Avicenna Journal of Neuropsychophysiology
Year:2016 | Volume:3 | Issue:3|Papers Count:6

Background: The prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) has been reported to increase in recent decades. Therefore, scientific studies should be performed to specify psychological variables, which may contribute to the etiology of this disorder. In this study, we examined the role of body image and perfectionism in predicting BDD symptoms among students.Objective: The aim of this survey was to investigate the role of body image and perfectionism in the prediction of BDD symptoms.Methods: This cross sectional study was performed in 2016 on a sample, including 351 students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, who were selected based on the Morgan formula and multistage cluster random sampling. The participants completed the Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale modified for BDD (BDD-YBOCS), multidimensional body-self relations questionnaire (MBSRQ), and Besharat’s Tehran multidimensional perfectionism scale (TMPS). The collected data were analyzed by Pearson’s correlation test and stepwise regression analysis.Results and Conclusions: The results of stepwise regression analysis showed that perfectionism and body image could significantly predict BDD symptoms (P<0.001). Therefore, these variables can be important in the promotion of students’ health.

Dear Editor: Anxiety symptoms are very frequent in childhood and are associated with significant impairments in social and academic functioning (1). Thus, understanding the underlying etiological processes represents an important research task in the field (2-4). Evidence show that emotion dysregulation is a fundamental feature of anxiety disorders (5).

Background: Adolescence is one of the most important periods in the course of human evolution and the prevalence of mental disorders among adolescence in different regions of Iran, especially in southern Iran.Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of mental disorders among high school students in Bushehr province, south of Iran.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 286 high school students were recruited by a multi-stage random sampling in Bushehr province in 2015. A general health questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used to assess mental disorders. The small area method, under the hierarchical Bayesian approach, was used to determine the prevalence of mental disorders and data analysis.Results: From 286 questionnaires only 182 were completely filed and evaluated (the response rate was 70.5%). Of the students, 58.79% and 41.21% were male and female, respectively. Of all students, the prevalence of mental disorders in Bushehr, Dayyer, Deylam, Kangan, Dashtestan, Tangestan, Genaveh, and Dashty were 0.48, 0.42, 0.45, 0.52, 0.41, 0.47, 0.42, and 0.43, respectively.Conclusions: Based on this study, the prevalence of mental disorders among adolescents was increasing in Bushehr Province counties. The lack of a national policy in this way is a serious obstacle to mental health and wellbeing access.

Background: Nowadays, one of the principal difficulties faced by educational systems worldwide is anxiety, a mental problem, which is evidently difficult to be endured by many students and leads to various types of mental and physical disorders or reduction of educational efficiency, and has gained attention of sociologists for its consequent psychological, social, and economical impacts.Objectives: The current study aimed at predicting exam anxiety based on meta-cognitive beliefs and learning methods among high school students of Bandar Abbas.Methods: The study population included 351 students (197 males and 154 females), who were selected randomly by the cluster approach and answered the research tools including Meta-Cognitive Beliefs Questionnaires (MCQ-30), Learning methods questionnaires of Marton and Saljoo (1996) and also test anxiety questionnaire of Alpert and Haber (1960). The study plan was correlative descriptive.Pearson simple correlation coefficient, multi variable regression, and multi variable variance analysis were used to analyze the obtained data.Results: The study results indicated that there was a positive significant relationship between meta-cognitive beliefs and exam anxiety, a negative significant relationship between profound learning and learning methods and exam anxiety, and a positive significant relationship between smattering learning method and exam anxiety. The regression exam results also revealed that metacognitive beliefs and smattering learning methods could positively predict and determine exam anxiety in students. A significant relationship was observed between meta-cognitive beliefs in females and males, and female students showed greater intention and interest toward meta-cognitive beliefs than males, however, no significant difference was observed between learning methods and exam anxiety in females and males.Conclusions: It was concluded from the study results that profound learning methods lead to the reduction of exam anxiety, and smattering learning methods and meta-cognitive beliefs lead to increased exam anxiety among students.

The increase of dissatisfaction in marriage and its adverse effects on physical and mental health of couples and children make it necessary to improve marital interaction and implement enrichment programs. This research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of PIMQ (Promoting Iranians’ Marital Quality) training program in marital quality. A researcher-made program called PIMQ designed based on cultural beliefs, value system, religious orientation, literacy level, and social character of couples was used in this research. This program was implemented on 30 couples who were randomly placed in two experimental and control groups. The marital quality scale was administered to each group before educational sessions. The PIMQ program was implemented for the experimental group in eight sessions of one hour while the second group received no intervention. The sessions were held once a week. Immediately after the completion of educational sessions, the marital quality scale was applied on both groups. A month after the completion of sessions, the follow-up was performed. The results of covariance analysis showed that PIMQ training program could increase marital quality in the experimental group and the increase remained significant at one month follow-up. Based on the research hypotheses, PIMQ training program increased marital quality in the posttest and follow-up.

Background: Magneto encephalography (MEG) is a well-established noninvasive method for investigating human brain activity.Objectives: The present study aimed at identifying any change in the brain state after pico- Tesla Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (pT-TMS) on patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).Methods: A whole-head 122 - channel MEG system in a magnetically shielded room with low magnetic noise was used. The study population comprised of 2 male and 8 female volunteers with MS, with a mean age of 41.3 9.5 years. External magnetic field of pT-TMS was applied on the above patients with proper field characteristics (magnetic field amplitude: 1 - 7.5 pT, frequency: the alpha rhythm of the patient 8 - 13 Hz), obtained prior to the application of pT-TMS.Results: A significant effect was observed with an increase of frequencies in the range of 2 - 7 Hz among the participants. The results were statistically significant in 7 out of 10 patients (70%).Conclusions: The pT-TMS has the prospective to be a significant noninvasive secure and effective means in managing MS symptoms.