The Effectiveness of Unified Protocols for Trans-diagnostic Treatment on Increasing the Emotional, Social, and Educational Adjustment of Bilingual Adolescent Female Students

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: Adjustment is defined as a process by which a person tries to cope with life challenges using different techniques and strategies, and by this means balances his/her different needs with environmental obstacles. The present research was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the Unified Protocols for Trans-diagnostic Treatment on adjustment, in bilingual junior high school students. The Unified Protocols for Trans-diagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders in Adolescents was used for this purpose which involved parents and students in the intervention.
Method: The statistical population of this study included bilingual students studying in the secondary section of Tehran International School in the academic year of 2021-2022. A Sample of 30 students of the school was selected in purposive method, and then they were randomly divided into two groups of 15 students (experimental and control groups). The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test design, which was implemented for both experimental and control groups. Between the pre-test and post-test, only the experimental group received family-centered psycho-education based on emotion regulation(15 two-hour sessions for students and four one-hour sessions for parents). The Adjustment Inventory for School Students by Sinha and Singh (1993) was used to collect data. The collected data was analyzed using a mixed variance analysis with repeated measures.
Result: The findings showed that the scores of adjustment of the students in the two groups had a significant difference in post-test and follow-up test compared to the pre-test (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: According to findings, family-centered psycho-education based on emotion regulation has been proven to be effective in increasing students' adjustment.  

