Efficacy of Acceptance-Commitment Therapy and Social Skills Training in Mitigating Depressive Symptoms among University Students in Ogun State, Nigeria

Résumé

Depression among university students has emerged as a growing mental health concern, significantly affecting academic performance, social functioning, and overall well-being. This study investigated the efficacy of Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Social Skills Training (SST) in mitigating Depressive Symptoms Among Undergraduate Students in Ogun State, Nigeria. The study was anchored on two theories: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Learned Helplessness Theory of Depression. Five research questions and hypotheses guided the study and quasi-experimental pre-test post-test research design was adopted. Also, the multi-stage sampling process was used to select a total of 292 respondents from three Universities within Ogun State. Furthermore, three research instruments namely: Goldberg Depression Inventory (GDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory-Adult Form (CSEI-AD) were utilized to collect pre-test and post-test data. Additionally, the selected respondents were divided into three treatment groups namely: ACT group, SST group and the control group. Thereafter, the pre-test post-test data collected was analysed using Descriptive Statistics, Analysis of Co-variance (ANCOVA), Fisher’s t-tests and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The findings revealed that there is a significant difference in the pre-test post-test mean scores of University students with depression symptoms, anxiety and low self-esteem exposed to ACT, SST and the control group. Conversely, there is no significant gender difference in their pre-test post-test mean scores. Also, there is no significant difference in the pre-test post-test mean scores based on the type of university. These results underscore the value of integrating evidence-based interventions like ACT and SST into university counselling programs to enhance students’ mental well-being. It is therefore recommended that Universities should intensify effort in tackling depression among students by integrating ACT and SST programes into student counseling services as evidence-based interventions to promote mental well-being on campuses. Also, given the emerging trends of manifestations of depression among students, regular training on how to effectively manage incidences of depression using treatment techniques like ACT and SST should be held for Counsellors, Social Workers and Psychologists. This will help to mitigate depressive symptoms among University undergraduate students.