intellectual disability

The current study aimed to investigate that whether young people with mild intellectual impairments (II) having various levels of IQ have different physical fitness and body composition. Moreover, this study aims to answer this question that is there any association among IQ level, Body Mass Index, and physical fitness factors? A number of 1200 students from all Tehran’s special high schools were screened, and finally, 355 of them with mean age 24.6 ± 3.0 years, height 173.5 ± 6.8 cm, weight 78.6 ± 8.5 kg, and body mass index (BMI) 23.3 ± 2.8 kg/m2 were chosen to be included in the study based on including criteria. All participants had a mild II with the IQ range of 50 to 75 based on the Wechsler Intelligence Test. Participants' physical fitness was assessed by Eurofit special battery test. Body composition evaluation measured by Body Composition Scale. The results showed that there were significant differences in most physical fitness factors between males and females, except in dynamic balance and flexibility (P ≤ 0.05). There was a significant association between IQ levels with all physical fitness factors (P ≤ 0.05) except for flexibility. Different IQ levels were associated with physical fitness factors, so that II students with low IQ had lower physical fitness than those who had higher IQ. Practitioners should consider these differences when working with II people of different gender and different level of IQ.

An intellectually disabled child has some negative effects on parents' mental health. Social Perspective-taking is one of the variables that affects mothers of intellectually disabled children. The present study aims to compare the effectiveness of Brief Self-Regulation Couple Therapy and spiritual therapy on the social perspective-taking of mothers with the intellectually disabled children . This was an experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of all mothers with intellectually disabled students in Tehran 14^th district, selected by simple random sampling and divided into three Brief Self-Regulation Couple Therapy (n = 10), Spirituality Therapy (n = 10) and control (n = 10) groups. The data collection tool was Social Perspective-Taking Scale. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, multivariate analysis of covariance and SPSS-24 statistical software. Analyzing the data showed that both methods of Brief Self-Regulation Couple Therapy and spiritual therapy, affect the social Perspective-taking of mothers with intellectually disabled children. In addition, the results of comparing the two methods showed that spirituality therapy is more effective than Brief Self-Regulation Couple Therapy on the social Perspective-taking of mothers with intellectually disabled children. Regarding the effectiveness of Brief Self-Regulation Couple Therapy, both methods can be used to improve Mothers' social Perspective-taking with intellectually disabled children.

The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral play therapy and narrative therapy on aggression and assertiveness of students with an educable intellectual disability. This study followed a quasi-experimental research design with a pre-test, post-test, and a control group. The statistical population included all students with an educable intellectual disability enrolled in Tabriz elementary schools, of whom 45 male students were randomly assigned to two experimental and one control groups (15 per group) using convenience sampling. The Shahim Aggression Questionnaire for Elementary School Students (2006) and the Gmbryl and Ritchie’s Assertiveness Questionnaire (1975) were used to collect data. After the pre-test, one of the experimental groups received a play therapy program while the other group received narrative therapy. Afterward, all the groups sat for a post-test. Moreover, although the control group did not receive any therapy, they were required to participate in pre-and post-tests and complete the questionnaires. The covariance analysis revealed a significant difference in aggression and assertiveness between cognitive-behavioral play therapy, narrative therapy and the control groups (0.001). Narrative therapy was more effective at reducing aggression than cognitive-behavioral play therapy, with an effect size of 69%. Additionally, narrative therapy was more effective than play therapy at increasing assertiveness, with an effect size of 74%.  Thus, narrative therapy and cognitive-behavioral play therapy can be used in conjunction to alleviate psychological problems in students with educable intellectual disabilities.