JOURNAL OF CHILD MENTAL (JOURNAL OF CHILD MENTAL HEALTH)
Year:2019 | Volume:6 | Issue:3 |Papers Count:26

Background and Purpose: School bullying has been regarded as a serious concern in schools worldwide. Thus, it is critical for researchers and psychologists to use effective intervention strategies to manage bullying behaviors in the schools. Bullying intervention requires taking a school-based approach in which bullies, peers, and teachers are engaged. The present study aimed to plan and evaluate the effectiveness of school-based behavioral intervention on students bullying behavior and school bonding. Method: This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The participants were 30 bully students, 15 pro-bully students, and four fifth-grade teachers of governmental primary schools in Tabriz city in the academic year 2016-2017. They were selected by purposeful sampling, one-stage cluster sampling, and screening procedures. Measurement instruments included the Peer Nomination Form (Pekarik et al., 1976), Teacher Nomination Form (Werthamer-Larsson et al., 1991), Pro-bully Nomination Form (Salmivalli et al., 1996), Illinois Bullying Scale (Espelage & Holt, 2001), and School Bonding Scale (Cernkovich & Giordano, 1992). In addition 8 one-hour sessions of school-based behavioral intervention was conducted for 8 week. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to analyze the data. Results: The results revealed that school-based behavioral intervention can reduce bullying and fighting and improve teacher and school attachment and school involvement among bully students (p>0. 001, F=9. 78). Conclusion: The results indicate that school-based behavioral intervention through the behavior management training to bullies, teachers and pro-bullies is effective in reducing components of bullying behavior and improving components of school bonding and can be used as an appropriate intervention procedure for children with physical bullying behavior. In addition, the results of this study can help the school counselors, education psychologists, and teachers to improve children school bonding.

Background and Purpose: Certain childhood psychological disorders such as autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder result in significant psychological damages to parents. Based on the results of different studies, various problems in these children, cause anxiety and stress in their family members. Hence, this study was conducted to compare the coherence and defense mechanisms among the parents of normal children and parents of children with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Method: This study was a descriptive and causal-comparative design. The statistical population included all parents of normal children and parents of children with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Rasht city in 2016-2017. The sample size of the study consisted of 90 parents who were selected by convenience sampling and based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Defense Style Questionnaire (Andrews et al., 1993) and Sense of Coherence (Antonovsky, 1987) were used to measure the variables. The data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The results of the study indicated that there was a significant difference among the three groups of parents of normal children and parents of children with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in each component of coherence (p<0. 05). Parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder had the lowest mean score in coherence (90. 96), while the highest score (101. 93) was for the group of parents with normal children. There was a significant difference between the three groups of parents in each component of defense mechanism (p<0. 05). Conclusion: Based on the results of the current research, parents of normal children and parents of children with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder experience higher levels of mental stresses related to parenting, which may be caused by the special needs of these children and the distinctive psychological and mental differences between them and their peers. In this way, planning and implementing appropriate psychological and educational interventions for the parents of these children, with an emphasis on the initial interventions, can be very helpful.

Background and Purpose: Learning disability is among the problems which have long been attended to by the specialists and child psychologists. Despite having normal intelligence, children with learning disorders cannot have appropriate educational promotion in reading, writing, and mathematics. This process not only damages their educational performance, but it also influences their psychological processes and causes them to have lower self-concept and self-esteem and vulnerable emotional regulation. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on self-concept and emotional regulation of children with learning disability. Method: It was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The study population of the present study included all primary students with learning disability who referred to consultation centers in Isfahan in the academic year 2017-2018. A sample of 30 children from them was selected through purposeful sampling and assigned either to the experimental or control group. The instruments used in the present study included Learning Problems Questionnaire (Wilcot, et al, 2011), Emotion Cognitive Regulation Strategies (Garenfski, et. al, 2002) and Children’ s Self-concept (Piers-Harris, 1969). The experimental group received the acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in nine sixty-minute training sessions during two months. The data were analyzed through ANCOVA via SPSS23 software. Results: The results showed that ACT has had significant effect on self-concept (F=13. 77, P<0. 0001), positive emotional regulation (F=154. 65, P<0. 0001) and negative emotional regulation (F=105. 17, P<0. 0001) in the children with learning disability. It means that ACT had led to the improvement of self-concept and positive emotional regulation of the children with learning disability and decreased their negative emotional regulation. Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, it can be said that ACT can be applied as an efficient method to improve self-concept and emotional regulation of children with learning disability through making values clear and psychological flexibility. Furthermore, ACT improves other cognitive and emotional processes such emotional regulation in children with learning disabilities.

