This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills training in reducing rumination and cognitive avoidance among middle-school teachers in Isfahan, Iran. Teachers often experience occupational stress that may contribute to maladaptive cognitive and emotional responses. DBT is a skills-based psychological intervention that aims to improve emotional regulation, mindfulness, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Thirty-four eligible teachers were randomly assigned to either a DBT intervention group or a control group. Participants in the intervention group attended ten group sessions, while the control group received no intervention during the study period. Levels of rumination and cognitive avoidance were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and two-month follow-up using standardized questionnaires.

The study aimed to determine whether DBT skills training could reduce maladaptive cognitive processes and promote psychological well-being among teachers.

Teachers are exposed to chronic occupational stress that may contribute to maladaptive cognitive processes, including rumination and cognitive avoidance. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), originally developed for emotion dysregulation, has increasingly been applied as a transdiagnostic and skills-based intervention in non-clinical populations. DBT emphasizes mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness skills that may enhance adaptive coping and psychological resilience.

This randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the effects of a DBT skills training program among middle-school teachers in Isfahan, Iran. Participants assigned to the intervention group attended ten structured group sessions delivered in a face-to-face format. The program was based on Linehan's DBT skills training model and focused on developing practical strategies for emotional and cognitive self-regulation. Participants in the control group did not receive the intervention during the study period.

The study was designed to evaluate whether a structured DBT-based psychoeducational program could improve cognitive and emotional functioning and contribute to the growing evidence supporting the use of DBT in educational and non-clinical settings.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Female middle-school teachers from districts 4 and 5 of Isfahan, Iran.
• Age between 35 and 52 years.
• Willingness to participate and provide written informed consent.
• Ability to attend the intervention sessions and complete study assessments.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Absence from more than two intervention sessions.
• Withdrawal of consent at any stage of the study.
• Failure to complete post-intervention or follow-up assessments.

Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this article, after de-identification, will be made available to qualified researchers upon reasonable request. Supporting documents, including the study protocol and data dictionary, will also be available. Data will be available beginning six months after publication and ending five years after publication. Requests should be directed to the corresponding author. Access will be granted following review of the proposed use of the data and execution of a data access agreement.

De-identified individual participant data and supporting documents will be available beginning 6 months after publication and ending 5 years after publication.

Qualified researchers with a methodologically sound proposal will be able to access de-identified individual participant data, the study protocol, informed consent form, and analytic code. Requests should be directed to the corresponding author. Data access will be granted following review of the proposed use and execution of an appropriate data access agreement.

Due to the nature of the behavioral intervention, neither participants nor investigators were blinded to group assignment. Outcome measures were self-administered questionnaires completed by participants.