Comparing the Effectiveness of Metacognitive Therapy and Logotherapy on Emotion Regulation in Female University Students with Experience of Romantic Breakup

Introduction: Romantic breakups during university can disrupt emotion regulation, academic performance, and psychological well-being, highlighting the need for effective therapeutic interventions.Accordingly, the present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of metacognitive therapy and logotherapy in improving emotion regulation among female students with experience of romantic breakup.Materials and Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental research with a pretest-posttest and two-month follow-up design including a control group.The statistical population consisted of female students of Islamic Azad University, Tehran West Branch, during the academic year 2022-2023 (1402-1403).A total of 48 participants were selected using purposive sampling and randomly assigned to three groups: meaning therapy experimental group (17 participants), metacognitive therapy experimental group (16 participants), and a control group (15 participants).The first experimental group received eight 60-minute sessions of metacognitive therapy training, while the second experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of meaning therapy training.The control group received no training.Data collection instruments included the Love Trauma Syndrome Questionnaire developed by Ross (1999) and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire developed by Garnefski et al. (2001).Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc tests.Results: Findings indicated that both logotherapy and metacognitive therapy significantly improved emotion regulation compared to the control group.Furthermore, metacognitive therapy demonstrated a greater effect on emotion regulation than logotherapy.Conclusion: The results suggest that both metacognitive therapy and logotherapy are effective in enhancing emotion regulation among female students experiencing romantic breakup, with metacognitive therapy showing superior efficacy.These findings provide practical guidance for psychologists and university counselors in selecting effective interventions to support students facing emotional challenges.