Developing a Problem Solving Training Package Based on Positive Psychology and Investigating Its Effectiveness on the Social Competence of Students with Learned Helplessness

The present study was conducted to developing a problem solving Training package based on positive psychology and investigating its effectiveness on the social competence of students with learned helplessness. The research method was qualitative, Theme analysis according to Attride-Stirling (2001), and the research method in the quantitative part was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group and a two-month follow-up period. The statistical population consisted of male and female students with learning helplessness who were studying in the first and second period of high school in the academic year of 2021-2022 in Tehran. The sample in this study included 70 students with learning helplessness who were selected by purposeful sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (36 students in the experimental group and 34 students in the control group). The students in the experimental group received the problem solving training package based on positive psychology during 12 weeks in 12 sessions of 75 minutes. The applied questionnaires in this study included social competence Questionnaire (Felner, Lease, Philips, 1990) and learned helplessness Questionnaire (Quinless, Nelson, 1988). The data from the study were analyzed through mixed ANOVA via SPSS23 software. The results showed that the problem solving training package based on positive psychology has sufficient content validity according to experts. Also, this training package had an impact on the social competence (P<0001; Eta=0.62; F=111.10) of students with learned helplessness.