The role of job stress and job satisfaction in predicting job burnout of teachers of students with special needs

The aim of this study was to determine the role of job stress and job satisfaction in predicting job burnout in teachers of students with special needs in Shiraz, Iran. The sample included 136 teachers of students with special needs that were selected through convenience sampling. For data collection, the Burnout Inventory, Job Stress Questionnaire, and the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire were used. Data were analysed using Pearson correlation coefficient and simultaneous multiple regression. The results showed that job stress positively and significantly predicted job burnout and job satisfaction negatively and significantly predicted job burnout. According to the findings of this study, it is suggested that organisations related special education field to design and develop appropriate educational and supportive programs (such as holding workshops on stress management in the workplace, providing free counseling and psychological services, identifying individual and environmental factors affecting job satisfaction in teachers of students with special needs, helping to increase their job satisfaction, providing assistants for these teachers, and etc.). This will increase job satisfaction and reduce job stress in teachers of students with special needs. In this way, the burnout of teachers of students with special needs will be reduced

Job stress among general and special school teachers in Jahrom City, Iran

Introduction Teaching is among the careers which are associated with a lot of stress. Occupational or job stress is an unfavorable mental state which is caused by the workplace environment and can seriously impede employees’ performance. The purpose of this research was to compare occupational stress among general and special school teachers. Methods 84 teachers (42 were general school teachers and 42 were special school teachers) from Jahrom, Iran were selected as study samples. Special school teachers and general school teachers were chosen using convenience sampling and multistage random sampling methods, respectively. Parker and DeCotiis’s job stress scale was used to assess job stress. The collected data were analysed by two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Results Results showed that job stress and its subscales were significantly higher among general school teachers than special school teachers (p <0.05); however, there was no significant difference between male and female teachers in terms of job stress and its subscales (p<0.05). Conclusions According to the findings of this study, the Ministry of Education is recommended to prevent job stress by improving the level of services in general school and holding workshops with the aim of offering teachers some coping strategies to deal with stress in schools

Coping strategies in children of parents deceased from cancer and children of parents healed from cancer

This study aimed to compare coping strategies in children of parents deceased from cancer and children of parents healed from cancer in the city of Shiraz, Iran. One-hundred and fifteen people [58 children of parents healed from cancer and 57 children of parents deceased from cancer] were recruited in this study via a convenience sampling method. Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations was used to measure different types of coping strategies [task-oriented coping strategy, emotion-oriented coping strategy, and avoidance coping strategy]. The results showed that the children of parents healed from cancer used task-oriented coping strategy significantly more than children of parents deceased from cancer. Moreover, the results showed that the use of emotion-oriented coping strategy in children of parents deceased from cancer was significantly more than children of parents healed from cancer. No significant difference was observed between the two groups in the use of avoidance coping. This study highlights the importance of coping strategies in families with a cancer parent which demands the importance of teaching appropriate coping strategies in order to reduce the adverse consequence of cancer in the family

The comparison of loneliness in athlete and non-athlete women

The aim of the present study was to compare the loneliness in athlete and non-athlete women. The statistical population of the present study included all athlete and non-athlete women in Shiraz, Iran. The sample consisted of 764 subjects (382 athletes, 382 non- athletes) that the athletes sample selected by Gerjesy and Morgan’sample size table and non-athletes sample selected by purposeful sampling method. Loneliness scale (Dehshiri et al., 2008) was used for measuring the loneliness. Independent t-test and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) tests were used for data analysis. The results showed a significant difference between athlete and non-athlete females in the loneliness and its subscales (p<0/05). According to this finding, loneliness in athletes is less than non-athlete women. Regarding the findings of this study, it can be argued that sport activities play a role in reducing the loneliness of women.This research conducted by financial support of Sports and Youth Organization of Fars Province in Iran which is hereby acknowledged

Effectiveness of Psychological Empowerment on General Health of Mothers of Children With Disability Under the Community-Based Rehabilitation Program

