فصلنامه سلامت روان کودک
سال ششم شماره 2 (پیاپی 19، تابستان 1398)

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) consists of a persistent pattern of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsive behaviors which are more severe and common than what is typically observed in children with similar level of development. Some experts argue that all the therapeutic interventions should not focus only on the affected child, but instead they should take into consideration the parents and other family members too. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of Parent Management Training (PMT) program (focused on mothers) on the reduction of behavioral symptoms in children with ADHD.   This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The study population included all the 7 to 12-year-old children with ADHD in Khanj city of Fars province in 2017. The sample consisted of 30 mothers of the mentioned children who were selected through purposeful sampling according to the inclusion and exclusion conditions of the study and then randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group. PMT was offered to the experimental group in eight 90-minute sessions, i.e. two sessions per week; whereas the control group received no intervention. Conner’s Parent Rating Scale (CPRS, 1987) and Depression, Anxiety & Stress Scales (DASS-21, 1995) were administered to both experimental and control groups at pretest and posttest stages. Data analysis by analysis of covariance showed that PMT caused a significant difference in the scores of behavioral problems in the experimental group compared to the control group, either in the total score or in the subscales of conduct, social, and psychosomatic problems, anxiety, and shame (P<0.001), in such a way that the behavioral problems in the experimental group decreased significantly at the posttest stage and the effect size was 0.46 (P<0.001). Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that PMT can modify the emotional and behavioral problems in children with ADHD through correcting family interactive methods, teaching the parents how to behave, enhancing parents' understanding of the behavioral symptoms of the disorder, improving their attitudes towards the disorder, and using corrective punishment and reinforcement methods.

The diagnosis of cancer in children causes a lot of anxiety and distress among their parents. Therefore, besides treating the children with cancer, it is essential to use efficient interventional techniques to enhance the mental health of their parents. The present study was conducted to compare the effect of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) on the general mental health indicators in the mothers of children with leukemia.    The present study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The sample consisted of 45 mothers of the children with cancer who had referred to the oncology ward of 17 Shahrivar hospital of Rasht in 2017. They were selected by convenience sampling and then assigned randomly into three groups of mindfulness therapy (n=15), relaxation training (n=15) and control group (n=15). Demographic questionnaire, interview, cancer diagnostic tests, and general health questionnaire were the instruments used in this research study. After the pretest, the two experimental groups received the interventions for two months (8 sessions of two hours), whereas the control group received no intervention. Then, all three groups were evaluated at the stages of posttest and follow up. Data analysis by repeated measures ANOVA showed significant differences between the groups in physical complaints (F= 6.622, P < 0.01), anxiety (F= 10.236, P<0.01), social dysfunction (F= 4.452, P<0.05) and depression (F= 10.866, P<0.01). The difference between the stages of pre-test, post-test, and follow-up was significant in anxiety (F= 46.681, P<0.01), social dysfunction (F= 12.610, P<0.05) and depression (F= 3.870, P< 0.05), but no significant difference was observed in physical complains (F= 1.720, P> 0.05). Results showed that there was no significant difference between MBCT and PMR in improving the general health indicators in mothers of children with leukemia; however, both methods were effective in improving the mental health of mothers. Mindfulness improves the mental health indicators in individuals through training the attention control and time management. Also, the relaxation caused plays a role in decreasing the stress, anxiety, and depression of individuals. Consequently, both methods can be used together to improve the general health of parents of children with cancer.

Most pre-school children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) lack the appropriate social skills and face essential problems in being adapted to different environments and making friendships. Some experts believe that play therapy based on cognitive-behavioral model can help the children with ADHD to acquire social skills and reduce their behavioral problems. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of play therapy based on cognitive-behavioral model on the social skills of preschool boys with ADHD. The present research was an experimental study with pretest-posttest control group design. The participants were thirty 5 to 6- year-old boys with ADHD who were selected by convenience sampling from the pre-school centers of Aran va Bidgol city over the academic year 2017-2018 and then divided into the experimental and control groups, each one consisting of 15 individuals. The experimental group received 12 sessions of 40-minute play therapy based on cognitive-behavioral model, whereas the control group received no therapy. Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) (Gresham & Elliot, 1990) was the instrument used in this research. Data collected by the questionnaires at pretest and post-test stages were analyzed by using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and version 23 of SPSS software.  Analysis of the collected data by MANCOVA showed that after the intervention, the mean score of the social skills in the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group ((P<0.0001, F=57.77). Also, the mean scores on the subscales of cooperation (P<0.0001, F=64.30), self-assertiveness (P<0.0001, F=54.48), and self-control (P<0.0001, F=39.09) were significantly higher in the experimental group compared to the control group. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that play therapy based on cognitive–behavioral model improves the social skills, cooperation, self-assertiveness, and self-control in the pre-school children with ADHD. Since the play therapy based on cognitive-behavioral model mainly uses the emotional, practical and non-verbal activities and is theoretically based on individual-environment interactions; hence, it has shown to be effective in improving the social skills of children with ADHD.

