The Effectiveness of Group Hope Therapy in Resilience and Happiness of Female Students

The present research aimed to study the effectiveness of group hope therapy in resilience and happiness of female students. The present research was a quasi-experimental study with the pretest-posttest and a control group. The statistical population consisted of all female high school students of Quchan, Razavi Khorasan Province, in the academic year 2013-2014. In order to select a sample, one of the 21 all-girls high schools in this city was randomly selected and then students who were willing to participate in this research project were invited to enroll. Finally, a total of 45 students were assigned to two test groups of 15 and a control group of 15. Students in the test groups participated in 8 one-hour sessions of group intervention based on Snyder’s protocol (2002), whereas those in the control group received no intervention. The required data were collected using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Oxford Happiness Inventory. The data were statistically analyzed using descriptive tests and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of the pretest and posttest scores of resilience and happiness. The study findings suggest that group hope therapy was effective in resilience and happiness of female students and, therefore, it can be used as a psychological intervention along with other ones.