International Journal of School Health
Year:2021 | Volume:8 | Issue:2|Papers Count:8

Background: Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) who take Ritalin may be faced with appetite reduction and weight loss. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the effects of a high-protein diet on weight and height growth in children with ADHD receiving Ritalin. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, performed during 2016-2018 in Tehran, 50 children with ADHD treated with Ritalin were randomly assigned to the high-protein diet (HPD) group (35% of the total calories intake from protein) or the control group receiving a standard diet (STD) (15% of the total calories from protein). The height and weight were measured in the standard mode and three-day food record was completed at baseline. The measurements were repeated on a monthly basis for 5 months. We used independent sample t-test to analyze the data. The study protocol was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials with the code of IRCT2014062116465N4. Results: A total of 40 children and adolescents (19 in HPD and 21 in STD) completed the study. Baseline characteristics between the trial arms were equal. After 5 months, the protein intake of HPD group was significantly higher based on a seven-day food record. In girls’ subgroup, after 5 months, the mean difference concerning height, weight, and BMI change in HPD group compared to the control group were respectively +0. 5 cm (P =0. 41),-2. 5 kg (P=0. 04), and-1. 6 kg/m2 (P=0. 01) while in boys’ subgroup, they were +0. 4 cm (P=0. 59), +0. 3 kg (P =0. 37), and+0. 02 kg/m2 (P=0. 51). Conclusion: Girls responded differently to the HPD. The BMI in the girls decreased significantly after 5 months of HPD consumption as a result of weight loss. This effect was not observed in the boys. This may be due to different patterns of growth and puberty in the two genders.

Background: Life satisfaction in adolescence could be influenced by various factors, such as adolescent skills, religious beliefs, and parenting styles. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate life satisfaction in accordance with positive youth development (PYD), religious coping, and the parenting styles in adolescent students. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the statistical population of the study included all the high school students in Semnan, Iran, during 2018. Using a multi-stage cluster sampling, 383 subjects (191 boys and 192 girls) completed the demographic questionnaire, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), the PYD Scale (PYD-VSF), and the Religious Coping Scale (Brief-RCOPE). The statistical methods of Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise multiple regression analysis were utilized in this study. The data were analyzed via SPSS version 19. Results: The results of Pearson correlation indicated that authoritative parenting style (r=0. 35; P<0. 001), the PYD (r=0. 39; P<0. 001), and positive religious coping (r=0. 34; P<0. 001) had positive and significant relations with life satisfaction. Moreover, negative religious coping (r=-0. 16; P=0. 002) had a negatively significant association with life satisfaction in a dolescents. Moreover, the results of stepwise regression analysis revealed that adolescents’ life satisfaction could be predicted based on confidence dimension (Beta=0. 42; P<0. 001), authoritative parenting (Beta=0. 28; P<0. 001), positive religious coping (Beta=0. 22; P<0. 001), and negative religious coping (Beta=-0. 14; P<0. 001). Conclusion: According to the results, it is necessary to pay attention to religious coping style, parenting style, and the PYD components in order to promote well-being and life satisfaction among adolescents.

Background: Psychoeducation and performing physical activity are believed to be the major duties of academic settings; these might have crucial roles in improving psychological condition of students. The present study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of FRIENDS psychoeducation, solution-focused brief counseling, and aerobic exercise on students’ psychological well-being. FRIENDS is acronym of Feeling, Remember to relax, Inner helpful thoughts, Explore solutions, Now reward yourself, Do it every day, and Smile and stay calm. Method: The present study was quasi-experimental research with pre-test and post-test follow-up stages and control groups in terms of implementation. The statistical population of this research included all 13 to 15-year-old male students at the first grade of Model State High School in Kahrizak Education District, Tehran, Iran during academic year of 2019-2020. Forty students were selected as our sample with non-convenience sampling method utilizing G*Power software. The subjects were assigned randomly into four intervention groups. All the subjects administered Ryff Scale Psychological Wellbeing– Short Form (RSPWB-SF) as the research instrument and consent form. Results: Statistical analysis of the obtained data via ANCOVA showed a significant difference between the intervention groups in terms of personal growth subscale in the pre-test and follow-up stages (P=0/01); post hoc comparisons indicated that Solution-Focused Brief Therapy was more effective than other interventions. Moreover, ANCOVA indicated a significant difference between the intervention groups concerning self-acceptance subscale in the pre-test, post-test (P<0. 001), and pretest-follow-up (P<0. 001) stages; post hoc comparisons revealed that FRIENDS was more effective than aerobic intervention in both post-test and follow-up stages. Conclusion: Students could benefit from psychoeducation programs along with other regular tasks in academic settings in order to improve their psychological well-being.

