معصومه آزموده

 Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the mindfulness-based self-compassion program on distress tolerance, emotional expression, and psychological resilience in individuals with social anxiety disorder.Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test design. Thirty individuals with social anxiety disorder were selected through purposive sampling in counseling centers and cyberspace, and they were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. At the beginning and end of the study, the two groups answered the questionnaires, including Social Phobia Inventory (SPI), Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), Emotional Expressiveness Scale (EES), and Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI). The experimental group underwent a mindful self-compassion intervention for eight weekly sessions, one session lasting 150 minutes, while the control group did not receive any treatment. Univariate analyses of covariance were employed to analyze the data using SPSS software version 27.Results: The results of ANCOVA analyses showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the post-test of distress tolerance, emotional expression, and psychological flexibility (p < 0.05). The results of the Bonferroni test showed that the experimental group had higher scores in the post-test of distress tolerance, emotional expression, and psychological flexibility than the control group (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Findings indicate that the mindful self-compassion program is effective in enhancing distress tolerance, emotional expression, and psychological flexibility for individuals with social anxiety disorder.

Objective: This study aims to explore the impact of spiritual intelligence and family cohesion on youth addiction prevention. Methods: A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted using peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and authoritative reports published between 2000 and 2024. Databases such as PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Google Scholar were searched using keywords related to spiritual intelligence, family cohesion, and youth addiction. Inclusion criteria focused on studies examining the relationship between these variables and their role in substance abuse prevention among adolescents and young adults. Findings: The review identified several protective mechanisms through which spiritual intelligence contributes to resilience, such as self-awareness, moral integrity, and emotional regulation. Similarly, family cohesion, characterized by effective communication, emotional support, and strong parental bonds, was found to significantly reduce the risk of substance abuse in youth. An interactive effect was observed, where spiritual intelligence and family dynamics together enhanced adolescents’ ability to cope with stress and peer pressure, minimizing the likelihood of engaging in addictive behaviors. Conclusion: Spiritual intelligence and family cohesion are crucial protective factors in preventing youth addiction. Early interventions that focus on fostering spiritual intelligence and strengthening family relationships can effectively reduce addiction risk. The article emphasizes the need for educational programs and community-based initiatives to promote these protective factors from adolescence.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral play therapy and resilience-based play therapy on anxiety, executive functioning behaviors, and emotional expression in children aged 6 to 8 years undergoing dental treatment. Methods: The current research was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test design, including a control group and a two-month follow-up period. All children aged 6 to 8 visiting specialty dental clinics in Isfahan during the first six months of 2021 constituted the research population. Forty-five children were selected using purposive sampling based on inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned to three equal groups of fifteen. Data collection was carried out using the Revised Children's Anxiety Scale - Short Form (Ahlen et al., 2018), the Emotion Expression Questionnaire - Child Form (Penza-Clyve & Zeman, 2002), and the Executive Functioning Questionnaire (Gioia et al., 2000). Cognitive-behavioral play therapy sessions were conducted based on the protocol by Hall, Kaduson, and Schaefer (2002), and resilience-based play therapy sessions followed the protocol by Nikneshan et al. (2019), each lasting for eight weekly sessions of 60 minutes. However, the control group did not receive these interventions. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and mixed ANOVA with SPSS software, version 26. Findings: Results indicated that the mean scores of executive functioning behaviors and their dimensions significantly improved in the experimental groups at post-test compared to the control group, and these improvements remained stable at follow-up (p < 0.05). Moreover, therapeutic interventions (both cognitive-behavioral and resilience-based play therapy) significantly improved scores on anxiety and emotional expressiveness compared to the control group. Additionally, post hoc Bonferroni tests showed that cognitive-behavioral play therapy was more effective than resilience-based play therapy in reducing anxiety scores and increasing skills in emotional expression and executive functioning in children undergoing dental treatment (p < 0.05). Conclusion: These findings further clarify the role of play therapy in children undergoing dental treatment and highlight the necessity of using therapeutic approaches derived from the cognitive-behavioral model to modulate symptoms in these children.

This study aimed to examine EFL learners’ rating accuracy in assessing reading comprehension subskills in various genres. To this end, 60 English translation students participated in this study. The instructional treatment was based on the learners’ challenging reading subskills in four genres. Taking the instructor’s ratings as the yardstick, during a 12- week course, the accuracy of the learners’ self- and peer- assessments was investigated. Data analysis, using MANOVA, confirmed that there was a statistically significant difference between the accuracy of self-, peer- and instructor-ratings. More specifically, the two groups were inaccurate in assessing the main idea/ supporting details and cause/effect subskills in all genres. However, for assessing fact /opinion subskills only the self-assessment group was inaccurate in descriptive genre. Obtaining such detailed diagnostic information about learners’ performance can help instructors in elevating weaknesses in language skills.