Objective Parents face a lot of challenges with the birth of a child with disability. According to research findings, mothers of the children with disabilities have lower levels of mental health than mothers of typically-developing children, and the presence of disabilities in family members creates mental and emotional problems for other family members, especially mothers. These mothers are unaware of their physical and mental health as compared to mothers of typically-developing children. These conditions can lead to mothers’ losing interest in establishing relationships with their relatives that can end in depression and worsening of mothers’ mental health. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the psychological status of mothers of children with disabilities and consider the essential role of parents in planning any intervention program for people with disabilities. For this reason, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of psychological empowerment on the general health of mothers of the children with disabilities in a community-based rehabilitation program. Materials & Methods The research method was quasi-experimental and with pre-test and post-test design and control group. The statistical population of this study included all mothers with children with disabilities in the Marvdasht City, Iran, who participated in the community-based rehabilitation program in 2017. Out of this community, 30 individuals were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly divided into two groups of 15 each (control and experimental). Both groups were taken pre-test and the experimental group received psychological empowerment intervention in ten 90-minute sessions (two sessions per week), while this intervention was not provided to the control group and at the end, a post-test was performed for both groups. The general health questionnaire was 28 questions from Goldberg and Hillier. The obtained data were analyzed by analysis of covariance. Results The intervention of the psychological empowerment program on general health made a significant difference between the two experimental and control groups in the post-test results (P<0.001). In other words, general health in the experimental group was significantly better than that in the control group. Therefore, psychological empowerment affects the general health of mothers of the children with disabilities covered by community-based rehabilitation programs. In addition, the intervention of the psychological empowerment program on the subscales of physical health caused a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the post-test (P<0.001), i.e. physical health in the experimental group was significantly better than that in the control group. Moreover, the intervention on the anxiety subscale caused a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the post-test (P<0.001). It means that anxiety in the experimental group was significantly reduced compared to the control group. Finally, the intervention of the psychological empowerment program on the subscale of the disorder in social function caused a significant difference between the experimental and control post-test results (P<0.001). In other words, the disorder in social function in the experimental group significantly was lower compared to the control group. It is worth noting that according to the research findings, the intervention of the psychological empowerment program did not have a significant effect on the subscales of depression. Therefore, psychological empowerment affected three subscales of general health (i.e. physical health, anxiety and social function disorder) of mothers of children with disability under community-based rehabilitation program. Conclusion Present study indicates that psychological empowerment improves the general health of mothers covered by community-based rehabilitation program and has affected three subscales of general health (physical health, anxiety, and social function disorder) of mothers of children with disability under community-based rehabilitation program. Therefore, officials and custodians of the community-based rehabilitation program must consider psychological empowerment important for its wide-ranging implementation and its important implications for domestic action. It should be reminded that the present study was conducted only on mothers covered by the community-based rehabilitation program, so its results should be  generalized to other mothers with caution. The lack of follow-up was also one of the limitations of the present study. Therefore, for future research, it is suggested that a program be run with the presence of both parents. A follow-up study should also be conducted to investigate the continuation of the effects of intervention. It is also recommended that the authorities of the welfare organization provide psychological empowerment workshops for all members of the family with disabilities by allocating more funds and supporting community-based associations with rehabilitation programs. In the end, it is suggested that a psychological empowerment program be designed and implemented to improve the general health of mothers of children with disabilities covered by community-based rehabilitation program

The Effect of a Social Stories Intervention on the Social Skills of Male Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a social stories intervention on the social skills of male students with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). The sample included 30 male students with ASD who were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 15) or a control group (n = 15). The social skills of both groups were assessed pre- and post-test using Stone and colleagues’ Social Skills Scale (which included subscales for understanding/perspective-taking, initiating interactions, responding to interactions, and maintaining interactions). The experimental group participated in 16 sessions of social stories training, while the control group did not. Overall, the results showed that the social stories intervention improved the social skills of the children with ASD in the experimental group compared with the control group. The effects of the social stories intervention were mostly evident in the subscales for understanding/perspective-taking, initiating interactions, and maintaining interactions with others. The social stories intervention had no effect on the subscale assessing ability to respond to others. The study findings emphasize the effectiveness of the social stories intervention in improving the social skills of children with ASD, which may be used by teachers, parents, or professionals who work with such children

The Relationship between Students’ Conceptions of Learning and Their Academic Achievement

This study investigates the relationship between pre-university students’ conceptions of learning with their academic achievement. The sample consisted of 309 students (165 males and 144 females) in Tehran city. Among them, 104 individuals were in Mathematics, 110 in Experimental Science, and 95 in Literature (Humanities). The participants were selected through multistage cluster sampling. To assess their conceptions of learning, Purdie and Hattie’s (2002) questionnaire was used, and to measure their academic achievement, the total mean of high school diploma was considered. The results showed a significant relationship between students’ conceptions of learning and their academic achievement. There is also a meaningful relationship between students’ number of conceptions of learning and their academic achievement

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONDUCTIVE EDUCATION ON MOTOR SKILLS IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY

Background: Cerebral palsy is a nonprogressive neuro-developmental disorders that are caused by damage to the developing brain and affect movement and posture. Children with cerebral palsy suffer difficulty in motor function (coordination and control).The present inquiry investigated the impact of conductive education on motor skills in children having cerebral palsy. Methods: A quasi-experimental research was done using pretest-posttest and control group design. The study subjects consisted of all children with cerebral palsy in Shiraz. A sample of 30 subjects was randomly chosen to employ convenience sampling procedure and classified to two groups of treatment (15 subjects) and control (15 subjects). The pretest was performed for both groups, and the experimental group received conductive education in 20 sessions. While the control subjects did not have this education, finally, the post-test was performed for both groups. The Lincoln-Oseretsky test was used to measure motor skills. The data were analyzed using ANCOVA and MANCOVA. Results: The results showed that conductive education had a significant effect on motor skills (P<0.001) and its subscales such as speed of movement (P<0.001), general static coordination (P<0.001), general dynamic coordination (P<0.001), dynamic manual coordination (P<0.001), synchronous-asymmetrical voluntary movements (P<0.001), and asynchronous-asymmetrical voluntary movements (P<0.001) in children with cerebral palsy. Conclusion: The findings indicated the effectiveness of conductive education on cerebral palsy children’s motor skills. Therefore, it is recommended to design and implement a conductive education program to improve motor skills of cerebral palsy children

Company SIA "Forma" competitor analysis and drafting an advertising campaign

This study investigates the relationship between pre-university students’ conceptions of learning with their academic achievement. The sample consisted of 309 students (165 males and 144 females) in Tehran city. Among them, 104 individuals were in Mathematics, 110 in Experimental Science, and 95 in Literature (Humanities). The participants were selected through multistage cluster sampling. To assess their conceptions of learning, Purdie and Hattie’s (2002) questionnaire was used, and to measure their academic achievement, the total mean of high school diploma was considered. The results showed a significant relationship between students’ conceptions of learning and their academic achievement. There is also a meaningful relationship between students’ number of conceptions of learning and their academic achievement