The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Externalizing Symptoms in 7 to 12 Year-Old Children with Chronic Pain

Background: In recent years, the interest in relation to the identification of adaptive mechanisms through which people continue to improve their psychological well-being, despite the experience of chronic pain, has been observed. Acceptance is one of these positive psychological factors. We aimed to investigate the effect of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Children with Chronic Pain on externalizing symptoms in 7 to 12 year-old children. Methods: The present study was based on quasi- experimental model According to the criteria of chronic pain; a number of children with chronic pain were selected by available sampling method from specialty and subspecialty pediatric hospitals of Tehran. Then, 20 children who according to their parents were prepared to participate in this study and met the inclusion criteria, were selected and were placed in the experimental and control group. The Child Behavior Checklist was administered in both groups at the pre-test, post-test, first and second follow-up. Results: The results showed that the experimental group compared with the control group showed significant change in externalizing symptoms in multiple stages. These changes continued after the treatment, primary and secondary follow-up. Chi-square related to total score in experimental group was 26.21 (p=0.001) and chi-square related to total score in control group was18.55 (p=0.069). Conclusions: Generally, it can be said that this protocol can be used in clinical fields, especially in the area of improving the externalizing symptoms of children.