Aggressive behavior is the most frequent behavioral problem in the preschool children. Numerous factors play a role in this context, including the lack of social skills. In this regard, play is considered as one of the most efficient methods in reducing children's externalizing behavior problems and improving their communicative and social skills. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of group play therapy on the aggressive behaviors and social skills of preschool children.      This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The study sample consisted of 24 preschool children with aggressive behaviors in Lahijan city over the academic year 2015-2016. They were selected by cluster sampling and then assigned randomly to either the experimental or control group. Preschool Aggression Scale (Vahedi et al., 2008) and Matson Evaluation of Social Skills (1983) were used for data collection. The experimental group received eight 45-minute sessions of play therapy (twice a week). One week after the end of the sessions, posttest was administrated to both groups. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data.  Findings showed that group play therapy was significantly effective in reducing aggression and its components like invasive-verbal aggression, invasive-physical aggression, relational aggression and impulsive aggression and in improving the appropriate social skills and self-confidence (P=0.000). It also reduced significantly the inappropriate audacity, impulsiveness, jealousy and isolation (P=0.000). Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that play therapy gives this opportunity to the children to show their inner feelings caused by stress, frustration, fear, and confusion and to learn how to control or stop aggression. Since group play therapy can help the preschool children to learn skills like compliance with social rules, interact and collaborate with others, and management of negative emotions in interpersonal relationships; hence, using this method to prepare them for entering the broader social world seems necessary.

Learning disorder is one of the common disorders in students, which can lead to the occurrence of educational problems and secondary disorders in them. Based on psychopathological criteria, dyscalculia is one of the subcategories of learning disorder. Children with this disorder have problems in perception of spatial relations and in different cognitive abilities. Therefore, the present research aimed to compare the cognitive-perceptual abilities like numerical processing, implicit and explicit memory, active and passive memory, conservation ability, and visual-spatial skills in children with dyscalculia and normal students.    

This study was of causal- comparative design. The sample consisted of 70 students with learning disorder selected by convenience sampling from centers for learning disability in Karaj and Qazvin and 80 normal students selected by multistage random sampling. The used instruments included Wechsler Intelligence Scale (WIS), Visual- Spatial Memory Test (Cornoldi, 1995), Active - Passive Memory Test (Cornoldi, 1995), Explicit and Implicit Memory Test (Snodgrass and Vanderwart, 1980), Iran Key Math Diagnostic Test (Cornoli et al., 1976), Numerosity Processing Speed Test (Cappelletti et al., 2007), and Conservation of Liquid Task with Bogardo and Russ method (1991). Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance.

The findings demonstrated that there were significant differences between the groups in terms of liquid conservation, explicit memory, active memory, numerical processing speed, and visual-spatial skills (p <0.001). However, no significant difference was observed between the groups in the components of passive and implicit memory (p <0.05).

Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the children with dyscalculia have more problems in conservation ability, visual-spatial ability, and numerical processing speed. These deficits are not related to the intelligence but to the executive functions, especially the active memory. Therefore, it can be suggested that these components are among the distinctive characteristics of this group of students with special learning disability and should be paid special attention at the time of identification and planning for treatment.

Aggression in childhood and adolescence is a risk factor for substance abuse, delinquency, and violence in adulthood. Since one of the causes of aggression in this period is the lack of problem-solving skills; hence the present study aimed to investigate the effect of problem-solving skills training by storytelling on aggression and to compare this method with the common method of problem-solving skill training by D'zurilla.   

This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The study population included all male primary school students of grade 5 and 6 in Tehran during the academic year 2014-2015. The sample included 36 aggressive students of the said population who were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. The experimental groups received 10 sessions of one hour training, but the control group received no intervention. Univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data.  

