Browsing by Author "Ahmadi, Atefeh"

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    The effectiveness of ecletric therapy for middle childhood anxiety disorders in rural primary schools.
    (Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 2015) Ahmadi, Atefeh
    Anxiety Disorders are the most common debilitating psychopathological problems in middle childhood and tend to chronicity. This study identified sociodemographic predictors of Anxiety Disorders and examined the effectiveness of Eclectic Therapy with and without parental group guidance on Anxiety Disorders and mental health difficulties (conduct, peer relationship, emotional and inattention/hyperactivity problems) in Pontian, a rural district in Malaysia. Using total population purposive sampling technique, a total of 600 students of four primary schools and 411 of their parents completed the Spence Children Anxiety Scale and socio demographic information questions, respectively. To be involved in the experiment, children were selected using a cut-off score. Using quasi-experimental design, one control (N=24), one Eclectic Therapy group (N=13) and one Eclectic Therapy with two parental group guidance sessions (N=24) selected for the experiment. Descriptive analysis of screening phase showed that the mean anxiety scores was 32.84 and the prevalence rate of high anxiety among the children was 15.6% and in the range of other studies used Spence Children Anxiety Scale. Multiple linear regression revealed that age, gender, socioeconomic status, familial factors and major lifetime past events were predictors of Anxiety Disorders. One-way Analyses of Variance for intervention phase showed statistically significant reduction in the level of Anxiety Disorders and mental health difficulties for both experimental groups. This reduction was obviously higher in Eclectic Therapy group except for the peer domain which was higher for the group involved in Eclectic Therapy with parental group guidance. Analysis of Co-variance showed that age, gender, mother’s work hours per day, educational level of mother, parental divorce, parental death and family monthly income significantly predicted therapy outcomes. In sum, the finding on the level and prevalence of Anxiety Disorders among participants support the results of other studies. Moreover, this study emphasizes the existence of sociodemographic predictors specific to anxiety types that can be applied for preventive approaches. Eclectic therapy has been proven to be effective in rural educational settings for children suffering from Anxiety Disorders to promote their mental health status