INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
Year:2009 | Volume:3 | Issue:1|Papers Count:14

Introduction: The objective was to investigate the effect of different rated violent computer games regarding to types of personality and sex on neuroimmunoandocrine changes among Iranian children. Method: 209 participants were selected by cluster sampling method among students of secondary schools in Tehran. Their age ranged from 12 to 15 years. All Subjects were divided to 9 groups including a control group and 8 experimental groups which played selected electronic games for 40 minutes. Body temperature measured 10 minutes before beginning and 5 minutes to the end of the game; Salivary cortisol and salivary IgA measured 5 minutes after the end of the game in all members of test and control (not playing in resting mode) groups and. All subjects filled out Eysenk personality inventory before the experiment. Results: Neuroimmunoandocrine changes were moderated by playing different rated violent electronic games and gender under interaction with different levels of personality type and gender. Music was also moderated immunological responses under interaction of gender. Conclusion: Neuroimmunoandocrine changes regarding to personality and gender are affected by violence in game's content.

Introduction: In patients with a chronic disease such as heart failure, function and quality of life is much lower than general population. Living with heart failure is distressful and affects activities of daily living. The purpose of this study was to assessment the effectiveness of applying continuous care model on quality of life in heart failure patients. Method: This is a clinical trial study done on 52 patients. Effect of applying continuous care model on quality of life in heart failure patients assessed by Minnesota standard questionnaire. Results: Administrating of continuous care model enhanced quality of life in all physical (p<0.001), emotional (p<0.001) and general (p<0.001) dimensions in case group after 2 and 3 months. Conclusion: According to no exact treat of chronic diseases, applying of effective care models such as continuous care model can positively affects the quality of life in heart failure patients.

Introduction: Recent research findings about schizophrenia have shown that this disorder was associated with considerable cognitive and perceptual deficits, specifically in areas of attention and executive memory. The main aim of this study was to examine the executive memory and its dimensions in schizophrenic patients compare with normal individuals. Method: 30 schizophrenic male patients hospitalized in "Shahrood Psychiatric Hospital" selected using available sampling method, tested by revised version of WMS-III and compared by 30 normal randomly selected male individuals in same range of age and educational level. Results: Provided from MANOVA revealed significant differences between two groups in four subscales: orientation, control, visual memory and digits memory. Conclusion: Performance of the schizophrenics in conceptualizing and memory is lower than normal people. This finding is consistent by the hypothesis that schizophrenic patient suffers from a front-temporal lesion. Cognitive rehabilitation therapy seems to be necessary for these patients.

Introduction: The main aim of the present study is to investigate the selective attention in methadone maintenance patients comparing with two control groups including the abstinent opiate abusers and healthy control subjects. Method: 25 former opiate addicts receiving methadone maintenance treatment, 25 former opiate addicts withdrawn from all opiates and 25 healthy controls without a history of drug dependence participated in this study. All groups matched by age, level of education and sex. Instruments included Dot Probe Task, Beck Depression Inventory and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Results: There were significant differences on anxiety and depression across three groups, which mean that the experimental group obtained high scores than the control groups. The experimental group showed an attention bias towards addiction related stimuli in dot probe task. Conclusion: Findings of this study are in line with those of the previous researches which found some neuropsychological impairment in long-term MMP recipients.

Introduction: Presence is referred as a person's reported feeling of being in the place. The goal of this paper was to investigate validity and reliability of Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ) Persian version in a virtual environment. Method: 118 male volunteers filled in the IPQ after having been exposed to a Virtual Environment in a driving videogame in different conditions: Driving in game net, as a passenger and driving in easy, difficult and arbitrary conditions. Results: Factor analysis showed that IPQ consisted of 3 components that explained 67% of common variance: realness, spatial presence and involvement. Compared with passenger condition, interaction with the Virtual Environment (driving) increased significantly the realness and spatial presence scales and the total IPQ scores. Internal consistency, split-half and test-retest coefficients for the IPQ were 0.87, 0.85 and 0.74, respectively. The three factors and total score intercorrelated, significantly. Conclusion: Persian version of the IPQ is a valid and reliable scale to measure presence in computer made Virtual Environments.

Introduction: In this study, validation of new measure of perfectionism evaluated. Method: At first, Persian version of perfectionism, inventory and general health questionnaire (GHQ) administrated to 68 guidance school sophomores. To examine reliability of measure, Kronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated. Relationship between perfectionism inventory and GHQ calculated as an index of convergent validity. At last, 313 guidance school sophomores and juniors completed perfectionism inventory. Factor analysis applied to data as an index of construct validity. Results: Kronbach's alpha coefficient indicated that perfectionism inventory has acceptable reliability. Furthermore, prior expectations about perfectionism and general health status confirmed. Factor analysis indicated that this measure has six factors that altogether explain 43% of total variance. Conclusion: New measure of perfectionism has an acceptable reliability and validity. Therefore, it is recommended to all researchers who are interested in perfectionism.