The findings of this study indicate that both methods were significantly effective on the aggression of the participants. However, problem-solving skills training via storytelling was more effective in reducing the aggression (F = 8.78, P <0.001), physical aggression (F = 9.03, P < 0.001) and hostility (F = 8.83, P < 0.001). No significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of violence.

Based on the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that due to their attractive content and emotional nature, stories are easy to recall and attract the attention of the participants and; thus, make the treatment sessions more attractive for children. On the other hand, stories are capable of teaching the cognitive reconstruction and challenging the child's automatic thoughts, which consequently will accelerate the process of learning and application of the acquired skills.

Sexual education is a very important educational issue. Mothers' knowledge, attitude, and practice play the most important roles in shaping healthy sexual behaviors in their children. In this regard, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of the educational intervention on mothers' responding to the sexual questions asked by their sixth grade daughters.     

This research was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest control group design. The sample consisted of 30 mothers with daughters studying at grade 6 of primary school at Dist. 2 of Karaj in 2016-2017. The participants were assigned randomly to either the experimental or control group (15 individuals per group). Questionnaire of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Sexual Education (Mostofi et al., 2016) was used to collect the data. The mothers in the experimental group underwent 9 weeks of sexual education (11 hours per week). Univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data.  

results showed that after statistically controlling the effect of pretest, a significant difference was found between the experimental and control group in terms of knowledge, attitude, and practice (P <0.05).  

Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that mothers' sexual education can empower them in responding to the sexual questions of their adolescent daughters and can improve their knowledge, attitude, and practice it this regard. Therefore, considering the insufficient information of parents, especially mothers, in answering the sexual questions of their adolescents, it seems necessary to provide some strategies and trainings for enhancing the mothers' knowledge and changing their attitude.

The approximately high frequency of dyscalculia and its consequences not only faces the affected individuals with special problems in their childhood, but also imposes a variety of material and spiritual expenses on the child, family, and society. The cognitive rehabilitation program includes training, maintaining, and processing the active memory components. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation training program on the increase of non-verbal intelligence skills, attention and concentration, and academic performance of students with dyscalculia.

This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The sample consisted of forty 9-11-year old male and female primary school students with dyscalculia, selected by convenience sampling from Mianeh city in the academic year 2017-2018 and then randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group. Test of Attention (Brickenkamp, 2002), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Forth Edition, and Iran Key Math Test of Mathematics (Houman, 1997) were the instruments used in this study. After the pretest, the experimental group received sixteen 60-minute sessions of rehabilitation intervention which were hold individually twice per week. Finally, both groups were administered the posttest.

Results obtained by the analysis of covariance showed that cognitive rehabilitation training method had a significant effect on nonverbal intelligence skills (F (1, 37) = 4.859, p <0.05), attention and concentration (F (1, 37) = 92.956, P< 0.05), and academic performance (F (1, 37) =66.227, P< 0.05) of the participants in the experimental group. 

Results indicate that cognitive rehabilitation training program which uses interesting practice programs designed hierarchically and in the form of a play, can invoke and reinforce the concerned brain parts of students with dyscalculia in the areas of attention and concentration, academic performance, and nonverbal intelligence and it can improve their mental and academic performance.

Human beings face many traumatic events throughout their lives with different consequences. Many children and adolescents experience stressful events during their developmental period, such as parental addiction or death of an elderly relative. Posttraumatic stress disorder is a complicated and chronic disorder that causes significant problems and disruptions in social and educational performance. There are several techniques and approaches to treat this disorder which may lead to different consequences. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of empathy on social problem-solving ability among girl students with traumatic experiences.

This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest design. The study sample consisted of 36 ninth grade female students with traumatic experience, aged 14-15, in Rasht city in academic year 2017-2018 that were selected by purposeful sampling and then randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Traumatic Events Screening Inventory (Ford et al., 2002), clinical interview, and Social Problem Solving Inventory-Short Form (D'Zurilla et al., 2002) were used for data collection. The experimental group received 8 sessions of interventional empathy education, one session per week. Data were analyzed by univariate and multivariate covariance analysis.

The results of covariance analysis showed that empathy education significantly increased social problem solving and improved the components of rational problem solving and avoidant attachment style (p<0.01). However, no significant difference was found in the components of positive problem orientation, negative problem orientation and impulsive/ negligent style.

