Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology
Year:2019 | Volume:25 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:10

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on death anxiety and mental health in women with HIV in Abadan City, Iran. Methods: This study has a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test and control group. A sample of 30 patients referring to Abadan Behavioral Disease Counseling Center in 2015, were randomly assigned to either experimental (n=15) or control group (n=15). The experimental group received 8 sessions of acceptance and commitment treatment in two 90-minute sessions per week. The study data were collected using Templar death anxiety scale and Goldberg general health questionnaire in 3 time points; before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and one and a half months later as the follow-up. The obtained data were analyzed by analysis of covariance in SPSS V. 16. Results: The results of covariance analysis showed that acceptance and commitment treatment reduced death anxiety (P<0. 001) and increased mental health (P<0. 001) in the experimental group compared with the control group at the post-test and follow-up period. Conclusion: Acceptance and commitment therapy can be effective in reducing death anxiety and improving the mental health of patients with HIV. Therefore, acceptance and commitment treatment as a complementary therapy along with therapeutic treatments in these patients is recommended to improve the psychological symptoms.

Objectives: The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of positive psychological well-being of adolescents. Methods: The research method was quais experimental. The statistical population of this study was all high school girl students in Serishabad of Kurdistan Province, Iran studying in the academic year of 1995-1996. The sample consisted of 30 high school female students who were randomly selected. Then they were randomly assigned to two groups: the experimental (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. The study tools used in this research was Ryff’ s Psychological Well-being Scale (RPWS). A pretest was administered to both the experimental and control groups. Then, the positive psychology intervention was administered to the experimental group, and the control group did not receive any intervention. At the end of the training, the post-test was taken for both groups. Results: The results of the Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) indicate that positive psychology significantly increased psychological well-being among the experimental group compared to the control group. The results also showed a significant difference between the mean scores of RPWS of psychological well-being in the experimental and the control group in the post-test (P<0. 001). The positive psychology intervention method had a significant effect on autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relation with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance (P<0. 001). Conclusion: The interventional method of positive psychology can increase the psychological well-being of adolescents.

Objectives: Academic procrastination is an unreasonable delay in the submission of academic assignments, which is very common. This research was designed to develop and study the effect of a mindfulness-based educational package on reducing academic procrastination. Methods: The educational package based on mindfulness for reducing academic procrastination was designed by using mindfulness-based techniques and the relevant literature of academic procrastination considering the effective constructs, including self-efficacy, test anxiety, self-esteem, and perfectionism. In a quasi-experimental study, 36 subjects were selected. In order to study the effect of the educational package on students, the experimental and control groups were put into pre-test, post-test, and followup categories. Results: Mixed ANOVA revealed the effectiveness of the provided educational package on improving mindfulness (F=20. 87; P<0. 001) and reducing academic procrastination (F=44. 67; P<0. 001) whose effect was significant. Conclusion: Based on the results, self-efficacy, test anxiety, self-esteem, and perfectionism of the participants in the post-test and follow-up were significantly different from the pre-test. The findings of this study are consistent with the findings of previous studies. These results are applicable to clinical and educational practitioners.

Objectives: Love trauma is a common phenomenon among university students which causes educational and psychological problems in them. This study aimed to determine the role of personality traits, early maladaptive schemes, and the quality of attachment relationships in predicting Love Trauma (LT) syndrome. Methods: In this correlational study, the statistical population consisted of all patients referring to counseling centers of Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran University, and Islamic Azad University of Roudehen branch, with a complaint of emotional breakdown. Using purposeful sampling method, a total of 200 patients were selected as study samples. They were screened based on the cut-off point of Love Trauma Index (LTI). Data analysis was conducted using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method in LISREL Software. Results: SEM model showed a root mean square error of 0. 047 which indicate good model fit. Conclusion: The provided model for predicting LT syndrome was a good fitting model. Personality traits, early maladaptive schemes, and the quality of attachment relationships could predict LT syndrome.

Objectives: This study aimed to predict the intensity of pain based on the amount of alexithymia in patients with chronic pain, and in this relationship, the behavioral inhibition system has a mediating role. Methods: The present study has a correlational design and carried out with a structural equation modeling approach. The statistical population comprised all 20-60 years old patients with chronic pain who had referred to Mahan Clinic and the physical medicine and rehabilitation clinic of Arman in Tehran, from spring to autumn of 2017. Of them, 488 patients who had experienced the musculoskeletal pain for at least 3 months, were chosen purposefully and asked to respond the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the inhibition/activation system scale, and Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). The analysis was done in SmartPLS. Results: The intensity of pain had a positive relationship with inhibition system (P<0. 001) and fight/ flight system (P<0. 05). Alexithymia had the positive a relationship with inhibition system (P<0. 001). Alexithymia (t=6. 34, β =0. 29), inhibition system (t=3. 77, β =0. 17), and fight/ flight system (t=4. 26, β =0. 18) could explain the variance of the pain intensity. Alexithymia could explain the activity of inhibition system (t=8. 03, β =0. 30) and the behavioral activation system (t=2. 83, β =-0. 14). Conclusion: The relationship between alexithymia and the intensity of pain was not a simple direct relationship, but the inhibition system with its avoidance behavior output could affect this relationship.

Objectives: Online games in recent years have become one of the most popular hobbies among teenagers due to their diverse and attractive features. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of cognitive distortion, parenting style, and narcissistic personality traits in online games in high school boy in Sahneh City, Iran. Methods: This is a survey and a correlational study. The study sample consists of 200 male high school students in the city of Sahneh, Iran who were selected randomly by a multi-stage sampling method. For data collection, online gaming addiction questionnaire, cognitive disturbance questionnaire, parenting styles questionnaire, and narcissistic personality traits questionnaire were used. In this research, the correlation and multiple regression were used to analyze the obtained data in SPSS V. 21. Results: The findings showed that online addiction can be predicted by a linear combination of predictive variables. Based on regression analysis, parenting style (P≤ 0. 001, β =0. 46), narcissistic personality traits (P≤ 0. 001, β =0. 34), and cognitive disturbance (P≤ 0. 025, β =0. 11) could significantly predict students’ addiction to online games. Conclusion: These variables can play an effective role in addiction to play online games. Considering these variables, authorities of schools and other educational institutions should design and implement appropriate monitoring and control programs for this common problem.

Objectives: This research aimed to compare impulsivity and experiential avoidance in obese individuals with and without Binge Eating Disorder (BED). Methods: We obtained data from 60 severely obese women referring to health centers and gyms. They were selected by convenience sampling method. The participants completed Gormally Binge Eating Scale (BES), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), and Bond Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ). The obtained data were analyzed by the discriminant analysis method. Results: Among 5 investigated components in two groups of with and without binge eating disorder, the components of non-planning impulsivity (P<0. 01), and emotional avoidance and control (P<0. 05) were found significant. Conclusion: In the two groups of with and without binge eating disorder, the components of non-planning impulsivity, emotional avoidance and control were found significant. This means that significant differences exist between individuals with and without binge eating disorder.

Drug therapy is the base of the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Psychotropic drugs can reduce the severity of mental illnesses and improve the outcomes of these disorders if they are used properly. One of the main challenges in psychiatric patients, especially patients who lack enough knowledge about their illness, is the non-compliance with the treatment. In the present study, we first tried to explain the general principles of using psychotropic drugs and then the physicochemical characteristics of each category of psychiatric drugs.