Introduction: The present research aimed to verify the attitudes and tendency of adolescents to military career of their parents. Method: 885 adolescent girls and boys completed a teacher-made questionnaire concerning the psycho-social characteristics of military parents' job. Results: Welfare, wellbeing, eminent and famous were more important in adolescents' opinion. The high correlations were found between physical dangerous and job hazards, job hardiness and aggression at work and feeling of honor and work achievement. In addition, comparing to other groups, 16-20 year old adolescents had the lowest tendency to military career. In sum, it was found that one fifth of subjects tended to military career. Conclusion: Results are in agreement with some previous results and reflected either the burnout or satisfaction of parents' job.

Introduction: The purpose of the present research was to investigate the effect of Positive parenting program (Triple-P) on decreasing the symptoms of ODD in 6-7 year-old children. Method: An experimental and a pretest-posttest control group design method have been applied in this regard. Participants of the study were all parents of 330 children who were at pre-school grade and also first grade in the school. To find and select the main subjects, two steps were taken, At the first step, the selected parents were those whose children gain the scores higher than cut-off score in Children Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and at the second step, for final selection, these chosen parents were attended in the Structured Diagnostic Interview-based on DSM-IV-TR criteria. Main subjects were finally, those parents whose children's disorder symptoms were confirmed through the diagnostic interview selected and divided randomly to two experimental (25 people) and control group (21 people). The experimental group received Triple-P and control group received no intervention. Results: The analysis showed that the children of mothers who were in experimental group had a significant decrease in the symptoms of ODD , while the children of mothers in control group showed no significant difference. Conclusion: Although there were cultural and social differences between the studies groups of this research and those groups in other communities and cultures, there was a significant decrease in the symptoms of ODD in the children of mothers in experimental group.

Introduction: The present study examined the effects of group assertive training on social anxiety, social skills and academic performance of female freshmen in Bahmaei high school. Method: The related population includes all freshmen in Bahmaei high school in 2008 . The sample includes 60 students selected by random multistage sampling method. They were randomly divided into experiment and control groups. The instruments used in this study were Watson & Friend's Anxiety Scale and Eisler & Miller's Social Skills Rating Scale. The research design was pretest- posttest with the control group. For analyzing the data MANOVA method was used. Results: The Results of MANOVA showed that, at least there is a significant difference between two groups in one of the dependent variables. Then, the significant difference between two groups in all three dependent variables was then confirmed by ANOVA method. Conclusion: Group assertive training increased social skills and school performance and decreased social anxiety of experimental groups in compare with control groups.

Introduction: This research was to study the effect of positive induced emotions on happiness and depression after lingering induced arousal worry. Method: To study the effect of emotion induction (Positive and negative) on decreasing previously induced anxiety, 32 female students at high school grade 1 in Isfahan City, were randomly selected and then questionnaires of depression, happiness, MMPI 2 (Personality multiple questionnaire) and two scales of the big five factorial questionnaire (extraversion-introversion) was completed by them. Then they were randomly assigned into four groups (two experimental groups and two control groups) for the first group a sad film, the second group a cheerful film and the third group a neutral film was shown and the fourth group remained without intervention. Next day, all group members completed the depression and happiness questionnaire again. Research findings were analyzed using covariance and MANOVA analysis. Results: Those who turned their attention to cheerful film were happier than those who saw either the neutral and sad film or non intervention and those who saw sad film were more depressed than others. Conclusion: Positive emotion is more effect on negative emotion like depression and happiness. This effect called the undoing effect of positive emotions.

Introduction: Adolescence is concerned as a developmental and crucial process. The majority of adolescents are experienced less or more some difficulties in emotional, behavioral, and social domains. Type 1 diabetes with permanently changes in a person's life, has negative effect on adolescent Quality of life. Methods: In Qualitative research, twenty adolescent girls with diabetes, members of the Diabetes Society in west Azerbaijan, selected purposively. Data were collected using in-depth unstructured interviews and focus groups. Analysis of the transcripts was guided by qualitative content analysis. Results: seven categories of socio-psychological problems were found. Problems regards to future, treatment, family, society, education, nutrition and activity posed obstacles to the control of diabetes and well being. Discussion: The Socio-Psychological problems among adolescence girls are decreased by developing coping patterns in adolescents and suitable interventions. 

Introduction: The research goal was to design and test a learning motivation model based on social constructivism perspective. In social constructivist perspective, motivation affected by three internal factors Self-efficacy, self-regulation and ability for relationship with others. Method: Learning model experimented on two groups of students in one of the Tehran Universities. Samples collected randomly. Method of learning was cooperative for the experimental group and traditional for the comparing group. Two groups evaluated by pretest-posttest model. Used testing instrument was learning motivation improvement questionnaire for Iranian students. Results: In test group, learning motivation, self-efficacy and self-regulation improved after administrating of the learning model. Learning motivation improvement model caused to an improvement of cognitional, behavioral and emotional dimensions of the learning motivation and self-efficacy and self-regulation lasted for about 4 months after administrating of the learning model. Conclusion: Learning motivation affected by self-efficacy and self-regulation of students. Cooperative learning is an effective method to improve learning motivation.