The effectiveness of positivity training on students\' cognitive flexibility and resilience

Background: Adolescence with special risks during puberty and social crises can provide the ground for the occurrence or exacerbation of psychological problems, since this period is a sensitive and decisive stage, the use of educational and therapeutic approaches to increase the level of flexibility and resilience against problems is of particular importance. Aims: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of positive training on students' cognitive flexibility and resilience. Methods: This study is an applied study in terms of a quasi-experimental method from a series of pre-tests, post-tests, and two-month follow-ups with a control group. The statistical population of this study included 11th-grade female students in Tehran in the academic year 2021-2022. The sample consisted of 42 11th-grade female students in Tehran who were selected by multi-stage random sampling method and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. Data were collected using the Cognitive Flexibility Questionnaire (Dennis & VanderWaal, 2010) and the Resilience Questionnaire (Connor & Davidson, 2003) in three stages: pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. The experimental group received 14 sessions of 90-minute positivity training based on the educational program (Rashid, 2014) and the control group did not receive any intervention. The data were analyzed using SPSS.27 software and repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: The results showed that positive attitude training is effective on students' flexibility and resilience (P< 0.05). The results showed a difference between the mean scores of the pre-test and post-test of the experimental and control groups in terms of resilience and resilience. The effect of the intervention was also maintained at follow-up. Conclusion: These results suggest that positivity training can be used as an evidence-based intervention to improve students' psychological resilience and resilience in students' counseling centers and psychological services.