effectiveness of group-based acceptance and commitment therapy vs group-based cognitive-behavioral therapy in the psychological hardiness of single mothers

Background: hardiness as a fundamental element of control plays a constructive role in coping with stress and moderates the effects of stress. this study aimed to compare the effectiveness of group-based acceptance and commitment therapy (act) and group-based cognitivebehavioral therapy (cbt)in the psychological hardiness of single mothers. methods: the research was conducted using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with control group. also, the statistical population included all female-headed families in the region 16 of tehran. from women with low scores in the ahvaz psychological hardiness questionnaire, 45 women were randomly selected and assigned into three groups: two experimental and one control group. the acceptance and commitment and cognitive-behavioral therapies were implemented in the first and second experimental groups, respectively; the control group did not receive any intervention. the experimental groups received nine training sessions. then, the study hypotheses were tested using the 1-way analysis of covariance. results: both interventions effectively increased the psychological hardiness in the single mothers, but no significant difference was found between the two intervention groups (p=0.38). conclusion: according to the results, it is possible to increase the psychological hardiness of the single mothers by group-based acceptance and commitment therapy and group-based cognitivebehavioral therapy.