The Efficacy of Teaching Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills on Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills on anxiety and depression symptoms in university students. The research method was an experimental method of data collection and was applied purposively. The statistical population of the study consisted of all male high school students in the city of Kavar during the 2019-20 academic year, and 30 students with moderate to high scores for anxiety and depression were selected. The sampling procedure was multistage cluster randomization. An adolescent dialectical behavior therapy skills protocol was used to deliver the interventions. In addition, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used for data collection. The validity of the instrument was examined using confirmatory factor analysis (AMOS software version 24), the reliability of the instrument was examined using Cronbach’s alpha (SPSS software version 24), and the significance of the training performed was examined using MANCOVA (SPSS software version 24). The results of the MANCOVA statistical analysis showed that teaching dialectical behavior therapy skills had a significant effect on reducing students' anxiety. However, it had no significant effect on reducing students’ depression. In general, it can be concluded that dialectical behavioral therapy techniques can be used to reduce students' anxiety, but teaching these techniques to reduce students’ depression requires further consideration.

Keywords

• anxiety
• depression
• students
• dialectical behavioral therapy