فصلنامه فرهنگی - تربیتی زنان و خانواده
سال هفتم شماره 19 (تابستان 1391)

This study aims at investigating the predictive role of Alexithymia and demographic factors in the family performance of couples referring to counseling and psychotherapy centers. In a cross-sectional study، 133 participants (42 males and 91 females) from among those referring to the counseling and psychotherapy centers of Tehran were selected through convenience sampling method and were given a demographical questionnaire، Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and Family Assessment Device (FAD) to complete. The stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that statistically there was a significant negative relationship between Alexithymia and family performance and there was a significant positive relationship between literacy level and family performance. Also، Alexithymia and literacy level could predict the statistical significance of family performance and totally explained 25% of family performance variance. Gender and age weren’t capable of predicting family performance. Therefore، Alexithymia and low literacy level lead to negative performance in a family. Thus، identification of and intervention in Alexithymia and tailoring therapeutic programs to literacy level are imperative for improvement of couples’ family performance.

Muslim women emigrate for various reasons، including economic، political، cultural، educational and social reasons such as war or escape from poverty and hunger and following families. This study aims at exploring the convergence pattern of immigrant Muslim women in Brussels and Paris and the impact of each of the four types of identity (ethnic، national، religious، global) on their convergence، divergence and expulsion. The study was conducted on the basis of survey method and its population was immigrant Muslims living in Paris and Brussels. Due to the lack of access to the gender-specific information about immigrant Muslims، the sample utilized includes 212 female subjects who were selected through snowball sampling method. The findings show، as expected، global identity has a positive، significant relationship with convergence and it has a negative and reversed relationship with divergence and exclusion. Also، as expected، internal cohesion، ethnic identity and divergence have a reversed relationship with convergence; i. e. enhancement of the ethnic identity، internal cohesion and expulsion among the subjects leads to reduction in their convergence and vice versa. The regression analysis of the variables showed that the value of R2 indicated that scale models and predictors of ethnic، national، religious and global identity have been capable of explaining 91 percent of convergence variance.

The aim of this study is to explore the impact of the Kalileh-Dimneh-based story telling technique on the improvement of children’s self-concept. The population of the study includes the fourth grade elementary school students in district 2 of Tehran in the academic year 90–91. Considering the objective of the study (self-concept improvement)، 15 students having low self-concept were selected as the experimental group using Piers-Harris self-concept scale as a pre-test. To improve their self-concept، these students were given ten sessions of treatment listening to Kalileh-Dimneh stories. Then، both test and control groups were given the self-concept post-test. The data were analyzed using co-variance analysis. The results showed that Kalileh-Dimneh-based story telling technique improves children’s self-concept.

The aim of this study is to examine Iranian mothers'' attitude to their children''s technology-based English language education. To this end، 118 married women with children were selected through convenience sampling method. Considering the educational، emotional and economic aspects of learning، their attitude toward the use of computers in teaching English to children was evaluated by a questionnaire constructed by the researcher. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics، t-test and correlation coefficient. The findings showed that mothers، in general، have a positive attitude to the use technology in teaching English language. This attitude is significantly higher than the theoretical average (3) with respect to the educational and economic aspects. But the emotional aspect of this attitude is neither positive nor negative. Considering educational level and employment condition، the attitude difference of mothers was not generally significant، but with regard to the other three aspects، attitude difference showed that there is no difference between the general attitude and the three aspects of attitude among employed mothers and housewife mothers. The correlation coefficient analysis indicated that there is no relationship between attitudes، in general، and their various aspects، on the one hand، and mothers’ age and the number of their children، on the other. The findings of the study show that mothers have a relatively positive attitude to technology use in teaching their children، which can suggest that technology-based education (like electronic education) needs to expanded in the education system of the country. The findings also underscore the importance of familiarizing Iranian mothers with the benefits of technology in education.

Sustainable development is among the significant interdisciplinary issues. It is more important than economic growth and underlines quality issues of development. Social capital is also one of the key variables which significantly impacts the social، economic and even environmental aspects of sustainable development. Meanwhile، women and social capital are closely related to the literature of sustainable development. Considering the important role of women as social capital in the transient economy of developing countries، this article seeks to answer these questions: What are the socio-economic factors which affect women as social capital in order to realize sustainable development? Do such social factors as age and education influence women as social capital? Do such economic factors as an individual’s income، the income of the spouse، kind of occupation and socio-economic class affect women as social capital? The research method utilized in this study is survey and the sample included 600 women over the age of 20 who lived in Shiraz. Data were collected by a questionnaire. The validity of the questionnaire was determined by face validity method and its reliability was determined by Cronbach’s Alpha. The results indicate that income، education، kind of occupation and socio-economic class are some of the factors which contribute to women as social capital in Iran.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of self-encouragement teaching method on the mental health and marital satisfaction of the parents having children with mild mental retardation. To this end، two middle range schools for exceptional students in Tehran were selected and after making the students homogeneous in terms of such criteria as their school grade، age، parental education level and family income، 36 parents were chosen on the basis of convenience sampling method and، then، they were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Both groups were initially given a pre-test. After giving the treatment، both groups were tested again. To examine the retention resulting from the treatment or any other change، the parents were given a follow-up test after a month. The data were collected using General Health Questionnaire 28 and Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire. To analyze the results، descriptive statistics and inferential statistics methods (analysis of covariance) were utilized. The results obtained from the post-test analyses showed that Shawn Kerr’s teaching method improved parents’ mental health، in general، and marital satisfaction، in particular. Also، this method improved the scales of physical symptoms، anxiety and social functions but it had no effect on depression. The results of the follow-up test indicated that the effects of teaching had remained after a month. A notable point is that the analysis of the results of the follow-up test showed that subjects’ depression had deceased after a month. Hence، it can be concluded that self- encouragement techniques can be taught to parents since they can be effective in maintaining their mental health.

This study aims at examining the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on decreasing housewives’ depression. This is a semi-empirical study with a pretest، posttest and control group. The statistical population of the study includes housewives of Tehran in the years of 2011 and 2012. The sample included 30 housewives who referred to 6 health homes of municipal district two in Tehran. Their depression scores were between 14 to 63 in Beck’s Depression Inventory and they were randomly divided into two similar groups. Then، treatment (acceptance and commitment therapy) was given to the experimental group in 10 sessions during a ten-week period but the control group received no treatment. The hypotheses of the study were tested by frequently-measured variance. The results indicated that acceptance and commitment therapy results in reduction of housewives’ depression (p01/0>، F= 42. 1).