The Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Skills Training on the Components of Self-Esteem in Female Middle School Students

Purpose: The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of emotion regulation skills training on improving the components of self-esteem—academic, familial, and social—among female middle school students. Methods and Materials: This quasi-experimental study employed a pre-test–post-test design with a control group. Forty female middle school students in Varamin were selected using convenience sampling and randomly assigned to experimental (n=20) and control (n=20) groups. The experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of emotion regulation skills training, while the control group received no intervention. Data were collected using the Cooper-Smith Self-Esteem Inventory, measuring academic, familial, social, and total self-esteem. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) with SPSS software, version 25, controlling for pre-test scores. Findings: The results indicated significant differences between the experimental and control groups in post-test scores across all components of self-esteem. Multivariate tests showed Wilks' Lambda was significant (F=4.538, p=0.001), with an effect size of 0.669, suggesting that 66.9% of the variance was attributable to the intervention. Between-subject analyses demonstrated significant increases in academic self-esteem (F=18.37, p=0.002, η²=0.620), familial self-esteem (F=0.99, p=0.005, η²=0.419), social self-esteem (F=11.87, p=0.001, η²=0.559), and total self-esteem (F=43.65, p=0.001, η²=0.636) in the experimental group compared to the control group. Conclusion: Emotion regulation skills training was found to be effective in significantly improving academic, familial, social, and total self-esteem among female middle school students. These findings underscore the importance of integrating structured emotional skills interventions into school-based mental health programs to promote positive self-perception and psychological well-being in adolescents.