The Effectiveness of Islamic-Approach Group Counseling for Depression on Cognitive-Emotional Regulation and Rumination in Depressed Adolescent Girls

Abstract

Adolescence poses significant challenges for emotional regulation, making it a critical period for the emergence of various mental disorders, particularly internalizing disorders such as anxiety and depression. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of an Islamic-approach group counseling package for depression on the cognitive-emotional regulation and rumination. This research employed a mixed-methods design in two phases. In the first phase, the Islamic-approach group counseling package for depression, based on the Fayyaz model (2017), was revised and validated using content validity ratios and content validity index. In the second phase, the research was conducted as a quasi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with a control group. The statistical population consisted of depressed adolescent girls in the city of Isfahan. Using purposive sampling, 30 individuals were selected and divided into two groups: experimental and control. The experimental group received Islamic-approach group counseling in 12 sessions of 60 minutes each. The research instruments included the Quranic Approach Depression Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory (1991), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, and Ruminative Responses Scale. The results of the repeated measures ANOVA indicated that in the post-test and follow-up stages, the mean scores of cognitive-emotional regulation and rumination in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (p < 0.05). Therefore, the group counseling package with an Islamic approach can be utilized as an effective and complementary intervention in counseling centers, schools, and other educational settings for depressed adolescents.