The Effectiveness of Trainings based on Neuro-Linguistic programming and Cognitive Behavioral Approach on Students’ Anxiety, Depression and Stress

Background: The purpose of the present research was to evaluate the effectiveness of Neuro-Linguistic programming (NLP) strategies and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) on reducing anxiety, depression and stress among students. Methods: The present study follows a quasi-experimental design, having pretest-posttest and control group. The statistical population consists of all of the female and male teenagers within the age range of 15-18) who were studying in the second grade of high school during the 2019-2020 academic year in Kerman city. 45 individuals were chosen as the sample (group); they were divided in three groups, each group consisting of 15 individuals. The experimental group 1 was taught the guidelines of NLP in 18 sessions, 45 minutes each. The experimental group 2 was taught CBT in 6 sessions, 60 minutes each. The control group didn’t receive any specific training. The instrument of the study was the anxiety, depression and stress scale of DASS-21. Results: The findings demonstrated that NLP and CBT-based trainings had significant impacts on the decline of depression (p < 0.05, n2 = 0.883), anxiety (p < 0.05, n2 = 0.846) and Stress (p < 0.05, n2 = 0.863) among the students. Furthermore, the degrees of impact of Neuro-Linguistic programming’s guidelines and CBT on anxiety, depression and stress decline among students were not significantly different (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The trainings in Neuro-Linguistic programming and CBT reduced anxiety, depression and stress among teenagers and they were found to have similar degrees of impact on anxiety, depression and stress decline among students were the same.