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Abstract
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INTRODUCTION
Bullying is considered a serious issue in the school environment, especially if it occurs frequently. [1]; because it causes psychological and academic problems in school [2]. ... [3]. Research conducted among school students in more than 40 countries has shown that the rate of bullying varies between countries and ranges from 8 to 45 percent among boys and from 4.8 to 35.8 percent among girls. The rate of bullying among ninth-grade students in Brazil increased from 4.5% in 2009 to 7.2% in 2012 and 7.4% in 2015, and its prevalence was similar in both sexes [4]. To overcome or reduce bullying, several school-based interventions are being designed and implemented around the world [5]. Since the nature of the bullying construct is a constructive inability to interact with peers, it seems that an intervention program such as communication skills can also be used to have a positive effect in reducing bullying [6]. ... [7, 8]. Research has shown that communication skills training has an impact on self-confidence and empathy [9] and the amount of self-evaluation [10]. Kerr et al. [11] in a meta-analytic review regarding the effectiveness of communication skills to improve nurses' communication with patients from 1998 to 2018, published in English in databases (Medline, Cinahl, Embase, Psychinfo Cochrane), identified 7811 articles that the results of the surveys show a significant increase in the skills of nurses after receiving communication skills training. One of the goals of teaching communication skills is to increase the ability of social adjustment of learners in the social context, especially in the educational environment [12]. ... [13-18]. Researchers have shown that teaching communication skills significantly improves school adjustment and increase responsibility among students [19-21]. ... [22]. Ahmadi et al. have found that low adjustment and lack of responsibility of learners in interacting with school and society are caused by weak communication skills [23]. Researchers believe that the best way to increase the adjustment of adolescents and the responsibility of bullies is to strengthen their communication skills. As a result, social adjustment and responsibility have a close relationship with the ability of communication skills [21].
AIM(s)
Considering the importance of community-oriented interventions in the field of bullying and its consequences, and the lack of research in the field of educational interventions on social adjustment and responsibility, the main issue in this research was to investigate the effectiveness of communication skills training in the social adjustment and responsibility of bullying female students in Karaj.
RESEARCH TYPE
The current research is an experimental type with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group.
RESEARCH SOCIETY, PLACE & TIME
The statistical population of the research was all bullied female students in the 10th grade of district 2 of Karaj, Iran in the academic year of 2020-2021. The statistical sample was selected from public school students.
SAMPLING METHOD & NUMBER
First, six secondary schools of district 2 of Karaj city were randomly visited. Students with a history of bullying in these schools were identified by the executive staff and teachers of the schools. After identifying these people and implementing the school bullying questionnaire and social adjustment and responsibility questionnaires, 30 of them who had the highest score in the bullying questionnaire and a low score in the California responsibility and social adjustment questionnaire of Sinha and Singh (97 people), were selected as samples. These people were selected based on their age, educational and family status, and pre-test scores, and then they were randomly replaced in the two experimental and control groups (15 people each group) [25].
USED DEVISES & MATERIALS
The Olweus School Bullying Questionnaire (R-VQ/OB) [24-27], Sinha and Singh Social Adjustment [25, 28], and California Responsiveness (1987) [29-31] were used to collect data.
METHODS
To conduct the study, communication skills were taught in the experimental group, but no educational intervention was done in the control group. Two weeks after the end of the training, social adjustment and responsibility questionnaires were performed as a post-test. It should be noted that the sample people in both groups were matched in terms of educational level, major, and grade. In the present study, the educational package of communication skills (Ahmadi et al.) was used [32]. The validity of this protocol was confirmed by the creators as well as two expert professors. Experimental interventions were implemented for the experimental group during 10 sessions as a group in one of the high school classes that were determined by school administrators and counselors. Two sessions were held every week for 60 minutes. In this research, the students were not just listeners and interacted with the researcher during the sessions (Table 1).
ETHICAL PERMISSION
This project was approved by the Research Council of Payame Noor University with the code of IR.IAU.Z.REC.1399.68.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 23 software and using covariance analysis. A significance level of 0.05 was considered.
