Journal of Cognition, Behavior, Learning

The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a spiritual health-based intervention on happiness, academic engagement, and sense of school belonging among secondary school students in Tehran. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test, control group, and follow-up stages. The statistical population included secondary school students in Tehran during the 2025–2026 academic year, from which 60 students were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in eight 90-minute sessions of a spiritual health-based intervention, while the control group received no intervention. Research instruments included the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, Fredericks Academic Engagement Scale, and the School Belonging Scale. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post-hoc tests in SPSS-27 software. The results of repeated-measures analysis of variance indicated significant effects of time, group, and time-by-group interaction for happiness, academic engagement, and sense of school belonging (P<0.001). Bonferroni post-hoc test results further demonstrated that the experimental group showed significant increases in happiness, academic engagement, and school belonging during post-test and follow-up stages compared to the pre-test stage, whereas no significant changes were observed in the control group. Moreover, the differences between post-test and follow-up stages were not statistically significant, indicating the stability of intervention effects over time. The spiritual health-based intervention significantly improved happiness, academic engagement, and sense of school belonging among students, and the effects remained stable during the follow-up stage. Therefore, spirituality-based programs may serve as effective approaches for promoting students’ psychological well-being and educational adjustment.

The present study aimed to design a Social-Emotional Learning-based curriculum model and investigate its effectiveness on the psychological well-being of secondary school students in Tehran. The present study employed a mixed-method design consisting of qualitative and quantitative phases. In the qualitative phase, thematic analysis was used to design the components of the Social-Emotional Learning-based curriculum, and 15 experts in curriculum planning and educational psychology were selected through purposive sampling. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding. In the quantitative phase, a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a control group was used. The statistical population consisted of secondary school students in Tehran, from whom 40 students were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in ten 90-minute sessions of the SEL-based curriculum, while the control group received no intervention. Data were collected using Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale and analyzed through multivariate analysis of covariance using SPSS-27 software. The results of multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that the SEL-based curriculum had a significant effect on students’ psychological well-being and all of its dimensions, including self-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonomy, environmental mastery, purpose in life, and personal growth (P<0.001). The obtained effect sizes demonstrated that the intervention explained a substantial proportion of variance in the dependent variables. Furthermore, Bonferroni post-hoc results revealed significant differences between the experimental and control groups in the posttest stage. The findings suggest that the Social-Emotional Learning-based curriculum can serve as an effective educational model for improving students’ mental health and psychological well-being. By enhancing emotional, social, and cognitive competencies, the program provides opportunities for balanced development, positive social interaction, and psychological adaptation among students and may contribute significantly to educational transformation.

This study aimed to identify and explain the curriculum objectives for reducing learning disabilities through a metacognition-based approach among elementary school students. The study employed a qualitative research design using thematic analysis with an exploratory inductive approach. Data were collected through an extensive review of documents, books, scholarly literature, and previous studies related to learning disabilities and metacognition. The documentary corpus included Persian and English sources published between 2007–2026 and 1991–2025, respectively. Following a systematic screening process, 73 eligible sources were selected for analysis. Data were gathered through note-taking procedures and analyzed using a three-stage inductive coding process to identify overarching, organizing, and basic themes related to curriculum objectives. The thematic analysis revealed that the curriculum objectives for reducing learning disabilities based on metacognition were organized into seven major domains: academic, cognitive, planning and self-monitoring, developmental, motivational, social, and skill-based objectives. The findings indicated that the proposed curriculum extends beyond improving basic academic skills and emphasizes the enhancement of executive functions, self-regulation, problem-solving, strategic planning, emotional regulation, achievement motivation, social competence, and practical learning skills. Furthermore, metacognition emerged as the central integrating construct linking cognitive, emotional, social, and academic dimensions of learning and fostering sustainable educational development among students with learning disabilities. The findings suggest that a metacognition-based curriculum provides a comprehensive and multidimensional framework for addressing learning disabilities in elementary education. By simultaneously targeting academic, cognitive, motivational, social, and practical competencies, the curriculum promotes self-regulated learning, improves educational effectiveness, and enhances students’ overall academic and social adjustment. Therefore, the proposed framework can serve as a practical model for curriculum developers, educators, counselors, and educational policymakers seeking effective interventions for students with learning disabilities.

This study aimed to explore and analyze the lived experience of depressed students reading novels, with emphasis on the linguistic, literary, and narrative patterns embedded in their oral accounts. This qualitative study was conducted using an interpretive phenomenological design. The study population consisted of tenth-, eleventh-, and twelfth-grade students from ordinary public high schools in Shiraz during 2024-2025 who had either received a clinical diagnosis of depression or scored above the cut-off point on the Beck Depression Inventory and had read at least one complete novel during the previous six months. Participants were selected through purposive sampling and the snowball technique. Data saturation was reached after 14 interviews, and four additional interviews were conducted to confirm saturation, resulting in a final sample of 18 students. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis, narrative coherence analysis, and conceptual metaphor analysis. The trustworthiness of the data was ensured using Guba and Lincoln’s criteria. The interpretive analysis revealed that reading novels among depressed students was a multilayered and ambivalent experience organized into six main themes: the novel as a shelter for living, representation of depression in the text, narrative structure and ending, linguistic and metaphorical patterns, reading context, and meaning-making through narration. The linguistic-literary analysis identified six conceptual metaphors, namely shelter, escape, companion, immersion, island, and dream; three lexical patterns, including negative-mood vocabulary, spatial-movement vocabulary, and conditional-hesitant structures; and a five-stage narrative structure consisting of initial situation, triggering event, inner experience, response, and evaluation. Reading novels may function as a soothing, hopeful, and meaning-making experience for depressed students; however, superficial portrayals of depression or tragic endings may intensify negative emotions. Accordingly, the informed use of fiction by families, literature teachers, and school counselors can serve as a complementary resource for supporting adolescent mental health.

