BackgroundAcceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is increasingly being used to treat mental health difficulties, however there is a paucity of reviews concerning ACT with children.AimTo examine the literature about ACT interventions for child and adolescent mental well-being.MethodsSearches for articles reporting on ACT interventions to prevent/reduce child mental health difficulties were undertaken. Methodological quality was assessed and a narrative synthesis was used to summarize findings about mental health symptoms and psychological flexibility.ResultsTen articles were identified focusing on prevention and intervention for anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, anorexia nervosa, and trichotillomania. Most studies found that mental health symptoms reduced following an ACT intervention and psychological flexibility increased. However, findings indicate that other active interventions also led to the same changes.ConclusionsACT is a promising intervention for adolescent mental health, although further research is needed to establish whether reductions in mental health symptoms are due to an increase in psychological flexibility.
Ghosting involves terminating communication, including through technological mediums, as a means of ending a relationship. Despite attention from popular media, empirical examinations of this breakup strategy are sparse. Using a correlational design, we examined the defining features of ghosting including its associations with other breakup tactics, whether it is an exclusively unilateral strategy, and the role of social media unfollowing in its implementation. A convenience sample of primarily undergraduate students (n = 260) completed an online survey describing recent breakups, indicating the disengagement tactics used, social media unfollowing, and the extent to which the breakups involved ghosting. Findings indicated that ghosting is extremely common, it was used to terminate more than half of participants' recent relationships. Most participants had experienced a breakup involving ghosting as either the disengager and/or the recipient. Ghosting was found to involve less open confrontation, more avoidance/withdrawal and de‐escalation tactics. Contrary to previous research, ghosting can occur bilaterally, with partners ghosting each other. Social media unfollowing is an important aspect of ghosting. Relationships ended via ghosting have fewer post‐breakup connections than those ended through other strategies. Typically, ghosters initiate social media unfollowing. Findings provide insight into how ghosting should be conceptualized and measured in future explorations.
Mental health difficulties often start in childhood and the number of young people experiencing mental health difficulties [are] is rising, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic. Schoolbased programmes have been identified as an effective way to provide support for young people and present an opportunity to offer universal programmes, which can increase equity of access, facilitate resilience and reduce stigma. Whilst there is an emerging evidence of the benefits of preventive mental health programmes delivered in schools, there is a need for more robust evidence and methodological rigour in the development and descriptions of these programmes.Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is one approach that may be appropriate as a framework for preventing and reducing mental health difficulties in schools. This paper describes the content development of a UK-based universal school programme using ACT: the In-school Training in Emotional Resilience (InTER-ACT) programme. It describes the steps taken across the stages of content development, from planning the programme, delivering the programme in a school, receiving feedback and integrating the subsequent revisions. The final version of the programme, including summaries of session content, is provided.Consistent with an ACT ethos, the personal values of the researchers, and the influence of these on the programme are discussed, providing a novel integration of methodical detail and authentic, reflective practice. This article provides a transparent and detailed overview of the iterative processes involved in developing the content of an evidencebased pastoral care programme in a way that is systematic, rigorous and responsive to teacher and pupil feedback.
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