Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with children and adolescents: A review

Evidence about using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with children and adolescents is reviewed. ACT is introduced as the most representative contextual therapy. Functional-Contextual basis of ACT and the Relational Framework Theory (RFT) are described. It is also described in a briefly manner the clinical proposal as regards the conception of psychological disorders as a psychological inflexibility problem, and to promote psychological flexibility as its main therapeutic aim. ACT is a therapy relying on sufficient evidence regarding its clinical utility within a diverse range of disorders, although most of this evidence is provided by research conducted within an adult population. Thus, the aim of this review is the search of papers describing the application of ACT to children and adolescents, with the purpose of analysing its effectiveness in such field of application. A total of 42 studies are analysed, being notable the increase in studies over the last 5 years, the great variety of disorders addressed, the reduced number of sessions over time and the favourable clinical results obtained. It is concluded about the effectiveness of ACT when applied to children and young people.