The Effectiveness of Kendall's Therapy Program on Anxiety and Cognitive Emotion Regulation of Second Period Elementary School Male Students: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Anxiety is one of the most common psychological disorders that may have various complications. One of the effective cognitive-behavioral therapies for anxiety in children is the Kendall's therapy program. The aim of the present study was to investigate Kendall's therapy program on anxiety and cognitive emotion regulation in second period elementary school students.

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest and a 3-month follow-up period. The statistical population was all male students of the second period of elementary school in Mobarakeh City, who were studying in the academic year of 2022-2023. 26 male students with a high score on Spence Children's Anxiety Scale were selected by multi-stage random sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Then, Kendall's therapy program (coping cat) was implemented on the experimental group. Both groups were evaluated with Spence Children's Anxiety Scale and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (kids version) before and after the therapeutic intervention. Data were analyzed using two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Kendall's therapy program (coping cat) reduced the average score of anxiety (Eta=0.800, p<0.001, F=48.103), increased the average score of compatible cognitive emotion regulation (Eta=0.372, p<0.001, F=7.097), and reduced incompatible cognitive emotion regulation (Eta=0.907, p<0.001, F=116.650).

It appears that Kendall's therapy program is effective in improving anxiety and cognitive emotion regulation in students of the second period of elementary school, and it is recommended that psychologists and counselors in schools and counseling centers use this method to treat anxiety and regulate students' emotions.