JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
Year:2011 | Volume:5 | Issue:3 (19)|Papers Count:12

Aim: The aim of this research was to investigate the reliability, validity and factor analysis of the Snyder Hope Scale.Method: A correlational method employed.371 (276 women and 95 men) participants were selected from a population of undergraduate students comprising of 6970 individuals studying in Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran during the academic year 2008 –2009. Sampling was done via multiple stage cluster sampling. Research tools consisted of Snyder’s Hope Scale (1991), Zimet's Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (1988), Maholice and Crumbaugh's Meaning in Life Test (1964), and Mohamadifar's Suicide Ideation (2005). Data was analyzed using Factor analysis, correlation tests and reliability coefficients.Results: Result of factor analysis showed that Snyder's Hope Scale consisted of two factors which were labeled agency and pathways. the concurrent validity was measured by correlating the scores of the Hope Scale with those of Suicide Ideation Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and Meaning in Life Test. Result showed that there was a significant negative correlation between hope and suicide ideation and a significant positive relationship between hope and social support and meaning in life. Furthermore, results showed Cronbach's alpha for the Hope Scale to be 0.86 and test-retest reliability was 0.81.Conclusion: Snyder’s Hope Scale can be considered to be a valid and reliable measure in an Iranian student population and may be considered for use in clinical and research settings for assessment, preparing participants for therapy and prevention.

Aim: According to Vorfian's theory (1956), language affects thought. The present study investigates the relationship between language and memory.Method: A quasi-experimental method was employed where the statistical population consisted of 1500 undergraduate students of Payam-Noor University. Of these, 100 Persian-Turkish bilinguals were selected and tested.All participants completed the Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q, Marian, etal., 2007), providing information about their language-learning history, language proficiency, and language use. Then participants were divided into two groups of "equally proficient in both languages" (balanced bilinguals) and "more proficient in one language" (imbalanced bilinguals) and were tested for free recall memory.Results: Results showed words that were learned and tested in the same language in balanced bilinguals, showed a retrieval advantage compared to words that were learned and tested in different languages.Conclusion: These findings suggest that memory and language are tightly connected and that the linguistic context at the time of learning may become integrated into memory content but language proficiency modulates these effects. These findings must be considered in learning and testing of bilinguals.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine relationships among parenting styles and sexual self-esteem and its’ components (Skill, experience, control, attractiveness, adaptiveness and moral judgment).Method: Method was descriptive research and correlation. Using Kerejci-Morgan's chart (1970) 345 female university students out of 3200 in literature and foreign language faculty of Islamic Azad university in Karaj have been selected as accessible samples, in 2010. In their selection we had taken factors into account such as: 1. Marital status 2. Having couple life experience at least for two years 3. Having their mothers alive. Tools of study were sexual self-esteem questionnaire for women by Zeanah & Schwarz (1996) and parenting styles questionnaire by Bamrind 1972.Results: Results indicated that authoritarian parenting style had a positive relationship with the components of control and attractiveness, but it had a negative relationship with the components of skill and experience. Indulgent parenting style had a positive relationship with the components of skill, experience and attractiveness, but it had a negative relationship with the component of control.Authoritarian parenting style had a negative relationship with control and attractiveness and had no significant relationship with the other components.Conclusion: An appropriate parenting style is an essential element in sexual self-esteem development and sexual self- esteem plays a crucial role in fortifying psychological factors such as physical attractiveness, sexual emotions, thoughts and behavior. Moreover for a healthy sexual relationship, beside sexual hormones, psychological factors are of great importance as well. So it’s necessary that parents be trained for a suitable style, that they can promote their children sexual self-esteem by applying the right way of child rearing, and hereby prevent from family breakdown and unrestrained sexual affairs in their future life.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of emotional intelligence training on internalized problems of adolescents with dyslexia in Tehran.Method: The method used for this study was quasi-experimental using pre-test, post- test with the control group. The sample consisted of all students with dyslexia who were submitted in Learning Disabilities Treatment Centers of Special Education Organization (30 male students 11 to 13 years old).Data was collected using Youth Self-Report (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2003) and Suhutte Self-Report Inventory (Suhutte, 1998).Results: Results of covariance analysis indicated that emotional intelligence in the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group. Also after training, internalizing problems in the experimental group were significantly lower than those of the control group.Conclusion: Emotional intelligence training can increase emotional intelligence and also decrease internalized problems of dyslexic students. It is suggested that training of the kind described in the present study and its outcomes be used in counselling centres to help dyslexic adolescents.

Aim: The aim of present study was to determine the effect of progressive muscle relaxation as an adjunctive therapy to enhance the level of the quality of life in female M.S patients.Method: This study used a quasi-experimental design with pre and post test and a two month follow up. Among all members of the Shiraz multiple sclerosis aid society, 30 female patients were selected from among all members of the MS Society in the City of Shiraz. Selection was based on availability of patients and whether or not they met conditions set for entering the program. Participants were then randomly allocated to either an experimental or a control group. WHO’s Quality of Life questionnaire was administered at pre and post test and at follow up.12 sessions of progressive muscle relaxation using Bernstein & Borkovec’s method was practiced with patients in the experimental group twice weekly.Each session was of 60 minutes duration. Levin’s test and ANOVA with repeated measures were used to analyze data.Results: Results showed that this treatment increased patient's quality of life and 37 percent of the observed changes was related to muscle relaxation therapy. After two months, results showed that not only patients had maintained the level of skill obtained during training but also their quality of life scores remained higher than the control group.Conclusion: This treatment can be used as an effective method for enhancing the quality of life and as an adjunctive therapy for M.S patients.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of coping with stress on loneliness in women in the City of Kermanshah.Method: The method of research was quasi experimental with pre and post test and a three week follow up.40 patients volunteered from among 200 patients attending a private infertility clinic to take part in the study and were allocated randomly to either an experimental or a control group. The Loneliness Scale Russell, Peplau, Curtona (1980) and Beck’s Depression Inventory (2000) were administered to both groups. Eight weekly therapy sessions of 120 minutes duration each was given to members of the experimental group. The questionnaires were administered to both groups at the end of the eight weeks and after three months. ANOVA with repeated measures was used to analyze the data.Results: There were significant differences between the experimental and the group in scores loneliness as well as three subscales namely, isolation, sociability and lack of a close companion. At pre and post test as well as follow up.Conclusion: Coping Therapy can be an effective method for reducing loneliness, isolation and for increasing social contact as far as infertile women are concerned.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of self-regulatory couples therapy (SRCT) on couples' mental health and depression.Method: The research procedure was quasi experimental with pre-test and post–test and a three month follow up with control group. Sample consisted of 30 couples selected from 60 couples who were referred to Cultural Centers in the Isfahan province in 2010. They were placed randomly in an experimental (15 couples) and a control group (15 couples). In both groups Goldberg’s (1972) General Health Questionnaire and Beck’s (1961) Depression Inventory were administered at pre and post test and after three months after the termination of the intervention. Intervention consisted of eight sessions of couples therapy twice weekly. Each session lasted for two hours.Results: Results showed that SRCT was effective in increasing scores of mental health and decreasing scores of depression at post terst and follow up. However, no significant gender differences were observed in scores of GHQ or BDI.Conclusion: SRCT can be effectively used as method in addition to other interventions in educational and counseling centers to increase mental health and decrease depression and enhance quality of life in couples.