Psychological Research in Individuals with Exceptional Needs

The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and psychological empowerment (cognitive and emotional) in children with a history of sexual abuse. This study employed a single-case experimental design with a multiple baseline staggered approach. The statistical population included primary school students in Tehran during the 2025–2026 academic year. Using purposive sampling, four children aged 8–12 years with a history of sexual abuse and meeting PTSD criteria were selected. Data were collected using the Lifetime Incidence of Traumatic Events Inventory (LITE-C, LITE-P), the Child and Parent Reports of Post-Traumatic Symptoms (CROPS, PROPS), and the Social-Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales (SEARS). Participants underwent approximately 14 individual TF-CBT sessions, with concurrent parental involvement. Data were analyzed using graphical analysis, percentage of improvement, repeated measures analysis of variance, and paired-samples t-tests via SPSS version 26. The results indicated statistically significant reductions in PTSD symptoms and significant increases in psychological empowerment across participants (p < 0.05). Repeated measures ANOVA revealed large effect sizes for both psychological empowerment (η² = 0.982) and PTSD symptoms (η² = 0.954), indicating strong treatment effects. Additionally, paired-samples t-test results showed no significant differences between post-test and follow-up scores (p > 0.05), suggesting the stability and maintenance of treatment gains over time. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective intervention for reducing post-traumatic stress symptoms and enhancing psychological empowerment in children with a history of sexual abuse, with effects that remain stable during follow-up.

The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on rejection sensitivity and self-acceptance among individuals with visual impairment. The research employed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest–posttest–follow-up structure including a control group. The statistical population consisted of all visually impaired individuals who were members of associations supporting persons with visual impairment and the Welfare Organization of Kurdistan Province during Spring 2025. From this population, 45 participants were selected using convenience sampling and were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. Participants completed the Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire developed by Downey and Feldman (1996) and the Unconditional Self-Acceptance Questionnaire designed by Chamberlain and Haaga (2001) at pretest, posttest, and follow-up stages. Group sessions of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy were conducted for the intervention group based on the treatment protocol proposed by Hayes and Strosahl (2005) across eight 90-minute sessions. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy significantly reduced rejection sensitivity in the intervention group compared with the control group (p = .018). Furthermore, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy significantly increased self-acceptance in the intervention group compared with the control group (p = .005). The findings indicate that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can be utilized as an effective intervention for reducing rejection sensitivity and enhancing self-acceptance among individuals with visual impairment. The implementation of this therapeutic approach in rehabilitation centers and psychological service settings may play an important role in promoting mental health, emotional adjustment, and improving the quality of life of visually impaired individuals.

Children with dyslexia do not demonstrate homogeneous neuropsychological characteristics. The present study aimed to compare verbal working memory performance under different levels of cognitive load between two primary dyslexia subgroups, namely perceptual and linguistic types. In this comparative research design, 35 Persian-speaking children aged 7 to 10 years were selected through purposive sampling. Diagnostic and subgroup classification procedures were conducted based on the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the Reading Test (Pour-Etemad & Jahani, 2001), Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices, the Conners Parent Rating Scale, and the application of Baker’s balance model framework. The primary assessment instrument was a computerized verbal N-Back task. The collected data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The findings indicated a significant interaction between subgroup type and cognitive load level. Although the performance of the two groups was similar at lower task demands (1-Back and 2-Back conditions), a clear differentiation emerged under high cognitive load conditions (2-Back), such that the accuracy of the perceptual subgroup was significantly higher than that of the linguistic subgroup. These results suggest that verbal working memory deficits in dyslexia are neither global nor stable; rather, they follow a cognitive load–dependent pattern specific to the linguistic subtype. The evidence provides compelling support for the existence of distinct cognitive architectures and underscores the necessity of designing targeted and individualized intervention programs.

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of working memory training on executive functions and cognitive flexibility in students with specific learning disorder. Methodologically, this study was quasi-experimental and employed a pretest–posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included all children diagnosed with specific learning disorders in Ardabil City during the second semester of the 2023–2024 academic year. The research sample consisted of 45 children with specific learning disorder, who were then randomly assigned to two groups of 15 participants each (experimental group and control group). The experimental group received group-based working memory training over 12 sessions of 60 minutes each, whereas the control group did not receive any therapeutic intervention during the study period. Data collection instruments included the Learning Problems Questionnaire developed by Wilcutt et al. (2011), the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function developed by Gioia et al. (2000), and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test developed by Grant and Berg (1948). The obtained data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance. The results indicated that working memory training had a significant effect on executive functions and cognitive flexibility in students with specific learning disorder. Accordingly, it can be concluded that working memory training can be used to improve executive functions and cognitive flexibility in students with specific learning disorder.

