Objectives: This study aimed to develop an explanatory model of assertiveness based on parenting styles mediated by anxiety and self-esteem. Methods: This study is descriptive-correlational modeling with partial least squares. The statistical population included singleton children of the sixth grade of the elementary school in the 3rd District of Tehran in the academic year 2017-18. The sampling method was multi-stage sampling; eight schools (four all-boys and four all-girls) were randomly selected from all primary schools in the 3rd District of Tehran, then, a sixth-grade class was randomly selected in each school. The singleton students of those classes participated in the present study as the study sample. The sample size was 118 students (81 girls and 37 boys). The instruments of this research included the Persian forms of adaptive and aggressive assertiveness scales (AAA-S), the Baumrind parenting scale, Beck anxiety inventory (BAI), and Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSES). To analyze the data, the SPSS software, version 26. Results: The results indicated that authoritative and permissive parenting styles had a significant effect on assertiveness among the parenting styles. The total effects indicated that authoritative and permissive parenting styles explained 0.22 and 0.20 of the variances of assertiveness. The results also showed that the authoritarian parenting style had no significant effect on assertiveness. Discussion: The suggested model was acceptably fit, according to the results of the study. Permissive and authoritative parenting styles had impact on assertiveness.

Background and Purpose: Dyslexia as a common developmental disorder in childhood can seriously impair the educational process of students and according to the previous studies, biofeedback can help these children manage those issues. This study sought to investigate the effectiveness of biofeedback on improving reading performance and visual-motor perception in children with dyslexia. Method: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest and a control group design. The statistical population included all 8-12 year old male students with dyslexia referred to learning disorders centers in the 3 rd district of Tehran in 2019; from which 24 people were selected by the available sampling method according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n=12) and the control group (n=12). Instruments used in this study included the Reading and Dyslexia Test (Nema) (Kormi Nouri and Moradi, 2005) and the Bender Visual-Motor Gestalt Test (Bender, 1938). The intervention group underwent 30 sessions of 45-minutes biofeedback intervention program, while the control group received only the usual training of learning disorders centers. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance in the SPSS-22 software. Results: The results of data analysis showed that biofeedback improved the reading performance of children with dyslexia. This method reduced the shape error, composition eror, rotation error, continuity error, and thus improved the visual-motor perception of children with dyslexia (p <0.01). Conclusion: Biofeedback method can use the principles of factor conditioning learning to change and improve brain waves, strengthen self-regulation skills, improve brain function and thus improve reading performance and visual-motor perception in children with dyslexia.

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The objective of the current research study was to investigate the relationship between empathy and self-compassion and altruism in mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and intellectual and developmental disabilities. Method: by convenience sampling, 161 participants were selected. The short form self-compassion, empathy and altruism inventories were implemented. Results: The Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis revealed that there was a direct relationship between empath, self-compassion and altruism. Conclusion: Empathy is a complex capability which enables individuals to understand the emotional states of others, and results in compassionate behaviour. Empathy requires cognitive, emotional, behavioural, and moral capacities to understand and respond to others' suffering. Compassion is a proper response to the perception of others’ suffering. In addition, compassion cannot exist without empathy; they are part of the same perception and response continuum which moves human beings from observation to action. It seems that maternal care, together with the hope that a child with intellectual and developmental disabilities lives independently, provides the necessary grounds for empathy, self-compassion and altruism.