Empowering Exceptional Children
Year:2020 | Volume:11 | Issue:2|Papers Count:6

The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of family functioning in the relationship between life style and spiritual intelligence with psychological well-being in mothers of deaf children. This was a correlational study of path analysis type. Population consisted of all the mothers of deaf children of Boujnord City in year 2019 from among whom 89 individuals were selected through purposive sampling method. Research tools included Miller & Smith's Life Style Questionnaire (2002), AbdallahZade et al's Spiritual Intelligence Questionnaire (2008), Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Questionnaire (2002) and Mc Master's Family Functioning Questionnaire (1983). The proposed model was evaluated using a path analysis method. The results of this study showed that there is a significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and psychological well-being; between family functioning and psychological well-being; between life style and family functioning; between spiritual intelligence and family functioning (p<0/01), but there was no significant relationship between life style and psychological well-being (p>0/05). Also, indirect pathways of life style and psychological well-being with mediating role of family functioning, and spiritual intelligence with psychological well-being with mediating role of family functioning were significant (p<0/01). The proposed model had an acceptable fitness to the result and is considered as an important step in recognizing the effective factors in the psychological well-being of mothers of hard-of-hearing children.

The purpose of this study was to compare stress, anxiety, depression and sleep quality in mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Mental Retardation. The method of this study was descriptive and comparative. The statistical population of this study consisted of mothers of children with ASD, ADHD and mental disability residing in Arak. The sample consisted of 20 mothers with children with ASD, 32 mothers with children with ADHD and 32 mothers of children with Mental Disability. They completed the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-42) and Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Findings indicate that there is no significant difference in the level of stress experience between the three sample groups. But there was a significant difference (0/001) in experience of anxiety, depression and sleep quality. From the above findings, it can be concluded that the birth of children with neurodevelopmental disorders is one of the main causes of psychological problems and experiences of anxiety, stress, and depression and reduced sleep quality in their mothers. To help them, it is recommended to consider group therapy sessions to teach coping skills with the conditions of stress, emotional exhaustion, and so on.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of organizational skills-based parenting on organizational skills and academic performance of students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This was a quasi-experimental research with pretest, posttest, and follow up design, as well as the control group. The study population consisted of all children aged 8-10 years with ADHD in Isfahan studying in Isfahan public schools in 2019-2020. In this study, participated 30 male children (15 in control group and 15 in experiment group) with ADHD who were diagnosed by a child psychiatrist and on the basis of Fourth Edition of Swanson-Nolan and Pelham Scale (SNAP-IV). In the experiment group, 11 therapy sessions were conducted with an average of 90-minute. The participants answered to Children's Organizational Skills Scale– Parent (COSS-P) and Academic Performance Rating Scale (APRS) in three stages: pre-test, post-test and follow-up. Data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA using SPSS23 software. Organizational skills-based parenting improved organizational skills and academic performance in the post-test and the effects have been significant and this effect is maintained on follow-up stage (p≤ 05). This study shows promising results for parenting based on organizational skills as an intervention for improving organizational skills and academic performance in students with ADHD and shows that organizational skills and academic performance are malleable through implementation of parenting based on organizational skills.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of group-based positive thinking training on social adjustment and reduction of interpersonal sensitivity of students with mathematical disorders. This study was semi-experimental with pretest, posttest design and a control group. The statistical population of the study included all 13-15-year-old students with mathematical disorder who were referred to the educational and clinical centers of Karaj in the 2018-19 academic year. From among the statistical population, 30 students were selected by available sampling method and were randomly assigned to two experiment groups (15 people) and a control group (15 people). The research tools included Key Math Test (Connolly, 1988), California Social Adjustment Subscale (Thorpe, Clark, & Tiegs, 1989), Interpersonal Sensitivity Scale (Boyce and Parker, 1989), and Positive Thinking Training. Positive thinking was presented to the experiment group in 10 75-minute sessions; while the control group did not receive it. The research data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance. The results of post-test research findings showed that positive thinking training was effective in improving social adjustment and reducing the interpersonal sensitivity of the experiment group (P <0. 005). Based on the results of this study, it is suggested that positive thinking training be considered as one of the effective methods in improving social adjustment and reducing students' interpersonal sensitivity with mathematical disorder.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of teaching recognizing of emotional facial expressions on cognitive emotion regulation, social skills and morbid symptoms in children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). The present research was experimental, with pre-test, post-test design and a control group. The statistical population of the study consisted of all children with ODD who were referred to Karaj's Special Learning Disabilities Centers in 2020. The research sample consisted of 30 girls with ODD who were selected by available sampling method and randomly divided into experiment group (15people) and control group (15 people). Children with ODD participated in the Social-Emotion Skills Training Program once a week for 8 sessions 60 minutes and the control group received the program a week later. Current research tools include Garnefski's Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) (1991), Matson’ s Social Skills Questionnaire (MESSY) (1983), and Spiraffkin & Gedo's Pediatric Symptoms (CSI-4) (1984). The research data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance with SPSS software. The results showed that learning to recognize facial expressions and emotions reduces negative emotions (P<0. 05) and increased positive emotions (P<0. 05) in children with ODD. Also, the findings showed that teaching how to recognize facial expressions and emotions reduces pathological symptoms (P<0. 05) in children with ODD and there was a significant difference between the experiment and control groups in terms of these variables. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that recognizing feelings and emotional facial expressions training can be used to improve social skills and reduce morbid symptoms of children with ODD.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy on psychological flexibility and cognitive avoidance in female students with exam anxiety. The present study was experimental with pretest, posttest and control group design and a two-month follow-up stage. The statistical population included second grade female high school students with exam anxiety in Shahr-e-kord City in academic year 2018-19. 30 students suffering from exam anxiety were selected using clustered random sampling method and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (each group of 15). The experimental group received Dialectical Behavior Therapy intervention (Linhan, 2004) in ten seventy-five-minutes sessions during two and half months. The applied questionnaires in this study included Questionnaire of Sarason Test Anxiety (QSTA), Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (CFI) and Cognitive Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ). The data obtained from the study were analyzed through repeated measurement ANOVA Using SPSS23 statistical software. The results showed that Dialectical Behavior Therapy has significant effect on the psychological flexibility and cognitive avoidance in female students with Exam anxiety (p<0. 001). According to the findings of the present study it can be concluded that the Dialectic Behavior Therapy can be applied as an efficient therapy to improve psychological flexibility and decrease of cognitive avoidance in the students with exam anxiety.