Girls trained against feeling helpless said they put off schoolwork less, but started higher
Who it’s about: Children, Students
- Helped
Girls trained on thoughts, goals and stress put off schoolwork less than the waiting group, but started far higher.
- Action: Challenge unhelpful thoughtstested
- Action: Set a specific goaltested
- Rule: Reward yourself right aftertested
- Rule: Practise with a groupused
Small randomised trial of 30 teenage girls who put off schoolwork · vs girls who were still waiting · they rated themselves · ⚠ numbers unreliable; groups differed at the start; summary claims more than the results show
The study
Who took part
30 girls aged 15 to 17 at one secondary school in Iran. They were chosen because they put off schoolwork a lot and felt unsure they could manage it. 15 were in each group, and all 30 finished.
What they did
One group had ten 90-minute group sessions. They covered positive thinking, fixing thinking errors, setting goals with rewards, coping with stress through relaxation, and bouncing back. The other group waited and got nothing.
What happened
At the end, the training group rated themselves as putting off schoolwork less than the waiting group. The researchers adjusted for starting scores. But the training group started far higher and ended about level with the waiting group, which barely changed. The paper's tables are garbled, so we can't give sizes.
Source
Effectiveness of Training to Overcome the Learned Helplessness on Academic Procrastination and Self-efficacy of Adolescent girls (2023)
DOI: 10.61838/kman.jayps.4.4.8 (opens in a new tab)Tools in this study
Action5
Challenge unhelpful thoughtsCognitive restructuring of beliefs such as perfectionism or catastrophising.
