Iranian Journal of War and Public Health

en Effectiveness of Child-Centered Self-Compassion Training on Resilience and Separation Anxiety in War-Affected Children in Tehran آسیب‌های جنگ/حادثه و عوارض آن War/Accident Related Injuries and its Complications پژوهشی اصيل Original Research Background: Children exposed to war are at risk of anxiety and adaptive difficulties. Self-compassion may offer developmentally appropriate coping strategies. This study examined an eight-session child-centered self-compassion program on resilience and separation anxiety in war-affected children. Methods: This nonrandomized controlled trial used a pretest-posttest control-group design. Sixty children aged 8–12 years with documented war-related stressful events were recruited from two support centers in Tehran and allocated nonrandomly by the first author using consecutive allocation. Allocation was not concealed. The intervention group received eight weekly 60-minute sessions. The control group received usual support-center services only. Resilience and separation anxiety were assessed at pretest and posttest. Data were analyzed using ANCOVA with pretest scores as covariates. Results: At baseline, groups were comparable. Mean resilience increased from 49.27±6.34 to 67.91±5.72 in the intervention group versus 48.83±6.11 to 50.12±6.27 in controls. Separation anxiety decreased from 43.18±6.52 to 27.46±5.61 versus 42.71±6.38 to 41.26±6.45. After adjustment, groups differed in resilience (F (1,57) =91.64, p<0.001, ηp²=0.615, 95% CI = 17.05 [14.18, 19.92]) and separation anxiety (F (1,57) =84.27, p<0.001, ηp²=0.597, 95% CI = −13.30 [−16.09, −10.51]). Adjusted posttest means were 67.54±1.02 vs. 50.49±1.01 for resilience and 27.71±0.99 vs. 41.01±0.98 for separation anxiety. These effect sizes may be inflated due to the small sample and nonrandom allocation. Conclusion: Child-centered self-compassion training was associated with increased resilience and reduced separation anxiety immediately after the intervention. Because the study was nonrandomized and had no follow-up, findings are preliminary and do not establish causality or durability.   Self-compassion,Resilience,Separation anxiety,War-affected children,Psychological intervention. 1011 1024 http://ijwph.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2475-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 M. Bayat froudgah3@gmail.com 15300319475328460029492 15300319475328460029492 Yes L. Zamani Kokhaloo lailazamani@gmail.com 15300319475328460029493 15300319475328460029493 No