The Effectiveness of the Enrichment of Interpersonal Relationship Skills Program on Causal Attributions, Interpersonal Conflict Solution Strategies, Cognitive Coping Skills and Perceived Positive Relations with Others

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of enrichment of interpersonal relationship skills program on university students’ causal attributions, interpersonal conflict solution strategies, cognitive emotion regulation strategies and perception of positive relations with others. In this experimental study with pretest-posttest control-group design and follow up stage, 72 students participated, 40 students in the experimental group and 32 students in the control group. The participants completed the Attribution Style  Questionnaire (ASQ; Peterson & et al., 1982), the Conflict Resolution Styles Inventory (CRSI; Kurdek, 1994), the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-SF; Garnefski, Kraaij & Spinhoven, 2001), and the Positive Relationships with Others Scale (PROS; Ryff, 1989). The experimental group received 10 sessions of enrichment of interpersonal relationship skills program (1 hour a session). The results of multivariate and univariate covariance analysis indicated that enrichment of interpersonal relationship skills program was effective in increasing positive causal attributions, positive problem solving strategy, adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and positive relations with others and in decreasing negative causal attributions, non-adaptive interpersonal conflict solution styles and non-adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies in short term and long term. The findings suggest that enrichment of interpersonal relationship skills program may result in mental immunization in students through increasing positive thinking strategies, adaptive emotional management skills and interpersonal relationships skills enrichment