Background and Purpose: Bullying is an important and prevalent issue that can have many psychological, behavioral, cognitive, physical, economic, social, and cultural implications. In the meantime, the ability to regulate the emotions and alexithymia are among the factors influencing bullying behaviors. Therefore, the present study was carried out to investigate the role of difficulties in emotional regulation and alexithymia in predicting bullying. Method: The research design was descriptive and correlational. The study population consisted of all first cycle secondary school students of district 2 of Rasht city in the academic year 2017-2018. The study sample included 250 students selected by convenience sampling method. Illinois Bullying Scale (Espelage &Holt, 2001), Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale (Gratz & Roemer, 2004) and the twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby et al., 1994) were used to gather of data. Results: The results showed that non-acceptance of emotional responses (β = 0. 21), difficulty engaging in goal-directed behavior (β = 0. 43), impulse control difficulties (β = 0. 70), lack of emotional awareness (β =0. 33), lack of emotional clarity (β = 0. 32) at the significance level of 0. 01, limited access to emotion regulation strategies (β = 0. 21), difficulty in identifying the feelings (β = 0. 16), difficulty in describing the feelings (β = 0. 23), and externally-oriented thinking (β = 0. 24) at the significance level of 0. 05 are able to predict bullying. Conclusion: In sum, the results showed the relationship between bullying, difficulties in emotional regulation and alexithymia. According to findings, applying programs and methods to increase the ability to regulate emotions and reduce the mood of adolescents' alexithymia may reduce bullying behaviors which are associated with many physical and psychological disorders.

Background and Purpose: Child labor is an important global issue, because it affects the physical, psychological, and moral well-being of children. Working children are exposed to physical hazards, stress, and psychosocial problems. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare future hope, attachment relationships, and emotional-behavioral problems in working children and their peers. Method: It was a descriptive study with an ex-post facto research design. The sample included fifty 10-12 year old children from Rasht's Child Labor Institute and fifty peers from an adjacent school who were selected by convenience method based on inclusion criteria. To collect data, Children’ s Hope Scale (Schneider et al., 1997), Kinship Center Attachment Questionnaire (Halpern & Copenberg, 2006), and Behavioral Questionnaire for Parents and Teachers (Rutter, 1975) were administered to groups. Independent t-test and multivariate analysis of variance were used for data analysis. Results: The results of the present study showed that the total index of hope in the child labor group was significantly lower than the peer group (P <0. 002), and the total score of emotional-behavioral problems from the parents' point of view (P<0. 003), and the total score of emotional-behavioral problems from the teacher' point of view (P <0. 001) were significantly higher in the child labor group than other peers. The results also showed that, the mean score of all subscales of the attachment questionnaire, except for emotional response, was significantly lower in child labor than other peers (P <0. 001) and the mean score of all subscales of emotional-behavioral problems from the teacher' point of view, was significantly higher in child labor group compared to the other group (P <0. 002). Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, it can be concluded that due to the severe living conditions, the working children do not receive the necessary and adequate support from their families and parents. This, in turn, leads to the lack of secure attachment with parents and lowers the level of hope for future in these children. On the other hand, their working environment is full of physical and sexual misbehaviors which may develop emotional-behavioral problems in them.

