The Effectiveness of Religious-based Gender Justice Training and Compassion-focused Therapy on Psychological Capital of Girls with Delayed Marriage

Background: Increased age of marriage can disrupt the normal functioning of the family as a crucial and vital institution in many cases and dysfunctional families may be associated with many social outcomes. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of religious-based gender justice training and compassion-focused therapy on the psychological capital of girls with delayed marriage. Methods: The research method was experimental with a pretestposttest design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of girls over thirty years old who visited health centers and psychological clinics of Tehran in 2019. Using the convenience sampling method, 45 participants were selected and randomly divided into two experimental groups (religious-based gender justice training and compassion-focused therapy) and a control group (n=15 per group). Both experimental groups separately underwent eight sessions (60-minute sessions per week) of religious-based gender justice training and compassion-focused therapy. The control group did not receive any treatment. The research instrument included the psychological capital questionnaire (PCQ). Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) in SPSS 24.0. The significant level was set at 0.05. Results: The results showed that religious-based gender justice training and compassion-focused therapy had significant effects on the three variables of self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism in intervention groups at post-test (Pvalue<0.05). But these interventions did not significantly increase hopefulness. Conclusions: According to the results, religious-based gender justice training and compassion-focused therapy increased the psychological capital of girls with delayed marriage.