The influence of acceptance and commitment therapy on depression and quality of life among emerging adults in Malaysia

Researches revealed that emerging adults aged 18 to 29 are more susceptible to depression than those in other age groups. Acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT, has been shown in numerous prior studies to be effective in treating emerging adults' depression. Instead of emerging adults in general, past studies have been concentrating more on those pursuing higher education. This intentional limitation of the study focus creates a population gap in the existing literature. Therefore, this study looks at how effective ACT in improving depression symptoms among Malaysian emerging adults. Sixty eight emerging adults participated in this experimental study, which used a pre-post test control group design. Using the random assignment technique, they were divided into one treatment group (ACT) and one control group. The study used Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) and World Health Organization Quality of Life – BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) as the questionnaires. Depression symptoms and quality of life improve significantly in ACT at post-test and this improvement maintains at follow-up. There is statistically significant difference in depression between ACT and control group at post-test and follow-up, where depression in ACT improves while control group shows worsening of symptom at follow-up. Results shows that there is no significant difference between the two groups in quality of life at post-test and follow-up. However, control group shows worsening in quality of life at follow-up. ACT seems to be more effective compared to control group in reducing depression. In terms of quality of life, ACT shows more improvement in comparison with control group although non-significant. This demonstrates that ACT improves depression and quality of life more effectively than the control group among Malaysian emerging adults. Future studies might focus on different countries or areas with different cultures and beliefs, particularly those where depression is more common, such as rural areas.

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