The Impact of Passport Program on Self-esteem and Social Skills of Students with Learning Problems

The aim of the present study was to examine the efficacy of Passport Program on self-esteem of students with learning problems.
The study design was quasi-experimental, with pre-test, post-test and control group. In this study, available sampling method was used and the sample consisted of 30 primary school students in grades 3 to 5 referred to the Imam Hossein Hospital and Goharmehr Clinic for their learning problems. The subjects were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. Passport Program was conducted for an hour and thirty minutes a session, for a total of eight sessions (in one month). To evaluate the effectiveness of the training program, Cooper Smith Self-Esteem Inventory and Social Skills Rating System (SSRS) – Student and Parent forms were utilized. Analysis of covariance and dependent T-test were used to analyze the data.
The results indicated that the scores of the total self-esteem and the subscale of academic self-esteem increased significantly in the experimental group compared to the control group. On the other hand, the scores of the social skills did not increase significantly, and these results support some of the previous studies. At the end of the present research report, the possible reasons for the insignificant intervention findings on social skills are discussed.
According to the results of this research and the necessity of increasing self-esteem of children with learning problems, it is suggested that the Passport Program can be used in the schools and health centers to help to improve the self-esteem of children with learning problems.