International Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Volume:16 Issue: 2, Summer 2022

Tendency to substance use disorders is one of the main sociopsychological problems that affect individuals both physically and mentally. The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of drug attitude in the relationship of Differentiation of Self (DoS) and family functioning with addiction potential in adolescents.
This research was a correlational study based on Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The statistical population consisted of all male adolescents living in Tehran, in 2020-2021, of whom 315 were selected as the sample through convenience sampling. The research instruments included the Addiction Potential Scale (APS), Differentiation of Self Inventory (DSI), The McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD), and the Drug Attitudes Scale (DAS). The proposed model was examined by SEM, and indirect relationships between variables were tested using Bootstrap hypothesis testing through SPSS-27 and AMOS-25 software.
Findings revealed that there was a significant indirect relationship between DoS and family functioning with addiction potential through the mediating role of drug attitude in the adolescents (P<0.001). Moreover, there was a significant and direct relationship between addiction potential and all variables, except family functioning (P<0.001).
The study findings confirmed the proposed model’s goodness of fit. Therefore, the use of this model is recommended to identify the factors affecting the potential of addiction in adolescents and also to develop programs to prevent and reduce addiction among adolescents.

Academic self-directed learning is a proactive process where students monitor, regulate and control their thoughts, behavior and motivation to accelerate the process of effective learning. The present study aimed to build a reliable and valid tool that measures academic self- regulated learning in young adults in India.
The study used a cross- sectional design. Content validity index, inter- item correlation, interclass correlation coefficient, cronbach’s alpha and person’s correlation were the statistical tools used for establishing various measures of validity and reliability. Manipal Learning Strategy Inventory and Academic Self- Regulated Learning Scale (ASLS) were used to establish concurrent validity. Academic Self- Regulated Learning Questionnaire (ASLQ) was standardized on a sample of 1032 college students aged between 17 and 25 years (Mean 19.86 and SD ± 1.73) and consisted of 36 items.
The developed scale has excellent internal consistency with a content validity index of 0.88, Cronbach’s Alpha 0.90 and test-retest reliability of 0.96. The internal consistency across domains was: forethought (0.70), performance control (0.82) and self- reflection (0.75).
The findings of the present study show that the ASLQ is a proper instrument for the estimation of self -regulated learning abilities of undergrads.

Suicidal ideation, like self-reported suicidal ideation, ranges from a vague, influential desire to die to complete suicidal ideation. For this purpose, the present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on psychological capital and emotion regulation of students with suicidal ideation.
The present study was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population of the study included students of Guilan University in 2021. Among them, 30 students were selected by the available sampling method and were then randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Suicide Thought (Beck et al., 1988), Psychological Capital (Luthans et al., 2007), and Emotion Regulation (Gross and John, 2003) questionnaires were used to collect information. Acceptance and commitment group therapy was performed on experimental groups during eight sessions of two hours per week. Finally, the obtained data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of covariance.
According to findings, acceptance and commitment therapy significantly increases self-esteem, optimism, resilience, self-efficacy, cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression in students with suicidal ideation (P<0/005).
According to the results of the present study, acceptance and commitment therapy can increase psychological health by improving psychological capital and emotion regulation in people with suicidal ideation. Therefore, this type of intervention is recommended to reduce suicidal thoughts.

Marital conflicts impose tensions and psychological pressures on couples, leading to devastating impacts on their relationship. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of self-healing training on marital conflicts of women visiting counseling centers in Isfahan (Iran).
This was a quasi-experimental study with three stages (pre-test, post-test, and follow-up). The statistical population comprised of all women with marital conflicts visiting counseling centers in Isfahan in 2020. Sixty women were selected through convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to experimental (n=30) and control (n=30) groups. The experimental group received twelve (90-minute sessions per week) self-healing training sessions. The research instrument was the Marital Conflict Questionnaire (MCQ).
Findings showed that self-healing training improved the components of marital conflicts in the areas of cooperation, sexual relationship, emotional reactions, attracting more support from children, and separation of financial matters (p<0.01). Moreover, by considering the significant difference between the pre-test and follow-up stages, it can be stated that the effectiveness of the intervention remained stable after the end of the program.
According to the results, it can be concluded that self-healing training, as a new approach, can reduce marital conflicts.

