Context and relevance. In the context of modern education, the importance of psychological assistance to students with disabilities (SWD) who are educated at home is increasing (Articles 41, 273 of the Federal Law, 2012/12/29). In the regions of the country, there is a high proportion of students with SWD who are educated at home. Objective: to analyze the results of a survey of educational psychologists providing psychological assistance to students with disabilities at home. Hypothesis. In the structure of psychological assistance for children with disabilities at home, work on the diagnosis and treatment of cognitive and emotional disorders predominates, while the social aspect (communication development, social adaptation) is underrepresented and is considered secondary by specialists. Psychological assistance for the reintegration of students into the school community is not systematic: activities are fragmented, there is a lack of unity between diagnostic, correctional-developmental, and assessment components, and there is weak interdisciplinary coordination and little coherence among participants in the educational process. Methods and materials. A survey of 415 educational psychologists working in inclusive schools with students with disabilities receiving education at home from 7 regions of the Russian Federation based on a questionnaire of 10 closed and 1 open questions. Results. Only slightly more than a third of educational psychologists (37%) work directly with children; 63% limit themselves to consulting with parents or teachers. A third of specialists discuss strategies for a child's transition to school during consultations. The main challenges faced by students with disabilities (on average by educational level) addressed by educational psychologists are cognitive (29.4%), emotional-volitional (26.2%), social-adaptive (15.7%), and communicative (18.4%). Conclusions. Age-related dynamics were identified: behavioral issues predominate in the younger grades, while motivational and career-related issues predominate in the older grades. The need for a systemic, two-stage model of psychological support is discussed.
This study examined the effect of an online psychological resilience psychoeducation program on resilience and hopelessness among divorced mothers. A 3 × 2 mixed experimental design compared a resilience intervention, an active comparison group, and a no-intervention control group before and after the program. Thirty-eight mothers residing in Türkiye who had legally divorced within the previous two years and had not remarried completed the study. The intervention group attended twelve 90-minute sessions, the active comparison group attended ten 90-minute handicraft sessions, and the control group received no intervention. Resilience and hopelessness were assessed with the Psychological Resilience Scale for Adults and the Beck Hopelessness Scale. Mixed MANOVA indicated significant group-by-time effects: resilience increased and hopelessness decreased significantly only in the resilience intervention group. The findings support resilience-focused psychoeducation for recently divorced mothers, while the small sample, broad age range, unequal session dose, and lack of follow-up limit generalizability.
Context and relevance. Emotion regulation and mindfulness are trans-diagnostic mechanisms underlying internalizing disorders such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), having a significant influence on symptoms intensity and therapeutic effectiveness. Given the biological and phenomenological intersections as well as the high comorbidity between OCD and MDD, along with the rising number of such cases in Iran, a comprehensive understanding of the aspects of mindfulness and emotion regulation in these populations is essential. Objective. The present study focused on comparing mean scores of emotion regulation and mindfulness dimensions among four groups: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), OCD patients who developed symptoms of depression (Comorbidity of OCD and MDD), and healthy controls. A total of 419 participants, including 101 individuals diagnosed with MDD, 36 individuals diagnosed with OCD, 150 individuals diagnosed with OCD who subsequently developed depressive symptoms (comorbidity), and 132 healthy controls were selected. Hypothesis. The combination of OCD and MDD was predicted to cause more difficulties in managing emotions and being mindful. Methods and materials. Participants were evaluated using the Beck Depression Inventory – Second Edition (BDI-II), the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Results. The results of the analysis of covariance indicated that the comorbidity group reported more severe impairments in both emotion regulation and mindfulness components in comparison to the three other groups. Moreover, individuals with an OCD diagnosis demonstrated better outcomes in the components of mindfulness and emotion regulation than the MDD group except for non-reactivity on which individuals with MDD performed better. The control group reported higher scores in all components. Conclusions. The combination of OCD and MDD was predicted to cause more difficulties in managing emotions and being mindful.
Context and Relevance. More than half of school-age children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle to comprehend what they read, which hinders their ability to master educational curricula. Reading profiles among children with ASD are heterogeneous, and uneven development of reading abilities (relatively intact decoding with poor comprehension) is considered characteristic of this group. Data obtained in other languages cannot be directly applied to the Russian-speaking population, for which no such studies have been conducted. Objective. To identify subgroups of children with ASD that differ in the level of reading skill development and to describe the reading profile characteristic of each subgroup in a Russian-speaking sample. Hypotheses. Decoding and reading comprehension skills in children with ASD are less developed than in typically developing (TD) peers; both in ASD and in typical development, subgroups with a uniform reading profile will be identified, as well as a subgroup with a non-uniform profile, with the latter occurring more frequently in ASD. Methods and Materials. A total of 79 children with ASD (ages 6 years 10 months to 10 years 2 months) and 110 typically developing (TD) children (ages 6 years 7 months to 7 years 10 months) were assessed. Reading skills were assessed using the “Start/Progress” method; nonverbal intelligence, memory, and the severity of autistic symptoms were also measured. Results. The groups did not differ in decoding ability, but children with ASD demonstrated significantly lower text comprehension (p = 0.004). In both groups, clusters were identified that are characterized by relatively high and relatively low levels of decoding and reading comprehension. In the ASD group, a unique cluster with an uneven profile was identified. Conclusions. At the group level, reading difficulties in children with ASD are primarily associated with reading comprehension, whereas decoding skills are on par with those of their peers. The Russian-speaking sample confirms the existence of a subgroup of children with ASD characterized by an uneven reading profile comparable to hyperlexia.
Background. Insight in schizophrenia has traditionally been considered primarily in relation to awareness of illness and overall illness severity. However, the potential for assessing insight using clinical psychological methods and the relationship of this measure to specific domains of psychopathology remain insufficiently studied. Objective. To examine the association between insight level and clinical symptoms in patients with paranoid schizophrenia. Hypothesis. Insight is a metacognitive process related to behavioral regulation, error recognition, and the use of feedback and may be associated with the profile of clinical symptoms. Methods and materials. The study included 100 psychiatric inpatients diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia (mean age 33.6 ± 8.0 years), divided into groups with relatively higher (n = 61) and lower (n = 39) insight. A clinical psychological assessment of insight and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were used. Both the conventional PANSS subscales and the five-factor PANSS model scores were analyzed. Results. Patients with lower insight had higher scores on the positive, negative, and general psychopathology subscales of PANSS. In the five-factor model, group differences were found in the positive and negative factors, the disorganized/concrete factor, and the excited/hostility factor; the most statistically robust differences concerned the disorganized/concrete factor. Adjustment for hostility indicated that hostility accounted for only part of the associations between insight and clinical symptoms. Conclusions. Lower insight was not associated with a uniform increase in all clinical manifestations, but primarily with disorganization of thinking, negative symptoms, and impaired behavioral regulation.
