Journal of Research in Behavioral Sciences
Year:2011 | Volume:9 | Issue:4 (20)|Papers Count:10

Aim and Background: The aim of the present study was to develop a short form of the Persian version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-P-Short) and to examine its reliability and validity.Methods and Materials: The CERQ-P was administrated to 420 (220 male and 200 female) Iranian university students in 2009-2010 academic year. Following stepwise omission of the items with the highest ‘alpha if item deleted’ on the basis of reliability analyses results, the CERQ-P-Short was constructed. The validity of this questionnaire was assessed through the principal component analysis using varimax rotation, correlations between subscales, and criterion validity.Findings: The results of Cronbach’s alpha (ranged from 0.68 to 0.82) showed that the nine subscales of the CERQ-P-Short possessed good reliability. Principal component analysis explained 75% of the variance and supported the original nine-factor CERQ model. The correlations among the subscales were moderately high. Finally, with respect to criterion validity, several CERQ-P-Short subscales were uniquely associated with symptoms of depression.Conclusions: The short form of Persian version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-P) has good psychometric properties.

Aim and Background: Anxiety is a common psychiatric problem among adolescents. The present study was carried out to examine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT) based on Kendall’s Coping Cat model on reducing anxiety among female adolescent students of Khorram Abad.Methods and Materials: This was an experimental study with a one-month follow-up period. It used simple random sampling to select 30 subjects from 376 students aging 11-13 who were found to have high levels of anxiety based on the Spence Children Anxiety Scale (SCAS). Participants were randomly assigned into two groups of experimental and control. Then, the experimental group attended CBGT based on Kendall’s Coping Cat. Finally, both groups were evaluated again using SCAS. The results were analyzed by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).Findings: ANCOVA revealed a significant difference between SCAS post-test scores of the experimental and control groups which remained stable one month after the end of treatment.Conclusions: Cognitive-behavioral group therapy based on Kendall’s Coping Cat model can reduce anxiety in Iranian female adolescent students.

Aim and Background: Complex nature of children's affectionate problems requires assessment and usage of modern treatments. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of attachment-based therapy on depression symptoms in girl students of primary school who had attachment problems.Methods and Materials: This study was an empirical plan with pretest-posttest, follow up and control group. The target samples were 34 individuals of 388 second and fourth grade students of Isfahan primary school that had highest scores on attachment problems and depression symptoms. Evaluation implemented using Randolph attachment disorder questionnaire (RADQ) and Ontario mental health test. Mothers were presented in 10 group sessions of attachment-based intervention and its effects investigated in posttest and 3 months follow up on their girl's depression symptoms. The results have been analyzed by SPSS-16 software and through descriptive and inferential statistics.Findings: Since obtaining a higher score in depression disorder represents severity of the symptoms, it can be seen that the mean post-test and follow up scores of depression in the experimental group is significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0/05). Reduction rate of reported depression symptoms was 0/38 in posttest and 0/50 in three months follow up.Conclusions: The attachment-based therapy was effective to reduction depression symptoms in their girls with attachment problems and the mother's continues attention to interventional methods showed more improvement in follow up evaluation.

Aim and Background: Cognitive investigations of emotional disorders proposed that cognitive biases have at least a role as maintenance factors in psychopathology. This study aimed to compare the styles of attribution in a group of students with borderline personality traits and a normal group.Methods and Materials: This was a cross-sectional survey. Through stratified random sampling, 330 students from Azerbaijan University of Tarbiat Moallem were selected and screened by borderline personality questionnaire (Jacson and Claridge). Then, 30 cases were selected as the borderline group and 30 as the normal group. They were tested using the Style Attribution Questionnaire (Seligman et al.). Data was analyzed using one way analysis of variance.Findings: The results showed that in comparison with the normal group, the attributions of people with borderline traits were more external, stable and global for negative events and more external and unstable for positive events. However, scores of the two groups in the dimensions of globality/specificity for positive events were not significantly different.Conclusions: Application of external attribution style in positive and negative situations in the present study indicates the role of projection defense mechanism and paranoid thinking in causal explanations made by people with borderline traits. Similarity of stability/instability dimension of attribution styles between depressed people and people with borderline traits could be due to the relationship between depression disorder and borderline traits. In addition, the similarity in attribution styles between individuals with borderline and schizotypal traits for negative situations in each of the three dimensions may be caused by the common characteristics among these groups.

