DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY (JOURNAL OF IRANIAN PSYCHOLOGISTS)
Year:2015 | Volume:11 | Issue:44|Papers Count:11

The purpose of the present study was to examine the mediating role of self-compassion and self-control in the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and quality of life. Three hundred and ninety one individuals (209 females, 182 males) from Shiraz city completed the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF; Young & Brown 1999), the World Health Organization Quality Of Life-Brief (WHOQOL, 1996), the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff, 2003b), and the Self-Control Scale (SCS; Tangney, Baumeister & Boone, 2004). The results indicated early maladaptive schemas had a significant negative correlation with quality of life. Self-compassion mediated the relationship between disconnection/rejection and impaired limits with quality of life. Self-control mediated the relationship between disconnection/rejection, impaired limits, and hypervigilance/ inhibition with quality of life. The findings suggested that early maladaptive schemas had a determinant role in quality of life and this was partly through mediating role of self-compassion and self-control.

This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of meta-cognitive therapy and cognitive therapy in reducing test anxiety. The study design was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test control group. Fifteen graduate female students living in Tarbiat Modares University dormitories were selected by convenient sampling method. The participants were randomly assigned to three groups of meta-cognitive therapy, cognitive and control groups (five students per group). The experimental groups received eight sessions of meta-cognition and cognition therapies. The Spielberger Anxiety Inventory (1980) was used as pre-test and post-test measure. The results of covariance analysis indicated that the groups had significant differences in reducing test anxiety. The results of LSD post hoc tests indicated that the effectiveness of meta-cognitive therapy in reducing test anxiety is the same as cognitive therapy. Both metacognitive and cognitive therapy groups showed greater reduction in test anxiety than the control group. Given the prevalence of test anxiety, using a combination of existing therapies (cognitive and meta-cognitive) may be a very effective treatment approach.

In order to construct a moral identity scale primarily based on Aquino and Reed (2002) model, two pilot studies were conducted. The first study aimed to identify moral traits among college students. One hundred and twenty two students (56% females) participated in a free-listing task. The participants were asked to list characteristics that a moral person possessed. A content analysis of the traits based on five criteria (Hardy et al, 2011) resulted in 26 non-redundant traits. In order to obtain further evidence that these 26 traits had sufficient content validity, in a sample different from the first study 217 students (58% females) were asked to rate each trait using a scale ranging from 1(absolutely unnecessary) to 5 (absolutely necessary). The results indicated that 24 traits were judged to be above the midpoint of the scale. Investigating the results of females and males students led to identification of nine traits that had the highest ratings: polite, trustworthy, honest, self-respect, rational, loyal, fair, religious, and patient. These nine traits were considered as identity-invoking stimuli for constructing moral identity scale. The implications of the findings were discussed.

The present study aimed to test psychometric properties of the Young Children's Appraisals of Interparental Conflict Scale (CPIC-Y; McDonald & Grych, 2006) among students between the ages of 9 and 11. One hundred and sixty two elementary school students (104 boys, 54 girls) completed the Young Children's Appraisals of Interparental Conflict Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory for Youth (BDI-Y; Beck, Beck, Jolly & Steer, 2005). The confirmatory factor analysis method and internal consistency were used to investigate the CPIC-Y factorial validity and internal consistency, respectively. The results of confirmatory factor analysis supported three-factor structure of conflict properties, threat, and self-blame. The confirmatory factor analysis indicated that multidimensional structure of CPIC-Y was an acceptable measurement model. The significant positive correlations of all three CPIC-Y scales with depression provided support for the CPIC-Y convergent validity. Internal consistencies of the CPIC-Y scales were good. The findings suggested that CPIC-Y was an appropriate measure for assessing specific dimensions of interparental conflict in a sample of Iranian children.

The present study examined the relations among family processes, academic self-efficacy, and self-handicapping. Three hundred and thirty five students (208 females, 127 males) were selected by multistage random cluster sampling from Shiraz University. The participants completed the Adolescent Family Process Measure (Ozdemir, Vazsonyi & Cok, 2013), the Academic Self-efficacy Scale (Greene el al., 2004), and the Self-handicapping Scale (Jones & Rhodewalt, 1979). The results of simultaneous regression analysis indicated that a) dimensions of family processes (closeness and peer approval) predicted self-handicapping negatively, b) dimensions of family processes (closeness and peer approval) predicted self-efficacy positively, c) self-efficacy predicted self-handicapping negatively. The findings suggested that academic self-efficacy could be regarded as a mediator between family processes (closeness and peer approval) and self-handicapping.

The present study aimed to examine the role of attachment styles in mate selection preferences. One hundred fourteen unmarried students (68 females, 46 malesage) between ages 22 and 40 were selected by convenient sampling from Public Universities of Tehran. The participants answered a researcher-made computer program comprised of personal characteristics, mate selection test, and the Hazan and Shaver’s Attachment Inventory (1987). To analyze the data t-test and regression model were used. The results indicated that both females and males prefer the criteria of mutual attraction-love and loyalty as the first and second priorities but in the third criterion females considered the independent character important and males regarded adaptation important. There was a significant positive correlation between avoidant attachment style and abiding criterion. There was a significant negative correlation between the secure style and criteria of abiding and good cooking and housekeeper.

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of sensory integration procedure on reduction of stereotypical behaviors among autistic children. Twenty autistic children from 8 years and 2 months to 14 years of age were selected by purposive sampling from Ordibehesht Autistic Center located in Isfahan. The participants were assigned randomly into either experimental or control groups. The experimental group received eleven sessions of sensory integration therapy. The study design was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest control group. The participants completed the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (Bodfish et al. 2000). The results of analysis of covariance indicated that the sensory integration procedure was effective in reducing stereotypical behaviors, compulsive behaviors, ritualistic behavior, sameness behavior, restricted behavior and self-injurious behaviors. Given the findings of the present study, it is suggested that the sensory integration procedure apply to the treatment of other disabilities of autistic children.

The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between attachment styles and the resiliency. Two hundred and four students were selected from Shiraz University by random cluster sampling method. The participants completed the Attachment Styles (Hazan and Shaver, 1987), the Resiliency (Connor and Davidson, 2003) and the Emotional Intelligence Questionnaires (Petrides and Furnham, 2001). The results indicated that 1) there were positive relations among secure attachment, emotional intelligence, and resiliency, 2) there were negative relations among insecure ambivalent attachment, emotional intelligence, and resiliency, 3) there were negative relationship between insecure avoidant attachment and resiliency, and 4) emotional intelligence correlated positively with resiliency. The results of regression analysis indicated that secure attachment predicted emotional intelligence positively and ambivalent attachment predicted emotional intelligence negatively. In addition, emotional intelligence was positively and significantly related to resiliency. The findings suggested the mediating role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between attachment styles and resiliency. These findings highlight the importance of emotional intelligence in students' personal and academic lives.