positive thinking

Aim: Marriage is a social institution that forms the foundation of relationships and creates family units. The present study was conducted to examine the effect of transactional analysis on marital quality and positive thinking of married women in District 6 of Tehran in 2020. Methods: This quasi-experimental research was conducted with a pretest-posttest design and included a control group. Among the married women in the 6th district of Tehran who had enrolled in the Institute of Transactional Analysis Training, 34 individuals were selected using Purposive sampling, with 17 randomly assigned to the experimental group and 17 to the control group. The marital quality and positive thinking questionnaires were administered to subjects in the experimental group during the pretest phase, followed by implementing the independent variable (transactional analysis) in the experimental group through 9 three-hour sessions. The control group did not receive any training. After the final session, both groups completed the marital quality and positive thinking questionnaires in the post-test phase. The SPSS 19 software was utilized to conduct the covariance analysis test to analyze the data. Results: The value of F indicates the effect of transactional analysis training on marital quality (F=533.862; P=0.017), and positive thinking (F=14.67; P=0.001) demonstrates the impact of transactional analysis training on positive thinking and marital quality is confirmed after controlling for pretest effects and nuisance variables. Conclusion:This study reveals that transactional analysis impacts marital quality and positive thinking of married women. One of the most crucial functions of training is the ability to express one's needs to the spouse, leading to improvement in marital quality, specifically by reducing stress and anger. Additionally, by helping individuals identify and manage their emotions, transactional analysis training can help control negative emotions and improve their overall outlook, increasing positive thinking. This positive thinking, achieved through transactional analysis training, can improve individuals' mental and emotional well-being and reconstruct their damaged spirits.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of mentalization-based training and positive thinking for parents of children with autism on their reflective functioning and their children's aggression. Methods: This quasi-experimental study employed a pretest-posttest design with a control group and a three-month follow-up. The statistical population included all parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) enrolled in day centers for education and rehabilitation of individuals with ASD in Tehran during the 2022-2023 academic year, and their children. A total of 32 parent-child pairs were selected using purposive sampling and were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (16 parents) or the control group (16 parents). Data collection tools for parents included the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (Fonagy, 2016), and for children, the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist Aggression Scale (2001) Parent Form. Initially, a pretest was administered to both groups, and the Aggression Scale was completed by the parents for their children. The mentalization-based and positive thinking training package (Fonagy) was then conducted in 12 sessions of 120 minutes each for the experimental group. Subsequently, a posttest was administered to both groups, and the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire and Positive Beliefs Questionnaire were completed by the mothers, while the Aggression Scale was again completed by the parents for their children. A follow-up phase occurred three months later. Data analysis was conducted using repeated measures analysis of variance. Findings: The results indicated that the impact of mentalization-based and positive thinking training on the components of reflective functioning (F = 14.35) and aggression (F = 7.17) in children was significant (P < 0.01), and this effect persisted through the follow-up phase. Conclusion: Given the results, it appears that mentalization-based and positive thinking training, by enhancing reflection on mental states, emotional regulation, and the ability to enjoy pleasant events, provides a suitable context for reflective functioning. This, in turn, leads to a reduction in aggression in children with autism.