The Effectiveness of Virtual Self-Compassion Training on Emotion Regulation Skills and Coping Styles among Students of Payam-e-Noor University of Hamadan: A Pilot Study

Failure to use emotion regulation strategies and ineffective coping strategies can affect students' mental health, performance and academic achievement. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of virtual training of self-compassion on emotion regulation skills and coping styles in the students of Payame-Noor University of Hamedan.

This semi-interventional research with a pre-test-post-test design and a control group was conducted with the participation of 30 students of Payam Noor University in Hamedan in 2021. The participants were selected by available sampling method and were randomly allocated into two equal interventional and control groups. We used the Garnefski Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Lazarus & Folkman Coping Styles Questionnaires to collecting data. The interventional group received virtual compassion training in sixty minutes’ sessions for eight weeks. Data were analyzed using covariance analysis test and SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 23.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Ill., USA).

The mean (SD) scores of negative emotion regulation skills in the interventional group decreased from 64.8 (7.8) before the intervention to 58.5 (6.3) after the intervention (P=0.001). The scores of positive emotion regulation skills in the interventional group increased from 50.7 (1/8) before the intervention to 58 (9.8) after the intervention (P=0.033). In addition, the mean (SD) of the scores of Problem-oriented confrontation in the experimental group increased from 87.8 (10.1) before the intervention to 99.2 (9.1) after the intervention (P=0.001). The scores of emotion-oriented coping styles in the interventional group increased from 88.6 (9.6) before the intervention to 94.4 (10.7) after the intervention (P=0.037). In the control group, there was no difference between the pre-test and post-test scores.

The study showed that virtual training of self-compassion improved the skills of emotion regulation and the use of coping styles among students of Payam-e-Noor University of Hamadan.