Keywords


  1. Merle JL, Thayer AJ, Larson MF, Pauling S, Cook CR, Rios JA, et al. Investigating strategies to increase general education teachers' adherence to evidence-based social-emotional behavior practices: A meta-analysis of the single-case literature. Journal of school psychology. 2022;91:1-26. IJBS.Vol17.N1.04.1887.docx
  2. Cook C, Burns M, Browning-Wright D, Gresham F. Transforming school psychology in the RTI era: A guide for administrators and school psychologists. Palm Beach Gardens, FL: LRP Publications. 2010. DOI: IJBS.Vol17.N1.04.1887.docx
  3. Snyder TD, Dillow SA. Digest of Education Statistics 2013. NCES 2015-011. National Center for Education Statistics. 2015.
  4. Albert D, Chein J, Steinberg L. The Teenage Brain:Peer Influences on Adolescent Decision Making. Current Directions in Psychological Science. 2013;22(2):114-20. doi: 10.1177/0963721412471347
  5. Casey BJ, Jones RM, Somerville LH. Braking and Accelerating of the Adolescent Brain. Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence. 2011;21 1:21-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00712.x
  6. Berk LE. Development through the lifespan: Sage Publications; 2022.
  7. Gross JJ. Handbook of emotion regulation: Guilford publications; 2013.
  8. Kitahara Y, Mearns J, Shimoyama H. Emotion regulation and middle school adjustment in Japanese girls: Mediation by perceived social support. Japanese Psychological Research. 2020;62(2):138-50. doi: 10.1111/jpr.12280
  9. Glasner J, Baltag V, Ambresin A-E. Previsit multidomain psychosocial screening tools for adolescents and young adults: a systematic review. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2021;68(3):449-59. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.10.003
  10. Ng SH, Tan NJH, Luo Y, Goh WS, Ho R, Ho CSH. A systematic review of youth and teen mental health first aid: improving adolescent mental health. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2021;69(2):199-210. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.10.018
  11. Jankowska M. On bilingualism in monolingual English classrooms: Voicing the challenges for bilingual children, their parents and schools. Pupil, Teacher and Family Voice in Educational Institutions: Routledge; 2019. p. 33-54.
  12. Wadhawan K. A study of emotional, social and educational adjustment of senior secondary students of Panchkula. International Journal of Research in Social Sciences. 2018;8(4):804-16.
  13. Bart O, Hajami D, Bar‐Haim Y. Predicting school adjustment from motor abilities in kindergarten. Infant and Child Development: An International Journal of Research and Practice. 2007;16(6):597-615.DOI:10.1002/icd.514
  14. Das J, Deb M. A comparative study on social adjustment among tribal and non-tribal students. Journal of humanities and social science. 2013;12(3):29-32.DOI:10.9790/0837-1232932
  15. Sekar J, Lawrence A. Emotional, Social, Educational Adjustment of Higher Secondary School Students in Relation to Academic Achievement. Journal on Educational Psychology. 2016;10(1):29-35. DOI:10.26634/jpsy.10.1.7070
  16. Demirtaş-Zorbaz S, Ergene T. School adjustment of first-grade primary school students: Effects of family involvement, externalizing behavior, teacher and peer relations. Children and youth services review. 2019;101:307-16. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.04.019.
  17. Keskin Y, Keskin SC, Kirtel A. Examination of the Compatibility of the Questions Used by Social Studies Teachers in the Class with the Program Achievements According to the SOLO Taxonomy. Journal of Education and Training Studies. 2016;4(4):68-76. doi:10.11114/jets.v4i4.1286
  18. Lim SA, Kim EK, You S. The effects of internet use on school adjustment and delinquency. Current Psychology. 2019;38:901-7. DOI:10.1007/S12144-017-9668-7
  19. Suzuki M. Relationship between Maladaptive Signs, school non-attendance tendency, and Attendance situation in High School Students. Journal of Human Environmental studies. 2017;8(0):29-36.
  20. Ehrenreich-May J, Bilek EL, editors. Universal prevention of anxiety and depression in a recreational camp setting: An initial open trial. Child & Youth Care Forum; 2011: Springer. DOI: 10.1007/s10566-011-9148-4
  21. Barlow DH, Farchione TJ, Sauer-Zavala S, Latin HM, Ellard KK, Bullis JR, et al. Unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders: Therapist guide: Oxford University Press; 2017.
  22. Ehrenreich-May J, Kennedy SM, Sherman JA, Bilek EL, Buzzella BA, Bennett SM, et al. Unified protocols for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders in children and adolescents: Therapist guide: Oxford University Press; 2017.
  23. Talkovsky AM, Green KL, Osegueda A, Norton PJ. Secondary depression in transdiagnostic group cognitive behavioral therapy among individuals diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Journal of anxiety disorders. 2017;46:56-64. DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.09.008
  24. Martinsen KD, Kendall PC, Stark K, Neumer S-P. Prevention of Anxiety and Depression in Children: Acceptability and Feasibility of the Transdiagnostic EMOTION Program. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. 2016;23(1):1-13. DOI:10.1016/j.cbpra.2014.06.005
  25. Shahriari Y, Ghasemzadeh S, Kashani Vahid L, Vakili S. The effectiveness of group Transdiagnostic Treatment on anxiety in adolescents with type 1 diabetes and their parenting stress in Tehran. Journal of Research in Psychological Health. 2021;15(1):95-110.
  26. Ghasemzadeh s, naghsh z. Effectiveness of Unified Protocols for Transdiagnostic Treatment in Emotion Regulation of Mothers and Anxiety of Children with Type I Diabetes. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal. 2020;22(11). IJBS.Vol17.N1.04.1887.docx
  27. Sabahi P. The Effectiveness of Unified Transdiagnostic Treatment on Social Anxiety Symptoms and Difficulty in Emotion Regulation: Single-Subject Design. Psychological Studies. 2020;16(2). DOI: 10.22051/psy.2020.23008.1774
  28. Sadr A, Doustkam M, SHAREH H, BOLGHANABADI M. Comparison of Effectiveness of Barlow's Transdiagnostic, and Mennin and Fresco’s Emotion Regulation Therapy in the Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (case study). 2020. 10.52547/rbs.18.1.2
  29. Bameshgi M, Kimiaei A, Mashhadi A. Effectiveness of a unified protocol on emotion regulation and experiential avoidance in women with comorbid major depressive and generalized anxiety symptoms. Journal of Fundamentals of Mental Health. 2020;22(6). 10.22038/JFMH.2020.17559
  30. Sandín B, García-Escalera J, Valiente RM, Espinosa V, Chorot P. Clinical utility of an internet-delivered version of the unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders in adolescents (iUP-A): a pilot open trial. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(22):8306. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17228306
  31. García-Escalera J, Valiente RM, Sandín B, Ehrenreich-May J, Prieto A, Chorot P. The unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders in adolescents (UP-A) adapted as a school-based anxiety and depression prevention program: An initial cluster randomized wait-list-controlled trial. Behavior therapy. 2020;51(3):461-73. DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2019.08.003
  32. Lodi-Smith J, Roberts BW. Concurrent and prospective relationships between social engagement and personality traits in older adulthood. Psychology and aging. 2012;27(3):720. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027044
  33. Sinha A, Singh R. The adjustment Inventory for school students (AISS). Agra (India): National Psychological Corporation. 1993.
  34. Naveedy A. The efficacy of anger management training on adjustment skills of high school male students in Tehran. Iranian journal of psychiatry and clinical psychology. 2009.
  35. Khalatbari J, Ghorbanshiroudi S, Mobaleghi N. Comparing the effectiveness of the self assertiveness training and problem solving on the aggression and adaptation in students. Journal of Educational Psychology. 2010;1(3):85-101.
  36. Pourshahriar H. The relationship between adjustment levels and personality traits among the adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 2008;2(2):97-106.
  37. Safavi M, SM ML, Lotfi R. Correlation between Emotional Intelligence and Socio-emotional Adjustment in Pre-university Girl Students in Tehran in 2008. Pajoohandeh Journal. 2010;14(5):255-61. URL:http://pajoohande.sbmu.ac.ir/article-1-823-en.html
  38. Azimi A, Omidi A, Shafiei E, Nademi A. The Effectiveness of Transdiagnostic, Emotion- focused Treatment for Emotional Regulation and Individual-social Adjustment in Female Students. Journal of Arak University of Medical Sciences. 2018;20(10):62-73. URL: http://jams.arakmu.ac.ir/article-1-5304-en.html