Shenakht Journal of Psychology and Psychiatry
Year:2023 | Volume:10 | Issue:2|Papers Count:12

Introduction: Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is one of the common childhood disorders with extensive negative effects on people emotional, metacognitive, cognitive, and communication processes. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cerebellar training in the theory of mind and working memory of children with ODD. Method: This semi-experimental study utilized a pretest-posttest and follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population included all 5-6-year-old children with ODD in Gonbade Kavus city in 2022. A convenience sample of 40 people was assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent cerebellum training in 20 sessions of 40 minutes, three sessions per week, while the control group did not receive any training. The research instruments included the Disorders of Children Symptom Inventory-4 (CSI-4) (1994), Theory of Mind Test (1999), and Counting Span Test (2003). The data were analyzed by SPSS-24 software using the repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: Cerebellar training significantly improved working memory and theory of mind in the posttest and follow-up stages (P<0. 01). Also, 31. 7% of the difference between the groups in the theory of mind, 21. 5% in the forward memory span, and 17. 9% in the backward memory span was due to the intervention effect. Conclusion: Cerebellar training was effective on working memory and theory of mind of children with ODD. This research provides useful information regarding the cerebellum training package. Counselors and psychologists can use this intervention to improve working memory and the theory of mind of children with ODD.

Introduction: Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) is characterized by distressing somatic symptoms which are accompanied by disproportionate thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, has wide gender differences in prevalence, which has been less investigated in researches. Aim: The purpose of this study was to compare the physical (criteria A) and psychological symptom of SSD (criteria B) consist of cognitive, affective and behavioral in female and male patients. Method: This study was a descriptive and causal-comparative research. The participants included 60 Iranian women and 30 men with SSD in the age range of 18-60 years old who participated in the study based on the diagnosis of a psychiatrist by Convenience sampling method in 2021-2022. Data was collected by The Somatic Symptom Disorder-B (2017) Criteria Scale and The Somatic Symptom Scale8 (2014). For data analysis, MANOVA were applied by using SPSS-22. Results: The findings revealed that women with SSD generally showed more psychological symptoms compared to men and in the psychological subscales, affective (P=0. 00) and behavioral (P=0. 00) was more evident in them, however there was no significant difference between men and women in cognition of psychological subscales (P=0. 18) and intensity of physical pain (P=0. 13). Conclusion: According of the study, one of the factors of the difference in SSD prevalence can be from less expressing, not less suffering from the disorder in men. Studying the main causes of differences in the affective and behavior of psychological subscales such as cultural origin, can be effective in further studies.

Introduction: Nowadays, the long-term use of screens leads to physical, cognitive, and behavioral injuries in children. Aim: The present study was conducted to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the screen-time questionnaire in children. Method: The present is applied in terms of objective and developmental in terms of methodology. The statistical population of the study comprised 90 children aged 8-12 years in Mashhad in 2021-2022 who were selected based on availability sampling method. The research tools included the Screen-time Questionnaire (2019) and Conners’,Questionnaire (1999). Test-retest reliability was used to measure the reliability of screen time questionnaire in children using the intra-class correlation coefficient and standard error of measurement. Moreover, the correlation between the scores of the components of the screen-time scale and the parental version of the Conners’,questionnaire was checked to verify the convergent validity. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficient values for the components of children’, s screen-time questionnaire on normal days of the week were between 0. 80-0. 92, weeknights between 0. 79-0. 90, and weekends between 0. 78-0. 85, while the use of the screen in the background was between 0. 73-0. 80. All these values indicated high reliability or favorable retest reliability of the screen-time questionnaire components in children. Furthermore, the results of convergent validity suggested that there is a positive and significant relationship between the components of the screen-time questionnaire and the lack of attention component at 0. 01 level. Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that the screen-time questionnaire is a reliable and valid tool for the quantitative evaluation of the use of electronic-screen devices in Iranian children. Therefore, this tool can be used for research and clinical applications in the field of cognitive disorders related to children.

