A Comparison of the Effectiveness of Life Skills Training With and Without Mindfulness Training on the Level of Social-Emotional Competence of Students with Physical Disabilities

The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of life skills training with and without mindfulness training on the emotional-social competence of students with physical abilities. This study adopted a pre-test and post-test experimental design with one control group. The statistical population of the study included all male students in special high schools for the disabled in Tehran. A purposive sampling method was used and 45 students were selected as study participants, who were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. Group one received life skills training and group two received life skills training along with mindfulness training. All three groups answered the Social-Emotional Competence Questionnaire, before and after the training courses and one month after the end of the course. Data analysis was performed using repeated measures analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of covariance. The results showed that social-emotional competence, in general, and self-awareness, social awareness, and self-management, in particular, increased in group one compared to the control group. In group two, social-emotional competence and all its components increased. Overall, although social-emotional and cognitive competencies and their management increased significantly in both experimental groups, combining mindfulness training with life skills training did not have additional effects on the above-mentioned competencies. In brief, it can be said that life skills training can have beneficial effects on students with physical disabilities and enhance their social and emotional competencies.