DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY (JOURNAL OF IRANIAN PSYCHOLOGISTS)
Year:2011 | Volume:7 | Issue:27|Papers Count:12

The purpose of this research was to examine the role of identity in the relationship between family functioning and problem behavior in a sample of 300 (150 females, 150 males) second year middle school students. Family functioning was operationalized in terms of parent-adolescent communication, parental involvement and positive parenting. Problem behavior was operationalized in terms of aggressive behavior, rule breaking behavior, and attention problems. Structural equation models indicated that 22% of the total (direct and indirect) relationships between family functioning and problem behavior operated through identity variables, and identity confusion partially mediated the relationship between family functioning and early adolescent problem behavior. The present findings suggested that both family functioning and identity may play important roles in directing young adolescents toward or away from problem behavior. Implications for intervention were discussed.

This study investigated the theory of mind development and its relation to social skills in children and adolescence with Visual impairment. Study population consisted of all students with visual impairment in Mashhad city. Using purposeful sampling, 43 children in four age groups (4, 7, 10 and 13 years old) were selected. To measure the theory of mind, two Tasks of False Beliefs (Task of Belief Prediction, Perner, & Wimmer, 1987; Task of Action Prediction, Wimmer, & Perner, 1983) were used. To assess social skills and behavioral problems, Social Skills Scale (teacher form; Gresham, & Elliott, 1990) was used. Research data were analyzed using the Chi square test, Pearson correlation coeffcient and logistic regression analysis.Significant relationships were found between the performance of the Action Prediction Task and the overall scores of social skills, and between the performance of both tasks (the Action Prediction Task and the Belief Prediction Task) and the overall scores of behavioral problems. The results also showed that verbal IQ and age predicted the performance of the Action Prediction Task.

the purpose of this research was to study developmental progression of clock face drawing and conceptualization of time among the primary and middle school students of Tehran. One hundred and sixty students (106 males, 55 females; M=9, SD=1.5) without behavioral, emotional, mental, and pervasive developmental disorders, completed clock face drawing test (Cohen, et al, 2000). Conceptualization of time and construction of the clock face were assessed separately using Cohen and his colleague (2000) scoring system. The results indicated a gradual progression of the clock drawing and the concept of time from the age of eight onward. Results also demonstrated that the qualitative errors such as number reversals, spacing errors and erasing were common in ages seven and eight, but decreased gradually as the age increased. Given the pattern of the findings, linear progression in using the quarter of circle suggest that the neglect in children has developmental nature. In general, development of clock face drawing to a large extent parallels the frontal lobe maturation.

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Orff music training on the preschoolers’ learning of basic mathematical skills. Using convenience sampling method, 30 year old children (16 females and 14 males) with an intelligence quotient ranges of 110-130 were selected and examined in an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group received Orff music training two hours a week for three months. The Assessment of Basic Mathematical Skills Scale for Children (Kohansedgh, 1997) were then administered to both groups. Covariance analysis indicated that Orff music traini-ng increased the learning ability of preschoolers in classification, similarities/differences detection, conservation of numbers, and geometry skills. No significant difference was found between the two groups in seriating skill. The results were discussed in terms of the effect of music training on learning of basic mathematical skills of children.

his study aimed to compare the effectivenesses of three methods of drug abuse prevention: a) cognitive-behavioral social, b) lecture, and c) short message system on sensation seeking, mental security and attitude toward substance abuse among high school students. One hundred and ninety two high school students were assigned randomly to four groups (three experimental groups, one control group). Participants completed the Attitude toward Drug Abuse Inventory (Ghorbani, 2001), Sensation Seeking Scale (Zukerman, 1969) and Mental Security Inventory (Maslo, 1952) during pretest, posttest, and follow up phases. The first experimental group received 10 sessions of cognitive-behavioral social group training (2 hours a week), the second experimental group attended 10 lecture sessions and the third experimental group received preventive short messages for 75 days. The results of MANCOVA indicated that the effects of all three preventive methods on sensation seeking, mental security and attitude toward drug were significant. It was also found that the cognitive-behavioral social method was significantly more effective than the other two methods. The follow-up results indicated that the effects of the preventive methods continued after 100 days.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between Big Five Personality factors (extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, and neuroticism) and marital satisfaction. The short form of NEO Inventory (Costa, & McCrae, 1992) and the Enrich Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (Olson, 1994) were used in this study. The sample of this study consisted of 100 couples (200 individuals) all of whom have been selected from Tehran higher education centers by random sampling method. Results indicated that marital satisfaction had a positive correlation with conscientiousness and agreeableness, and a negative correlation with neuroticism. Results of the simple regression analysis showed that marital satisfaction was significantly predicted by conscientiousness (positively) and neuroticism (negatively). Results of this study suggest that neuroticism and conscientiousness factors deserve further attention for martial satisfaction.

he present research carried out to investigate the relationships of emotional intelligence and coping styles to marital satisfaction and adjustment. The sample consisted of 60 married women between the ages of 23 and 49 from Charmahal & Bakhtiari Province. Participants completed the Enrich Martial Satisfaction scale (Olson, 1994), the Marital Adjustment Inventory (Singh, 1987), the Trait Meta Mood Scale (Salovey et al., 1995) and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situation (Endler& Parker, 1990). The results indicated that marital satisfaction and marital adjustment were positively associated with emotional intelligence and task-oriented coping style.

n order to investigate the relationship between the image of God and the paranoid ideation, 469 students of Tehran Medical Sciences and Iranian Medical Sciences universities were selected by proportional sampling method. Participants completed the Image of God Inventory (Lawrence, 1997) and the paranoid ideation subscale of Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (Deragotis et al., 1973). Analysis of data using a multiple regression analysis indicated that the students' images of God predicted the paranoid ideation. Students with a positive and accepting image of God reported lower paranoid ideation, and students with a negative image of God reported higher paranoid ideation.