FINDING by TEXT
The age of the studied samples in the experimental and control groups was between 16 and 18 years, which was recorded separately in Table 2. The result of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for all variables was greater than 0.05, which indicated the normal distribution of the data in the variables. Also, according to the Box's M test, the equality of the covariance matrix of the dependent variables was not significant between the experimental and control groups (p>0.05). The results of Levin's test to check the homogeneity of error variances of the variables in the research groups were not significant for the variables of social adjustment acceptance and responsibility (p>0.05). In other words, the error variances of these variables were homogeneous in the groups. The results of Wilks Lambda test showed that there was a significant difference in at least one of the dependent variables in the studied groups in the post-test phase (p<0.001). Also, the regression slope homogeneity equation was not significant (p>0.05). Therefore, it can be said that the assumption of regression homogeneity was maintained in all variables; so, the use of covariance analysis was confirmed. The value of Wilks Lambda was close to zero (this value is between zero and one), which indicates the difference in the average of the groups from each other, and its significance level was less than 0.05 (Table 3). The average post-test score of the experimental group in the variable of social adjustment was 16.20±2.18 and of responsibility was 25.13±3.81 compared to the pre-test (11.87±2.07 and 13.60±2.99, respectively) (Table 4). The results of covariance analysis showed that the value of the F statistic, which shows the effect of the independent variable (group), was significant with a value of 40.403, so there was a significant statistical difference between the two groups (Table 5). The results of univariate covariance analysis (p<0.001; F=66.980; Eta=0.713) showed that communication skills training increased the responsibility score in the post-test of the experimental group and was able to explain 75% of the variance of the dependent variable.
MAIN COMPARISION to the SIMILAR STUDIES
Teaching communication skills were effective in students' social adjustment; this finding was consistent with the results of Shariat [19], Bavzin, Sepahvandi and Ghazanfari [20], Rabbani [21], Bahadori and Habibi [33]. In explaining this finding, it can be said that since the educational protocol of communication skills consists of three components of managing emotions and feelings, perception of others, and self-expression, by preventing and increasing the power of adjusting to others and increasing the threshold of tolerance, it leads to the improvement of reflective problem-solving style and decrease impulsive and bullying behaviors which directly lead to reducing interpersonal problems and improving students' social adjustment. ... [34]. Learning skills such as how to interpret body language as well as ways of using this part of non-verbal communication, using appropriate ways of self-expression, and problem-solving skills make students able to recognize the state and negative physical and emotional signs of anger and internal and external factors and finally use alternatives to bullying, instead of suppressing or losing temper. [34]. Also, teaching communication skills were effective in social adjustment. The result of this hypothesis was consistent with the research results of Shariat and Ahmadi et al [19, 23]. ... [35]. Students who have excellent communication skills show more adaptive behaviors, and are more popular and accepted among their peers; as a result, with the encouragement and feedback they experience from people, they have a positive self-evaluation of themselves and feel responsible for every commitment and promise they make and try their best to fulfill their promises; therefore, they have high responsibility [36].
LIMITATIONS
The limitations of the age group (female students 14 and 15 years old), geographical (Karaj city), and the lack of control of influencing factors (economic and social base, intelligence) were among the limitations of this research.
SUGGESTIONS
It is suggested to pay special attention to the teaching of communication skills in the compilation of students' textbooks and to include intervention programs with the content of communication skills at the high priority of educational lessons and life skills in schools. Also, for future research, it is suggested to investigate more closely the effectiveness of teaching social communication skills on the responsibility and adjustment of learners by increasing the training sessions and holding the follow-up period.
CONCLUSIONS
Teaching communication skills affects the social adjustment and responsibility of bullying Karaj female students. Therefore, to increase their social adjustment and responsibility, it is necessary for schools, families, educational institutions and organizations, and even military institutions to be aware of the importance and role of communication skills and to be encouraged to use this skill to promote the adjustment and responsibility of learners.
CLINICAL & PRACTICAL TIPS in POLICE MEDICINE
Based on the results of the present study, by teaching communication skills, psychologists and counselors of health and treatment centers, education, and even military institutions such as police headquarter can improve students or even soldiers' healthy communication relationships and emotional expression, their invulnerability to bullying, social adjustment as well as their responsibility so that a step can be taken to reduce social crimes in the society.
Language: en |