A Review of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Adolescents: Developmental and Contextual Considerations

• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) shows preliminary promise for adolescents across mental health concerns. • ACT is a flexible and developmentally appropriate treatment for adolescents. • This paper provides several examples of how to adapt ACT skills for teens. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) offers a promising, transdiagnostic treatment approach for a wide range of mental health concerns in adolescents. Although research on ACT for adolescents is still developing, there is encouraging theoretical and empirical support in this area. The ability of ACT to adjust and account for developmental considerations and contexts in adolescence is discussed, alongside the theoretical support for using ACT with adolescents. A broad review of 34 studies on ACT with adolescents is then presented—ACT with adolescents has some preliminary support for anxiety, depression, disordered eating, chronic pain, and more. Detailed examples of how to implement each ACT process with adolescents are presented, along with a brief review of assessment tools. We hope this paper will act as an initial guide for clinicians implementing ACT with adolescents.