The effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on psychological capital, inhibition, and activation of students' behavior
Marjanovic Marjan, Sara Saedi, Fateme Daemi
Rooyesh Psychological Journal July 1, 2025 DOI: 10.66224/rooyesh.14.4.93 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design and a control group Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 30 |
| Population | Fourth-grade elementary school students in Tehran during the 2022-2023 academic year |
| Intervention | Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy |
| Duration | 8 sessions |
| Measures | Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Systems Questionnaire (BIS/BAS, Carver & White, 1994), Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ, Luthans et al., 2007) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Education |
| Key findings | Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, controlling for pre-test scores, produced significant between-group differences at post-test in psychological capital and in behavioral inhibition and activation at the p<0.01 level. The authors conclude the therapy significantly affects behavioral inhibition and activation and psychological capital in students. |
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the impact of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on the psychological capital and behavioral inhibition and activation of students. This research was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design and a control group. The study population included all fourth-grade elementary school students in Tehran during the 2022-2023 academic year. In this context, 30 students were purposefully selected and divided into two groups of 15, one experimental and one control. To measure the research variables, the Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Systems Questionnaire (BIS/BAS, Carver & White, 1994) and the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ, Luthans et al., 2007) were used. The experimental group underwent mindfulness-based cognitive therapy intervention over 8 sessions, after which a post-test was conducted for both groups. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 26, employing descriptive statistical methods (mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage) and multivariate analysis of covariance. The results showed that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, controlling for the pre-test effect, had a significant difference between the mean post-test of psychological capital and behavioral inhibition and activation in the experimental and control groups at the p<0.01 level ؛ Therefore, it can be concluded that this type of therapy has a significant impact on behavioral inhibition and activation, as well as on the psychological capital of students.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |