The Effectiveness of Self-Acceptance on Stress Reduction among a Group of High School Male Students Expecting University Entrance Exam in Hamadan, Iran

Background: A great number of high school students expecting university entrance exam experience a high level of stress. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of self-acceptance group therapy on stress reduction in a group of school students expecting university entrance exam in Hamadan, Iran. Methods: Thirty 12th grade male students participated in this study. Using convenience sampling, the participants were recruited from Farzanegan pre-university center in Hamedan, Iran from April to August 2016. Next, the subjects were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups and they completed the Stress Response Inventory (SRI). The SRI includes different components such as aggression, tension, fatigue, frustration, anger, depression, and somatization. The experimental group attended self-acceptance group therapy while the control group did not participate in any group therapy. To analyze the data, statistical tests such as mean, standard deviation, and analysis of covariance were used via SPSS software. Results: The findings showed after intervention, the experimental group’s means and standard deviations of depression (M=11.33, SD=1.71), tension (M=9.46, SD=1.40), aggression (M=7.86, SD=1.12), fatigue (M=10.73, SD=2.21), anger (M=10.40, SD=1.72), and frustration (M=11.13, SD=1.50) were lower than the control group. Analysis of covariance showed a significant difference between experimental and control group concerning most dimensions of stress responses, including aggression (F=“32.88”, P=“0.003”), tension (F=“26.39”, P=“0.008”), fatigue (F=“29.39”, P=“0.004”), frustration (F=“53.78”, P=“0.001”), anger (F=“37.19”, P=“0.002”), and depression (F=“51.39”, P=“0.001”). In other words, self-acceptance group therapy significantly reduced aggression, tension, fatigue, frustration, anger, and depression in the experimental group. Conclusions: This study underscored the pivotal role of self-acceptance in reducing stress among pre-university students expecting university entrance exam.