Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the serious issues which has affected mental health in the world. One of the age groups whose learning processes are highly influenced by the pandemic are adolescents, especially those with low academic performance. Although there have always been problems in the learning process at schools prior to the pandemic, online learning systems have added more challenges to the educational system which results in poor academic performance in this group. Increased stress is among the negative consequence which in turn can affect well-being. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) affects well-being and perceived stress in adolescents with low academic performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: It was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test design and follow-up with a control group. The subjects were 30 adolescents with low academic who were chosen based on by convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group. The research tools were the well-being, perceived stress questionnaires, and CBT. The experimental group received CBT intervention for 10 sessions, each for 120 minutes online, and the control group did not receive any intervention. The data were analyzed by the repeated measures analysis method. Results: Based on the obtained results, there was a significant effect of CBT on well-being and perceived stress in the experimental group. The finding indicated that CBT led to increasing wellbeing and reducing perceived stress in adolescents with low academic performance (P ≤ 0.05). This effect impact was persisted following 3 months in the experimental group as well. Conclusions: Considering the effectiveness of mentioned therapy methods on adolescents with low academic performance, it is necessary to apply such a way to improve the well-being of adolescents and relieve their stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, which consequently leads to academic and mental improvement. Moreover, CBT is a feasible and acceptable intervention in adolescents with low academic performance.
Background: Treatment methods for autistic spectrum have been of utmost interest for researchers. In this regard, nature therapy is one of the most cost-efficient methods of treatment. Considering this issue, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of family-centered nature therapy on the sensory processing of children with autism spectrum. Methods: This study was an applied and semi-experimental (pre-test and post-test) with control group. The statistical population included all children with autism spectrum disorder (3 -7 years old) referring to Tehran's rehabilitation and therapy centers. The sample size of 14 children (12 males and 2 females) with autism spectrum disorder was selected by convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Ten sessions of nature therapy were held at Sagan Nature School along with parents' mandatory attendance. To collect the data, the sensory evaluation checklist and the Nature Therapy Schedule were used based on theoretical framework and research findings. The obtained data were analyzed using Leven, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and covariance analysis tests. Results: Based on the obtained results, nature therapy had a significant effect on sensory processing in experimental group (F = 22.42; P = 0.001). Furthermore, eta coefficient of 0.67 indicated that approximately 67% of the variance of the dependent variable (sensory processing) is affected by the study intervention. Conclusions: The findings showed that family-centered nature therapy reduced some sensory problems in children with autism spectrum disorders. These children, especially in motion and touch, showed significant progress. Therefore, this method can be used for reducing the syndrome of children with autism spectrum disorder due to its positive, simple, and beneficial effects as a complementary therapy along with other therapies.
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