The Effectiveness of Emotional Resilience Training in Aggression and Psychological Capital of Assault and Battery Offenders

Introduction: Emotional resilience can improve individuals' mental health by increasing their mental toughness. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of emotional resilience training in aggression and the psychological capital of assault and battery offenders. Method: The research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design and a control group. The statistical population included all assault and battery offenders in the Isfahan Central Prison in 2020. Using purposive sampling, 30 assault and battery offenders were selected and randomly divided them into experimental (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. The experimental group underwent 12 sessions (90-minute sessions) of emotional resilience training. The research instruments included Buss Perry Aggression Questionnaire and the Psychological Capital Questionnaire. The repeated measures ANOVA and SPSS version 23.0 were used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that emotional resilience training had a significant effect on aggression and the psychological capital of assault and battery offenders (p<0.001). The mean±SD of the post-test scores of aggression and psychological capital in the experimental group was 92.53±14.25 and 103.33±7.97 which was significantly different from the control groups. Conclusion: The emotional resilience training was effective in reducing aggression and increasing the psychological capital in assault and battery offenders.