JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES
Year:2012 | Volume:10 | Issue:2 (23)|Papers Count:10

Aim and Background: Anxiety is the most prevalent psychiatric symptom in patients with coronary heart disease. Untreated anxiety will result in adverse outcomes for these patients. This research aimed to compare the effectiveness of group behavioral activation with and without familial support on anxiety reduction in patients with coronary heart disease.Methods and Materials: In a semi-experimental pretest-posttest design with a control group and follow up, 59 married men with coronary heart disease were selected with convenient sampling. They were randomly assigned into two experimental groups and one control group. The participants completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Family Support Questionnaire (FSQ), and a demographic questionnaire in pretest phase, posttest phase, and follow-up phase. Treatments groups received therapeutic intervention in 7 sessions (once weekly) while the control group did not receive any intervention. All groups were followed for 6 months.Findings: The results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed statistically significant differences between the therapeutic effectiveness of group behavioral activation therapy, group behavioral activation therapy with familial support, and the control group in anxiety reduction (P<0.001).Conclusions: The effectiveness of group behavioral activation and social support on anxiety in patients with coronary heart disease would be valuable for clinicians and health professionals.

Aim and Background: Irritable bowel syndrome is the most common functional gastrointestinal disorder (FGID) in which psychological factors play an important role in development and exacerbation of symptoms. The aim of the current study was to compare mental health of patients with irritable bowel syndrome, patients with organic gastrointestinal disorders, and normal individuals.Methods and Materials: In a casual-comparative study, 3 groups of 95 patients with irritable bowel syndrome, 95 patients with organic gastrointestinal disorders, and 95 normal individuals were selected using available sampling method. Participants completed the Symptom Cheklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) questionnaire. Data was analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).Findings: The results showed significant differences between patients with irritable bowel syndrome and patients with organic gastrointestinal disorders and normal individuals in all subscales of SCL-90-R. However, patients with organic gastrointestinal disorders and normal individuals were only significantly different in somatization subscale.Conclusions: The results showed that patients with irritable bowel syndrome have lower mental health than other gastrointestinal patients and normal people. Therefore, the role of psychological factors needs to be considered in etiology and treatment of this syndrome.

Aim and Background: This research aimed to compare the effects of cognitive behavioral therapy and Islamic-based spiritual-religious psychotherapy on reducing overt anxiety level of male students residing in dormitory.Methods and Materials: This clinical trial study used Cattell's anxiety questionnaire to identify anxious students. Afterwards, 45 students from Allame Tabatabaie University selected and randomly assigned into 3 groups of cognitive behavioral therapy, spiritual-religious psychotherapy, and control. They received therapeutic methods in the form of groups for two hours per week (12 sessions). Data was analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).Findings: The results showed that no significant difference between the two therapeutic methods in reducing anxiety levels. In fact, both methods were significantly effective in reducing overt anxiety of students.Conclusions: Islamic-based spiritual-religious psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy can reduce overt anxiety.

Aim and Background: Being abused during childhood and adolescence is one of the important risk factors of substance dependence. The purpose of this study was to compare child abuse in patients with substance dependence and non-dependent persons in Isfahan, Iran.Methods and Materials: This causal-comparative study was conducted on 120 male substance dependent patients who referred to therapeutic centers in Isfahan (clinical group). The subjects were selected through cluster sampling. The clinical group was compared with 120 non-dependent men as the control group. The Child Abuse Self Report Survey (CASRS) was used to collect data.Findings: Our results indicated that the rates of physical, sexual, and affective abuse in the clinical group were significantly more than the control group (P<0.05). On the other hand, neglect was more frequent in the control group.Conclusions: According to our results, being abused in childhood is one of the risk factors for substance dependence disorder in adulthood. Therefore, Iranian parents need more training on how to treat their children.

Aim and Background: This study aimed to assess the efficacy of psychoeducational group interventions in promoting quality of life and quality of relations in families of patients with bipolar disorder.Methods and Materials: This was a semi-experimental study with control group and random assignment.In this study, the experimental and control groups composed of 6 and 9 subjects, respectively. All participants were family members of patients with bipolar disorders who completed the World Health Organization's quality of life questionnaire and quality of relationship inventory. While the experimental group attended 12 sessions of psychoeducational group interventions, the control group received no intervention. Analysis of covariance was used for statistical analyses.Findings: The results of data analyses demonstrated significant increases in mean scores of quality of life and social support in the experimental group. However, the mean scores of conflict and depth of the relationship did not differ significantly between the two groups.Conclusions: These findings indicated that psychoeducational group interventions can promote quality of life and social support, but have little impact on conflict and depth of relationships.

Aim and Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of life skills training to reduce depressive symptoms in students of Piranshahr, Iran.Methods and Materials: A total number of 64 male high school students who scored 96-140 on children's depression scale were selected randomly from Piranshahr. The participants were randomly allocated into two groups of experimental and control. The experimental group attended 12 sessions of group life skills training. However, the control group received no intervention. Both groups completed children's depression scale before and after the intervention.Findings: The results of analysis of covariance showed that life skills training was effective in reducing depressive symptoms and significantly reduced social problems, and preoccupation with death and diseases. The treatment was however found to be ineffective in reducing affective responses and sense of guilt and improving self esteem and pleasure.Conclusions: According to our results, it appears that a complete treatment of depressive symptoms requires a more extensive training.

Aim and Background: Educational programs are designed to provide educational needs of learners. Rapid development of science boundaries necessitates nurses to achieve new skills. Therefore, identifying the educational needs of nursing staff is an important and effective step for promoting their strengths. The present study tried to determine the educational needs of nursing staff in psychiatric wards.Methods and Materials: This cross-sectional survey included 76 nurses working in psychiatric wards of Noor, Farabi, and Alzahra Hospitals in Isfahan, Iran during 2010. Census sampling was used to select subjects. Data was collected by a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed by content validity and Cronbach's alpha (89%), respectively. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS.Findings: The findings showed that most educational needs of the nurses fell in three domains of identifying disorders, nursing care, and pharmaceutical and non- pharmaceutical care. The most important educational needs of the nursing staff in psychiatric wards in identifying disorders included identifying psychiatric disorders of children and adolescents and psychiatric emergencies. The educational needs in the domain of nursing care included managing aggressive patients and appropriate activities for suicide prevention. Finally, in the pharmaceutical and non- pharmaceutical care domain, the nurses needed education about recognizing the side effects of medications and managing the side effects. Other findings indicated that there were no significant relations between educational needs and age, professional background, and the place of work.Conclusions: The needs of nursing staff in psychiatric wards can be categorized in three domains of identifying disorders, nursing care, and pharmaceutical and non- pharmaceutical care. Therefore, in order to improve the knowledge and skills of nursing staff and promotion of the nursing services, more attention should be paid to the needs of nurses. In addition, short-term and long-term educational courses are required to be designed and implemented for nurses.

Aim and Background: In recent years, experts in the field of obsessive-compulsive disorder have been trying to measure the validity and efficiency of pharmaceutical interventions. The meta-analysis evaluated the effectiveness of medication on symptoms of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.Methods and Materials: This meta-analysis was conducted on studies during the past decade in Iran. Therefore, 20 studies which have been conducted with approved and accurate methodology during the past 10 years were selected and divided into control and experimental groups. They were then investigated based on the meta-analysis method. The research tool was the meta-analysis checklist.Findings: The effect size of pharmaceutical treatment on reducing obsessive-compulsive symptoms was d=1.11 (P£0.001).Conclusions: According to Cohen's power table for effect size, the effect size of pharmaceutical treatment on reducing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder was high.