JOURNAL OF FAMILY AND RESEARCH
Year:2016 | Volume:13 | Issue:32|Papers Count:6

The present study was conducted to identify the competencies of high school principals, propose a competency model, and validate the model. The research was carried out in district four of Mashhad in 2015 and examined two questions: 1.What are the dimensions and components of high school principals’ competencies? 2. Is the competency model, derived from this research, valid? In this study, mixed methodology was used and the research design was mixed exploratory since both qualitative and quantitative methods were utilized. In order to collect qualitative data, 19 principals, assistant principals, and senior managers and educational experts of Education Directorate in district four of Mashhad were interviewed. Qualitative content analysis was used and the draft model of high school principals’ competencies was extracted. In the next step, in order to collect quantitative data a self-devised 44-item questionnaire was administered to principals, assistant principals, senior managers and educational experts and 140 questionnaires were collected. For the purpose of data analysis confirmatory factor analysis and AMOS software were used. The results showed that all components of the competency model of high school principals were approved.

The present study was carried out to examine the impact of Quranic stories on students’ questioning skills. The population of the study included high school male 2nd graders in district 5 of Tehran in academic year 2015-2016. The study was a quasi-experimental one with pretest/posttest/follow-up design. The sample size was determined through Cochran formula and the participants were selected via multi-stage sampling method. In the next step, the subjects were randomly assigned to experimental (30 students) and control groups (30 students). Afterward, Beck and Jessup Multidimensional Quest Orientation Scale (2004) was administered to the participants. MQOS consists of five subscales assessing various Quest dimensions: complexity, change, tentativeness, universality, and existential motives. The obtained data were analyzed through descriptive as well as inferential statistics (Levene's test, ANCOVA, and dependent t-test). The results showed significant differences between the two groups. More specifically, the students who were trained using Quranic stories significantly showed higher questioning skills compared to those who did not receive any intervention. Moreover, Quranic stories positively affected students’ questioning skills and these changes remained stable over the follow-up period. Hence, it can be concluded that Quranic stories are an effective tool to enhance students’ questioning skills.

This study examined the relationship between parenting styles, psychological well-being, and hardiness in children. The study was descriptive and correlational. The population of the study consisted of all high school girls in Kuhdasht in Lorestan Province. A sample of 350 subjects was selected through cluster sampling method. The instrumentation comprised Reef’s Psychological Well-Being Scale, Baumrind’s Parenting Styles Questionnaire as well as Kobasa’s Hardiness Scale. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (regression; enter method). Results indicated that there was a significant relationship between authoritative parenting style, students’ psychological well-being, and children’s hardiness. In addition, regression analysis showed that authoritative parenting style could positively predict students’ psychological well-being and hardiness.

Ilami The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between moral intelligence of high school girls and boys and their attitude toward pre-marital relationships. In this survey, 384 Mashhadi high school girls and boys, aged between 15 and 19, were randomly selected. The instrumentation comprised Moral Intelligence Scale (Lennick & Kiel, 2005) as well as the Scale of Attitude toward Pre-Marital Relationships (Shafiabadi & Sharifi). The collected data were analyzed via independent t-test and the Pearson correlation coefficient. The mean of moral intelligence scores and that of the attitude toward pre-marital relationships were 3.5 and 2.5, respectively. Moreover, 46% of participants had pre-marital relationships while 54% did not have such relations. More specifically, 58% of the boys and 34% of the girls had pre-marital relationships. The results showed that there was a significant negative relationship between the students’ moral intelligence and their attitude toward having pre-marital relationships. In other words, the higher the students’ moral intelligence, the lower their tendency to having pre-marital relationships. In addition, the students’ mean attitudes scores were different among male and female ones and the boys obtained higher mean. Nevertheless, there was no statistically significant relationship between moral intelligence and gender, and the boys and girls had a similar moral intelligence.

This study was undertaken to compare social adjustment and academic achievement of female children with secure and insecure attachment patterns. The research type was descriptive, causal-comparative. The statistical population of the study included all 10-12-year-old elementary school girls in Tehran in academic year 2014-2015. The statistical sample consisted of 205 students who were selected through multistage cluster sampling method. The instrumentation comprised Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters, Ronaghi’s Attachment Scale of Middle Childhood as well as Dortaj’s Academic Performance Questionnaire. For the purpose of data analysis, independent samples t-test and multivariate analysis of variance were used. The results showed that there was a significant difference between attachment styles, social adjustment, and academic achievement of children with secure and insecure attachment patterns (p<0.001) and the highest level of social adjustment and academic performance was observed among children with secure attachment style. It can be concluded that attachment styles influence children's academic performance and social adjustment and strengthening parent-child relationships can boost children’s social adjustment and academic performance.

The main purpose of the present study was to determine the role of family flexibility, parents’ level of self-differentiation, and parental attachment style in predicting adolescents’ self-differentiation and attachment style. The statistical population of the study consisted of all Tehrani male and female high school students of the first, second and third grades. Among them, 283 students were selected via random multi-stage cluster sampling method and participated in the study alongside their parents. The instrumentation comprised Family Flexibility Questionnaire (Shakeri, 2003), Differentiation of Self Inventory (short form; Drake, 2011), and Adult Attachment Scale (Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994). Correlation matrix and stepwise regression were utilized to analyze the obtained data. Results showed that family flexibility, mother's dismissing attachment style, and mother’s emotional reactivity could positively predict 34% of variance in adolescents’ self-differentiation, whereas fathers’ preoccupied attachment style could negatively predict this much variance. In addition, it was uncovered that mother’s emotional cutoff, family flexibility, and father’s emotional cutoff could positively predict 15% of variance in adolescents’ secure attachment style, whereas father’s preoccupied attachment style could negatively predict this much variance. Family flexibility had the most important role in predicting adolescents’ insecure attachment style. Hence, it can be concluded that family flexibility, personal characteristics of parents, and the quality of interactions in family are among the most important determinants of adolescents’ self-differentiation and secure attachment style.