Employing empathy education and extending it to different social contexts can improve the social problem solving of people with traumatic experiences. This education can be used as a capacity to increase self-control for preventing the symptoms of posttraumatic disorder in social contexts.

The incidence of maladaptive behaviors among children is increasing; hence identification of factors effective in reducing these behaviors seems necessary. However, systematic studies on the effectiveness of painting therapy in reducing the psychological and behavioral problems of students have not been done. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of group therapy on loneliness, control of anger, and adjustment among primary school students.

It was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The sample consisted of 40 female primary students of grade 3 in Khoramabad in 2016-2017, who were selected by convenience sampling and then randomly divided into the experimental group and control group. The instruments used in the present study included Loneliness Scale (Asher & Wheeler, 1985), Adjustment Scale (Dokhanchi, 1998), and Novaco Anger Scale (1986). The pretest was administrated to both the experimental and control group. The experimental group received ten 60-minute sessions of group painting therapy. Upon the end of the intervention, both groups were administrated the posttest. 

Results obtained by the analysis of covariance showed that by controlling the pre-test scores, there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of loneliness (F=24.3, P<0.001) and adjustment (F=19.8, P<0.001) at the post-test stage. Also, other findings showed that by controlling the pre-test scores, a significant difference was seen between the control group and experimental group in terms of anger control at the post-test stage (F=0.36, P<0.55).

Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that painting is a tool to express the inner emotions and plays a significant role in identifying the child's intelligence and affection. The results emphasize on the importance of paining therapy for the reduction of loneliness and increase of social adjustment of the students and can be used as an efficient method.

One of the components of school readiness is reading readiness. Development of valid and reliable tools to assess the pre-reading skills in preschool children by taking into consideration the Persian language and culture is one of the educational needs and part of the process of decision making and placement. The purpose of this study was to provide an effective tool for assessing reading readiness of preschool children and investigating the psychometric properties of its preliminary version.

This study was a correlational research with descriptive-analytical design. The study population included all the preschool children in Tehran in 2019.The sample consisted of 64 children selected by convenience sampling. In the first stage, the test was conducted on 33 children at the end of the preschool and in the second stage it was administrated to 31 children at the beginning of the preschool period. This test consists of six subtests of vocabulary, visual distinction, auditory differentiation, print knowledge, letters knowledge, and rapid naming. In this study, test-retest (with two-week interval) and Cronbach's alpha coefficient were used to evaluate the reliability of the test. Also, content validity, criterion validity, and construct validity were used to evaluate the test validity.

Concurrent validity showed a significant positive correlation between Reading Readiness Test, Test of Language Development, and Test of Phonological Awareness. Considering the significance of t-test for the comparison of the two groups of children at the beginning and end of the preschool period, as well as children with and without preschool experience, the discriminated validity of the test was confirmed. Reliability of the test is confirmed based on test-retest ranging from 0.39 to 0.87 and Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranging from 0.15 to 0.85.

In sum, the Reading Readiness Test is a reliable and valid instrument that can be used as a tool for assessing pre-reading skills of preschool children.

Civic-academic behaviors provide the context of cooperation and participation in social interactions and are influenced by the antecedent variables of self-compassion and parental autonomy support. This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between self-compassion and civic-academic behaviors with the mediating role of parental autonomy support.

This study was a correlational research of descriptive design. The study population consisted of all ninth and tenth grade students of Mahabad city in the academic year 2016-2017, among whom 645 students were selected by multistage cluster sampling method. The instruments of the study consisted of Neff's Self-Compassion Scale (2003), Civic-Academic Behaviors Scale (Golparvar, 2010) and Perceived Parenting Styles Survey (PPSS)) Grolnick, Deci, & Ryan, 1997). Data were analyzed by structural equation modeling and AMOS software (version 24).

According to the structural equation model, relationships between variables had an acceptable fit and the results showed that there was a significant relationship between self-compassion and civic-academic behaviors (p<0.01), self-compassion and parental autonomy support (p< 0.01), as well as parental autonomy support and civic-academic behaviors (p< 0.01). Findings indicate that self-compassion and parental autonomy support predict and explain 30 % of variance in civic-academic behaviors and self-compassion predicts 20% of variance in the parental autonomy support (P<0.01).

Based on the results of this study, parental autonomy support plays a significant mediating role in the relationship between self-compassion and civic- academic behaviors and facilitates the prediction of parental autonomy support in students. Therefore, training and enhancing self-compassion and parental autonomy support skills can enhance the academic performance and healthy social behaviors in students.

