Practice in Clinical Psychology
Year:2016 | Volume:4 | Issue:2|Papers Count:8

Objective: Obsessive-Compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the greatest and debilitating disorders, which many of its patients do not respond to psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. In this regard, paying attention to new treatments such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is important. The purpose of the present research was to examine the effects of tDCS on the obsession-compulsion (OC), anxiety, and depression of a patient suffering from OCD.Methods: The present study conducted on a 23-year-old female patient with OCD. tDCS sessions were lasted 10 days, one session per day and each session of about 20 minutes with 2.0 mA intensity. The results of Beck depression inventory, Hamilton anxiety rating scale, and Yale Brown obsessive-compulsive scale showed decrease in OC, depression, and anxiety symptoms after 10 sessions of tDCS.Results: The results of the present research using cathodal tDCS on orbitofrontal cortex in 10 sessions showed that this montage is a powerful and successful treatment for patients with OCD and alleviate their OC, depression, and anxiety symptoms.Conclusion: The data were analyzed by diagram analysis and improvement percentage. This study showed that anodal tDCS on O2 and cathodal tDCS on orbitofrontal cortex improved OC, anxiety and depression symptoms. However, our findings give introductory confirmation that our patient with OCD has a positive response to cathode tDCS of the OFC.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the quality of life and related factors in mothers of children with Down syndrome.Methods: The study method was correlation-survey (sectional). Sampling was based on the available population. The research population consisted of all mothers of children with Down syndrome referred to the Down Syndrome Center: out of them 70 mothers of children with Down syndrome were randomly selected for study sample. Research tools were the WHO “quality of life” questionnaire, as well as a demographic and background information questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS-16 software and ANOVA, multiple regression analysis and t-test.Results: The results showed a significant association of physical health and environmental health with the housing type (P<0.05). So that mothers living in private houses have higher physical and environmental health than those who live in rental houses. But, There were no significant relationship between the independent variables and the other subscales and total score of “quality of life” (P>0.05).Conclusion: People’s negative attitude toward some disabilities and limitations, society’s little information, inappropriate cultural, social, and economic conditions, and insufficient available resources can be the most important factors affecting the quality of life. It is recommended that the relevant organizations provide services and conditions for mothers of children with Down syndrome in order to improve their quality of life and health.

Objective: Self-awareness is the ability to accurately perceive the aspects of our personality, behavior, emotions, and motivations. It is the foundation of all kinds of emotional restraints.Moreover, the feeling of having control over everything is associated with improved mental health.Self-awareness skills are characterized as a set of coping and self-management skills that increase self-efficacy.Methods: This semi-experimental randomized controlled study was conducted on 80 individuals divided into an intervention and a control group. All 80 subjects were selected from 150 eligible orphaned adolescents under the coverage of Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation. The educational intervention was conducted through five 120-minute sessions. simple random sampling and were divided into two groups using balanced block randomization The data were collected using self-awareness and self-efficacy questionnaires and then were analyzed by SPSS version 19.Results: The results showed a significant difference between the 2 groups regarding self-efficacy and self-awareness scores before and then 1 and 6 weeks after the intervention (P<0.001). The intervention group’s mean (SD) scores of self-awareness were 27.00 (2.97), 34.1 (2.09), and 34.55 (2.04) in the pretest, first posttest (1 week after the intervention), and second posttest (6 weeks after the intervention), respectively. Also, the intervention group’s mean (SD) scores of self-efficacy were 126.00 (19.56), 164.55 (19.56), and 173.66 (15.84) in the pretest, first posttest, and second posttest, respectively.Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that self-awareness training directly increased self-aware ness skills and self-efficacy. Thus, self-awareness skills training with painting approach is effective in promoting self-awareness and self-efficacy among adolescents.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of neurofeedback training on improving sustained attention of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Methods: The research design is quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest and control group.The study population consisted of the veterans with PTSD who were hospitalized in psychiatric wards. Purposeful sampling method was done to select 30 patients in psychiatric hospitals of Sadr, Delaram, and Parsa during spring, summer, and autumn of 2014 by considering their arrivals and departures. Then, they were randomly assigned into 2 experimental (n=15) and control group (n=15). The neurofeedback training by alpha-theta protocol was administered to the experimental group, but the control group did not receive any neurofeedback training. The sustained attention was measured by continuous performance test (CPT). After that, the data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of variance.Results: The results showed that neurofeedback training significantly increased the omission errors (P<0.001, F=17.074), commission errors (P<0.001, F=18.515), and reaction times (P=0.044, F=4.511) in sustained attention and reduced correct detection.Conclusion: According to the findings, the relation between alpha and theta waves, and based on underlying principles, neurofeedback treatment has achieved acceptable results.