Background and Purpose: The birth's weight is the most important factor in child's survival and growth. In fact, this factor is one of the community health status indicators and is directly related to several factors, including parental characteristics. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between marital satisfaction and cognitive characteristics of parents with birth weight. Method: This study was a correlational research. A sample of 70 parents of low birth weight infants and parents of high birth weight infants (35 per group) were selected randomly from Imam Reza Hospital in Sirjan in 2016. To collect data, Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (Afrooz, 2008) and the Bio-Cognitive Characteristics Questionnaire (Afrooz, 2004) were used. Chi-square, fisher, mann-whitney, and multiple logistic regressions were used for data analysis. Results: The results showed that there was a significant relationship between the birth weight of the newborns and the level of marital satisfaction (OR = 8. 887, P = 0. 039), mothers' awareness of pregnancy conditions (OR = 0. 486, p= 0. 010) and father's awareness of pregnancy conditions (OR = 30. 795, p=0. 010). In a way that increase of these characteristics increases the likelihood of high birth weight infant. Also, no signification relationship was found between the birth weight and the education of fathers (p = 0. 395) and mothers (p = 0. 778). Conclusion: One of the most important issues in preventing the disabilities is the birth weight. Considering the influence of factors such as cognitive characteristics and marital satisfaction on infant's weight, it is possible to provide the appropriate pregnancy conditions and high quality pregnancy care by increasing the awareness and the necessity of paying attention to these areas.

Background and Purpose: Childhood disorders have an important impact on the child, peer relationship and family relationship. Different researches indicate that the parents of these children experience higher stress because they deal with more parenting challenges. Therefore, the present research aimed to combine the results of studies conducted on the effectiveness of parent management training on children’ s behavioral and emotional problems. Method: The method of this research is meta-analysis. The study population included the available full-text related national studies conducted from 1999 to 2017. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 21 effect sizes were obtained from 17 studies. To analyze the data, sensitivity analysis, funnel chart, fixed and random effects models, and the heterogeneity analysis with CMA software were used. Results: Data analysis showed that combined effect size for the fixed effects model (model selected for this meta-analysis) was equal to 0. 995 which was statistically significant (P<0. 01). Conclusion: The effect size obtained by parent management training on children’ s behavioral and emotional problems was calculated according to large Cohen's table and results showed that parent management training was effective on children's behavioral and emotional problems.

Background and Purpose: Thalassemia is a chronic childhood illness that can negatively affect the psychological well-being and life quality of the children and their families. This study was conducted to predict the psychological distress based on cognitive emotion regulation and adaptive strategies in the mothers of children with thalassemia. Method: This study was descriptive-correlational research. The study population included the mothers of children with thalassemia in Tehran. 250 of these mothers them were selected by convenience sampling method as the study sample. Data were collected by Lovibond’ s Psychological Distress Scale (1995), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Scale (Garnefski, 2001) and Coping Strategies Questionnaire (Lazarus, 1974). Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation and multiple regression. Results: The results of the data analysis indicated a significant and positive effect of negative emotion regulation strategies on anxiety (0. 14) and the negative significant effect of positive emotion regulation strategies on depression (-0. 25) and anxiety (-0. 23). Also, adaptive strategies were effective on psychological distress. The effect of emotion-focused strategy on anxiety (0. 23) and stress (0. 19) were positively significant, while the effect of problem-focused adaptive strategies on depression (-0. 18) and stress (-0. 2) was negatively significant (P<0. 01). Conclusion: The cognitive emotion regulation strategies and adaptive strategies affected the psychological distress among mothers of children with thalassemia. The implications of the results are discussed in the paper.

Background and Purpose: Oppositional behavior is the most frequent reason for which parents refer to the health centers. Symptoms of these problems appear in childhood and preschool period and if not being treated they continue and lead to long-term outcomes, including school dropouts and personality disorders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of training behavioral management flow chart program to mothers on the aggressive behavior of students with oppositional defiant disorder. Method: The present study was a semi-experimental study with pretest-posttest control group design with two-month follow-up period. The study population was composed of mothers of 7-9 year-old male students in Kermanshah in academic year 2017-2018. Thirty mothers, whose children were diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder based on Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 2001) and Child Symptom Inventory (Gadow & Sprafkin, 1994), were selected by convenience sampling. The mothers were randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group (15 per group). Then, the experimental group received behavioral management flow chart program in 8 sessions of 90 minutes. For data analysis, split-plot ANOVA design (SPANOVA)was used. Results: Findings showed that behavioral management flow chart program had a significant effect on the aggressive behavior (F= 29. 21, P< 0. 01) and these results remained stable during the two-month follow-up. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, it can be concluded behavioral management flow chart program without the use of strict punitive methods can lead to the decrease of aggressive behaviors in children with oppositional defiant disorder.

