فصلنامه مددکاری اجتماعی
سال دهم شماره 37 (پاییز 1400)

Agentic personality is defined as having a sense of responsibility in one's life. The belief that the person has control over their life decisions and is responsible for their consequences. The senseing of self-efficacy that one's is being able to overcome obstacles that hinder progress throughout life. This study investigates the psychometric properties of the Multi-Measure Agentic Personality Scale (MAPS) among Iranian students.

This was a descriptive and instrumental study. This study population was students of Tehran universities in the school year of 2018-2019. From six hundred thirty-three undergraduate students were selected by multistage random sampling method. Then the research tools such as Multi-Measure Agentic Personality Scale (MAPS), Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status II (EOM-EIS-II), Moral Competency Inventory (MCI), the Social Capital Measurement Questionnaire and Psychological Capital Intervention (PCI) were applied. The second-order confirmatory factor analysis and LISREL software were used to evaluate the factor structure of the scale. Also, convergent and divergent validity of the scale was assessed by Pearson correlation coefficient and SPSS24.

The findings showed that the factor structure of the Iranian sample fits well with the factor structure of the Canadian one(Côté, 1997). In addition, the correlation coefficients of the MAPS with other scales confirmed the convergent and divergent validity. Cronbach's alpha coefficients also showed a good internal consistency of the MAPS.

Analyzes showed that the Iranian version of the Multi-Measure Agentic Personality Scale (MAPS) could be used in studies measuring agentic personality.

Given the growing population of the elderly, understanding the factors related to the lives of the elderly is necessary to plan and help promote their mental health. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of death anxiety on mental distress in Semnan province's ecotourist elderly with the mediation of mindfulness.

This study is applied and descriptive in terms of purpose. The statistical population consisted of the elderly over sixty years old in Semnan province who had at least three times ecotourism during spring to summer of 2019. The statistical sample size was estimated at one hundred ninety-five people. The data collection tools were questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS and Lisrel software. 

The findings showed that death anxiety positively affected elderly mental distress directly and indirectly. Death anxiety had a negative direct effect on mindfulness; mindfulness negativly and directly affected mental distress. 

Participation in activities such as ecotourism will increase the level of mindfulness and consequently mental health. It also decreases anxiety of death and mental distress.

To create and maintain a desired marital satisfaction and reduce the harms of spouse infidelity, individuals need to recognize and describe their feelings and emotions and reduce marital burnout, in this regard the main purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of cognitive therapy in groups on alexithymia and marital burnout of women exposed to Infidelity.

This research was quasi-experimental with a pre-test/post-test design with a control group. The target population included women referred to three counseling centers in Mashhad who were exposed to spouse sexual infidelity. Twenty women who qualified for the study were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. Before training, the pre-test(Toronto Alexithymia scale and Pines Marital Burnout Questionnaire) was applied to both groups. The experimental group went under cognitive therapy in groups using, Michael Free for twelve sessions, whereas the control group didn’t receive any training. After training sessions, the post-test was performed and data were analyzed by using multi-covariance.

The results showed that cognitive therapy in groups was effective on alexithymia and marital burnout of women exposed to infidelity.(P<0.01)

Results showed that cognitive therapy in groups on alexithymia and marital burnout was effective, considering the usefulness of cognitive therapy in groups on alexithymia and marital burnout, it can be an alternative for women seeking professional help after being betrayed.

A successful society depends on coherent and successful families and it comes true when the choice of couples is made on knowledge. Marriage is a complex and delicate relationship between two human beings that plays an essential role in achieving the emotional, psychological, and physical needs of men and women; Therefore, the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of self-assertion skill training on self-efficacy and differentiation among the about-to-marry girls under the protection of welfare organization.

This research was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test design with a control group. The statistical population was eighty-seven girls about to get married under the welfare support of Shush city. Fifty girls were selected by convenience and replaced by random assignment in two groups(experimental and control groups) of twenty-five people each. Data gathering tools in this research were Sherer et al.1982 self-efficacy beliefs and Scouron’s2000 differentiation questionnaire (DSI). The experimental group received eight sessions of ninety-minute group assertiveness techniques. The univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and multivariate analysis (MANCOVA) was used by SPSS22 to analyze the data.

Results of the study showed that scores of self-efficacy and differentiation had a significant difference in the two groups (P<0.01), which means self-assertion skill training lead to increases in self-efficacy and differentiation among the about-to-marry girls under the protection of welfare organization in post-test. The scores of the experimental group after receiving self-assertion skills training showed decreasing in emotional reactivity, emotional separation, and emotional integration and increasing in my position dimension rather compare to the control.

The finding of this study showed that self-assertion skill training increases self-efficacy and differentiation among about-to-marry girls under the protection of welfare organizations, so this method can be used to increase self-efficacy and differentiation.

The female heads of households are among the most vulnerable social groups in society, and their social life faces challenges due to the lack or weakness of male leadership. This study aimed to investigate the effect of yoga practice on the psychological well-being and happiness of female householders.

This study was a quasi-experimental with pre-test/post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of the present study was female heads of households in Urmia. Using the available sampling method, thirty women were selected and randomly divided into two groups of fifteen experimental and control individuals. The experimental group received three yoga sessions per week for twelve weeks. The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire and Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being were used as the research tool in this study. Data analysis was performed by covariance analysis using SPSS21.

The results of this research showed that there is a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in psychological well-being and happiness. The results also showed that the effect of sports interventions on happiness and psychological well-being is higher than life satisfaction and positive mood.

Yoga exercises effectively improve psychological well-being and happiness in householder females. It is recommended that this therapeutic approach be used to promote psychological well-being and increase the happiness of householder females.

Women heads of households have more psychological problems than other women and have a lower level of psychological well-being. The aim of present study was the Effectiveness of Concentration-Based Treatment on Happiness and Life Expectancy in female-headed households supported by the Welfare of Lamerd county.

The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest and follow up, with a control group. The study population contains all female-headed households supported by the Lamerd’s Welfare Office in 2020. Thirty people were selected by the accessible sampling method and were replaced randomly in the experimental and control groups fifteen individuals for each group. The two groups answered the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire(Argyle & Lu, 1989) and Hope Scale(Snyder et al.,1991) in three stages: pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. The experimental group received eight sessions of compassion-focused therapy and the control group did not receive any intervention. 

The findings of repeated measures showed that there is a significant difference between Happiness and life expectancy in the experimental and control group in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up (P<0.01). The results also showed that the therapeutic effects remained at the follow-up stage. 

According to the findings, it can be concluded that compassion-focused therapy can be used to increase the happiness and life expectancy of female-headed households.