Introduction: Today, despite the nationwide vaccination of the society to prevent the epidemic of the Covid-19 virus, some people refuse to inject the Covid-19 vaccine as the main self-care behavior, which can have specific reasons. Aim: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the role of personality and demographic characteristics in the injection of the covid-19 vaccine as a measure to prevent the spread of the corona virus in Mashhad. Method: The method of this research was descriptive-correlation. The statistical population consisted of the people of Mashhad in the year 2022, of which 517 people (62. 1% vaccinated and 37. 9% unvaccinated) were selected in an accessible and voluntary manner and completed the Brief HEXACO Personality Questionnaire (2013) and Demographic Characteristics Questionnaire in Person. The collected data were analyzed by Yeoman-Whitney test in SPSS software version 26. Results: The results showed that there is no significant difference between vaccination and nonvaccination in the five personality components of Emotionality (P=0. 19), Extroversion (P=0. 44), Agreeableness (P=0. 88), Conscientiousness (P=0. 86) and Openness to Experience (P=0. 20). However, there was a significant difference between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated groups in terms of the personality component of Honesty-humility (P=0. 03) and the demographic characteristics of gender (P=0. 002), age (P=0. 001), level of education (P=0. 001), and employment status (P=0. 001). Conclusion: The personality trait of honesty-humility and the demographic characteristics of gender, age, level of education and employment status play a role in the matter of injecting the Covid-19 vaccine as the main self-care behavior. These results can be used to promote and encourage vaccination in future crises.

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental neurological disorder that threatens individuals’,social interactions and communication by limiting their activities and personal interests. Aim: The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy in helping attitudes and the work-related flow of autism child mentors in the rehabilitation centers of Mazandaran, Iran. Method: The research method was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest, control group, follow-up design. The sample population included all male and female mentors of autistic children in the rehabilitation centers of Mazandaran in 2020. In total, 30 mentors were selected by voluntary sampling and divided into a test and a control group by simple random sampling (15 per group). Eight sessions of therapeutic intervention were provided to the study groups. Post-test and follow-ups were conducted for both groups after therapy. Data were collected using Nickell’, s Helping Attitude Scale (1998) and Bakker’, s Work-Related Flow Scale (2008). Data analysis covariance analysis was performed in SPSS version 25. Results: Findings demonstrated a significant difference between the mean scores of the test and control groups regarding helping attitudes and work-related flow among autism child mentors in the post-test stage (p<0. 01). Further, compassion-focused therapy was effective in helping attitudes (0. 84) and work-related flow (0. 91) of autism child mentors. Conclusion: Results indicate that compassion-focused therapy can potentially improve helping attitudes and the work-related flow of autism mentors in different situations. Therefore, incorporating this educational intervention into the rehabilitation agenda of these mentors appears to be quite beneficial.

Introduction: Negative body image and its adverse behavioral consequences are important public health concerns, and studying effective psychological factors in its formation is very important. Aim: The present research aimed to compare Self-compassion and Cognitive flexibility in people with and without body dysmorphic disorder syndrome. Method: The present study had a descriptive and causal-comparative design. The research population consisted of all women and men aged 18 to 40 of Tehran in 2022, from which a sample of 62 people was selected by available and purposeful sampling method (31 people as a sample group with symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder and 31 people as a sample group without symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder). Participants answered the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder: BDD-YBOCS (1997), Self-compassion Scale-Short Form (2011), and Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (2010). Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance, by SPSS-25 software. Results: The results showed that the mean scores of self-compassion (F=31. 16, P=0. 001, Eta=0. 34) and cognitive flexibility (F=31. 24, P=0. 001, Eta=0. 18) were significantly lower in the group with symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder than the group without symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder and there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0. 01). Conclusion: The present study highlighted the importance of psychological mechanisms in the symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder. These findings indicated that psychotherapists should pay essential attention to the special psychological attributes of people with symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder at the time of prevention and treatment.