Background and Purpose: Affective capital is one of the most new constructs that can substantially help female students to overcome their problems. This study was conducted to compare the effect of positive existential therapy and Iranian-Islamic positive therapy on the affective capital of female students with social anxiety. Method: This study was a semi-experimental research with three group two stage (pre-test and post-test) design. The sample consisted of forty five 15-18 year old female students with social anxiety studying at the 2nd grade of secondary school in Ardestan in 2017. They were randomly assigned to three groups (two experimental and one control group). Social anxiety questionnaire (Connor et al., 2000) and affective capital questionnaire (Golparvar, 2016) were used to measure the dependent variables at the pretest and post-test. The positive existential therapy group received 10 sessions of treatment, Iranian-Islamic positive therapy group received 11 sessions of treatment, and the control group received no treatment. The data were analyzed by analysis of covariance. Results: The results showed that there was significant difference in the pretest and posttest score of positive existential therapy group, Iranian-Islamic positive therapy group, and control group in terms of affective capital and its three components; i. e. positive affection, feeling of energy, and happiness (p<0. 001). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it seems that because of helping the girls with social anxiety to cope with their anxiety, positive existential therapy and Iranian-Islamic positive treatment can improve the affective capital of these girls.

Background and Purpose: Research evidence suggests that the environment is an important factor in child development; in such a way that enrichment of the environment can help to child growth. In this regard, the present study was conducted to determine the role of environment on the intelligence quotient and social skills of 4-6 year-old children in Tehran. Method: This study was a descriptive and causal-comparative research. The study population included all the 4-6 year-old children in Tehran in 2016-2017, who were living in the homes, kindergartens, and nurseries. The research sample was consisted of 90 children (30 children in each environment) that were selected by convenience sampling, based on inclusion criteria. Data were collected using demographic questionnaire, social skills questionnaire (Matson, 1976), and child intelligence quotient software (Rayon, 1947). One way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc test were used to analyze the data. Results: The findings showed that the environment had a significant effect on the intelligence quotient and social skills of children aged 4-6 years in Tehran city (p <0. 05). Tukey's post hoc test showed that there were significant differences in the intelligence quotient of children living in home and those living in nursery, children living in home and those living in kindergarten, and children living in kindergarten and those living in nursery (p=0. 001). Also, significant difference was found in the social skills of children living in home and those living in nursery (p=005) as well as between children living in kindergarten and those living in nursery (p=0. 001). But, no significant difference was found between the children living in home and those in kindergarten (p=0. 19). Conclusion: The finding suggests that the kindergarten experience, which provides children with more opportunities for learning and development in terms of educational materials and social communication, is more appropriate for the child.

Background and Purpose: Oppositional defiant disorder is one of the most common disruptive behavioral disorders and people with this disorder are facing with problems in the field of mental well-being, alexithymia, and social competence. The aim of this research was to investigate the effect of social skills training on subjective well-being, alexithymia, and social competence of children with oppositional defiant disorder. Method: This research was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test control group design. The research sample consisted of 40 children with oppositional defiant disorder who had been selected by convenience sampling from among those referring to the counseling centers of Qarchak city in 2017. They were assigned either to the experimental or the control group (20 children per group). The experimental group received social skills intervention in 8 sessions of 60 minutes during one month. Research tools included oppositional defiant disorder scale (Hommersen et al., 2006), subjective well-being questionnaire (Keyes & Magyar-Moe, 2003), Toronto alexithymia scale (Bagby & et al, 1994), and social competence questionnaire (Flener & et al, 1990). Data were analyzed by univariate analysis of covariance. Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in all the three variables of subjective well-being, alexithymia, and social competence. In the other words, social skills training significantly led to the increase of subjective well-being and social competence and decrease of alexithymia in children with oppositional defiant disorder (P<0. 01). Conclusion: Considering the findings, it can be concluded that by improving the social relationships and problem solving, the social skills training can improve the psychological and social competence and decrease the alexithymia symptoms in children with oppositional defiant disorder.

