Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy on Coping Strategies and in Reducing Anxiety, Depression, and Physical Complaints in Student Victims of Bullying

Abstract

Background: Bullying among students is a problem with severe and unpleasant consequences for victims. Objectives: This research studied the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy on coping strategies and in reducing anxiety, depression, and physical complaints in student victims. Patients and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pretest-posttest control group. Data was collected using the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire, Achenbach's Youth Self-Report (YSR), and Billings and Mouse's Coping Strategies Scale. In total, 30 participants who achieved high scores on these questionnaires were randomly assigned to the experimental group or to the control group. The subjects of the experimental group were treated with cognitive-behavioral group therapy over 12 sessions of 90 minutes each. The subjects of the control group received no intervention. At the end of the cognitive-behavioral group therapy sessions, a posttest was implemented for both groups. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the collected data. Results:The results showed that cognitive-behavioral group therapy reduced anxiety, depression, and physical complaints. In addition, it reduced emotion-focused coping strategies and increased problem-focused coping strategies in the experimental group (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Cognitive-behavioral group therapy along with the use of coping strategies can reduce anxiety, depression, and physical complaints in student victims of bullying.

Desarrollo de estrategias de afrontamiento efectivas para reducir el acoso escolar y su impacto en las víctimas estables

“…Los resultados obtenidos nos muestran 62 El afrontamiento del acoso escolar © Psyshcoloy, Society & Education que, tras la intervención, el alumnado que participó en el programa, cuando los comparamos con los que no lo hicieron, hace un uso más frecuente de las estrategias que tradicionalmente se han mostrado más efectivas (Xie et al, 2020), en especial, la búsqueda de apoyo en iguales y adultos. Sin embargo, la intervención no modificó el uso de las estrategias de evitación, cuando sería deseable su disminución al ser las menos efectivas y estar vinculadas con efectos emocionales negativos (Rajabi et al, 2017). Esta ausencia de cambio puede deberse a la distinta naturaleza de las estrategias de evitación, orientadas mayoritariamente a la gestión emocional, frente a los otros dos grupos de estrategias, las cuales están orientadas a la gestión del problema (Lazarus, 2006).…”

“…Las estrategias proactivas o asertivas, dirigidas al afrontamiento activo del problema, también han mostrado ser eficaces (De la Caba-Collado y Atxurra, 2013; Yin et al, 2017), pero igualmente no suelen ser utilizadas de forma frecuente (Giménez Gualdo et al, 2018). En cambio, las más utilizadas son las de evitación, centradas en aspectos emocionales y que suelen estar ligadas a un mayor impacto emocional negativo de la victimización y, consecuentemente, las que resultan ser menos eficaces o productivas (Parris et al, 2012;Rajabi et al, 2017). Por tanto, el desarrollo de estrategias de afrontamiento proactivas y de búsqueda de apoyo podría ser clave para la prevención de la cronificación de la victimización de acoso escolar.…”

Intervention of Depression Management Among Adolescents as the Victims of Bullying: A Literature Review

“…The study (Rajabi et al, 2017) was conducted on 30 adolescents in Zahedan, Iran, who obtained the highest score on the questionnaire and were randomly assigned to either the experimental group or the control group. In the experimental group, they were given 12 sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy in groups for 90 minutes in each session.…”

“…Students who are victims of bullying can experience various psychological problems such as feelings of insecurity, academic failure, isolation, not attending school and even dropping out of school (Rajabi et al, 2017). The prevalence of depressive disorders affects 2,8% and 5,6%of children and adolescents in the United Kingdom, respectively.…”

Bullying Victimisation through an Interpersonal Lens: Focussing on Social Interactions and Risk for Depression

“…Nevertheless, it might be worth considering to add it to more standard cognitive behavioural interventions for victims of bullying (e.g., Fung, 2018;Rajabi et al, 2017) in order to increase treatment success for reducing their depression and other internalising symptoms.…”