Original Article The effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral training and group reality therapy on self-esteem of high school students

Introduction: The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral training and reality therapy (based on choice theory) on self-esteem of students. Materials and Methods: The present study is a quasi- experimental with pre-test and post test analysis and control group. The statistical population includes all female students of high schools in Mashhad (educational year 2009-2010). Participants were chosen by random selection method and randomly allocated in three groups. Two groups received cognitive-behavioral and reality therapy training for 2 months (8 sessions of 2 hours), while the control group received no training at all. Data were collected by Cooper Smith self-esteem questionnaire scale which was given to the test subjects after completion of the trainings. The collected data was put to one way variance analysis, covariance analysis and Scheffe's test. Results: The study demonstrated that group reality therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy training had positive effects on the self-esteem improvement in both groups who received interventions (P<0.00001, F=16.06) in comparison to the control group. Actually, both methods were effective in boosting self-esteem. Conclusion: Both cognitive behavioral and reality therapy methods were found effective in increasing self-esteem.