Background and Purpose: Slow learner children have some problems with cognitive components (memory and attention) and are not able to learn and solve problems like their peers. Familiarity with techniques and instruments affecting the brain and enhancing the cognition is now the main concern of the professionals. This research was conducted to compare the effectiveness of cognitive interventions and aerobic exercises on the cognition of slow learner children. Method: This study was a semi-experimental research of pretest-posttest control group design. The participants included all the 36 slow learner primary school students of Islamshahr city (in Tehran province) in 2017, which had been selected by convenience sampling. This sample was divided into 3 groups of cognitive rehabilitation, aerobic exercises, and control (12 per group). For 2 months, the interventions were administrated in 50-60 minute sessions, 3 times per week. Finally, all the three groups were administrated the posttest to investigate the effectiveness of the interventions. To measure the intelligence and cognitive characteristics of the students, Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (2003) was used. To analyze the data, multivariate analysis of covariance was used. Results: Results showed that there was a significant difference between the 3 groups in the visual memory component (P = 0. 027, F = 2. 737, Wilks’ Lambda = 0. 273). Also, there was no significant difference between the rehabilitation and aerobic exercises groups in terms of cognitive variables (i. e., verbal and nonverbal working memories and visual verbal and nonverbal spatial processing), but the rehabilitation group had a significant difference (P = 0. 014) with the control group in the non-verbal working memory scale (visual memory); i. e., both rehabilitation and aerobic groups performed well after intervention, but the cognitive rehabilitation group performed better than the aerobic group. Conclusion: Because cognitive rehabilitation focus on increasing working memory, according to the results of this research, a cognitive rehabilitation package can be used to increase the visual working memory in slow learner children at schools and rehabilitation centers in order to improve their educational status.

Background and Purpose: Hearing is one of the most important human senses that its impairment can influence the process of environmental adaptation and may lead to the delay of mental and cognitive development and processing. Resilience indicates the skills and capabilities that empower the individual to adapt with the life challenges, problems, and struggles. Therefore, the present research mainly aimed to investigate the role of emotional intelligence and self-esteem in predicting the resilience of students with hearing impairment. Method: The present study was a correlational research. The sample consisted of eighty one 10-13 year old male and female primary school students with hearing impairment in Shiraz who were selected through convenience sampling. Levels of resilience, self-esteem, and emotional intelligence were measured by Connor-Davidson resilience scale (2003), Coopersmith's self-esteem inventory (1967), and Shring emotional intelligence questionnaire (1999), respectively. Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation and stepwise regression. Results: The results of this study showed a significant positive correlation between resilience and emotional intelligence and self-esteem (p<0. 05). Also, results of stepwise regression showed that emotional intelligence can predicts 33% of the resilience variance (p<0. 002). Furthermore, the variable of self-esteem generally can predicts 24% of the resilience variance (p <0. 025). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study on the role of emotional intelligence and self-esteem in predicting resilience in students with hearing loss, it can be concluded that by increasing these constructs in these students, their flexibility and level of adaptation can be improved.

Background and Purpose: Social anxiety is one of the most debilitating anxiety disorders that cause incompatibility in personal life, social interactions, and professional. This study was to investigate the effect of acceptance and commitment therapy on increasing self-compassion, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation in students with social anxiety disorder. Methods: This study was a semi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The statistical population included all female secondary school students with social anxiety disorder in Tehran in 2016, among them 60 were selected and randomly divided into the experimental and control groups (30 per group). Social anxiety questionnaire (Connor et al., 2000), self-compassion scale (Norbala, 2013), distress tolerance scale (Simon et al., 2005), and emotion regulation scale (Garnfex et al., 2001) were used to gather the data. The experimental group underwent 8 sessions of commitment and acceptance therapy. Finally, the data were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: Results of the study showed that commitment and acceptance therapy had a significant effect on reducing the social anxiety and increasing the self-compassion, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation of the students. Also, results of covariance analysis showed that commitment and acceptance therapy had a significant effect on reducing social anxiety (F = 288. 817, η = 0. 535, p <0. 05) and increasing the total self-compassion (F=149. 196, η =0. 62، p<0. 05), distress tolerance (F = 352. 88, η = 0. 56, p <0. 05) and emotion regulation (F = 185. 842, η = 0. 57, p <0. 05). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that by acceptance and commitment therapy, the students are taught to deal with the social anxiety through increasing the mental and subjective acceptance of the inner experiences rather than mentally avoiding the social thoughts and situations. Also, active and effective confrontation with the thoughts and feelings, changing attitudes to self, and review of life values and objectives are among the main effective factors of acceptance and commitment therapy.

