International Journal of Education and Cognitive Sciences
Volume:4 Issue: 3, Autumn 2023

Most students have difficulties in getting use to the new environment that they find themselves especially when the settings of their previous school is different from where they are admitted newly. The study sought to carry out a mediation analysis of the link between psychological wellbeing and adjustment of transiting students. The study adopted a quantitative approach with a total of 1560 students used for the study. The instrument used for the study was a question that was validated appropriately. Data collected were analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to examine the direct and indirect effect of the psychological wellbeing on adjustment tendencies as well and variance explained by the variables. The results showed that there exist a direct effect of environmental mastery and self-acceptance on academic, emotional, and social adjustment. Personal relations have a direct effect on emotional adjustment and social adjustment but not for academic adjustment. Self-acceptance has a negative direct effect on environmental mastery. A significant direct effect exists between environmental mastery and positive relations (PR), self-acceptance has a direct effect on environmental mastery and self-acceptance (SEA) on positive relations. A partial mediation effect exists between self-acceptance and academic adjustment as mediated by environmental mastery but not with self-acceptance and academic adjustment as mediated by positive relations among others. Psychological wellbeing when combined, contribute to the variances in adjustment tendencies. Conclusions and further implication of the findings were discussed.

It has been well established that personality traits and self-compassion are associated with psychological well-being, thus, the current research aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms in a collectivist culture. One hundred and fifty college students were chosen and filled out Ryff's Psychological Well-Being Scale, the NEO Personality Inventory, and Neff's Self-Compassion Scale. The results of correlation analysis showed that there were significant relationships between the personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and self-compassion (self-kindness, isolation, mindfulness, and the total score of self-compassion) with psychological well-being. The regression analysis showed that neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness significantly predicted psychological well-being. The cultural implications and future orientations have been discussed.

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between Sternberg's three-dimensional intelligence and coping strategies in facing trauma in self-care women. The descriptive research method was correlation type. The statistical population of the research was all female heads of households in Tehran in 2022. The research sample included 150 female heads of households in the 20th district of Tehran, who were supported by the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee. The sampling method was determined voluntarily. The research tools were Grigorenko and Sternberg's (2002) successful intelligence questionnaire and Andler and Parker's (1990) coping strategies questionnaire. The method of data analysis was Pearson's correlation coefficient and multivariate regression analysis using spss software. The research findings showed that there is a weak significant relationship between analytical intelligence, emotion-oriented strategies and avoidance strategies, but there is a strong positive significant relationship between creative and practical intelligence and problem-oriented, emotion-oriented and avoidance strategies. Also, the results of the research showed that the problem-oriented strategy has the ability to predict intelligence. It can be concluded that Sternberg's three-dimensional intelligence can play a positive role in coping strategies in facing trauma in self-care women.

Considering the importance of adaptation, especially in students of Farhangian University, the present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of academic buoyancy training on emotional, social, and educational adaptation in geography students of the Martyrs of Mecca campus. This research was applied in terms of objective and quasi-experimental in method, with a pre-test and post-test design along with a control group. The study population consisted of geography students at the Martyrs of Mecca campus of Farhangian University in Tehran for the academic year 2023-2024. Forty students were selected as the sample using a convenience sampling method and randomly placed into two groups of 20. The experimental group underwent 12 sessions of 70-minute academic buoyancy training, while the control group received no such training during this period. The data collection tools included a demographic information form and the Sinha and Singh (1993) Adaptation Inventory, and the data obtained from their implementation were analyzed using Multivariate Analysis of Covariance in SPSS software version 25. The results showed that academic buoyancy training led to a decrease in scores (improvement) of emotional, social, and educational adaptation in geography students of the Martyrs of Mecca campus (P < 0.001). The findings of this study indicate the effectiveness of academic buoyancy training in improving emotional, social, and educational adaptation in students. Therefore, academic buoyancy training can be utilized alongside other educational methods to enhance student adaptation.

Individuals with depression often face significant challenges in memory and cognitive flexibility. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation training on prospective memory and cognitive flexibility in individuals with depression. This quasi-experimental study employed a pre-test and post-test design with both experimental and control groups. The research population consisted of individuals with depression seeking treatment at counseling centers in Ahvaz during the summer of 2023, from which 30 were conveniently sampled and randomly assigned to two equal groups. The experimental group underwent 10 one-hour sessions of cognitive rehabilitation training, while the control group received no intervention during this period. Data were collected using the Prospective Memory Subscale and the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory and analyzed using Chi-square and Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) in SPSS-24. The findings indicated that there were significant differences between the experimental and control groups in both prospective memory and cognitive flexibility. In other words, cognitive rehabilitation training improved both prospective memory and cognitive flexibility in individuals with depression (P < 0.001). Considering the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation training in improving prospective memory and cognitive flexibility in individuals with depression, planning to incorporate cognitive rehabilitation training alongside other educational methods is effective in enhancing these characteristics.

Motivation is one of the main factors in learning and it can affect different behavioral aspects of students in academic environment. Academic motivation can be considered as the only factor with direct effect on academic achievement.  The present meta-analysis study is an attempt to determine academic motivation and academic achievement based on Vallerand’s scale and Hermans’ questionnaire in students in Iranian universities of medical sciences. The study was carried out as a meta-analysis work on studies published from 2001 to 2018. The relevant studies were searched using keywords “academic motivation” and “academic achievement” in SID, Medline (PubMed), and ScienceDirect. Heterogeneity in the studies was examined using I2 index and data analysis was done in Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Out of 16 articles that entered the meta-analysis process; seven articles were based on Vallerand’s scale (AMS) and nine articles were based on Hermans’ questionnaire (AMQ). Mean and standard deviation score of academic motivation based on Vallerand’s scale was 109.9±16.4 and mean and standard deviation score of academic achievement based on Hermans’ questionnaire was 96.83±6.38. The effects of sample size and year of publication were measured based on meta-regression. In terms of sample size, the mean score increased with an increase in sample size in the both Vallerand and Hermans studies. In terms of year of publication, the mean score increased with increase in the year of publication in Vallerand’s studies and decreased in Hermans’ studies (P<0.05). The students of Iranian universities of medical sciences were at good level in terms of academic motivation and academic achievement.