Introduction: Lack of cognitive flexibility intensifies an individual’, s negative thoughts about oneself. Aim: The present study aimed to design and validate an educational program based on the posttraumatic growth model and to evaluate its effectiveness in the cognitive flexibility of leukemia patients. Method: In this quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest control group design, the statistical population consisted of all patients referred to Firouzgar Hospital of Tehran, Iran, in 2022. The sample size 30 patients were selected by the convenience sampling method and randomly allocated into the experimental and control groups. The Cognitive Flexibility Questionnaire (2010) was used to collect the required data. The educational program based on the posttraumatic growth model was held in 12 sessions, and a follow-up experiment was conducted to evaluate the durability of intervention effects. The results were analyzed using the multivariate analysis of covariance and repeated measures ANOVA in SPSS version 22. Results: The results showed that the F-values measured for the components of cognitive flexibility, including the perception of controllability, perception of different options, and perception of behavior justification, were significant (P<0. 01), suggesting the impact of the training program based on the posttraumatic growth model on cognitive flexibility. The results of repeated measures ANOVA also indicated the persistence of the effects of the training program on cognitive flexibility (P<0. 01). Conclusion: The result of the research showed that the training program according to the posttraumatic growth model was effective in cognitive flexibility, and its effect persisted until the follow-up period. Therefore, this program can be used as an effective intervention to improve the cognitive flexibility of patients with leukemia.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed new challenges to the global health sector, causing significant psychological distress in different societies. Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the correlation of personality traits and cognitive emotion regulation strategies with health anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: This descriptive, correlational study was conducted on 200 individuals, who were selected via convenience sampling among all residents of Babol (capital of Babol County, Iran) from March to September 2020. The data collection tools included the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (2006), Personality Traits Questionnaire (1985), and Health Anxiety Inventory (2002). For data analysis, Pearson's correlation test and stepwise regression analysis were performed in SPSS version 26. Results: The multiple correlation coefficients of variables, as well as the regression coefficients of health anxiety, were significant for emotion regulation strategies and personality traits (P<0. 01). The standardized beta coefficients revealed that rumination (β, =0. 260), catastrophizing (β, =0. 234), and refocus on planning (β, =-0. 192) could significantly predict health anxiety, respectively. Conclusion: According to the present results, personality traits and cognitive emotion regulation strategies had significant effects on the health anxiety of people during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is recommended to implement psychological training to reinforce positive strategies for cognitive emotion regulation.

Introduction: Cancer patients experience chronic pain and excruciating pain, which makes it difficult for them to tolerate and adapt. Aim: This research was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of an educational program based on compromise with pain on depression and anxiety of cancer patients. Method: The present research was conducted in a semi-experimental way with a pre-test and post-test design along with a control group. The statistical population of this research included all cancer patients referred to health centers and clinics in Sanandaj city in 2019, and 30 cancer patients were selected by available sampling and then randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The participants in the experimental group received the educational program based on compromise with pain in 10 sessions 2-hour, and the participants in the control group did not receive any intervention. Data collection tools were Beck Anxiety Questionnaire (1990) and Beck Depression Questionnaire (1961). Data were analyzed using SPSS-22 statistical software, descriptive indices and covariance analysis. Results: The results showed that the program based on compromise with pain had a significant effect (P<0. 01) on the depression of cancer patients and reduced depression in cancer patients, and the program based on compromise with pain had a significant effect on the anxiety of cancer patients (P<0. 01) and has improved anxiety in cancer patients. Conclusion: Based on the results of the research, this program can be used in counseling clinics to help cancer patients, considering the key role of the educational program based on compromise with pain in reducing depression and anxiety of cancer patients.

