This study was an effort to find out the effect of mentally retarded children on their non retarded female siblings (12-18 yrs. Of age) in terms of their relationship with parents, social adjustment and future concerns. Study was carried out at Amin Maktab i.e. institute for special children. Sample of 30 female siblings (12-18 yrs. of age) of 30 mild to moderate mentally retarded children was selected and interview schedule was prepared for themthat consisted of thirty six statements and responses were collected on five point Likert scale. Its reliability was calculated as 0.825, indicating good internal consistency for this scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics as percentage, mean and standard deviation while independent samples t-test, ANOVA and Pearson Correlation were also applied to compare the mean scores. Results reveal that female siblings face problems regarding their relationship with parents and social adjustment and have more future concerns due to the presence of mentally retarded child in the family. Younger siblings of mentally retarded children were found to be having more problems in their social adjustment than the elder siblings of mentally retarded children. Positive relationship was found between social adjustment and future concerns of the respondents.   Keywords - mentally retarded children, siblings, social adjustment, future concerns, relationship with parents

Happiness is a fundamental characteristic of life, helping individuals to become healthy and productive members of society. Pakistan has been ranked as the 67th happiest country out of 156 countries in the world. Self-compassion (SC) and empathy are considered some of the finest emotions and moral values of human beings leading to a happier life. This is the first study in South Asia that examined self-compassion as a moderator between empathy and happiness. Furthermore, we also determined self-compassion and empathy as predictors of happiness among late adolescents. Data collected from 566 students, selected randomly from different educational institutions in Lahore, suggested that self-compassion (r = 0.273) and empathy (r = 0.131) had a significant positive relationship with happiness. Self-compassion and empathy both significantly predicted happiness. Male adolescents had slightly higher self-compassion and mindfulness than females. Self-compassion (F (3, 562) = 29.74, p = 0.000) was found to significantly moderate the relationship between empathy and happiness. Self-compassion can be highly beneficial to relate to oneself, specifically for adolescents who are involved in developing their identities and self-worth, and it makes their transition from adolescence to adulthood easy.

This study was an effort to find out the relationship of emotional intelligence with social anxiety and social competence of adolescents. The study was carried out at Ibne Sina College and SICAS. A sample of 130 adolescents between the ages of 14-16 years was randomly selected. Emotional quotient inventory youth version (EQi- YV) by Baron, Kutcher Social Anxiety Disorder Scale for Adolescents (K-GSADS-A) and Measures of Adolescence Social Performance (MASP) were used to find out the emotional intelligence, social anxiety and social competence respectively. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as independent samples t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results showed that girls experience more social anxiety as compared to boys. Further analysis revealed a negative correlation between emotional intelligence and social anxiety, a positive relation between emotional intelligence and social competence and a negative relation between social anxiety and social competence of both boys and girls.

Objective: A lot of research has been conducted on betrayal among married couples, but literature regarding betrayal in context to same-gender adolescent friendship is scarce. This study was designed to assess whether betrayal, trust and quality of friendship predict forgiveness. The study further aimed to find out the impact of age, gender, and education on adolescents’ forgiveness. Method: A cross-sectional survey was administered on 400 adolescents enrolled in educational institutions of Pakistan. Results: Betrayal was found to negatively predict emotional forgiveness (β= -.152, p<0.01), but it didn’t predict decisional forgiveness (β= -.071, p>0.01). Trust (β=.180, p<0.01) and quality of friendship (β=.202 p<0.01) were found to positively predict both emotional (β=.179, p=0.01) and decisional forgiveness (β=.344, p<0.01). Moreover, age and educational level predicted betrayal, emotional and decisional forgiveness; whereas, gender was found to predict only betrayal and emotional forgiveness. Conclusion: Betrayal from close friends is getting prevalent these days, shattering the individual's trust as well as affecting the quality of relationship and forgiveness, thus needs serious consideration.

Storytelling has been used as an oldest form of teaching. Even though for years, storytellers shared stories with children, up till now very few researches have been conducted on the impact of storytelling on children’s learning. The current research was an effort to explore the effect of storytelling on listening skills and vocabulary of preschool children. This study was a quasi-experimental design. The total sample comprised of 14 participants of preschool, aged 5 years divided into two; control (n=7) and experimental (n=7) groups through non-random sampling. The data was collected and assessed by means of globally recognized scales Morrow’s Retelling 10 Point Scale for listening skills and Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) for vocabulary. Six stories were selected for storytelling; first story for pre-test, four stories for interventions and sixth story for post-test story telling. The statistical analysis was done by conducting independent samples t-test and paired samples t-test to compare scores among control and experimental groups. The post-test results and the researcher’s observations affirmed that preschool children who were exposed to storytelling with props were highly engaged in story retelling; incorporating minute details which verified listening attentively and carefully maturing their listening skills and revealed better, meaningful and deeper understanding of vocabulary. Keywords: Storytelling, Listening Skills, Vocabulary, Preschool