the impact of schema therapy on the emotional well-being of students from divorced families: a mental health perspective

Background and objective: the existing literature shows that a child's failure to adapt to their parents' divorce can have devastating effects on their psychological and physical health. this research investigates the effectiveness of schema therapy in improving the emotional well-being of students from divorced families. methods: this quasi-experimental study utilized a pre-test/post-test design with a control group. the sample consisted of 30 female students aged 14–17 from rasht whose parents were divorced. participants were selected via convenience sampling and randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group, with 15 participants in each. emotional well-being was assessed using the emotional and emotional well-being questionnaire by keyes and magyarmo (2003). the experimental group received schema therapy over 10 sessions of 45 minutes each, following the protocol developed by young et al. (2003). data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ancova) in spss version 26. findings: schema therapy improved the quality of life and well-being of female students from divorced families by reducing feelings of loneliness, improving general health, and reducing rumination. emotional well-being scores increased from 23.56 (sd = 7.48) to 48.12 (sd = 7.67), and flexibility scores improved from 49.64 (sd = 6.28) to 68.12 (sd = 5.23) following the intervention. these findings indicate that schema therapy significantly impacted both emotional well-being and psychological flexibility in the experimental group. conclusion: emotional well-being can influence behavior and is manageable by the individual. identifying and improving related issues—through methods like schema therapy—should be a key part of treatment.