Preschool period is one the most important developmental periods in childhood that paying attention to it can lead to the development of healthy personality in adulthood, because concepts related to cognitive, emotional, affective, and social development are founded and evolved in this period. Accordingly, the present research was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of Quinn’s early childhood training program on the self-esteem of preschool children.

This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The study population included all the preschool children (aged 5) and their parents (aged 34-42) in Isfahan city in the academic year 2016-2017. Through referring to the preschool centers and using convenience sampling, 30 children and their parents were invited to participate in the study. Then the parents were randomly assigned either to the experimental or the control group (15 individuals per group). Self-esteem Scale for Children (Azizi Moghaddam, 2007) was used to collect the data. Before executing the intervention (Quinn’s early childhood training program), the pretest was administered to both the experimental and control group. Then the experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of Quinn’s early childhood training program. Upon the end of the intervention, both groups were administrated the posttest.

Results obtained by the analysis of covariance showed that Quinn’s early childhood training was effective on children's self-esteem (P<0.0005), in such a way that it could explain 29 % of the variance in the preschool children's self-esteem. 

Quinn’s early childhood training program teaches parents the techniques of reinforcing the knowledge, memory, visual-spatial reasoning, cognitive skills, and fine motor skills and in this way improves the self-efficiency in children which consequently shapes the higher self-esteem in them over the time.

Psychological empowerment is a very important concept that apparently may take influence from academic self-concept, which is attainable by optimum academic performance. Literature review shows that the effect of academic self-concept on psychological empowerment has not been appropriately addressed. Therefore, the present research was conducted to answer this question that whether self-concept can play a mediating role in the relationship between self-esteem and psychological hardiness with psychological empowerment. 

This research was a descriptive correlational study. The study sample consisted of 225 first cycle secondary school students (112 boys and 113 girls with the average age of 14) in Behshahr, Shirvan, during the academic year 2016-2017, selected by cluster sampling. To collect the data, Psychological Empowerment Questionnaire (Mirkamali and Narenji, 2009), Hardiness Questionnaire (Kobasa, 1979), Self-esteem Inventory (Coopersmith, 1967), and Yi-Hsin Chen School Self-concept Inventory (2004) were used.

Data analysis by correlation and path coefficient analysis showed that psychological empowerment was correlated with psychological hardiness, self-esteem, and academic self-concept (P<0.0001). Psychological hardiness, self- esteem, and academic self-concept explained 39 percent of the variance in psychological empowerment. Psychological hardiness and self-esteem explained 65% and 58 % of the variance in academic self-concept and self-esteem, respectively. The indirect effect of psychological hardiness and self-esteem on psychological empowerment with the mediating role of academic self-concept was significant at 0.01 and 0.05, respectively.

Overall, the present study showed that academic self-concept leads to the increase of self-efficiency in students which in turn causes the increase of psychological hardiness in them, which has a significant positive relationship with psychological empowerment. In addition, self-concept is the essence of self-esteem and its enhancement can improve the students' self-esteem and psychological empowerment given the relationship between self-esteem and empowerment.

The most common headache, migraine, is a recurring and pulsing pain together with nausea, which may last for 4 to 72 hours. Since migraine has multiple biological, psychological, and environmental causes, it is considered a chronic disease by health psychologists. This comparative and investigative research aims to answer this essential question that whether positive and negative affections, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and alexithymia as the psychological mechanisms are different in adolescent girls with and without migraine?

This research was a descriptive study of casual-comparative design. The sample consisted of two groups of girls with and without migraine, who were selected by convenience sampling and purposeful technique from therapeutic centers of Arak in 2017 (40 individuals per group). The participants completed Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (Bagbi, Parker, & Taylor, 1994), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (Garfenski, Kraaji, & Spin-hoven, 2002), and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1998). T-test and multivariate analysis of variance were used to analyze the data.  

The results showed that girls with migraine scored significantly higher than the girls without migraine in alexithymia, negative affect, rumination and catastrophizing (p<0.05), but their scores on positive affect and refocus on planning was significantly lower than girls without migraine (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of self-blaming and other-blaming, positive reappraisal, positive refocusing, perspective taking, and acceptance (P>0.05).

