Effects of a peace education program on aggression, stress, well-being, and peacefulness of adolescents in Iran

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a psycho-educational intervention for developing intrapersonal and interpersonal peacefulness would increase peacefulness and well-being, and decrease levels of aggressiveness and stress, for aggressive adolescents. Forty Iranian male and forty Iranian female students (aged ۱۴-۱۸) were selected for the study based on obtaining relatively high scores on the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AGQ) (۱۹۹۲). Students in each gender group were randomly assigned to participate in either the psycho-educational intervention or a control group that did not receive an intervention. The intervention involved eight two-hour sessions, one session in each of eight weeks. The sessions included instruction and group discussion on empathy, forgiveness, interpersonal conflict resolution, self-acceptance, and anger management. Participants were assessed at the beginning and end of the eight-week period using various instruments translated into Persian including the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AGQ) (۱۹۹۲), the Ursula Markham stress test (۱۹۹۷), the MHC-LF instrument for assessing well-being (۲۰۰۲), the Interpersonal Peacefulness Scale (Nelson, ۲۰۱۴), and the Self-Perception Scale (Nelson, ۲۰۱۴). According to a MANCOVA analysis of scores, the main effect of group was significant for intrapersonal peace (P<.۰۰۱), interpersonal peace (P<.۰۰۱), well-being (P<.۰۰۱). Also we found main effect of gender significant just for interpersonal peace (P<.۰۰۷). In addition, the interaction between group and gender was significant for aggression (P<.۰۴) and interpersonal peace (P<.۰۱). The pattern of the interaction showed that females were more influenced than males in regard to interpersonal peace (M: ۸۲ vs. ۷۶.۴۶) and aggression (M: ۷۹.۲۵ vs. ۸۶.۴۶).

کلیدواژه ها:

peace ، stress ، wellbeing ، aggression ، adolescent