Effectiveness of Parental Skills Training on Worry, Anxiety and Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Single-Child and Multi-Child Parents

Introduction: Each family utilizes specific methods for personal and social education of their children. These methods that are called “Parenting style” are affected by various factors such as biological, cultural, social, political, and economic factors. The present study intends to investigate the effectiveness of parental skills training on worry, anxiety and self-efficacy beliefs of single-child and multi-child parents. Methods: In this experimental study, two private girls' school located in the city of Karaj, were randomly selected as the control and experimental groups. Parents of experimental group’s students (54 couples) with a voluntary assignment participated in 8 training sessions. Data were obtained by General Self-efficacy Beliefs Questionnaire, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) which were then analyzed by t-test and ANOVA. Results: Results showed that there was not any significant difference in the pretest between single-child and multi-child parents. Regarding control and experimental groups, a significant difference has been detected between the pretest and posttest between two groups. Multifactor ANOVA test results also showed that the effect of parental skills training is significant on fear, anxiety and self-efficacy. But the number of children does not have any significant effect on the fear, anxiety and self-efficacy. Conclusion: Findings emphasize the necessity and importance of parental skills training to facilitate children nurture, decrease stress and worry resulting from parenting responsibility

Ridge regression : with application to an econometric model for Canada

Note:In this thesis, the treatment of "imprecise estimation" by means of ridge regression is discussed and the technique is applied to an econometric model for Canada. The theoretical and practical aspects of ridge regression and extensions of the technique in the context of a simultaneous equation model (SEM) are explored and an estimator of ridge parameter is introduced. Mean-square error properties of some ridge estimators in thecontext of SEM are illustrated using a moderate-range Monte Carlo study. Empirical relevance of the technique is further examined by applying the technique to an econometric model for Canada introduced in this thesis.Cette thèse analyse la question de "l'estimation imprécise" au moyen de la régression ridge et applique cette technique a un modèle économétrique pour le Canada. Les aspects théoriques et pratiques de la régression ridge sont explores dans le cadre d'un modèle a équations simultanés (MES) et une estimation du paramètre ridge est introduit. Les propriétés de "l'erreur moyenne carrée" d'estimateurs ridge dans le cadre d'MES sent illustrées par l'utilisation d'une étude Monte Carlo de dimension moyenne. La pertinence empirique de cette technique est également examinée en l'appliquant a un modèle économétrique du Canada qui est présente dans cette thèse

Evaluation of Depression and its Relationship to Exercise in Women Over 20 Years

Introduction: Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, which imposes a large burden on the health care system. Due to increasing frequency of depression, present research was performed to evaluate the frequency of depression and its relationship to exercise in women in Yazd. Methods: This was a descriptive study. In this study, 200 women over 20 years old entered the study. One hundred subjects were athletes and100 were non-athletes. They were selected by stratified random sampling. Beck Depression Inventory was used to determine the frequency of depression in women. T-test was used for data analysis. Results: Results showed that the frequency of depression was different between athletic and non-athletic women. Mean depression scores for athletic women were lower than non-athletes. There was a significant difference regarding the frequency of depression between women in individual and team sports. Athletic women with higher duration of exercising showed less depression than other athletes. Conclusion: It can be concluded from the study that exercise in everyday life can be effective in reducing the frequency of depression in women

Effect of Coping-Therapy on Mental Health of Mothers with Genetic and Non Genetic Mentally Retarded Children

Introdution: Presence of mentally retarded children as a source of pressure can jeopardize the general health of parents, especially mothers. The range of effect depends on the recognitive evaluation and the individual. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of coping-therapy on mental health of mothers with genetically and non genetically mentally retarded children referring to Yazd clinical center. Methods: This study was semi experimental and included 40 mothers with mentally retarded children studying in schools supported by the welfare organization of Yazd in 2009- 2010 and were selected by available sampling method. They were divided to two groups; case and control. Before any therapy, all of the mothers answered a general health questionnaire(GHQ28). In the next step, coping-therapy was performed on the case group. In the end, all of the mothers answered the same questionnaire(GHQ28) and data were analyzed by covariance method and t test. Results: The research indicated that coping-therapy has a positive effect on the mental health of mothers with genetically mentally retarded children. This effect is similar on mothers of children with non genetically mental retarded children. Coping-therapy decreases the somatic signs of depression in mothers and improves their sleeping and social efficacy. There was no association of age and educational level of mothers with coping-therapy. Conclusion: Coping-therapy can improve the mental health of mothers of both genetically and non genetically mentally retarded childre