Effectiveness of the Cognitive-based Training of Hope Enhancement in Psychological Distress of Payame Noor University students

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-based training of hope enhancement in psychological distress of Payame Noor University students. The design of this study was Quasi-experimental involving pre-test and post-test with experimental and control groups. The sample of the study included 32 participants who were selected from the clients who referred the university counseling center through purposive sampling method with regard to the intended standards. Then, the sample was divided randomly into two groups i.e. one experimental and one control group, each consisting of 16 participants. In order to collect the data, clinical interview and Louinda’s (1995) DASS were used to measure the psychological distress of the participants. The experimental group received cognitive-based training of hope enhancement for eight sixty- minute sessions during four consecutive weeks, while the control group did not receive any treatment. The results of covariance analysis showed that the treatment was effective in reducing the overall psychological distress of the participants and in its three subscales in depression and anxiety subscales. This treatment develops desired qualities in individuals including a sense of optimism and trust in the individual himself/herself to achieve things through right efforts and in addition to reducing depression and anxiety in the individuals, it leads to purposeful actions.