Introduction: Emotional eating behavior is considered one of the pathological eating behaviors, and the components related to it have special importance, especially in children and adolescents. Aim: The aim of the research was to investigate the role of rumination and sadness emotion management skills in predicting emotional eating behavior in overweight and obese children aged 9 to 12 years. Method: The descriptive research design was of the correlational type and the statistical population included obese and overweight children aged 9 to 12 in Hamedan City in 2019-2020. A total of 268 of these children were selected by convenient sampling method and responded to questionnaires of children’, s responses to imaginal situations that Elicit Sadness (Lopez, 2006), Children’, s Sadness Management Scale (Shipman and Penza-Clive, 2001), Emotional Eating Scale-Children (Tanfoski, 2007). To analyze the data, Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis were used with the help of SPSS-22. Results: The results of correlation analysis showed that there is a significant relationship between rumination variable and emotion regulation management skills with children's emotional eating behavior (P<0. 05). Also, based on the regression results, 45. 4% and 53% of the variance of the variable of emotional eating behavior could be predicted with the help of the predictor variables dimensions of rumination and emotion regulation management skills (P<0. 05). Conclusion: The results indicated that there is a significant relationship between emotional eating behavior with rumination and ineffective strategies for managing the emotion of sadness in obese and overweight children. In order to prevent and treat obesity and overweight in children, it is important to pay attention to their psychological issues. It is suggested that more research be done, in the field of psychological causes of problems related to obesity and overweight.

Introduction: Chronic kidney diseases are one of the problems that threaten people's physical and psychological health. Aim: The present study aims to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy on coherent self-knowledge, emotional regulation and life quality of hemodialysis patients. Method: The present study is a semi-experimental one with a pre-test, post-test and a control group design. The statistical population of this research was hemodialysis patients of Shafa Hospital and Javad Al-Aima Clinic in Kerman in 2022. For this research 45 hemodialysis patients were selected using convenience sampling and randomly placed into two experimental groups of effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy and a control group. The research tools included Qorbani Coherent Self-knowledge (2008), Gross Emotional Regulation (2003) and World Health Organization Life Quality (1996) Questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using covariance analysis or ANACOVA statistical exams, Tukey's b post Hoc exam using SPSS-24 statistical software. Results: The result of covariance analysis showed significance difference between the experimental and control groups as (P<0. 001). Compare to the control group, improvements were observed in coherent self-knowledge, emotional regulation and life quality of hemodialysis patients participated in both experimental groups. Conclusion: Acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy, are proper methods in increasing coherent self-knowledge, emotional regulation and life quality of hemodialysis patients. It is recommended that these approaches can be used alongside other medical treatments.

Introduction: The limitations and challenges faced by children with Down syndrome are primarily attributed to their cognitive abilities. A comprehensive review of the available evidence indicates that timely family-centered interventions are the most effective approach to addressing these issues. Aim: The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of a family-centered sensory motor empowerment program on the intellectual capacity of students diagnosed with Down syndrome. Method: The research method employed in this study was semi-experimental, utilizing a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The population of interest was all students diagnosed with Down syndrome in Kashan city during the 2021-2022 academic year. A convenience sampling method was used to select 30 participants, aged between 8 and 12 years, who were assigned to either the experimental or control group. The experimental group underwent an intervention consisting of 11 weekly sessions, with each session lasting for 2 hours. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (2003) was used as the primary assessment tool. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. 0 and MANCOVA was employed as the statistical analysis technique. Results: Based on the results, the family-centered sensory motor empowerment program demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the total intellectual capacity score (P<0. 01), as well as in subscales of verbal comprehension (P<0. 03), working memory (P<0. 01), and processing speed (P<0. 01). However, the program had no significant impact on the perceptual reasoning subscale (P>0. 30). Conclusion: In conclusion, the findings suggest that the family-centered sensory motor empowerment program can enhance the intellectual capacity of children with Down syndrome by strengthening their sensory and motor abilities, as well as improving their relationships with family members. Therefore, this intervention can be recommended as a viable approach to increasing the intellectual capacity in this population.