Based on the results of this study, it can be said that girls with and without migraine are significantly different in terms of psychological mechanisms; in such a way that girls with migraine use negative psychological mechanisms in their emotion regulation. These findings indicate that physicians and psychotherapist should pay essential attention to the special psychological attributes of girls with migraine at the time of prevention and treatment.

Some research has examined the moral reasoning and judgment in students with special needs and has shown that these students are lagging behind their non-disabled counterparts in term of moral development. Very few studies have been done in the area of development of moral reasoning in individuals with visual impairment; so given the research vacuum in this context, the present study was conducted to compare the moral reasoning between students with and without visual impairment.

The present study was a cross-sectional survey. The study sample included eighty 11 to 12- year- old male and female students studying at the public schools and schools for the blind in Tehran in 2017 (40 with visual impairment and 40 without visual impairment). The participants were selected by random cluster sampling, based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Defining Issues Test (DIT) for Moral Judgment (Rest, 1979) was used to collect the data. The collected data were analyzed by independent t-test and SPSS software.

The results showed that there was a significant difference between the groups in terms of moral reasoning; indicating that blind students had significant delays in moral reasoning compared to their sighted counterparts (p<0.05).

Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that visual impairment has a negative influence on ethical development, which in turn affects negatively the development of moral reasoning. However, it is noteworthy that the severity of the impairment and the age in which the blindness occurred, are very important in this regard. The implementations are discussed in the article.

Gifted and creative students are the potential assets of each society whose talents development has been always one of the concerns of the educational system. Present research was conducted to investigate the effect of creative problem solving training on creativity and life satisfaction of gifted male students.

This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The study population included 452 exceptionally talented male students studying at first cycle of the secondary school in Ardabil city in the academic year 2016-2017. The sample consisted of 46 gifted students from the said population with the age range of 13 to 14.5, who were selected by cluster sampling and then randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group. Tehran-Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (Afrooz and Kamkari, 2011), Hubner's Life Satisfaction Questionnaire (2001) and Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (1998) were used to collect the data. Participants in the experimental group participated in 13 sessions of creative problem solving training program; while the control group received no intervention. Data were analyzed by univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA & MANCOVA).

Results showed that the mean score of creativity and life satisfaction was significantly different between the groups at the posttest stage and the scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than the control group (P<0.05).

Findings of this research indicate that creative problem solving training program not only increases the creativity of the students but also enhances their life satisfaction.  The higher scores of the experimental group in the life satisfaction suggest that the most significant effect of creative problem solving training program occurs in the interpersonal relationships.

"Executive functions" is a general term and contains components which form a common pattern while being distinctive form each other at the same time. These functions imply the ability to use higher cognitive processes to focus on the significant aspects of the task and to plan for its completion. During the recent years, a general view has been developed indicating that executive functions evolve through interaction with the environment and the effects of socio-environmental factors on the development of executive functions should not be overlooked. Therefore, the present study aimed to introduce the developmental and environmental factors effective on the executive functions.

Data analysis in the present study has been conducted as a systematic review; so its methodology is based on the collection, categorization, and summarization of the findings of scientific research papers pertinent to environmental factors affecting the development of executive functions from 2008 to 2018. These articles were all retrieved from internal and external databases, including SID, Magiran, Google Scholar, Scopus, Science Direct, and PubMed with keywords of Executive functions, Motor development, Language development, Attachment, Preterm Birth, Socioeconomic Status, Parenting styles, Anxiety, and Prefrontal cortex. Afterward, in the initial search, 52 papers were selected, amongst which 9, due to being old, 13, due to their poor quality, 6, due to being in review form, and 6 for being repetitive in several databases were deleted, and ultimately 18 articles were selected.

The results showed that despite the fact that from the time of attention to executive functions, mostly their biological foundations have been raised, environmental factors such as socioeconomic status, parenting style, anxiety, motor evolution, language development, attachment, and preterm birth play a determinant role in the development of executive functions. In other words, the development of executive functions starts from infancy and its process continues until adolescence, and during this period, the development of executive functions is heavily affected by environmental factors.

Through investigating the studies done, it can be concluded that research is still underway in the process of determining the environmental factors affecting the development of children's executive functions, and the scientific community needs to endeavor harder to characterize these factors in detail. However, limited research conducted in recent years, which has been conducted scientifically and impartially, demonstrates the significant impact of environmental conditions on the development of executive functions. For this reason, professionals and parents need to pay particular attention to environmental factors in the process of developing and reinforcing the executive functions.