Evaluation of the Effects of Gratitude Training on Empathy and Communication Skills of Female Adolescents

Adolescence is a very sensitive and important stage and has several unique features. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of gratitude training on empathy and communication skills of female adolescents.

This experimental research was performed using a pre-test and post-test research design with a control group. The statistical population included 3258 eighth-grade female students in Rasht, Iran in the academic year of 2019-2020. In total, 40 individuals were selected and randomly divided into two test and control groups. Data were collected using the communication skills questionnaire by Quinn Dam (2004), the empathy questionnaire by Juliff & Farrington (2006), and Emmons & McCullough’s appreciation training questionnaire (2003). Moreover, data analysis was performed using a multivariate analysis of covariance.

In this study, the results were indicative of the effectiveness of gratitude training on improved empathy and communication skills of female adolescents (P<0.001).

According to the results of the study, empathy and communication skills are among the unique features of adolescents, which can be improved by gratitude training.