Background and Purpose: Adolescents with Educable Intellectual Disabilities (EID) frequently encounter deficits in social skills and exhibit higher levels of social anxiety than their typically developing peers. Accordingly, the present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of cognitive emotion regulation skills training on social skills and social anxiety among adolescents with educable intellectual disabilities.
Materials and Methods: This semi-experimental study employed a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included 192 boys and 81 girls with EID in Mashhad in 2022. From this population, 30 boys aged 12–16 years were purposively selected based on inclusion criteria and randomly assigned to the experimental (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. Both groups were initially assessed using the Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) and the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents (SAS-A). The experimental group received 12 sessions of 45-minute cognitive emotion regulation skills training. Post-intervention, both groups were reassessed. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance with SPSS 26.
Results: The findings indicated that cognitive emotion regulation skills training led to significant improvements in social skills, specifically in the components of cooperation, assertiveness, and self-control (p < 0.01). Furthermore, the intervention resulted in a significant reduction in social anxiety, including fear of negative evaluation by peers, social avoidance and distress in new situations, and generalized social avoidance and distress (p <0.01), among adolescents with EID.
Conclusion: It is recommended that professionals take effective and systematic steps toward improving social skills and reducing social anxiety in adolescents with educable intellectual disabilities through the implementation of cognitive emotion regulation skills training programs