The Effectiveness of a Resilience-Based Curriculum on Impulsivity and Psychological Flexibility in Addiction-Prone Adolescents

Abstract

This study investigated the efficacy of a resilience-based curriculum on the impulsivity and psychological flexibility of adolescents with an addiction propensity. This study was quasi-experimental, with pre- and post-testing, a control group, and a two-month follow-up. In the 2019-2020 academic year, the statistical population included secondary high school pupils with a tendency toward addiction. Using a systematic sampling technique, 25 adolescents were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Over the course of two and a half months, the experimental group received ten seventy-five minute sessions of a teaching program on resilience. Three students in the experimental group and two students in the control group dropped out of the study after its initiation. This study utilized the addiction tendency questionnaire (ATQ), the impulsivity questionnaire (IQ), and the psychological flexibility questionnaire (PFQ). The data were analyzed using statistical software version 23 and repeated-measurement ANOVA and Bonferroni follow-up tests. The results indicated that the resilience curriculum had a significant impact on the impulsivity and psychological flexibility of adolescents with a tendency toward addiction (p<0.001). According to the findings of the present study, the teaching package of resilience can be used as an effective method to decrease and improve psychological flexibility in adolescents with an addiction propensity by employing techniques such as learning speech skills, teaching self-awareness, anger management, stress management, problem solving, and normal decision-making.

Keywords

• addiction tendency
• impulsivity
• resilience
• psychological flexibility