Objective: High risk behaviors among women can have detrimental consequences on this critical group of society and its increasing rate expose them to more serious dangers. In the light of these issues, the present study aimed to assess the prevalence of high risk behaviors of women living in Tehran. Hopefully, the study results may help take some measures to decrease high risk behaviors and solve some obstacles in preventing them.Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional research. The statistical population of the study was all women residing in Tehran, Iran. A total of 403 participants were recruited through multistage cluster sampling from 5 zones of Tehran with the mean (SD) age of 21.75 (2.43) years.Six parts of each zone and then 1 avenue from each part were selected randomly for completing the questionnaires. At each part after gaining participants’ informed consents, they were asked to fill in risky behavior survey questionnaire.Results: The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS-20. Result indicated that the prevalence of driving without license, speed driving, using phone while driving, being under the influence of alcohol and substance abuse while driving, using motorcycle without helmet, and sing a public transportation which driver is under the influence of drug or alcohol ranges from 2% to 7.7%., 3.2% to 6.7%, 2.7% to 9.7%, 0.7% to 2%., 0.5% to 6%, and 0.7% to 6.7% respectively in the last year.In regard to the prevalence of behaviors related to aggression, results demonstrated the prevalence of carrying cold weapon at university or workplace in the last month, carrying cold weapon for protecting oneself in the last year, physical contact in last year, avoiding going to university or workplace because of feeling unsafe in the last year, exposing to bullying or be bulled in the last year ranged from 0.5% to 3.5%, 0.5% to 4.2%, 1.2% to 10.9%, 1% to 9.9%, and 1.2% to 8.2%, respectively. The prevalence of other high risk behaviors, including suicidal thoughts in the last year, unsafe intercourse, alcohol use, cigarette, narcotics, stimulants and illegal drugs were 20.6%, 18.4%, 34.5%, 45.4%, and 14.1%, respectively.Conclusion: Results demonstrating that the prevalence of high risk behaviors among women was almost similar to studies in European, American, other parts of world studies and also Iranian studies done before which show increasing rate of high risk behaviors especially addiction in women. As women are among the most vulnerable and at high risk groups, especially in Eastern societies, paying attention to their problems and searching for their causes, as well as developing solutions to help them is crucially important.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of working memory (WM) training on WM capacity and performance of novice karate practitioners (karateka).Methods: Research method is quasi-experimental with a pretest posttest control group design.A total of 24 karate practitioners were selected among Alborz (Alborz Province, iran) novice karateka by convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned into control and experimental groups. They were asked to complete WM capacity test and performance test.Then, the experimental group underwent a 25 session WM training course. Finally, both group completed the tests again. Instruments of gathering data included digit and spatial WM test, performance test, and WM training software. We used 1-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for data analysis.Results: Our findings showed that WM training resulted in increase in WM capacity (F=61.87, P£0.01) and performance (F=15.5, P£0.01) of the intervention group.Conclusion: We suggest that coaches ask athletes to use WM training as a complement to physical exercises.

Objective: Similarities and differences among mood disorders can help psychiatrics in their exact diagnosis and more effective treatments. Therefore, the current research sought to identify differences between patients with bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and nonclinical group in emotional schemas.Methods: The present research was a cross-sectional study. The research sample consisted of 102 subjects (34 bipolar disorders, 34 with major depressive disorder, and 34 nonclinical) that selected by convenience sampling. They were matched for sex, age, and educational level.Subjects were diagnosed by Structured Clinical Interview for DSM disorders (SCID) and their mood was rated by Young mania rating scale (YMRS) and Beck depression inventory (BDI).General health questionnaire (GHQ) was also used for nonclinical population. Then, all three groups were asked to fill out the Leahy emotional schemas (LESS). Data were analyzed by ANOVA.Results: The scores on LESS in patients with bipolar and major depressive disorders were significantly different from the nonclinical groups. But there was not difference between them. Compared to two clinical groups, the healthy group reported greater scores in adaptive emotional schemas such as validation F (2, 98)=21.03, p<0.0001, values F (2, 97)=9.34, p<0.0001, acceptance F (2, 93)=15.14, p<0.0001, and expression F (2, 99)=8.19, p<0.001. But there were not significant difference in maladaptive emotional schemas except blame schema F (2, 97)=17.24, p<0.0001. In fact, this schema was higher in patient with major depression disorder than the other two groups.Conclusion: Since there was no significant difference between clinical groups, these schemes are likely to be common elements between the clinical groups, so it seems that it is in line with transdiagnostic approach, However, further studies are required to illuminate specific and shared factors among bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder.

Objective: Educating families and caregivers of schizophrenic patients on controlling and managing the disorder, has found particular importance in clinical psychology. The present study aims to examine the effect of Psychoeducational interventions on illness management in families of schizophrenic patients.Methods: The present study is a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest design, and two control groups. The study sample consisted of 30 families with a schizophrenic member. The families were selected from referrals to a psychiatric center in Tehran (during a period of 40 days) who met the inclusion criteria, and were randomly placed into three groups: an experimental group, a control group with placebo, and a control group without placebo (10 persons in each group). A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data. The experimental group received trainings (a training package) and attended a group discussion on schizophrenia. The placebo group attended similar meetings, but without educational content and group discussion, and the second control group were only assessed in the pretest and posttest. After finishing the training sessions, and following an interval of 3 months, the posttest was conducted for each group. The study data were analyzed using univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA). All statistics were carried out using SPSS software, version 11.Results: According to the results, the experimental group had significantly higher gain scores (α≤.05) than the two control groups, on the following variables: an increase in the adaptability of the patient in daily functioning, from the viewpoint of both a clinical psychologist and the patient’s family, an increase in the family’s knowledge of the illness, and a reduction in the adverse effects of the illness on the family’s feeling and attitude.Conclusion: The present study showed that family education is effective in increasing patients’ adaptability and patients’ family knowledge, and in reducing the adverse effects of the illness.