern of the research’s result, existentialism acceptance and commitment therapy and compassion-focused therapy have appropriate efficacy in the improvement of affective capital of adolescent girls. Therefore, it is suggested to use these two treatments in schools and treatment centers for depressed adolescent girls.