Efficasy of group metacognitive therapy on emotional self-regulation and ego strength of anxious students

Background: According to studies, emotional self-regulation and ego power are effective variables on anxiety, which is effective in organizing adaptive behavior and preventing negative emotions. Metacognitive therapy is effective on beliefs related to thought control, self-regulation strategies and increasing my strength in anxious people, but there is a research gap in the group effectiveness of this treatment. Aims: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of group metacognitive therapy on emotional self-regulation and ego strength of anxious students. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of the present study consisted of all students of Allameh Tabatabai and Shahid Beheshti Universities of Tehran in the academic year 2020-2021, from which 30 students were selected by sampling method and according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria as a sample. They were randomly divided into experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. The experimental group received group metacognitive therapy wells and cartwright (2008) in 10 sessions of 45 to 60 minutes in the Green Way Psychology Clinic. The control group was also placed on a waiting list. The Psychological Inventory of Ego Strength (PIES) of Markstrom et al (1997) and emotional self-regulation questionnaire og the Hoffman et al (2010) were used to collect data. Data analysis using multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: The results showed that group metacognitive therapy significantly increased hope (28.48), desire (59.05), goal (24.16), competence (44.64), loyalty (48.50), love (9.83), care (72.74), wisdom (10.24), adaptation (92.90), secrecy (27.65) and tolerance (33.95) of anxious students were effective (p≤0.001). Conclusion: Overall, group metacognitive therapy can reduce anxiety by modifying misconceptions about uncontrollable anxiety, negative beliefs, and increasing self-esteem.