Intervention on the Social Anxiety of Junior High School Students With Visual Impairments via Group Counseling With a Focus on Self-Concept

Abstract

Introduction: Students with visual impairments experience social anxiety in school, especially in the pre-adolescent period. Methods: The Social Anxiety Scale for Children was used in a special school for students with visual impairments in Beijing, and 18 junior high school students were found to be at risk of social anxiety. The study adopted a quasi-experimental method, and 18 participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. According to the cognitive characteristics of students with visual impairments, group counseling activities from the perspective of self-concept were designed to intervene with the nine participants in the experimental group for 10 weeks for a total of 11 sessions. Results: Self-concept and social anxiety significantly differed between the two groups after group counseling (p < .01). The experimental group presented significantly lower levels of social anxiety and higher levels of self-concept after the intervention (p < .01) than the control group. Discussion: Group counseling improved the self-concept level of these students with visual impairments and effectively decreased their social anxiety. Implications for Practitioners: Students with visual impairments appear to benefit from group counseling activities to promote positive self-perception and alleviate social anxiety. Therefore, psychological counseling should be considered for the emotional intervention of students with visual impairments.