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between mindfulness and social anxiety with the mediating role of metacognitive beliefs in mothers of children with autism and intellectual disability. In terms of purpose, the research was applied, and in terms of data collection, it employed a descriptive correlational design based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population included all mothers of children with autism and intellectual disability in Behshahr County, totaling 618 individuals, from whom 237 participants were selected as the sample based on the Krejcie and Morgan table using convenience sampling. Standardized questionnaires—including the Wells and Cartwright-Hatton Metacognitions Questionnaire (2004) (α = 0.79), the Connor et al. Social Anxiety Questionnaire (2000) (α = 0.82), and the Baer et al. Mindfulness Questionnaire (2006) (α = 0.88)—were used as research instruments. For data analysis, descriptive statistics included frequency tables and charts, percentage frequencies, and means; inferential statistics included the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test to assess the normality of variables and correlation coefficients and structural equation modeling to test the research hypotheses, using SPSS 22 and SmartPLS software at a 95% confidence level. The results indicated a significant relationship between mindfulness and social anxiety with the mediating role of metacognitive beliefs in mothers of children with autism and intellectual disability. Additionally, there was a significant negative relationship between mindfulness and metacognitive beliefs with social anxiety in mothers of children with autism and intellectual disability, and a significant negative relationship between mindfulness and metacognitive beliefs in these mothers.

This study aimed to develop and validate a cognitive rehabilitation package targeting executive functions and to determine its effectiveness on communication skills and self-care in adolescents aged 14–20 years with developmental intellectual disability. The research employed a mixed-methods (qualitative–quantitative) design. In the qualitative phase, the executive functions cognitive rehabilitation intervention package was developed through a systematic review and concurrent meta-analysis of articles indexed in scientific databases published between 2014 and 2024, and its content was subsequently approved by experts in the field. In the quantitative phase, using a quasi-experimental method with a pretest–posttest control group design, 30 adolescents with intellectual disability enrolled in special education schools in Kashan County were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (15 participants per group). The intervention program was implemented in 12 one-hour sessions. Data in the qualitative phase were collected using library and documentary methods and interviews, and in the quantitative phase using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire by Hoffman and Kashdan (2010) and the National Adaptive Behavior Scale developed by Malekshahi, Kamkari, and Makvandi (2018). The validity of the developed package was examined using thematic analysis, and its effectiveness was analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS version 24. The findings indicated that the mean Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and Content Validity Index (CVI) of the developed package were 0.62 and 0.79, respectively, demonstrating adequate validity of the designed intervention. Statistical results showed significant improvements in self-care and communication skills at the posttest stage in the experimental group compared with the control group. Therefore, it can be concluded that the executive functions rehabilitation package is effective in improving self-care and communication skills in adolescents with developmental intellectual disability and can be utilized to enhance these competencies in this population.

The objective of this study was to identify and classify latent patterns of anxiety and perfectionism among high-ability adolescents using a multimodal deep learning framework. This quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of high-ability youth aged 12 to 18 years in Germany. Participants were recruited from secondary schools and gifted education programs and completed standardized self-report measures assessing anxiety and multidimensional perfectionism through a secure digital platform. In addition to numerical questionnaire data, open-ended textual responses related to academic experiences and self-expectations were collected, along with behavioral interaction indicators such as response times. Data were analyzed using a multimodal deep learning architecture integrating feedforward neural networks for numerical features and transformer-based models for textual data. Feature fusion was performed in a shared latent space, and supervised learning was applied to classify anxiety–perfectionism profiles. Model performance was evaluated using accuracy, precision, recall, F1-score, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Inferential analyses indicated that the multimodal deep learning model significantly outperformed single-modality models in detecting anxiety and perfectionism patterns. Latent profile analysis based on learned representations revealed three distinct psychological profiles: low-anxiety adaptive perfectionism, moderate mixed perfectionism, and high-anxiety maladaptive perfectionism. The high-anxiety maladaptive profile constituted the largest subgroup, and linguistic and behavioral features contributed significantly to classification accuracy beyond self-report measures alone. The findings demonstrate that multimodal deep learning approaches can effectively uncover nuanced and clinically meaningful anxiety–perfectionism profiles in high-ability youth, offering a robust foundation for early identification and targeted psychological support.

The objective of this study was to identify and characterize distinct executive function profiles among children with exceptional cognitive abilities using unsupervised clustering techniques. This quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of school-aged children with documented exceptional cognitive abilities in South Africa. Executive functions were assessed using a multi-method battery comprising performance-based measures of working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, planning, and sustained attention, alongside parent- and teacher-rated executive function scales. Following data screening and standardization, unsupervised clustering analyses were performed using hierarchical and partition-based algorithms to identify naturally occurring executive function patterns. Model fit and cluster validity were evaluated using internal validity indices, and cluster stability was examined through resampling procedures. Unsupervised clustering analyses supported a three-cluster solution, revealing statistically distinct executive function profiles. Multivariate comparisons indicated significant between-cluster differences across all executive function domains, with large effect sizes observed for working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. Cluster membership was significantly associated with classroom engagement and behavioral self-regulation indicators, while age differences across clusters were nonsignificant. The findings demonstrate substantial heterogeneity in executive functioning among children with exceptional cognitive abilities, highlighting the presence of globally advanced, selectively strong, and asynchronous executive function profiles. These results underscore the value of person-centered, data-driven approaches in understanding cognitive regulation in high-ability populations and emphasize the need for individualized assessment and educational support.