The efficacy of Group cognitive therapy on loneliness and the attitude towards life of the first grade male students in one of Susa junior high schools at the 2014-15 academic year

This study was conducted to assess the efficacy of Group cognitive therapy on loneliness and the attitude towards life of the first grade male students in one of Susa junior high schools. This semi-experimental research design consists of pretests, posttests, and a control group. The population of the study composed of all male students in the first grade of Susa junior high schools. In order to select subjects, cluster sampling method was used and one school was randomly selected. Then 40 students of this school were randomly selected and placed into an experimental groups (n=20) and a control group (n=20). The experimental group had 12 ninety- minute sessions of group cognitive therapy based on the Michael Frey’s model. The questionnaires used in this study were the revised version of loneliness questionnaire (UCLA; Russell, Pepla and Katrona, 1980) and attitude towards life questionnaire (LRI; Batista, 1998) and conducted in groups. The data obtained was analyzed by the SPSS Software using ANCOVA analysis. The results of this study showed that (1) there was a significant difference between the performances of two groups on loneliness test. It means that the group cognitive therapy had an effect on reducing loneliness. (2) There was a significant difference between the performances of two groups on attitude toward life test. It implies that the group cognitive therapy had an impact on increasing students' attitudes towards life. In general, group cognitive therapy - based on the Michael Frey’s model- relatively improved the loneliness and the attitude toward life indicators among participants.