The Impact of Happiness on Anxiety, Academic Achievement and Parent-Child Relationships in Teenage Girls

M. Poursina, M.A.

Kh. Ahmadi, Ph D

A. Shafi’abadi, Ph D

Adolescence is such a critical period that one of our main responsibilities is to help adolescents have integrated personality and promote relations and personal development among them. Hence, the present study was carried out to study the impact of happiness and positive thinking on anxiety, academic achievement and parent-child relationships among teenage girls.  Pretest, posttest research design (with control group) was utilized in this quasi-experimental study. The subjects were 60 guidance school girls who obtained the highest scores on the anxiety inventory. The subjects were randomly assigned to experimental (N=30) and control (N=30) groups. The experimental group received 9 sessions of intervention (Fordyce happiness training program). Afterwards, both groups received the posttest. The instrumentation comprised Spielberger STAI-Y as well as Parent-Child Relationship Survey (PCRS). The Data were analyzed through ANCOVA statistical indexes. Results showed that Fordyce program and positive thinking had a significant effect on the components of anxiety and academic achievement. In addition, Fordyce program was effective in promoting mother-child relationships however it was not effective in father-child relationships. Due to the fact that happiness can simply be used in life, it is recommended as a convenient and effective method to reduce anxiety, increase academic achievement, and promote parent-child relationships.

Key words: happiness, anxiety, academic achievement, parent-child relationship