Background and Purpose: Neglect and mistreatment have always had a negative psychological and educational effect on children. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of resiliency education on the coping styles and optimism of unprotected and neglected children.
Method: This research was a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest design with control group. The statistical population consisted of all unprotected and neglected girls aged 12 to 16 years old in the care centers of these children in Ardabil city in 2016. Among them, 30 girls were randomly selected and divided into two experimental (15 people) and control (15 people) group. Participants in the experimental group received resiliency training in 9 sessions. Stress coping style questionnaire (Becker & Endler, 1990) and optimism questionnaire (Carver & Bridge, 1994) were used to collect data. For analysis of data, one-way covariance analysis was used.
Results: The results of covariance analysis showed that there was a significant difference between the mean post-test scores of the two groups in problem-oriented coping styles (P <0.05, F= 16.15), excitement (P <0.05, F= 9/36), and optimism (P <0.001, F = 24/21), but there was no significant effect on avoidance coping style (P > 0.05, F = 1.45).
Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that resiliency training by increasing flexibility and improving psychological health has led to an increase in effective coping styles and optimism in unprotected and neglected children. Therefore, it is possible to use resiliency training to improve the mental and social health of individuals.