Short BiographyAddelyanRasi holds her BA and MA in social work and at present she is a doctoral student at Linkoping University in Sweden. She has worked as a social worker for more than 12 years and has taught social work for more than eight years in Iran. Her research covers areas in social work, psychology, neuroscience, public health and sociology. She has published one book in community social work and some paper in social problems. She has completed several relationships. This study suggests that empowerment-oriented social work can help many clients to achieve their goals, and that this psychosocial intervention project can be a useful model for social work in Iran and many other societies.

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The aim of this paper is to outline a platform for research on adolescents’ life regulation. Adolescents’ brain development is described with the help of neuroscience and integrated with pragmatist and symbolic interactionist insights about how adolescents can learn to control their impulses and act thoughtfully. The foundation for the analysis is found in American pragmatism, where a biopsychosocial perspective is built on the understanding that the developed human brain is the essential precondition of a complex and civilized society. Today's interactionists, and in general, the majority of sociologists, show little interest in brain development and function. However, there is an opportunity for sociologists and neuroscientists to collaborate in order to better understand how the brain develops in relation to biological development and social experience.

ObjectivesTo assess whether a psychosocial intervention teaching coping strategies to women can improve quality of life (QOL) in groups of Iranian women exposed to social pressures.DesignQuasi-experimental non-randomised group design involving two categories of Iranian women, each category represented by non-equivalent intervention and comparison groups.SettingA large urban area in Iran.Participants44 women; 25 single mothers and 19 newly married women.InterventionsSeventh-month psychosocial intervention aimed at providing coping strategies.Primary outcome measuresEffect sizes in four specific health-related domains and two overall perceptions of QOL and health measured by the WHOQOL-BREF instrument.ResultsLarge effect sizes were observed among the women exposed to the intervention in the WHOQOL-BREF subdomains measuring physical health (r=0.68; p<0.001), psychological health (r=0.72; p<0.001), social relationships (r=0.52; p<0.01), environmental health (r=0.55; p<0.01) and in the overall perception of QOL (r=0.72; p<0.001); the effect size regarding overall perception of health was between small and medium (r=0.20; not significant). Small and not statistically significant effect sizes were observed in the women provided with traditional social welfare services.ConclusionsTeaching coping strategies can improve the QOL of women in societies where gender discrimination is prevalent. The findings require reproduction in studies with a more rigorous design before the intervention model can be recommended for widespread distribution.

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