This study aimed to explore the association between reducing perceived social interactions and self-regulation difficulties experienced during online studying, with mediating the role of students’ adjustment to online learning.
The research method was descriptive, of structural equations type. The statistical population included all students studying at Farhangian University of Kurdistan Province in the academic year of 2021-2022, from which 300 were selected by systematic random sampling. Glass's Interaction Questionnaire, Bouffard et al.'s Self-regulation Scale and Pavin Ivanec’s Adaptation to Online learning scale were used to collect data. The data were analyzed with the Pearson correlation and structural equation analysis method through Spss 24 and Lisrel 8.8 software.
According to the findings of the present study, students who perceive a greater decrease of academic social interactions, report more self-regulation difficulties during online studying. Furthermore, the perceived decrease of academic social interactions affects students’ adjustment to online studying. This mediator, in turn, affects the level of experienced self-regulation difficulties.
Based on the findings, it can be concluded that adaptation to online environments in the relationship between reduced social interactions and self-regulation in students has a mediating role.

The distinction between Bipolar II Disorder (BD-II) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) due to symptom overlap has always been a challenging issue among psychiatrists. In the present study, problem-solving functions, working memory and selective attention were compared in BD-II patients, BPD and non-clinical samples to distinguish the two disorders.
For this purpose, 30 BD-II patients, 30 BPD and 30 non-clinical sample were selected by convenience sampling method. They were evaluated using Executive Function (EFs) tests. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc test.
Except for selective attention, which was not significantly different in BD-II patients compared to the non-clinical group (P>0/05); BD-II patients and BPD in all EFs had significantly lower performance than the non-clinical group (P<0/01, P<0/05). Problem solving ability was significantly lower in BD-II patients than in BPD patients (P<0/05). There was no significant difference between the two patient groups in working memory and selective attention (P>0/05).
These findings, provides evidence of differences in some of the EFs in BD-II patients and BPD; which may be related to different impulsivity in these two disorders. Therefore, conducting research in other dimensions of EFs is recommended to distinguish between these two disorders.

Bipolar disorder is a huge burden for the caregivers of patients. Negative impact of living with individuals with mental disorders can be either objective or subjective. Subjective burden is more complex than the objective burden and less studied. This study aimed to investigate subjective burden through the lived experience of caregivers in their interactions with patients with bipolar disorder.
This study was carried out qualitatively through the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) framework. A semi-structural interview was used for Iranian participants in 2020 that was conducted online via WhatsApp and Skype applications. Eight caregivers of patients with bipolar disorder were selected via targeted sampling. 
Three super-ordinate themes were identified: achieving an objective view of the patient (denial of bipolar disorder, accepting the existence of a problem, a paradoxical perception of the patient, making a subject-object relationship and different explanations for bipolar disorder); the cycle of rejection, anger, and freedom (rejection of patients by caregivers, patients' anger, decreased caregivers' freedom and decreased patients’ freedom) and the process of psychological trauma in caregivers (emotional contagion, fusion between the patient and the caregiver, anxiety and trauma).
Results specified the principles of appropriate communication with patients for caregivers which can reduce subjective burden in caregivers. Future studies can benefit from this phenomenological approach in developing novel psychological interventions for caregivers of patients with bipolar disorder.

School connectedness refers to the students' attachment, belonging and commitment to the school. High level of school connectedness leads to increased academic success and decreased risky behaviors in students. The objective of the present study was to investigate the mediating role of academic aspiration in the relationship between school connectedness and cyber-bullying among high school students in Zanjan.
The research method was correlational. The statistical population included all boy and girl high school students in Zanjan in the academic year of 2019-2020. The sample consisted of 324 students who were selected through virtual snowball sampling method. To collect data, Cyber-Bullying Experiences Questionnaire (2016), School Bonding Questionnaire (2014) and Academic Aspiration Questionnaire (2004) were used. The fit of the proposed model was examined through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using Smart PLS software (version 3.3). In addition, the Bootstrap method was used to investigate the indirect effects.
The direct effect of cyber-bullying on academic aspiration was not significant (β = -. 07, p =.28). However, the direct effects of cyber-bullying (β = -. 10, p =.001) and academic aspiration (β =.73, p =.0001) on school connectedness were significant. Moreover, the indirect effect of academic aspiration on school connectedness was not significant (β = -. 05, p =.29).
These findings can guide counselors and psychologists to plan training sessions to reduce the negative effect of cyber-bullying and to increase the positive effect of academic aspiration on school connectedness among students.

