Shenakht Journal of Psychology and Psychiatry
Year:2022 | Volume:9 | Issue:5|Papers Count:3

Introduction: Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. This has led doctors, psychologists to seek to discover the causes, treatment and ultimately improve the mental health of this group of patients. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of group schema therapy on death anxiety and emotional turmoil in patients with breast cancer in Shiraz. Method: The present study was quasi-experimental and of pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this research included all patients referred to medical centers and hospitals in Shiraz from July to September 2019 diagnosed with breast cancer. Using the targeted sampling method, 50 women with breast cancer were selected and randomly assigned to 2 groups (control and experimental). The experimental group received the educational intervention of group schema therapy in 8 sessions of 45 minutes and 1 session per week. The control group did not receive any intervention,the questionnaires used in this research included Death Anxiety Questionnaire and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Questionnaire. SPSS version 24 software and covariance analysis were used for data analysis. Results: Findings showed that group schema therapy training protocols had a significant effect on reducing death anxiety and emotional turmoil in women with breast cancer (P≤, 0. 001). The effect size for death anxiety and emotional disturbance was 0. 576 and 0. 247, respectively. Conclusion: The effectiveness of group schema therapy on reducing death anxiety and emotional disturbance was confirmed in the present study. It is suggested to use this type of treatment to help women with breast cancer.

Introduction: Depression in children with cancer can complicate the course of the disease and cause many problems in the treatment process. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression in children and adolescents with cancer. Method: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Forty children with cancer admitted to the oncology ward of Besat Hospital, Sanandaj, with an age range of 7-17 years in 2016, who were selected and assessed using a demographic information checklist and the Children's Depression Inventory (Kovacs, 1979). After collecting data, the data were analyzed by SPSS-20 software using descriptive statistical tests and chi-square. Results: The 15% of the subjects had depressive symptoms and 47. 5% were on the verge of depression. The prevalence of depression was 21. 1% in girls and 9. 5% in boys (p=0. 54), and there was no significant difference in terms of cancer type (p=0. 99), treatment method (p=0. 81) and demographic indicators (p>0. 05). Conclusion: Due to the relatively high prevalence of depression in this group of patients, it is recommended that the necessary screenings be performed to identify and refer patients with depression to psychiatric or psychological clinics to receive appropriate and timely treatment to help improve the quality of life of these patients and their families.

Introduction: Avoidant personality disorder is a relatively common personality disorder, widely coinciding with other axis I and axis II disorders. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of schema therapy and cinema therapy in improving early maladaptive schemas and harm avoidance temperament dimension in patients with an avoidant personality disorder. Method: This single-case research used a quasi-experimental multiple-baseline design. Among 18 to 35-year-old patients referred to the Armana Psychological Clinic in 2021, 4 individuals diagnosed with personality disorders based on a semi-structured clinical interview scale were selected by purposeful sampling. The tools used in this study were schema, temperament, and character questionnaires. The therapeutic program was held for 34 sessions of 60-minute, and the follow-up phase was performed 3 months after the end of the intervention. The data were analyzed by drawing charts and calculating clinical significance indices. Results: Participants’,scores in terms of schemas showed a descending trend from baseline to the end of the treatment, indicating slight improvement (25%-49%). Regarding the avoidance temperament variable, the scores showed a downward direction compared to baseline, revealing an improvement percentage of less than 25%. The scores of clinical significance indices (RCI≥, 1. 96) in both variables indicated the effectiveness of the therapeutic method. Conclusion: Schema therapy and cinema therapy were efficient in treating maladaptive schemas in patients with an avoidant personality disorder,however, efficacy was inadequate for correcting the variable of harm avoidance temperament.