The effect of Glaser group reality therapy on self-regulation and academic vitality of homeless and abused female students

Considering the increasing number of orphans and abused children and the numerous problems of these children, it seems necessary to pay attention to the factors that promote academic achievement in these children. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Glasser group reality therapy training on the self-regulation and academic vitality of female students. The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest and control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all 11 to 13-year-old girls living in the care center for orphaned and abused girls in Qazvin Welfare Organization in 2018. Among them, 26 people were selected by the available sampling method as the research sample and randomly assigned to experimental (n = 13) and control (n = 13) groups. The experimental group underwent group reality therapy training in Glaser (2001) in 8 sessions of 90 minutes as a group (one session per week), while the control group did not intervene. To collect data, the self-regulatory questionnaires of Bofard, et al (1995), and Dehghani-Zadeh and Hossein-Chari (2012) academic vitality questionnaires used. Analysis of covariance using SPSS software version 23 was used to analyze the data. Findings from the analysis of research data showed that by controlling the effect of the pretest, between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups in self-regulatory variables (F = 134/45, P = 0/001, η2= 0.89) and academic vitality (F = 617/86, P = 0/001, η2 = 0.61), there was a significant difference. According to the results of this study, group reality therapy can be used as a suitable and effective way to promote students' self-regulation and academic vitality.