Background and Purpose: Finding appropriate methods for improving executive functions such as planning and organizing skills, flexibility, inhibition, and metacognition in preschool children is important, because these functions influence all their future activities. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of rhythmic games on the planning and organizing skills, flexibility, inhibition, and metacognition of preschool children. Method: The research method is a semi-experimental study with pretest-posttest control group design. The statistical population included all 4-6 year old children enrolled at Rasht kindergartens and preschool centers in 2017, among them a sample of 30 individuals were selected by convenience sampling method and based on inclusion conditions. Research instrument was behavior rating inventory of executive function (Spies, Isquith and Gioia, 2002). The experiment group received intervention program for twelve 45-minute sessions, whereas the control group received no training. Data were analyzed by analysis of covariance. Results: The findings of this study showed that the intervention of rhythmic games improved the planning and organizing skills (P<0. 001, F=21. 11), flexibility (P<0. 001, F=17. 89), inhibition (P<0. 01, F=7. 58) and metacognition (P<0. 001, F=19. 59) in experimental group. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that performing of rhythmic games in interesting and hierarchical sessions, gives children the opportunity to develop their skills in planning and organizing, flexibility, inhibition, and metacognition. Therefore, it can be used as a complementary approach to other training programs.

Background and Purpose: Dyslexia is one of the problems of students during their studies. This disorder has negative effects in various fields and impedes academic progress. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of play therapy on reading performance, adaptive skills and behavioral problems in students with dyslexia. Method: The present study was a quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design and control group. The statistical population consisted of all students with dyslexia in Rasht city in the academic year 2016-2017, among them 30 students were selected by convenient sampling method and randomly divided into the experimental and control groups. Data were collected using the dyslexia test (Karami-Nouri & Moradi, 2008), Wechsler intelligence scale for children (1974), and social skills rating scale (Gersham and Elliot, 1990). The intervention program was administered to the experimental group during 10 sessions for 2 months and the control group did not receive this intervention. Statistical analysis of covariance was used for data analysis. Results: The results of covariance analysis showed that play therapy significantly improved the components of reading performance and adaptive skills as well as reducing behavioral problems in the experimental group (P <0. 001). Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that play therapy provides an effective framework for further learning by linking perceptual skills with motor information and generalizing it to the environment.

Background and Purpose: The results of several studies indicate that psychological characteristics of parents have a significant impact on children's mental health, but few researches have focused on the relationship between children's physical health and psychological constructs. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between personality traits, attachment styles, and parenting styles with children's physical health. Method: The method of this study was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population consisted of all mothers and fathers of kindergarten children in district 13 of Tehran in the academic year of 2016-2017. Among them 350 parents were selected through multistage cluster sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-made physical health questionnaire for pre-school children, parenting styles questionnaire (Baumrind, 1972), adult attachment scale (Collins & Read, 1990), and NEO five-factor inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1997). Data were analyzed using correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Results: The results of multiple regression analysis showed that conscientious trait, secure attachment style, authoritative parenting style, facilitative parenting style, and avoidant attachment style could predict 0. 27, 0. 30, 0. 32, 0. 34, and 0. 35 of children’ s physical health, respectively (p< 0. 01). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that personality traits, attachment styles, and parenting styles have a direct and indirect impact on the physical health of preschool children. The implications of the results are discussed in the paper.