Background: As the team leader, a coach is a strong creator, who paves the way for the athletes’ progress and provides a large portion of the required conditions for the victory and success. The present study aimed to investigate the association between interpersonal skills of exercise teachers and the mental health, competitive trait anxiety, and perception of the athlete students’ success in the 30th round of sports competitions of female students across Iran. Method: The current research was a cross-sectional study. It was conducted from August 11, 2019 to August 16, 2019. The statistical population of the study consisted of all the athlete students participating in the 30th sports competition round of female students from all over Iran (700 people). The age of the participants ranged from 12 to 17 years (14. 25± 1. 72). The questionnaires were distributed in a community of all student-athletes among 300 students via purposeful and accessible method. Finally, out of the distributed questionnaires, 264 questionnaires were collected during the research. The data were collected through a questionnaire. Data analysis was also performed utilizing SPSS and AMOS software. The data obtained through the questionnaires were analyzed using Pearson’ s correlation test based on the structural equation modeling. Results: The results indicated a significant positive relationship between mental health of the athlete students and interpersonal skills of exercise teachers (r=0. 235, P=0. 001), perception of the athlete students’ success and interpersonal skills of the exercise teachers (r=0. 280, P=0. 001), perception of success and students’ mental health (r=0. 146, P=0. 005), and perception of the athlete students’ success and their competitive trait anxiety (r=0. 193, P=0. 002). Furthermore, there was a significant negative relationship between competitive trait anxiety of the athlete students and interpersonal skills (r=-0. 322, P<0. 001) and their competitive trait anxiety and their mental health (r=-0. 296, P=0. 001). The model indices also showed a good fit. The P (ჯ 2) was equal to 0. 313 and the RMSEA was estimated to be lower than 0. 1 (0. 07). The other model fit indices, such as the TLI, NFI, CFI, IFI, RFI, and CMIN/DF, with estimated values of 0. 92, 0. 951, 0. 94, 0. 94, 0. 911, and 1. 45, respectively, all indicated the goodness of fit and confirmed the research model. Conclusion: According to the research findings, it could be suggested to provide further essential communication and coaching training for exercise teachers to have more influence and control over athlete students while providing tactical and technical guidance during the competition and training.

Background: Academic well-being is among the most recent concepts of positive psychology, which greatly contributes to the students’ sense of security and health in the academic setting and improves their academic performance. The study aimed to investigate the association between self-compassion and academic well-being with the mediating role of perceived academic stress and academic optimism in female students in Kermanshah, Iran. Methods: The study was a descriptive correlation. The statistical population comprised all the female high-school students in Kermanshah in the academic year 2020-2021. Through the use of stratified random sampling method, 226 of the female students were selected as the sample. The research tools included the Academic Well-Being Scale, the Self-Compassion Scale, the Academic Stress Questionnaire, and the Life Orientation Test. The path analysis method was used to investigate the proposed model. Results: The results showed that there was a direct and crucial association between self-compassion and academic optimism (P<0. 001), and between academic optimism and academic well-being (P<0. 001). Moreover, there was a negative association between self-compassion and perceived academic stress (P<0. 001), and between perceived academic stress and academic well-being (P<0. 001). There was no significant relationship between self-compassion and academic well-being (P= 0. 381). The path analysis results indicated that the perceived academic stress and academic optimism had a mediating role in the association of self-compassion with academic well-being (P<0. 001). Conclusion: The proposed model had a good fit. Consequently, improving self-compassion and academic optimism could improve the academic well-being of female students.

