The Comparison of Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy With and Without Health-Promoting Behaviors Training on High-Risk Behaviors and Healthy Lifestyles in Secondary School Students

The conducting studies to achieve gold standards in intervention for high-risk behaviors and improving a healthy lifestyle is important. The aim of the research was to compare the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy with and without teaching health-promoting behaviors on high-risk behaviors and healthy lifestyles in secondary school students.

The research design employed a semi-experimental approach with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. From three high school girls in the fifth region of Tehran, 45 participants were selected through cluster random sampling and then randomly assigned to two treatment groups and one control group. Data collection utilized the Risky Behaviors Scale (RBS) and the lifestyle questionnaire (LSQ), and analysis was performed using covariance analysis and Duncan's Multiple Range test (DMRT) with SPSS-26.The first treatment group underwent emotion regulation intervention over eight sessions lasting 90 minutes each. The second treatment group received emotion regulation intervention combined with health promotion behavior training across seven sessions of 90 minutes each. The control group did not receive any intervention.

The emotion-focused therapy with and without health-promoting behavior training is effective in reducing risky behaviors (F=23.266, P=0.001) and promotion of healthy lifestyle F=54.084, P=0.001) and comparing these two interventions indicate the greater effectiveness of the integrated emotion-focused therapywith health-promoting behavior training.

It is recommended to use emotion-focused therapy in combination with the training of health-promoting behaviors for intervention in risky behaviors and unhealthy lifestyles in adolescence .Also, these results require further investigation in future studies.