APPLIED COUNSELING
Year:2013 | Volume:3 | Issue:1|Papers Count:6

Studies have shown a strong association between marital distress and depression symptoms and emotional dysregulation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of emotion-focused couple therapy on depression reduction and enhancing emotional regulation in counseling seeking distressed couples in Ahwaz counseling centers. The Randomized Control Clinical Trials (RCTs) with pretest-posttest design was used in this study. Through convenience sampling, 30 couples were selected and randomly assigned to two groups. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation (DERS) were used to gather the data. Couples followed a ten-session weekly treatment. The results of MANOVA showed significant differences between the treatment and control groups. The emotion- focused couple therapy did have an effect on reduction of depression and enhancing emotional regulation in distressed couples. It was also found that this type of therapy which focused on attachment style helped couples to reduce depression symptoms and learn new ways to regulate their emotions.

Anxiety problems are among the most common psychiatric disorders experienced by children. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an efficacious treatment for youths with anxiety disorders. The aim of this research was to study the effects of Family Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (FCBT) on the reduction of anxiety in anxious children. This study was carried out based on a multiple baseline. The subjects were 3 female children with anxiety disorders and their mothers who were selected by K-SADS-PL clinical interview. The subjects received the Family Cognitive-Behavioral (FCBT) therapy for 14-16 sessions. The assessment tools included: the Spence Children Anxiety Scale (SCAS) both child and parent forms, as well as the Coping Questionnaire (child and parent forms). The findings showed that the Family Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (FCBT) was effective in the reduction of anxiety and in increasing coping skills. A follow up study indicated an improvement in the symptoms and coping abilities. It is concluded that the Family Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy can increase the coping abilities and can also result in the reduction of anxiety.

The present study was conducted to examine the relationship between marital conflict and parental monitoring with academic motivation in the first graders of Ahwaz high schools. The sample consisted of 481 students (77 males and 404 females) selected randomly according to multistage sampling method. The scales used in this study were the Parental Marital Conflict Scale, the Parental Monitoring Scale (PMS), and the General School Information Measure (GSIM). Simple and multiple correlations and the Soble test were used to analyze the data. The results indicated a significantly negative correlation between marital conflict and academic motivation as well as a significantly positive correlation between parental monitoring and academic motivation. The results suggested that parental monitoring mediated in the relationship between marital conflict and academic motivation. Thus, the present study identified one possible parenting process through which marital conflict may affect academic motivation.

Work–family conflict is a form of interrole conflict between work and family domains. In this vein, increased level of subjective occupational success can decrease work–family conflict and have a positive effect on employees’ job performance. The purpose of the current research was to investigate the role of subjective occupational success in predicting work-family conflict and job performance. The sample consisted of 335 employees (270 males & 65 females) of an industrial company in Isfahan selected through stratified random sampling. To gather the data, the Subjective Occupational Success Scale (SOSS), the Work-Family Conflict Scale (WFCS) and the Job Performance Checklist were used. Results indicated that all the dimensions of subjective occupational success could significantly predict work-family conflict and job performance and all research hypotheses were supported. Also, positive feedback, pro-social motivation and goal attainment as subjective occupational success dimensions had greater roles in predicting work-family conflict. It is concluded that the negative consequences of work-family conflict and low job performance in employees can decrease through enriching employees’ perception of occupational success.

Substance abuse and addiction are among the most important biological, psychological and social issues that affect all societies. This study was designed to investigate the simple and multiple relationships between family function and personality characteristics (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, conscientiousness and agreeableness) with addiction potential among the male high school first graders in Ramshir. The sample consisted of 218 students selected through simple random sampling. For data collection the Family Assessment Device (FAD), the Neo Five Factor Inventory (Neo-FFI) and the Iranian Addiction Potential (IDP) were used. Data analysis showed that there was a negative relationship between family function and addiction potential. Also, there was a positive corrolation between neuroticism and addiction potential. The extraversion, openness, conscientiousness and agreeableness factors had a significantly positive relationship with addiction potential. The results of multiple regression showed that family function, neruticism and agreeableness were significant predictors of addiction potential. It is concluded that addiction potential is influenced by family function and personality characteristics.

Conflict is an undeniable component of family relationships and using effective methods of conflict reduction is necessary. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of solution-focused counseling in reducing parent-child conflicts among adolescents in Karaj, Iran. 180 students completed the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS). 30 students were selected randomly from among those who were one standard deviation above the mean. The students were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. After administering the pre-test to both groups, the solution-focused counseling which lasted for 8 weekly 90- minute sessions was carried out in the experimental group. The data were analyzed using MONCOVA & ANCOVA. The results showed that the solution-focused counseling not only decreased verbal aggression and physical aggression but also it promoted the reasoning ability in the subjects.