Sense of coherence is one of the important components in the perception and management of stressful situations and the maintenance of psychological functioning, and it is particularly important in individuals with depressive symptoms. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy on sense of coherence in individuals with depressive symptoms who referred to counseling centers in Qom. This study was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest control group design. The study population consisted of individuals with depressive symptoms who referred to counseling centers in Qom in 2025. Twenty participants were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received cognitive-behavioral group therapy in eight 60-minute sessions, while the control group received no intervention. Data were collected using the 35-item Sense of Coherence Questionnaire developed by Flensborg-Madsen et al. and were analyzed using multivariate and univariate analysis of covariance. The findings showed that, after controlling for pretest scores, there were significant differences between the two groups in the comprehensibility and meaningfulness components of sense of coherence, whereas the difference in the manageability component was not significant. Based on the findings, cognitive-behavioral group therapy may be used to improve some components of sense of coherence, particularly comprehensibility and meaningfulness, in individuals with depressive symptoms.
