Abstract
Prevalence rates of mental health difficulties in UK youth are high and increase with age. The majority of lifetime mental health difficulties emerge by adolescence and young adulthood. Even sub-clinical difficulties occurring in adolescence can have detrimental impact upon future social, health and financial well-being. This age group requires interventions tailored to the specific developmental, social and emotional changes occurring in adolescence. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) offers an intervention, which can be adapted to suit to these requirements. The current systematic review explored all peer-reviewed literature of ACT interventions with adolescents addressing emerging or pre-existing mental health difficulties. Searches produced 21 articles, which covered 20 intervention studies. All studies were assessed for methodological quality, effectiveness and acceptability. The most striking factor was the recentness of the articles, with all but one published after 2011. In line with this emerging field of literature, the majority were described as pilot, feasibility or preliminary research. Methodological weaknesses and small sample sizes resulted in cautionary interpretations of findings, however many studies offered preliminary support for the use of ACT with adolescents. Directions for future research are discussed.