Background and Purpose: Academic identity is the most important factor in student performance and motivation for student development that can influence classroom behavior; desire to go to school, and one's perception of themselves. If a person has a good idea of himself, he will try to be successful. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of mindfulness in the relationship between self-regulated learning and goal orientation with educational identity. Method: The design of the present study is the correlation with the structural modeling method. The statistical population of this study consisted of all high school students in Nehbandan city in the academic year of 2015-2016. 216 students were selected by multistage cluster sampling as a sample. For data collection, the academic identity questionnaire (Weas & Isaacson, 2008); goal orientation (Midgley et al., 1998), self-regulated learning strategies (Pentrich & De Groot, 1990) and mindfulness questionnaires (Bauer et al., 2010) were used. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were used to investigate the research hypothesis. Data were analyzed using SPSS and LISREL software. Results: The results showed that according to the presented indices, the mediating role of mindfulness in the relationship between self-regulated learning and goal orientation with academic identity is confirmed; In other words, self-regulated learning and goal orientation with mediating mindfulness have a positive and significant indirect effect on academic identity. Also, the direct effects of mindfulness, self-regulation learning, and goal orientation on academic identity were 0. 50, 0. 68 and 0. 12, respectively; the direct effect of self-regulation learning and goal orientation on mindfulness, respectively, 0. 54 and 0. 12, respectively; and the effect of total self-regulated learning and goal orientation on academic identity with mediating mindfulness was 0. 95 and 0. 18, respectively. Conclusion: Given the importance of goal orientation and academic motivation for long-term learning success and generalization, attention to metacognitive strategies, planning, review, and mental adjustment should be incorporated into curriculum so that the learning process is gradually adapted with learner characteristics and needs.

Background and Purpose: Academic dissatisfaction is one of the most important factors in reducing students' motivation and desire to study. Academic dissatisfaction is influenced by various factors that are important to recognize. The purpose of the present study was to identify important factors in high school students' academic dissatisfaction from perspectives of teachers, specialists, and students. Method: The present study is a survey study in which the perspectives of teachers, specialists, and students are compared. For this purpose, among all teachers of second high school girls in Rasht in 2018, 120 teachers are selected through convenience method; among all psychologists working in educational and research centers in Rasht, 60 are selected through purposeful method; and among all students studying in secondary schools in Rasht, 120 were selected through convenience method. A questionnaire was designed for data collection and its psychometric properties were calculated through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference between the study groups in terms of factors affecting academic dissatisfaction. The results of the data analysis also showed that the most important factors affecting high school students' academic dissatisfaction were: Physical problems and discomfort, lack of information about academic disciplines, lack of qualified teachers, and parenting problems. Comparisons between groups' opinions also indicated a difference between them (p <0. 001). Conclusion: Considering the problems of students for academic success is very important and for any planning, we must first identify the factors affecting their academic motivation. The results of this study can be helpful in removing students' academic barriers.

Background and Purpose: Attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and adolescence and problems related to self-esteem and social adjustment are common in people with this disorder. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of mindfulness-based group intervention on self-esteem and social problems of students with symptoms of attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder. Method: The research method was semi-experimental with pre-test and post-test with control group. The statistical population consisted of all male students of 13-14 years old with symptoms of attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder in nonprofit secondary schools in Rasht city during the academic year 2017-2018. Among the 127 students who accepted the invitation for research, youth self-report (YSR) of the Achenbach system of empirically-based assessment (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) was implemented. 30 students with high scores on the subscale of attention problems (T <65) were selected and randomly assigned to two experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. The self-report form of the youth self-report and the Cooper smith self-esteem questionnaire (1967) were used for data collection. Students in the experimental group received mindfulness-based intervention in 8 weekly sessions, each session for 120 minutes, but the control group did not receive the intervention. Results: Results of one-way covariance analysis showed that mindfulness-based group intervention significantly improved self-esteem (F = 12. 59, P <0. 001) and reduced social problems (F = 16. 82, P <0. 001) in students with symptoms of ADHD in the experimental group compared to the control group. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that mindfulness-based group intervention, by encouraging more positive and non-judgmental attitudes toward self and others, as well as by creating self-compassionate attitudes, have produced favorable changes in students' attitudes toward themselves and their communication styles.

