DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY (JOURNAL OF IRANIAN PSYCHOLOGISTS)
Year:2016 | Volume:12 | Issue:48|Papers Count:9

The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of the mother-child attachment-based intervention in enhancing preschoolers’ attachment security. From all mothers and children ages between 4 and 6 years who referred to Atieh Clinic, 28 mother-child dyads were selected based on their attachment Q-sort scores (Waters, 1987) and the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The participants were randomly assigned into either control or experimental group. The mothers received six sessions of group education, the children received 6 sessions of group play therapy, and next each mother-child dyad received 4 sessions of individual psychotherapy. At the end of the intervention, 12 mother-child dyads of the experimental group and 11 mother-child dyads of the control group were assessed using attachment Q-sort. The results of ANCOVA indicated that in addition to the general security, four subscales of the 1) exploration from a secure base, 2) smooth interaction with the caregiver, 3) indications of availability and responsiveness related expectations, and 4) distress and comforting were improved significantly in experimental group compared with the control group. The findings suggested that the attachment-based intervention may be effective in enhancing attachment security which have crucial developmental outcomes and can be applied to the clinical settings.

The aim of this study was to examine heart rate responses to attachment-related film clips in secure attachment individuals and comparing them to those with insecure attachment. The study was a quasi- experimental design. Thirty students aged between 18 and 30 (15 students with secure attachment style, 15 students with insecure attachment style) were selected by convenience sampling method. The Adult Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ; Hazan & Shaver, 1987) was used to assess participants’ attachment styles. The heart rate (HR) reactivity of participants was monitored during eight Iranian attachment-related film clips by electrocardiogram (ECG).The results of independent t-test indicated that participants with insecure attachment had significantly lower HR reduction than participants with secure attachment during the three intense emotional weight and negative content film clips. Additionally, participants with insecure attachment had significantly lower HR reduction on the two low emotional weight and positive content film clips than participants with secure attachment. We also found the HR reactivity of individuals with insecure attachment styles was significantly higher than secure individuals during resting phase. The implications of high level of arousal and low level of emotion regulation in individuals with insecure attachment styles were discussed.

The present study aimed to examine the effects of mothers’ mindfulness training on children’s self-efficacy. Twenty four students were selected from high schools of Baharestan (a district of Tehran) in 2014 academic year using cluster sampling method. The participants were randomly assigned into either control or experimental groups. The participants completed the General Self-efficacy Questionnaire (Scherrer et al., 1982). The mothers in the experimental group received mindfulness training for 120 minutes a session for eight weeks (one session per week). In this study, the pretest-posttest with a control group was used at a 90-day follow-up. The results of covariance analysis indicated that mothers’ mindfulness training increased the children’s self-efficacy (P<0.05). Given the present findings it is suggested that counselors and psychologists use group training of mindfulness for increasing children’s self-efficacy.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between spirituality and cognitive emotion regulation dimensions. Three hundred and eighty seven undergraduate students (228 females, 160 males) were selected from Shiraz University using multistage sampling method. The participants completed the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski, Kraaij, & Spinhoven, 2001) and the Inclusive Spirituality Index (Muse-Burke, 2004).The results of simultaneous multiple regression indicated that transcendence and purpose and meaning in life had positive and significant effects on adaptive strategies. Transcendence had positive and significant effects on maladaptive strategies, and inner peace had negative and significant effect on maladaptive strategies. The findings suggest that spirituality predicted adaptive strategies positively and maladaptive strategies negatively.

This study aimed to compare executive functions and self-efficacy in patients with Multiple Sclerosis to healthy individuals. One hundred patients who have had the disease at least for 5 years were selected randomly from the referents to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Iran. The comparison group who consisted of patients’ relatives and the staff of the Multiple Sclerosis Society were matched on the basis of age, gender, education, occupation and marital status. The participants completed the Executive Function Questionnaire (Nejati, 2013) and the Self-efficacy Questionnaire (Sherer et al., 1982).The data analyzed using t-test and multivariate analysis of variance. The results indicated that the Multiple Sclerosis patients had lower scores in executive functions and self-efficacy than healthy individuals. The present findings suggest that developing Multiple Sclerosis lead to executive functions and self-efficacy deficiency which demonstrate a need to implement intervention programs for Multiple Sclerosis patients by specialists.

The aim of this study was to test the confirmatory factor structure and validation of the Parent-Adolescent Conflict Questionnaire in a nonclinical sample of 13 to17 year old adolescents. The study was descriptive and cross-sectional. Seven hundred and forty eight students were selected from the high schools of Qods (a district of Tehran province) by multistage random sampling. The participants completed the Parent-Adolescent Conflict Questionnaire (Adolescent Form; Asadi Younesi, 2011), the Children's Perceptions of Inter parental Conflict Scale (Grych, Seid, & Fincham, 1992), the Youth Self-report (Achenbach, 1991)), the Family Communication Scale (Olson, 1995), and the Family Satisfaction scale (Barnes & Olson, 1985). The results of confirmatory factor analysis supported the fourteen-factor of the Parent-Adolescent Conflict Questionnaire. To investigate divergent and criterion validity, the Pearson correlation coefficient was used. The results indicated that the correlation of the Parent-Adolescent Conflict Questionnaire with the other instruments of the study were between 0.21 and 0.57.These results were more satisfactory for the intensity of the conflict part of the parent-adolescent conflict questionnaire than for the frequency part of the questionnaire. The Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.97 for the frequency of the parent-adolescent conflict and was 0.96 for the intensity of parent- adolescent conflict. The test-retest coefficients were 0.76 and 0.75 for the frequency of parent- adolescent conflict and the intensity of the parent-adolescent conflict, respectively. The findings suggest that the Parent-Adolescent Conflict Questionnaire have good psychometric properties and can be used in research settings and family counseling in Iran.

The purpose of this study was to test partial and full mediation of internalizing problems in the relationship between Alexithymia and externalizing problems in adolescent girls. Two hundred and ninety seven students were selected from high schools of Tehran by cluster sampling method. The participants completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS - 20; Bagby, Parker, & Taylor, 1994) and the Youth Self-Report (Achenbach, 2001).The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling approach. The results indicated that the full model had a good fitness with data. Alexithymia was positively and significantly related to internalizing problems.Internalizing problems were positively and significantly related to externalizing problems. The findings suggested that alexithymia led to externalizing problems only if it caused problems such as anxiety, depression, withdrawal and somatic complaints.

The present study aimed to examine the validity, reliability and factor structure of the Behavior Rating Inventory for Executive Function-Preschool (BRIEF-P) (Parent’s Form) among Iranian children. Five hundred and ninety two children ages between 2 and 5 years were selected from preschool centers of the City of Isfahan in 2014 academic year using cluster random sampling method. The children’s parents completed the BRIEF-P. To assess the reliability and internal consistency of the inventory, the correlation coefficient among items with the total score of factors, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, confirmatory factor analysis, and the correlation coefficient among the subscales were used. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed embedding items and the five-factor structure of the inventory including inhibition, shift, emotional control, working memory, and planning. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was in satisfactory level for each factor and the total score of the inventory. The findings suggest that the BRIEF-P is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing executive functions of Iranian preschoolers and can be used as a suitable instrument in psychological research and clinical situations.