Comparing the Effectiveness of Social Skills Training on Self-Assertiveness and Mental Health among Mentally-Retarded Students

Subject Areas : Journal of Educational Psychology

Javad Khalatbari ¹ , Shohreh Ghorbanshiroudi ² , Khadijeh ahbar Taromsari ³ , Mohammad Mojtaba Keikhayfarzaneh ⁴

1 - Associate professor. Department of psychology, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon Branch, Tonekabon, Iran
2 - Assistant professor. Department of psychology, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon Branch, Tonekabon, Iran
3 - M.A Psychology. IAU Tonekabon Branch, Tonekabon, Iran
4 - Young Researchers Club, Zahedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan, Iran

Received: 2010-10-24 Accepted : 2011-01-19 Published : 2011-02-20

Keywords: mental health, social skills, Assertiveness, Mentally-Retarded Students,

Abstract :

The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of social skills training (apology, avoiding from persecution) on self-assertiveness and mental health among mentally-retarded students. The methodology of the study was experimental and designed as pretest-posttest with experiment and control groups. The population of the study included special schools located in eastern part of Guilan province in which 140 people were studying. One city was selected out of the two cities and then 70 people responded to the Schring’s Self Assertiveness and Goldberg’s Mental Health Questionnaire. Then, 60 people who had lower scores on assertiveness and mental health were selected and eventually 45 people were involved in three groups of 15 people who received apology and avoiding from persecution training program in 6 sessions of 45 minutes in two experimental groups in workshop style and then, the posttest was conducted on all three groups after the training sessions were ended up. The collected data were analyzed to test the research hypotheses using the multivariate covariance analysis. It was found out that the effectiveness of apology and assertiveness and mental health skills training was different from the effectiveness of avoiding from persecution skills training, and that apology skills training was effective on assertiveness and mental health.