The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training on Social-emotional Adjustment of Students with Dyscalculia

The present study aims at investigating the effectiveness of mindfulness-based training on the adjustment of students with dyscalculia. The research method is quasi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design on the control group. The statistical population of the study consists of students with dyscalculia in fourth and fifth grades of elementary school in the academic year 2014-15. The subjects received special services at Sanandaj rehabilitation centers for students with dyscalculia. Total 30 subjects were randomly selected and assigned to two control and experimental groups of 15 per each. The control group participated in Hooker and Fodor’s teaching mindfulness to children program (2008). Before and after the program, Adjustment Inventory for School Students (AISS) (Singha and Sing 1993) was administered to both groups. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to analyze the data. The findings show that mindfulness-based training is significantly effective on emotional adjustment of the student (P>0/05), but no significant effectiveness was found on the students’ social adjustment (P>0/05). Generally speaking, the findings of the present study are in parallel with those of previous studies, according to which, behavioral, cognitive treatment-based training show effectiveness on psychological problems of students with dyscalculia.