DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY (JOURNAL OF IRANIAN PSYCHOLOGISTS)
Year:2013 | Volume:9 | Issue:35|Papers Count:12

Deficiency in emotion regulation is considered to be a fundamental problem among people suffering from mood and anxiety disorders. Developing in the context of mother-child relationship from early childhood, attachment style is the major determinant of emotion regulation. Pathologies of attachment styles may influence the normal process of emotion regulation. The main aim of this study was to compare attachment styles in individuals with depression, anxiety disorders, and those without these disorders. Two hundreds and twenty individuals (87 depressed, 64 anxious, 73 normal) voluntarily participated in the study. Following a psychiatric diagnosis of the disorders, participants were asked to complete the Adult Attachment Inventory (AAI; Besharat, 2005, 2011). The results indicated that the predominant attachment styles of the depressed, anxious, and normal individuals are avoidant, ambivalent, and secure, respectively.Comparison of attachment styles of participants provides evidence for the possible impact of pathological attachment styles on emotion regulation. The differences between attachment styles of the two groups of depressed and anxious patients also may justify their differences in terms of the kind of emotion regulation deficiency.

This study was aimed to test the invariance of factorial structure of the Identity Style Inventory (ISI; Berzonsky, 1992) in 15-17 year olds adolescents. The sample consisted of 376 high school students (181 males, 195 females). The ISI was adminestered to the participants. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the cross-group validity or invariance of factorial structure of ISI among males and females studying in first, second and third grades of high school. The results of single-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that both the three-factor structure of identity styles (informational identity, normative identity, and diffuse avoidant identity) and the mono-factor structure of identity commitment fit the data in an acceptable level for males and females and the three grade subgroups. The results of multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated cross-group invariance of factor structure, factor loadings, and factor variances and covariances of the ISI in gender and grade subgroups. Emphasizing the group invariance of factorial structure of ISI, these findings indicate that ISI is a promising tool for measuring identity styles in gender and grade subgroups.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of group story–based social skills training on children externalizing behavior problems. Two hundreds and sixty seven mothers completed the Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001/2005). Forty eight students with high scores on the CBCL were selected and randomly assigned to either an experimental group (N=24) or a control group (N=24). Experimental group received eight story-based social skills training sessions for four weeks. Control group did not receive any training in this period. The data were analyzed using multiple covariance analyses. In contrast to the control group, experimental group demonstrated significant reduction in aggressive and rule-breaking behaviors by the end of the course. The findings of this study may be of practical importance for prevention and treatment of children’s externalizing behavior problems in clinical settings and schools.

the aim of the present study was to determine the mediating role of worry in the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depression and anxiety. Three hundreds and sixty seven students (288 males, 79 females) were selected by stratified sampling method from engineering school of Fars Science and Research University. The participants completed Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996 (, Beck Anxiety Inventory) Beck & Epstein, 1993), Pennsylvania State Worry Questionnaire, (Meyer, Miller, Metzger, & Borkovec, 1990, and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garnefski, Kraaij, & Spinhoven, 2002 (. The data were analysed using correlation coefficient, regression analysis, and path analysis. The results indicated that maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (rumination strategy) was positively related to depression and anxiety through worry. Also, adaptive emotion regulation strategies (positive refocusing) was negatively related to depression and anxiety through worry. In sum, the findings suggest that cognitive emotion regulation plays an important role in predicting worry, depression and anxiety.

The present study was aimed to examine Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) regarding mental health, socio-economic status, gender and age differences in students. Five hundreds and fifty one middle school and high school students (275 females, 276 males) were selected using multistage cluster sampling. The participants completed the KIDSCREEN-52 Health- Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (Raven-Sieberer & et al, 2005), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Goodman, 1997), and the Socio-economic Status Questionnaire (Garmaroodi & Moradi, 2010). The results indicated that 1) boys scored higher than girls in physical well-being, social support and peers, self-autonomy, psychological well-being, relationships with parents, and family life scales, 2) the middle school students had higher scores than the high school students in all KIDSCREEN scales except for social supports and peers, social acceptance, bullying, and financial resource, and 3) the differences between students with low and high socioeconomic status were significant in physical well-being, relationships with parents and family life, financial resource, and psychological well-being. The results of one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for comparsion of normal, borderline and abnormal groups indicated that normal group scored higher than abnormal group in mood and emotions, social acceptance, bullying, psychological well-being, and self perception.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of anxiety, self-efficacy and perfectionism in predicting dissertation procrastination. One hundreds and ninety eight graduate student were selected by availability sampling. All participants were asked to complete the Revised Procrastination Inventory (Muszynski & Akamatsu, 1991), the Dissertation Appraisal Inventory (Varney, 2003), the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (Hewitt & Flett, 1991), and Self- Reported Form of Dissertation Anxiety (Grifin, 2002). The data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression. The results indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between dissertation anxiety and socially prescribed perfectionism, and dissertation procrastination. Also, there was a significant negative relationship between dissertation self-efficacy and self-oriented perfectionism, and dissertation procrastination. Multiple regressions analysis indicated that anxiety, self-efficacy and socially prescribed perfectionism contributed mostly in predicting dissertation procrastination. Based on the findings that anxiety of dissertation, self-efficacy and socially prescribed perfectionism have significant roles in dissertation procrastination, it is argued that universities should pay more attentions to the factors which may play significant roles in decreasing dissertation anxiety and decreasing socially prescribed perfectionism in order to promote dissertation self-efficacy. This is more likely to reduce dissertation procrastination amongst graduate students.

The present study was aimed to determine the relationships of thinking styles and learning strategies with academic achievement. The sample consisted of 267 girls studying in mathematics and physics discipline in fourth educational district of Tehran. The sample was selected randomly by multistage cluster sampling. The participants completed the Thinking Style Inventory (TSI; Sternberg & Wagner, 1992), the Learning Strategies Questionnaire (LSQ; Weinstein & Mayer, 1998), and the Achievement Motivation Test (ACMT; Bhargava, 1994). The data were analyzed using correlation test and stepwise multiple regression. The results indicated that 1) thinking styles and learning strategies correlated positively with achievement motivation, 2) time management was the strongest predictors of academic achievement, 3) legislative and judicial thinking styles explained achievement motivation, and 4 anxiety as a component of learning strategies was related to decreased achievement motivation. The necessity of identifying students’ thinking styles and learning strategies was examined.

This study was aimed to determine the roles of resiliency, self-concept, and creativity (as a mediator) in predicting selfefficacy of handicapped females who were over 15 years old living in the city of Gorgan in 2012. Seventy one females completed the Conner–Davidson Resilience Scale (2003), the Rogers Self-Concept Test (1951), the Abedi Creativity Questionnaire (1992) and the Sherrer General Self-Efficacy Scale (1982). The results indicated that resiliency and self-concept had indirect effects on self-efficacy through fluency and originality dimensions of creativity. However, the indirect effect of resiliency on self-efficacy through flexibility dimension of creativity was not significant. Also, the effect of self-concept on self-efficacy through flexibility dimension of creativity was significant. However, the effect of resiliency and self-concept on self-efficacy through elaboration dimension of creativity was not significant. The findings suggest that the fluency and originality dimensions are mediators of the relationship between resiliency and self-efficacy, and the fluency, originality and flexibility dimensions are mediators of the relationship between self-concept and self-efficacy.