Effectiveness of Online Group Reality Therapy in Improving Emotion Regulation of Female Adolescents With Social Anxiety: A Mixed Method Study

• Main Author: Alcala, Ma. Araceli Balajadia
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etdd_psych/5; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_Preliminary_Pages.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_PageswithSignature.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/1/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_Chapter1.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/2/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_Chapter2.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/3/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_Chapter3.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/4/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_Chapter4.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/5/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_Chapter5.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/6/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_AppendixA.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/7/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_AppendixB.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/8/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_AppendixC.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/9/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_AppendixD.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/10/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_AppendixE.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/11/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_AppendixF.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/12/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_AppendixG.pdf; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etdd_psych/article/1007/filename/13/type/additional/viewcontent/2023_Alcala_AppendixH.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

This mixed-method study examined the impact of Online Group Reality Therapy on Adolescent Females presenting with Social Anxiety by increasing Cognitive Reappraisal and reducing Emotional Suppression, two of the more commonly studied aspects of emotion regulation in literature. Eleven participants who were 15 to 18 years old underwent 8 weekly, 60-minute online group therapy sessions. Participants were administered the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SASA) and Emotional Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ CA) at 3 time points: upon recruitment, at the end of the 8th session, and at 1 month follow up. Quantitative data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. The participants were individually interviewed within a month after the online group therapy concluded and the interview data was analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Analysis (CQR). Though quantitative results were unable to find evidence for changes in emotion regulation in terms of improvements in cognitive reappraisal and decrease in emotional suppression, there were statistically significant decreases in SASA scores. Qualitative data revealed six domains that represented the experiences of the adolescents as they underwent the online group therapy, and three domains representing their process. The process categories included Finding an opportunity to get help with personal and social concerns, Development of new understanding or perceptions, and Conditions that lead to better emotional expression. Implications for practice and research, as well as recommendations for conducting future research of this kind are made.