Comparison of the effect of life skills education and acceptance and commitment on happiness and responsibility of physical education students

Happiness and responsibility are among the components on which students' mental health, performance and success depend. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare the effect of life skills education and acceptance and commitment on the happiness and responsibility of physical education students. A semi-experimental design was conducted (pre-test and post-test) with two experimental and one control group. 45 female physical education and sports teaching departments students in Kilis (Turkiye) with lower scores on the Oxford Argyle (1990) Happiness Questionnaire and the California Psychological Responsibility Scale (CPI-R), were selected by convenience sampling and randomly divided into two experimental groups (15 people in each group) and one control group (15 people). For the first group, life control education (8 sessions; week 2 one-hour session) and the second group, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (8 sessions; week 2 one-hour session) was applied and the control group did not receive any education. Prior and after the education, the subjects completed the Argyle (1990) Oxford Happiness Questionnaire and the California Psychological Responsibility Scale (CPI-R). Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to analyze the data. The results showed that the mean scores of students' happiness and responsibility in the acceptance and commitment group compared to the life skills education group and in the life skills education group compared to the control group in the post-test increased significantly (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the results showed that commitment and acceptance education is more effective than life skills education in increasing the responsibility and happiness of physical education students.