Aim and Background: Development of human societies sometimes leads in negative consequences such as stress. This research was conducted to assess the effects of religious commitment and self-efficacy in predicting the amount and type of perceived stress in university students.Methods and Materials: This was a correlational-descriptive study including 200 undergraduate and postgraduate students at East Azerbaijan Payam-e-Noor University during 2009-2010 academic year. The subjects have been selected by multiple-stage cluster sampling. Data was collected through researcher made questionnaire, Nilsson religious commitment questionnaire, the perceived stress questionnaire by Kohen et al., and Sherz general self-efficacy questionnaire. The data was analyzed using Pearson correlation test and multiple regression test in SPSS.Findings: The findings showed religious commitment to have a negative relation with the amount of negative stress, and significant positive relations with self-efficacy and the amount of positive stress. On the other hand, self-efficacy had a negative relation with the amount of negative stress, and a significant positive relation with the amount of positive stress. Standard multiple regression showed self-efficacy and religious commitment to be valid variables for predicting positive and negative stress in students.Conclusions: According to the results of this study, students can reduce the amount of negative stress and therefore improve their mental health by increasing their religious commitment, such as praying and reading Quran.

Aim and Background: Recognizing factors and reasons affecting addiction can be useful in reducing the prevalence of addiction and as a result prevent various mental‚ economical‚ cultural, and social complications. The present study aimed to determine the factors leading to addiction based on the opinions of drug addicts hospitalized in addiction centers in Kerman.Methods and Materials: This survey included 200 male drug addicts hospitalized in addiction centers in Kerman. Data was collected by a researcher-made questionnaire which consisted of two parts. The first part included demographic features and the second part included reasons of tendency to use narcotics. The reasons were divided into three categories of personal‚ familial, and social levels. Data was analyzed using dispersion and central indices, nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis and Mann Withney U tests.Findings: The minimum age for starting addiction was 9. Among various personal‚ familial and social factors‚ imitating addicted adults (46.5%) ‚ addiction of parents (53.5%) and relationships with addicted friends (78%) had the most important roles in the tendency to use narcotics.Conclusions: According to our results‚ family and peers can make individuals more vulnerabale using narcotics and thus addiction.

Aim and Background: Personality traits are among the factors affecting the tendency to substance abuse.Personality evaluations have shown sensation seeking to be a particularly strong predictor of initial substance abuse across a variety of drug use categories. The aim of this study was to determine levels of sensation seeking in addicted and normal subjects while considering gender.Methods and Materials: The present causal comparative study was performed on 90 individuals (60 male and 30 female addicts with an age range of 20-40). Accessible sampling was used to randomly select the subjects from referrers to welfare centers and outpatient addiction treatment centers in different parts of Tabriz and Marand in 2009. Based on DSM-IV-TR criteria, this group (the case group) suffered amphetamine substance abuse or dependence. The other group (control group) included 60 male and 30 female non-addicts who were among the relatives, neighbors and friends of the subjects in the case group.Overall, the study population consisted of 180 people. Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale was used to collect data. Finally, data was analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and least significant difference (LSD) post-hoc test Findings: The results revealed a significant difference between addicts and non-addicts in terms of total sensation seeking and its subscales including thrill and adventure seeking, experience seeking, and boredom susceptibility. The addicted participants scored higher than non-addicts in total sensation seeking and its subscales. In addition, the scores of male addicts were higher than female addicts in total sensation seeking and the subscales of thrill and adventure seeking, experience seeking, and sensation seeking.However, there was no significant difference between female and male addicts in experience seeking, boredom susceptibility, and disinhibition.Conclusions: Although addiction, as a social pathology, would never be eradicated completely, it can be controlled through management, thinking and devoted attempts. Assessment of personality traits and sensation seeking in addicts provides important information for better definition, recognition, and treatment of addicts.

Aim and Background: Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder. The positive and negative symptoms are not only important in the prognosis of the disease but also affect the quality of life among the patients. Therefore, the present survey aimed to determine the relationship between positive and negative symptoms and quality of life among schizophrenic patients in Sina Hospital in Juneqan.Methods and Materials: This cross-sectional study was performed on 62 patients with schizophrenia in Sina Hospital in Juneqan. The data was collected through interview by psychologists, using the individual and social factors questionnaire, schizophrenic quality of life scale (SQLS), and Anderson positive and negative symptoms questionnaire. The data was assessed using descriptive and inferential statistics and Pearson correlation analysis.Findings: The mean scores of negative symptoms, positive symptoms, and quality of life were 99.67±32.57, 71.14±19.5, and 93.55±13.06, respectively. In addition, Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant inverse relationship between positive symptoms and quality of life (r=0.48, P£0.001), as well as negative symptoms and quality of life (r=0.38, P£0.01). Thus, increased positive and negative symptoms increase quality of life in patients and higher mean scores indicate more problems and lower quality of life.Conclusions: Since the positive and negative symptoms have a negative effect on quality of life in schizophrenic patients, it is important to reduce and control these symptoms and provide the patients with a promoted quality of life.