Eight group therapy sessions helped anxious teens put off schoolwork less
Who it’s about: Children, People with a health condition
- Helped
Teens who had eight group sessions on unhelpful thoughts, time and goals put off schoolwork less than the others.
- Action: Challenge unhelpful thoughtstested
- Action: Plan your weektested
- Rule: Practise with a groupused
- Rule: With a coach or therapistused
Small randomised trial of 30 anxious teenagers in Iran · vs teens who got nothing · they rated themselves · ⚠ results look too good to be true
The study
Who took part
30 teens aged 13 to 18, about 15 on average, sent to clinics in Tehran, Iran. They felt very anxious around other people and put off schoolwork a lot. There were 15 in each group.
What they did
One group had eight group sessions of 90 minutes with a therapist. They worked on unhelpful thoughts, getting active, solving problems, relaxing and facing feared social scenes step by step. They also learned to plan time and set goals, with homework after each session, while the other group got nothing.
What happened
At the end, the therapy group rated themselves as putting off schoolwork less, while the other group stayed about the same. They also felt less anxious with others. The gaps were far larger than studies like this usually find, and nobody was checked again later.
Source
The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Social Anxiety and Academic Procrastination in Adolescents (2026)
Tools in this study
Action5
Challenge unhelpful thoughtsCognitive restructuring of beliefs such as perfectionism or catastrophising.
