The effectiveness of the strength-based approach on coping strategies and emotion regulation of female high school students

Abstract

Background and Aim: The purpose of the current research was to investigate the effectiveness of the strength-based approach on coping strategies and emotional regulation of female students in the second year of high school. Methods: The present research was an applied study and its method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with an experimental group and a control group and a two-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the research included all the female students of high school who visited the private counseling clinic in the 5th district of Tehran in 2022 and 20 people were randomly selected in an experimental group (10 people) and a control group (10 people). Then, on the experimental group, a strength-based approach was performed on the group intervention based on the protocol prepared by Darbani and Parsakia (2022). In order to collect data, the research tools included Lazarus Coping Style Questionnaire (1988) and Garnefski et al.'s (2001) Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. Also, for the statistical analysis of the data, SPSS-26 software and the method of variance analysis with three-step repeated measures were used. Results: Based on the findings, there was a significant difference between the scores of coping strategies and emotion regulation of the experimental and control groups in the pretest and post-test stages. The results of the statistical analysis of the data indicate that the strength-based approach had a significant effect on the coping strategies and emotion regulation of the experimental group members, and the effectiveness of these interventions was stable in the follow-up phase according to Bonferroni's follow-up test. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the strength-based approach can be used to improve the coping strategies and emotion regulation of female students of the second year of high school. Therefore, it is suggested to use this method in centers of psychological clinics and child and adolescent counseling.