Comparing the efficacy of reality therapy with acceptance and commitment therapy on feelings of loneliness of adolescents

Background: Adolescents are in special and critical situations and sometimes they may distance themselves from society due to hormonal and appearance changes.This avoidance can create feelings of loneliness and isolation.Research on teenagers is one of the urgent needs of any society, because teenagers are the active human resources of any society.Aims: The present study was conducted with the aim of determining and comparing the effectiveness of reality therapy and therapy based on acceptance and commitment on feelings of loneliness among male high school students.Methods: The research method was semi-experimental (pre-test design, post-test with control group).The statistical population of the current research is all the male students of the second year of secondary school in Sari city and the sample group was conducted with a multi-stage cluster sampling method.Forty-five students were replaced in three groups (15 people in experiment 1), (15 people in experiment 2) and (15 people in control).Then, 15 students of the first experimental group received reality therapy, 15 students of the second experimental group received acceptance and commitment therapy sessions.The control group were on the waiting list.The UCLA Lonliness Scale (Russel, 1996) was used to collect the data.Results: The survey results showed; Reality therapy on feeling loneliness and acceptance and commitment therapy were effective significantly (p< 0.001).However, there was a significant difference between the two treatment methods of interventions on feelings of loneliness.That is, reality therapy has more effective on feelings of loneliness in adolescents.The results of the followup test showed that the effect of reality therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy on feelings of loneliness of adolescents is lasting after two months.Conclusion: As a result, both treatment methods, reality therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy, were effective feelings of loneliness, reality therapy was better than acceptance and commitment therapy.