The Effect of Mental Immunization Training on Psychological Reactions and Social Competency of Students with Intellectual Disability

The most of students with intellectual disability have not appropriate social competency. Inappropriate social competency leads to psychological problem in their life, while mental immunization training has been associated with desirable outcomes. The purpose of this research was to investigation of the effectiveness of mental immunization training on psychological reactions and social competency of students with intellectual disability. The present research was a quasi-experimental study by pre-test, post-test design with control group. The study population included of boy students with intellectual disability aged 15-18 years old in Tehran during the academic year 2017-2018. The participants were 32 students with intellectual disability that selected by convenient sampling method from Nour eslam in Varamin and Taher in Rey city. Subjects were divided into two groups and assigned into two experimental and control groups randomly and each group consisting of 16 students. Experimental group received psychological immunization program in 10 sessions for 50 minutes while the control group did not receive this intervention. The instruments of present research were depression anxiety stress scales (Lawibund and Lawibund, 1995) and social competencies scale (Felner, Lease and Philips, 1990). Data were analyzed by using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The results showed that mean scores of depression, anxiety, and stress in experimental group was significantly decreased in the post intervention in comparison with control group (P<0.001). Also, the mean social performance scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than the control group (P <0.001). The mental immunization program is related to subjective well-being and individual’s affective experiences, and that it influences cognitive processes as well as social relationships. Therefore, it seems that the training of this program plays an important role in improving the emotional reactions and social capability of students with intellectual disability.