Abbasszade Atena, Farokhzadian Jamileh, Torkaman Mahya, Miri Sakineh
Nursing Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Student Research Committee, Razi Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
BMC Nurs. 2025 Mar 24;24(1):306. doi: 10.1186/s12912-025-02961-w.
One factor influencing mental health is cognitive flexibility and emotion regulation. Employing adaptive strategies positively impacts the development of appropriate responses to emotional situations. Nursing students, particularly during initial patient and family interactions, may experience high stress and anxiety, often accompanied by reduced cognitive flexibility and emotion regulation. Therefore, incorporating strategies to enhance these skills, such as transactional analysis (TA) training, into nursing curricula is essential. TA is one of the theories that has provided practical solutions in the field of interpersonal relationships, increasing self-concept, and adapting to existing conditions in the field of interpersonal issues. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of TA training on cognitive flexibility and emotion regulation in nursing students.
This experimental study was conducted with a pre-test and post-test design with intervention and control groups among employed 80 sixth-semester nursing students from Razi School of Nursing and Midwifery affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciencesin southeastern Iran. The participants were included in the study via a census method and were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (n = 40) or a control group (n = 40). The intervention group received four weeks of TA training, consisting of two 90-minute sessions per week. The control group received no intervention during this period. Both groups completed the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory and the Affective Style Questionnaire before and one month after the intervention.
Results indicated no significant difference in pre-test cognitive flexibility scores between the intervention (100.4 ± 17.38) and control groups (102.07 ± 15.53; p = 0.065). However, post-test scores revealed a significant increase in cognitive flexibility in the intervention group (113.72 ± 10.73) compared to the control group (61 ± 16.85/101; p = 0.001). Additionally, the intervention group exhibited a significant increase in post-test emotion regulation score (67.85 ± 7.42) compared to pre-test scores (64.58 ± 10.55; p = 0.003). However, no significant difference in post-test emotion regulation scores was observed between the intervention and control groups (65.6 ± 10.64; p = 0.27).
The results of this study demonstrated the efficacy of TA programs in enhancing cognitive flexibility and emotion regulation among nursing students. It is recommended that this intervention be implemented in medical education, particularly for nursing students who frequently interact with patients and may experience increased stress, anxiety, and reduced cognitive flexibility and emotion regulation during initial patient encounters. TA as an educational method, can enhance self-awareness, interpersonal relationship, and emotional regulation among nursing and nursing students in clinical setting. It can also It can be used to improve the quality of professional interactions and clinical practice of nursing students, finally enhancing the quality of nursing care.
影响心理健康的一个因素是认知灵活性和情绪调节。采用适应性策略对培养对情绪状况的适当反应具有积极影响。护理专业学生，尤其是在与患者及家属的初次互动中，可能会经历高度的压力和焦虑，常伴有认知灵活性和情绪调节能力的下降。因此，将增强这些技能的策略，如交互分析（TA）培训，纳入护理课程至关重要。TA是在人际关系领域提供实际解决方案、提升自我概念以及适应人际关系问题领域现有状况的理论之一。本研究旨在评估TA培训对护理专业学生认知灵活性和情绪调节的影响。
本实验研究采用前测和后测设计，设有干预组和对照组，研究对象为伊朗东南部克尔曼医科大学拉齐护理与助产学院的80名在职六年级护理专业学生。通过普查法将参与者纳入研究，并随机分为干预组（n = 40）和对照组（n = 40）。干预组接受为期四周的TA培训，每周两次，每次90分钟。在此期间，对照组未接受任何干预。两组在干预前及干预后一个月均完成了认知灵活性量表和情感风格问卷。
结果表明，干预组（100.4 ± 17.38）和对照组（102.07 ± 15.53；p = 0.065）在干预前的认知灵活性得分无显著差异。然而，后测得分显示，干预组的认知灵活性较对照组（61 ± 16.85/101；p = 0.001）有显著提高（113.72 ± 10.73）。此外，干预组后测情绪调节得分（67.85 ± 7.42）较前测得分（64.58 ± 1
