The Effect of Positive Psychotherapy on Positive Youth Development in Adolescent Girls with Social Anxiety
Keywords:
Positive Psychotherapy, Positive Youth Development, Social Anxiety, Adolescent GirlsAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy in improving positive youth development among adolescent girls with social anxiety.
Methods and Materials: This quasi-experimental study employed a pretest–posttest design with a control group and follow-up assessment. The statistical population consisted of adolescent girls with social anxiety living in Isfahan, Iran, during spring 2023. Using purposive sampling, 36 eligible participants were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received ten sessions of positive psychotherapy, whereas the control group received no psychological intervention during the study period. Data were collected using the Social Phobia Inventory developed by Connor et al. (2000) and the Positive Youth Development Scale developed by Geldhof et al. (2014). Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to evaluate changes in positive youth development across the pretest, posttest, and follow-up assessments and to compare the trajectories of the two groups.
Findings: Inferential analyses demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in positive youth development across the assessment stages (p < .05). Participants who received positive psychotherapy showed significantly greater improvement in positive youth development at posttest compared with participants in the control group. The improvement observed following the intervention was also maintained at the follow-up assessment, indicating that the therapeutic effects were not limited to the immediate post-intervention period. The pattern of repeated-measures findings therefore supported the effectiveness and relative durability of positive psychotherapy in promoting positive developmental outcomes among adolescent girls experiencing social anxiety.
Conclusion: Positive psychotherapy appears to be an effective intervention for enhancing positive youth development in adolescent girls with social anxiety, with beneficial effects persisting during follow-up. Accordingly, this intervention may be incorporated into psychological, counseling, and school-based programs designed to strengthen positive developmental capacities among socially anxious adolescents.
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