Determining the Effectiveness of a Protocol Based on Emotional Communication Skills Training on Adaptation in Female Adolescents: A Pilot Study

 One of the most important issues in adolescence is to pay attention to adaptation, which can have a significant impact on individual and social life. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a protocol based on emotional communication skills training on adaptation in female adolescents.

 The present study was a quasi-experimental study using a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population of the study was all 10th to 12th grade female high school teenagers in the central part of Khoy city in the academic year of 2019-2020. Thirty subjects who scored higher than the cut-off point in the Sinha and Singh adaptation questionnaire were selected and randomly assigned to the control and experimental equal groups. The experimental group participated in 12 sessions of a two-hour emotional communication skills training program. No special training program was considered for the control group. At the end, post-test was performed for both groups. Data were analyzed using covariance analysis test and SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 19.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Ill., USA).

 In the experimental group, the mean (SD) of emotional incompatibility increased from 13.1 (1.4) in the pre-test to 8.8 (1.6) in the post-test (P<0.001); social incompatibility from 13.6 (1.9) in the pre-test decreased to 8.4 (1.6) in the post-test (P<0.001); and the academic incompatibility decreased from 12.4 (1.4) in the pre-test to 8.6 (0.1) in the post-test (P>0.001). In the control group, the mean (SD) of the total incompatibility score and its components were not different in pre-test and post-test.

 The study showed that training in emotional communication skills improved adaptation in female adolescents.