Background: Goal-setting is believed to have an effective role in life owing to certain properties, such as highlighting the importance of individuals’ understanding about their existence and helping them plan for and reach their goals of having a worthwhile life. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of goal-setting training on the psychological flourishing of primary school boy students in 2019. Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with a control group. The research population included all the primary school boy students in Dowlatabad city, Isfahan province, Iran in 2019. Using convenience sampling, we selected 40 students and randomly divided them into experimental and control groups (n=20 per group). The experimental group underwent nine sessions (90-minute sessions and three sessions a week) of goal-setting training whereas the control group received no intervention. The research tool was Human Flourishing Questionnaire (HFQ). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed in SPSS software version 24. 0 to analyze the data. Results: The mean ± standard deviations (SD) of the post-test scores for positive emotion, relationships, meaning, and achievement were respectively 24. 58 ± 5. 02, 23. 05 ± 3. 67, 24. 05 ± 3. 03, and 22. 70 ± 3. 35 in the experimental group and 21. 45 ± 5. 29, 18. 80 ± 2. 87, 19. 35 ± 2. 97, and 19. 15 ± 3. 13 in the control group. The results indicated that goal-setting training was effective on the psychological flourish and its parameters of the primary school students (P<0. 001). Conclusion: Goal-setting could result in educational life satisfaction among students and provide the opportunity for their psychological flourish and development.

Background: A systemic personality theory and social dynamics are given in the Transactional Analysis for behavior. The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Transactional Analysis on self-efficacy and identity styles of Iranian female students. Methods: The present research was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design with a control group. The study population included all the second year of high school female students (458) in the second district of Tehran, Iran, during the academic year 2018-19. Out of them, 30 individuals were selected using purposeful sampling method. For data collection, the self-efficacy scale and identity styles questionnaire were employed. They were then assigned randomly to the two control (n=15) and experimental (n=15) groups. The experimental group received Transactional Analysis training for 10 treatment sessions (90 minutes for each session). The data were analyzed with analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS version 23. Results: Mean and SD of age in the Transactional Analysis and the control groups were 16. 87 ± 0. 834 and 17± 0. 926, respectively. Moreover, our findings showed that Transactional Analysis training had a significant effect on the experimental group in identity styles and self-efficacy scores (academic, social, and emotional) (P=0. 001). Conclusions: The result of our study showed that group psychotherapy with Transactional Analysis approach had significant effects on identity style and self-efficacy. For the assessment of organizations and their management, evaluating child growth, managing psychiatric problems at educational facilities and for social workers, Transactional Analysis were found to be useful.

Background: In all societies, anxiety, as a part of every human being’ s life, is considered as an appropriate and consistent response. Anxiety in a balanced and constructive level makes us work hard and timely, thereby making our lives longer and more fruitful. One of the contexts where anxiety could be highly harmful so much is school settings since students are vulnerable to this issue and it could impair their education. This research aimed to compare school anxiety among male and female high school students in bilingual, talented, and public schools in Shiraz, Iran. Method: We conducted this cross-sectional study to compare school anxiety among male and female high school students in bilingual, talented, and public schools of Shiraz, Iran in 2020. To this end, 725 third-grade high school students with the mean age of 17. 12± 0. 4 from bilingual (N=95, boys=40, girls=55), talented (N=260, boys=100, girls=160), and public schools (N=370, boys=170, girls=200) were selected via a two-stage sampling method out of the statistical population with Cochran’ s formula. First, random schools were chosen, then, random classes were selected to collect data from volunteer students. Subsequently, among the students of these schools, 725 students were randomly selected in the second stage. The students filled out the school anxiety questionnaire and the results were analyzed with ANOVA using SPSS version 24. Results: School anxiety in bilingual schools was found to be significantly lower than that in public schools (P=0. 001). In addition, school anxiety in talented schools was significantly lower than that in public schools (P=0. 001), yet no differences were observed between the talented schools and bilingual schools (P=0. 09). The means of school anxiety of the subjects were respectively 103. 21± 13. 72 for public high schools, 86. 32± 19. 68 for talented schools, and 84. 45± 12. 73 for bilingual schools. Conclusions: These findings are up to an extent consistent with those of previous studies. There was a meaningful difference between the scores of anxiety and depression; in addition, talented students, owing to the learning of selfregulatory skills in gifted schools, had a better mental health level than those at ordinary schools. On the other hand, it seemed though the pressures of the educational system at ordinary schools, different educational, cultural, ideological, and family issues of the students and their different learning capabilities were the reasons behind their anxiety. This difference was significant in three scales of anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms.