The effect of emotion regulation training on anxiety in college students in Egypt (Randomized control trial).

BACKGROUND

The important role of Emotion Regulation in managing stress and anxiety is well recognized.

AIMS

(1) assessing the level of anxiety, and the level of difficulties in emotion regulation among University Students during Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), (2) investigating the effect of the emotional regulation training program on the anxiety of University Students during COVID-19.

METHODS

In part, I, 863 students at the British university in Egypt were assessed for their anxiety, difficulties in emotion regulation, and the general impact of COVID-19 on their lives. The students completed Beck Anxiety Inventory and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale. Part II was a Randomized Control Trial using a pre-assessment and a post-assessment. A voluntary sample of 200 students was randomly assigned to either a group that received emotion regulation training or a control group. The training program is an adapted version of Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills training. The training program includes mindfulness, emotion regulation, and problem-solving skills through eight 90-min group sessions.

RESULTS

In Part I: The mean Beck Anxiety Inventory's total score among students was 22.27 (SD = 13.6). Severe anxiety was reported by 39.9% of the students, and the mean difficulties in emotion regulation scale's total score was 75.1 (SD = 23.24). In Part II, after the intervention, students in the experimental group, in comparison to the control group, resulted in significantly greater reductions in anxiety (the effect size,  = 0.53,  < 0.001) and significantly greater reductions in difficulties in emotion regulation (the effect size,  = 0.85,  < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The study findings indicate that training in emotional regulation considerably lowered students' anxiety. It is recommended to teach the university students emotions regulation skills to improve their academic performance, enhance general well-being, and lower the risk of mental health concerns.