Comparing the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based and Integrated Interventions on Reducing Social Anxiety, Fear of Negative Evaluation, and Anxiety Sensitivity and Increasing Social Self-Efficacy in Adolescent Girls
Keywords:
mindfulness-based intervention, integrated intervention, social anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, anxiety sensitivity, social self-efficacy, adolescent girlsAbstract
Purpose: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention and an integrated intervention in reducing social anxiety, fear of negative evaluation, and anxiety sensitivity and in increasing social self-efficacy in adolescent girls.
Methods and Materials: This quasi-experimental study employed a pretest–posttest–two-month follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population included all 11th- and 12th-grade female students in public high schools in Isfahan during the 2023–2024 academic year. Using multi-stage cluster sampling and clinical cutoff screening with the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents, 60 eligible students (mean age = 17.8 years, SD = 0.64) were selected and randomly assigned via block randomization into three groups (mindfulness-based, integrated, control; n = 20 each). The instruments included the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale (Watson & Friend, 1969), the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (Taylor et al., 2007), and the Social Self-Efficacy Scale (Smith & Betz, 2000). The intervention groups received eight 90-minute sessions over four weeks, while the control group was waitlisted. Data were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc test in SPSS version 28.
Findings: ANCOVA results showed significant group effects for fear of negative evaluation (posttest η² = 0.51; follow-up η² = 0.52), anxiety sensitivity (posttest η² = 0.40; follow-up η² = 0.41), and social self-efficacy (posttest η² = 0.54; follow-up η² = 0.55) (p < .001). Bonferroni tests confirmed that both interventions outperformed the control group and that the integrated intervention was significantly more effective than the mindfulness-based intervention in all variables (p < .01).
Conclusion: Both interventions were effective in improving socio-emotional outcomes in adolescent girls, with the integrated approach producing superior and more durable effects, suggesting its potential for broader school-based implementation.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Raziyeh Mansouri (Author); Marziyeh Alivandi Vafa (Corresponding author); Naeimeh Moheb, Amir Panahali (Author)
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