The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Psychosocial Group Training Empowerment on altruism and social adjustment of female high school students.
This semi-experimental study was conducted with a pre-test/post-test design and control and follow-up groups for two months. The statistical population of this study included all female high school students of Tehran city in the academic year of 2020-2021. They included 60 randomly sampled female students assigned to either an experimental group (30 students) or a group control (30 students). The experimental group underwent online group training in psychosocial empowerment (12 sessions lasting for 90 min). On the other hand, the control group received no training and remained on the waiting list. Required data were collected using a prosocial personality questionnaire and adjustment inventory. Also, data analysis was performed using SPSS-24 software in two sections: descriptive and inferential.
Findings revealed a significant effect of group training psychosocial empowerment in post-test and follow-up on altruism and social adjustment of female high school students (P < 0.05).
Psychosocial group empowerment training can affect the level of altruism and social adjustment of female students. Therefore, it is recommended alongside other treatments for psychosocial empowerment.

The new conceptualization for compassion towards others includes kindness, common humanity and mindfulness. Self-compassion could be related to compassion through different psychological processes. The current study aimed to explore the mediating effect of cognitive emotion regulation strategies in the relationship between self-compassion and compassion for others.
The research method was correlational and the statistical population consisted of all online responders in Iran above the age of 18, in the year 2021. An online sample of 412 individuals (M=37.89, SD=9.06, 18-64; 57.5% females) were selected using convenience sampling, and completed the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), developed by Neff in 2003, the Compassion Scale (CS), developed by Pommier in 2011 and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERS), developed by Garnefski et al. in 2001. In order to analyze data, descriptive statistics, correlation matrix and structural equation modeling were used with SPSS 21 and AMOS 22.
The results indicated that self-compassion and compassion were positively correlated. Furthermore, structural equation modeling revealed that self-compassion was only indirectly related to compassion for others through the mediating role of adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (p<0.05). However, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies did not play a mediating role in this relationship (p>0.05).
The findings indicate that adaptive emotion regulation strategies appear to have a central role in explaining the relationship between self-compassion and compassion towards others. Self-compassion can be targeted when designing intervention programs to cultivate compassion and promote adaptive emotion regulation strategies.

The purpose of this study was to compare the training strategies of executive functions of the brain and mirror neurons on the function of the frontal lobe in boys with behavioral disorders. In this research, a quasi-experimental method of repeated measurement (pre-test, post-test and follow-up) was used with a control group. The statistical population included 9-12-year-old students with behavioral disorders in Tehran. The sample size included 45 boys with behavioral disorders which were selected from the male students of the 7th district of education in Tehran and were divided into two experimental groups and one control group. The tools used in this study included the Stroop test, the Children's Morbid Symptoms Questionnaire (Parent Form, 1991), and the Behavior Disorder Diagnosis Questionnaire. The data was analyzed using repeated measure analysis of variance with SPSS 22 software. The intervention of educational strategies of executive functions had a positive and significant effect on the performance of the frontal lobe and its components, including cognitive flexibility and pre-test inhibitory response components in the post-test and follow-up phases, but it did not affect the selective attention component. Also, teaching mirror neuron strategies had a positive and significant effect on the function of the frontal lobe and its components. The interventions of both strategies have been effective in improving frontal function, but mirror neuron strategies have had a more effective role on the frontal function and its components.

This study focuses on a boy with autism spectrum disorder presenting with biting behaviors that interfere significantly with functioning.
This was a single-case study design examining how techniques of applied behavior analysis can be utilized to decrease the frequency of the child’s biting behavior and increase more adaptive behaviors.
The findings of the functional analysis indicated that other-inflicted biting behaviors were maintained by contingent escape from task demands (demand condition) and access to preferred objects and activities (tangible condition). Moreover, the self-inflicted biting behavior was found to be maintained by sensory stimulation (alone condition). Given these, a structured behavioral intervention, consisting of differential reinforcement of alternative behaviors, coupled with extinction targeted to each function of the behavior, was effective in reducing other-inflicted biting behavior in the demand conditions (67% reduction) and in the tangible conditions (95% reduction) as well as reducing self-inflicted behaviors in the alone conditions (100% reduction). More appropriate, adaptive behaviors like compliance, picture-assisted requests, and oral sensory activities also increased significantly.
These findings indicate that assessment and treatment based on the principles of applied behavior analysis can reduce not only problematic behaviors but also improve adaptive functioning.