International Journal of Psychology
Volume:4 Issue: 1, Winter 2010

The purpose of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the USSI among Fars province university students by using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The results showed that the two factors (Inter & Intra Personal Stress and Academic stress) were significant related to the USSI general factor. The Goodness-of-Fit Index, the Adjusted Goodness-of-Fit Index, and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation were significant. These indices supported theoretically that the construct of University Students Stress Inventory is psychometrically sound and fit the model. Concurrent validity showed that the scores of mental health and its factors such as bodily symptoms, anxiety, disorder in social function and depression are significantly relate to Inter & Intra Personal Stress and Academic stress factors. The Cronbach coefficient alpha values and test-retest correlations were satisfactory for total score's USSI and its subscales. The results showed that the USSI is a reliable and valid measure of assessing stress level among Iranian university students.

The present study investigated parents’ religiosity, perceived childhood attachment to parents in Muslim Iranian adult subjects and the reported attachment to God. The relationship between "sudden religious conversion" and attachment style to parents was also investigated. The sample consisted of 405 university students. Results showed that subjects who had a history of secure attachment style to parents also reported a secure attachment style to God and those whose attachment style to parents was insecure reported an insecure attachment to God. However, this relationship was found to be true only when parents’ religiosity was reported to be high. This indicates a higher congruence between parents’ religiosity and respondents’ attachment to God in the secure groups and thus providing support for the correspondence hypothesis. When parents’ religiosity was low, a opposite effect was observed. Subjects whose attachment style to parents was insecure reported secure attachment to God and those whose attachment style to parents was secure, reported insecure attachment to God. Results of the present study also showed that subjects who had experienced sudden change in religious beliefs, reported ambivalent and avoidant attachment styles to parents. However, this relationship was found to be true only when parents’ religiosity was reported to be low.

This study investigated the causal relationship between Attitude (Att), Self-esteem (S-e), Ambiguity tolerance (At), Locus of control (Loc) and Language Proficiency (LP) among Iranian EFL learners. It was hypothesized that there are some causal relationships between FL learners’ mentioned variables and their LP. Participants were 172 senior English major university students who filled out the questionnaires for each trait. The statistical procedure of path analysis was utilized to examine the adequacy of the proposed causal models which linked Att, S-e, At, Loc, and LP. Results revealed that, firstly, the total effects in causal models calculated through path analysis were all greater than the direct effect estimated through correlational analysis. This finding is, in fact, the essence of this research in suport of utilizing path analysis rather than simple correlation in studies about learner's variables. Secondly, the highest total positive effect was related to Model 2 in which Att affected LP through all other variables. Moreover, S-e had a significant total effect and At had a non-significant total effect and Loc (external) showed a negative total effect on LP. From the findings of this study, it can be concluded that attitude has a determining role in language learning process. The findings clearly demonstrated that causal modeling path analysis can serve as a versatile tool in research in applied linguistics, because it reveals the more complicated interplay of the learner's variables.

As internet use has become popular, its advantages and disadvantages of social, psychological and occupational health consequences have increased. The aim of this work was to investigate the relationship between internet use and psychological health status among university students. A cross-sectional study was conducted in different universities in Tehran. The random stratified sampling was employed to select a sample of 1,237 students from different universities in Tehran, Iran. Two questionnaires were used to obtain information related to the students’ demographic characteristics and the time they spent on the Internet. Their psychological health status was investigated by means of a symptoms checklist questionnaire (SCL90-R). Fifty participants were identified as heavy Internet users (over 25 hours per week). They were matched by socio-demographic characteristics with 50 participants categorized as light Internet users (less than 10 hours a week) who served as the control group. The light Internet users were psychologically healthier than the heavy users. The heavy Internet users suffered from psychological problems such as somatization, compulsive obsession, interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety, depression and aggression. These results are suggestive of a decline in psychological health status of students who overuse the internet.

The first aim of this research is to study the influence of submissive behaviors on marital satisfaction and to study the significant role of problem solving skills in the relationship between submissive behaviors and marital satisfaction. In this research, 92 couples, having at least one university student child, have participated. The sampling method was the multistage sampling. In the first part, reliability and validity of research tools were examined and in the second part, the correlations between variables were computed and the hypotheses of the study were tested using stepwise regression analysis. According to the conclusions of the study, the higher is the level of submissive behaviors, the lower the level of problem solving skills, and consequently this causes a decreased marital satisfaction. Limitations of the research and possible applications of the research findings in psychotherapy practices were discussed.