The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of executive function training in improving emotional self-regulation among adolescents with developmental intellectual disability. This study employed a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of adolescents aged 14–20 years with developmental intellectual disability studying in special education schools in Kashan, Iran. Thirty participants were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (n=15 each). The experimental group received a 12-session executive function training program including emotion recognition, emotion regulation strategies, planning and organization, cognitive flexibility, problem solving, inhibitory control, and cognitive rehabilitation exercises, whereas the control group received routine educational services only. Data were collected using the Hofmann and Kashdan Emotional Self-Regulation Questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS software. ANCOVA results indicated a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in posttest emotional self-regulation scores after controlling for pretest effects (p<0.001). Executive function training significantly improved emotional self-regulation, with an effect size demonstrating that approximately 51% of the variance in emotional self-regulation changes was attributable to the intervention. The findings suggest that executive function training represents an effective cognitive-rehabilitative intervention for enhancing emotional self-regulation in adolescents with developmental intellectual disability by strengthening higher-order cognitive processes, improving behavioral control, and promoting adaptive emotional functioning.

The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of growth mindset training and self-motivation training on academic self-efficacy among female high school students. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with pretest, posttest, and a three-month follow-up including a control group. The statistical population consisted of female high school students in District 1 of Tehran during the 2023–2024 academic year. From 130 volunteers, 60 students were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to three groups (two experimental groups and one control group; 20 participants per group). After attrition, data from 56 students were analyzed. The first experimental group received self-motivation training in 10 sessions (70 minutes each), and the second experimental group received growth mindset training in 10 sessions (60–90 minutes each), while the control group received no intervention. Academic self-efficacy was measured using the Morgan and Jinks (1999) Academic Self-Efficacy Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc tests in SPSS version 26. Mixed ANOVA results revealed significant main effects of time and group, as well as a significant interaction effect of time × group on academic self-efficacy (p < 0.001). Both interventions significantly increased academic self-efficacy at posttest and follow-up compared to pretest, whereas no significant change was observed in the control group. Bonferroni post hoc comparisons further indicated that self-motivation training was significantly more effective than growth mindset training in enhancing academic self-efficacy (p < 0.05). The findings indicate that both growth mindset and self-motivation interventions effectively strengthen students’ beliefs in their academic abilities; however, self-motivation training, with its emphasis on intrinsic motivation, personal goal-setting, and self-regulated learning, demonstrates greater effectiveness in improving academic self-efficacy among female students.

The present study aimed to examine the predictive role of spiritual intelligence in stress coping styles and to compare traditional believers and modern spiritualists in Qom. This quantitative study employed a causal-comparative design. The statistical population consisted of adults aged 18 to 60 residing in Qom, who were classified into two groups—traditional believers and modern spiritualists—through purposive and convenience sampling. Instruments included a spiritual intelligence questionnaire measuring existential critical thinking, personal meaning production, transcendental awareness, and conscious state expansion, as well as a coping styles questionnaire assessing problem-focused and emotion-focused coping. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and multiple regression analysis. Multivariate analysis revealed significant group differences in spiritual intelligence components, with modern spiritualists scoring higher in existential critical thinking and personal meaning production. Significant differences were also found in coping styles, as modern spiritualists reported greater use of problem-focused coping, whereas traditional believers relied more on emotion-focused coping. Regression analysis indicated that spiritual intelligence dimensions, particularly existential critical thinking and personal meaning production, significantly predicted problem-focused coping. The findings suggest that cognitive and meaning-centered dimensions of spiritual intelligence play a substantial role in shaping coping styles, and that different spiritual orientations may influence whether individuals adopt active problem-solving strategies or emotion-regulation approaches in response to stress.

The present study aimed to develop and preliminarily evaluate the effectiveness of a culturally adapted positive education package grounded in Rumi’s Masnavi and Nezami’s Khamsa on the developmental trajectory of social skills and social anxiety across pretest, posttest, and two-month follow-up assessments. The study was conducted in two sequential phases. First, a structured content analysis of selected classical Persian literary texts was undertaken to extract themes related to self-awareness, hope, emotional regulation, meaning-making, and forgiveness, which were then operationalized into a 10-session group-based intervention protocol. Content validity was confirmed by expert review. In the second phase, a quasi-experimental design with repeated measures and a control group was implemented. The sample consisted of 40 male high school students in Isfahan who were cluster-assigned (at the classroom level) to experimental and control groups. Measures included the Inderbitzen and Foster Social Skills Questionnaire and the Fenigstein Social Anxiety subscale. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni-adjusted pairwise comparisons. Results indicated a significant time × group interaction effect for total social skills (p<.001, ηp²=0.334), reflecting differential developmental trajectories between groups. A significant interaction was also observed for social anxiety (p=.025, ηp²=0.092), although the main effect of group was not significant. Pairwise comparisons revealed significant improvements in social skills from pretest to posttest and follow-up, whereas overall time-based comparisons for social anxiety did not reach statistical significance. The culturally grounded positive education package demonstrated effectiveness in altering the longitudinal trajectory of social skills and showed a divergence pattern in social anxiety, characterized by relative stability in the experimental group compared to an increasing trend in the control group; however, conclusions should remain cautious given methodological and measurement limitations.