Background and Purpose: Previous studies have shown that maternal parenting styles play a key role in the child's mental health and that each parenting style has different effects on the psychological well-being of children. Thus, the present study aimed to predict children's behavioral problems based on maternal parenting styles with mediating role of child adjustment. Method: This research is a correlation study. The statistical population of this study included all preschool students of city in the academic year 2017-2018 (2201 girls and 2688 boys). The sample consisted of 447 (191 girls and 256 boys) preschool students from the mentioned papulation who were selected through multistage cluster sampling. Parenting style inventory (Baumrind 1973), child adjustment questionnaire (1998), and child behavior checklist of the teacher report of ASEBA (2001) were used to collect data in this study. Correlation and path analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: The findings showed that the components of mothers' parenting styles directly affect children's behavioral problems. The results also showed that maternal parenting styles had a direct effect on children's behavioral problems through child adjustment (P = 0. 01). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the variable of child adjustment in relation to maternal parenting styles with behavioral problems in preschool children plays an undeniable role. Therefore, educating mothers about proper parenting practices and thus improving the levels of the level of child adjustment can be very effective in reducing behavioral problems.

Background and Purpose: The Rorschach test is one of the most popular projection tests that has been subject to numerous studies since its development. Given the role of culture and the norms necessary for all ages in a society, the present study aimed to comparison of the results of 12-year Iranian nonclinical sample in the combined indicators of Rorschach comprehensive system with the results of Exner sample. Method: The present study is a descriptive and casual-comparative study. The statistical population of this study included all 12-year-old students who were in the sixth grade of Tehran elementary schools in the academic year 2017-2018. 99 children (48 boys and 51 girls) from 5 educational districts of Tehran were selected by cluster sampling and evaluated by Rorschach test. After performing the test, the results were analyzed using t-test of two independent groups. Results: The results show that there is a significant difference between Iranian sample and Exner sample (2003) in some of the combined indicators, such as EA and ES (p<0. 05 & p<0. 01). Conclusion: The results of the differences between the Iranian and the Exner (2003) sample emphasize the role of cultural differences as one of the influencing factors in the results. Therefore, it is essential to develop norms appropriate to Iranian society and culture.

Background and Purpose: Children with autism spectrum disorder are not only unable to understand the minds of others, but also have underlying problems in understanding that others may have different minds. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of mind theory training on promoting theory of mind in children with autism. Method: This study was an experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. 12 children with autism spectrum disorder (age range 7 to 10 years) were selected using convenience sampling and were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The theory of mind was taught to the experimental group for 25 sessions and the control group did not receive the training. At the end both groups were evaluated in post-test. The research instrument consisted of theory of mind test (Steirnman, 1999, Iranian standard form, 2006). The data were analyzed using covariance analysis. Results: The results of the data analysis showed that the intervention program was able to increase the mean of the subscales of theory of mind in the experimental group (p <0. 001), while the Post-test scores of the control group in all subscales did not change significantly. Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that training the theory of mind increase the ability to recognize and represent emotions (first level of theory of mind), understanding of primary false belief (second level of theory of mind), and an understanding of secondary false belief (third level of theory of mind) in children with autism. The implications of the results are discussed in the paper.

Purpose: Child abuse is an important problem that needs to be addressed in effective ways. One of the methods used to teach self-care behaviors to children is a school-based approach. The purpose of this systematic review study is to investigate the role of school-based educational programs in preventing child sexual abuse. Source of Data: The present review study was conducted by searching english articles from databases including Science Direct, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus and using Keywords (Education) and (School-Based), (Child/Children) and (Sexual Abuse/Abuse). Persian articles were also searched in the databases of Iran doc, SID, Iran Medex, and Magiran with the same keywords in persian. Only articles published from 2000 to 2017 were evaluated. Method: Jadad scoring criterion was used to evaluate the articles. Articles that scored more than 3 on this criterion were included in the study. Data analysis was done qualitatively. Results: The results showed that school-based educational methods to prevent sexual abuse increase the knowledge, attitude and learning of self-care behaviors in children. Conclusion: This study showed a new approach of school-based educational programs on preventing child sexual abuse. Paying more attention to training programs and combining them with appropriate practical skills will empower children in self-care behaviors. These results can also be used in new specialized and social planning, improvement of existing services, or budgeting for educational programs.