samaneh sadat tabatabaee

Many studies have studied the etiology of eating and sleeping disorders. However, the success rate of the current treatments of these two disorders has been limited due to insufficient knowledge of the psychological mechanisms involved. The present study was conducted with the aim of development of a structural model for symptoms of eating disorders and sleep problems based on childhood trauma with the mediation of alexithymia.

The present study was a descriptive-correlation type of structural equation model. The statistical population of the research was made up of all the people who referred to the clinics and psychological service centers of Tehran in 2023. Among the statistical population, 280 people were selected by convenience sampling. The research tools were: Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Eating Attitudes Test, Sleep Disorder Questionnaire and Toronto Alexithymia Scale. For data analysis, Pearson correlation, structural equation modeling and SPSS version 23 and AMOS version 23 software were used.

The findings indicated the fit of the desired model. The obtained results indicated the indirect effect of childhood trauma on eating disorders (P<0.05, β=0.47) and sleep problems (P<0.05, β=0.51) through alexithymia. The results also showed that the research variables explained a total of 69% of the variance of eating disorders and 79% of the variance of sleep problems.

The results showed that alexithymia is a factor that makes people with primary trauma more vulnerable to eating and sleeping disorders. Future research could improve treatment outcomes for eating and sleep disorders by adding clinical interventions that target alexithymia.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of academic vitality on students' self-efficacy with the mediating role of peer support and academic resilience.

The method of the present research is practical in terms of purpose, and in terms of the method of data collection, it is descriptive of the correlation type. The statistical population of this research is all male students of the first secondary level of Qain city, based on stratified random sampling, 214 of them were selected as a sample. SPSS and Smart-PLS software were used for data analysis. To measure the research variables, Martin and Marsh (2013), Liang (2000), Martin and Marsh (2006) and Jiang (1999) questionnaires were used, and their reliability was confirmed by Cronbach's alpha. Academic vitality has a positive and significant effect on students' self-efficacy both directly and indirectly through the mediation of peer support and academic resilience.

The results of the present research have brought innovations in the field of self-efficacy and personal development of students and help the officials and policy makers of the country's education in understanding the effectiveness of academic vitality, peer support and resilience in promoting self-efficacy.

A specific learning disability is a disorder that interferes with a student’s ability to listen, think, speak, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations. Students with a specific learning disability may struggle with reading, writing, or math. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the five senses enhancement training (5-SET) on cognitive ability and social skills of students with mathematical learning disabilities (MLD).

The present study was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest-follow-up design with control group. The statistical population included all students referred to the Learning Problems Center of Ferdows City in the 2019-20 academic year. A sample of 30 students was selected by purposive sampling and randomly assigned in the control and experimental groups. Then, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) (2003) was performed, and the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills with Youngsters (1983) and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (Givia et al., 2000) were used as data collection instruments in two phases of pretest and posttest. The experimental group received the 5-SET for ten 70-minutes-sessions, while the control group underwent no interventions. Then, both groups were assessed as the posttest. Finally, the follow-up phase was performed after two months. Data were analyzed by the one-way analysis of covariance in the SPSS statistics-23 software.

The results of the data analysis showed that the effect of the group on the combination of cognitive ability variables (F = 149.942, p <0.001, effect size = 0.847) and social skills (F = 126.809, P <0.001, effect size = 0.824) is significant in students with learning disabilites.

According to the results of the present study the 5-SET can be used as an effective intervention on the cognitive ability and social skills of students with MLD.

 Reading and its disability are the major learning areas that can specifically challenge students with Learning Disabilities (LDs). Students with LDs are more significantly affected by cognitive problems. These students often grapple with disorganized thinking that can, in turn, generate other problems, like issues in problem-solving, planning, and life organizing. The role of cognitive ability in various LDs and the need for improving this ability has been well documented. When managing students with LDs, the primary focus must be on nurturing the 5 senses. This could be achieved using multi-sensory teaching techniques to help the learners grasp new data by various methods. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the 5 senses enhancement on cognitive ability in students with LDs.

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest-follow-up and a control group design. The population of the study consisted of all students referring to the Correction Center for Learning Disorders in Ferdows City, Iran, in the academic year of 2019-2020. The convenience sampling method was used to select a sample of thirty 7-8-year-old students with LDs. The selected students were randomly assigned into the control and experimental groups. PASS was applied to determine the sample size. Moreover, the error level (0.05) and the test power (0.9) was used to determine the sample size (n=15/group). In other words, the total sample size of the study was estimated to be 30 subjects. The inclusion criteria of the research were being diagnosed with LDs; presenting hearing and vision health according to the assessment plan; studying in regular public schools, an age of 7-8 years, and no mental health issues. The exclusion criteria of the study included absence from ≥2 sessions, simultaneous participation in another program, and receiving training on learning and completing homework for each session. To ensure the absence of intellectual disabilities in students, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Wechsler, 2003) was administered. For cognitive assessment, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (Gioia et al., 2000) was completed by the parents in all evaluation stages. The experimental group received the 5 sense enhancement training (ten 70-minute sessions, 3 sessions/week); however, the controls received no treatment. Two months after the intervention, the follow-up test was performed. The control group also received training courses to observe all ethical principles. To analyze the obtained data, descriptive statistics, such as mean and standard as well as repeated-measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni posthoc test were used. Statistical analyses were performed in SPSS at the significance level of 0.05.

The ANOVA data of cognitive ability was significant for time effect (within the subjects) (p<0.001), group effect (intermediate subjects) (p<0.001), and time*group effect; the effect of group intervention for cognitive ability equaled 0.708. Thus, there was a significant difference in cognitive competence between the experimental and control groups during the research stages, highlighting the effects of the intervention. Moreover, in the experimental group, a significant difference was observed in cognitive ability between pretest and posttest and follow-up stages (p<0.001). However, there was no significant difference between the posttest and follow-up stages (p=0.207), reflecting that the effect of the intervention in the follow-up stage remained stable.

The present study findings suggested that the five-sense enhancement training can be effective as a timely intervention on cognitive ability in students with reading disabilities; thus, implementing this training is recommended to LD instructors.

Learning self-regulation involves a set of strategies that students use to regulate their cognition and increase their academic achievement accordingly. Anxiety، on the other hand، is a main cause of psychological disorder that affects students’ academic achievement. The present paper was conducted to study the influence of teaching self-regulatory learning strategies on students'' academic achievement and anxiety. In this quasi-experimental study، 173 freshmen of psychology were voluntarily given Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). 46 of whom who had anxiety scores above 8 were selected and divided into 2 simple randomized homogeneous experimental and control groups; 23 students in each. The experimental group received eight 100-minute sessions of self-regulatory learning instruction twice a week; the control group had no education at all. The instrument to assess students’ anxiety and academic achievement included BAI and students’ total average scores. The obtained data was fed into SPSS software (V: 17) and analyzed by means of statistical tests (i. e. independent and dependent t-tests، c 2، and covariance) at the significant level P<0. 05. Having applied self-regulatory learning strategies education، findings indicated that، the experimental groups’ mean anxiety score decreased from 18. 26 to 7. 83 which was statistically significant (P<0. 001); while that of the control group was not statistically significant after the intervention. If one takes the fact that students’ academic achievement has a direct relationship with their test anxiety into account، teaching self-regulatory strategies can be suggested for the improvement of students’ academic performance.