The effectiveness of assertiveness training on social anxiety and coping with stress among high school female students

Social anxiety disorder is diagnosed based on a strong and persistent fear of performance in social situations. Research has shown that, it is common, complex, and debilitating. This disorder persists if left untreated. Adolescents with social anxiety disorders suffer from poor academic performance and mental health. The present study was performed in order to investigate the effectiveness of assertiveness on social anxiety and coping with stress among high school female students. In this quasi-experimental study (pre-test and post-test with control group), the population included all high school female students in Roudbar,Iran. Among 168 students, 30 students who got scores above 30 in the Watson and Friend Social Anxiety Questionnaire were randomly selected and divided into an experimental group (n = 15) and a control group (n = 15). In addition to the Social Anxiety Questionnaire, the Folkman and Lazarus Coping Strategies Questionnaire was also administered. The results demonstrated that assertiveness training is effective on social anxiety and coping with stress among high school female students (p < .001). Based on these findings, it can be concluded that assertiveness training is effective in reducing anxiety and increasing students' coping strategies.