Practice in Clinical Psychology
Year:2016 | Volume:4 | Issue:3|Papers Count:8

Objective: The present research aimed to study the relationship of identity styles and attitude toward delinquency with delinquent behavior of adolescents.Methods: The present research is a cross sectional study. Data collection tools were Berzonsky’s identity style inventory, attitude toward delinquent behaviors questionnaire, and interviews, which were analyzed through simultaneous regression analysis using SPSS software. Study sample consisted of all 150 male adolescents who were detained in Tehran’s Center for Correction and Rehabilitation for committing delinquency/crime.Results: Based on the obtained results, informational, normative, diffuse/avoidant, and commitment identity styles had significant associations with delinquency and positive and negative attitude toward delinquent behavior. In other words, identity styles and attitude toward delinquent behavior explained 57% of the changes in adolescents’ delinquent behavior (P<0.001).Conclusion: Given the importance of family and social models in the formation of identity styles as well as positive and negative attitudes toward delinquency, it is necessary to offer individual and group courses of educating families and adolescents to control and prevent delinquent behavior as well as providing suitable models for adolescents to gain proper identities.

Objective: Suicide rate is unfortunately increasing in recent years and its assessment is a must. Most studies have evaluated different factors like personality, depression, or environment in suicide attempters but cognitive functions have been overlooked in suicide attempters. The current research aimed to evaluate a kind of cognitive function, namely attention in survivors of suicide.Methods: This case-control study was conducted in Tehran, Iran in 2015. Two groups of patients one with recent suicide attempts and the other one with no suicide attempt were compared in domains of focus of attention and attention bias. A total of 18 patients participated in each group. Instruments used for this research included questionnaire of focus of attention and simple stroop test software. Correlation of these 2 instruments was compared between groups. Data were analyzed by the independent t-test, ANOVA, and the Pearson correlation.Results: Mean age of suicide attempters was 29.5 years which was significantly lower than that in the control group and most of them were women. They spent more time in recognizing incongruent stimulus, congruent, and incongruent response. The time that was spent on experiment of incongruent stimulus, congruent, and incongruent response was significantly higher in suicide attempters. In suicide attempters, there was a significant correlation between number of congruent and incongruent errors with focus of attention.Conclusion: Our results showed that attention as a cognitive function may be impaired in suicide attempters. Thus, it is necessary to recognize cognitive functions of suicide attempters along with other comorbid psychological factors for preventing future suicide attempts and eventually losing precious lives.

Objective: Sexual addiction is a psychiatric disorder with unpleasant personal, inter-personal, legal, social, and physical outcomes for the patients. The cycle of this disorder is based on a false belief system known as early maladaptive schemas. This study aimed to examine and compare maladaptive cognitive schemas in sex addicts and normal people.Methods: In the present study, a causal-comparative research method was undertaken. A total of 30 male sex addicts were selected using a snowball sampling method from the population of sex addicts in Tehran, Iran. Also, 30 normal men form the general population were selected as the control group. Control participants were matched with the patients with regard to demographic characteristics. Participants first completed the sexual addiction screening testrevised form and then the Young schema questionnaire (YSQ). The data were analyzed using the multivariate analysis of variance and stepwise discriminant analysis. All analyses were conducted using SPSS.Results: The results indicated that sex addicts scored on the YSQ significantly higher than participants in the control group (P<0.001). Discriminant analysis revealed that 5 schemas, including dependency, mistrust, subjugation, vulnerability, and emotional deprivation were the best predictors of being a member of sexual addiction or non-sexual addiction groups (P<0.001).Conclusion: Sex addicts have more and stronger early maladaptive schemas than normal people, so they can be distinguished from normal people according to the schemas of dependency, mistrust, subjugation, vulnerability, and emotional deprivation.

Objective: This research aimed to investigate the relationship of family affective climate, self-effectiveness, and personal-social adjustment variables with academic achievement of university students in Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz branch, Ahvaz, Iran.Methods: The research sample included 300 individuals (150 females and 150 males) who were selected through random stratified sampling method. California personal-social adjustment, Scherer and Adams self-effectiveness, and family’s affective climate questionnaires were administered to collect the data. Correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis were used for analyzing the data.Results: The results of the data analysis indicated that there is a significant relationship between variables of family’s affective climate, personal and social adjustment, and self-effectiveness with academic achievement of students (P<0.001). Furthermore, the results of linear regression analysis indicated that the variables of self-effectiveness, personal and social adjustment, and family’s affective climate were significant predictors of academic achievement.Conclusion: Improving student’s self-effectiveness, personal-social adjustment, and family’s affective climate may have positive influences on their academic achievement.

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the effects of group positive psychotherapy on increasing the happiness of mothers of children with cochlear implants.Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest-posttest, a control group, and a 75-day follow-up design. A total of 20 mothers of children with cochlear implants treated in Baqiyatallah Hospital of Tehran City were randomly assigned to 2 groups (10 participants in the experimental and 10 participants in the control group). The experimental group received positive psychotherapy training during 10 sessions, 120 minutes in each session, one session per week and the control group received no interventions.Results: Research tool was Oxford Happiness Inventory, which was administered in 2 pretest and posttest steps and then the obtained data were analyzed using analysis of covariance method (ANCOVA). The results of ANCOVA showed that group positive psychotherapy was effective on happiness of mothers of children with cochlear implant (F1, 17=31.13, P<0.01).Conclusion: Group positive psychotherapy is an appropriate treatment approach to increase the happiness of mothers of children with cochlear implant.

Objective: Previous studies have shown that menopausal women are more likely to experience depression. However, there are few studies that investigated the cognitive mechanism that may have a role in developing depression in menopausal women. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of life satisfaction in the relation between subjective evaluation of stressors and depression in the middle-aged menopausal women.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 107 female staff were selected by available sampling method from women aged 47 to 58 years, who were working at Shaid Beheshti University. The participants completed the Beck depression inventory (BDI-II), Kern lifestyle scale (KLS), and the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS). The data were analyzed by path analysis using hierarchical regression analysis. All statistics were done by SPSS 16.Results: The results indicated that subjective evaluation of stressors of control, self-esteem, and perfectionism that measured by KLS in menopausal women was associated with depression and mediated through their life satisfaction (P<0.01). The control, self-esteem, and perfectionism styles are indirect predictors of depression through life satisfaction.Conclusion: Our findings suggested that subjective evaluation of stressors contributed to depression in menopausal women through affecting their life satisfaction. Objective sources of menopausal women stress (stressors) can be considered only as the potential sources of stress. These sources can lead to the real stress if the menopausal women perceives them as the threats to satisfaction of fundamental needs presented through their lifestyle.

Objective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in preschoolers usually decreases their academic performance and disrupts parent-child interactions. The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of localized play therapy on preschoolers with ADHD.Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design and control group. Using a multi-stage random sampling method, and considering the inclusion criteria, a total of 24 mothers of preschoolers with ADHD were selected and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in 10 sessions of localized play therapy (LPT) while the control group received no training. The instruments for data collection were Vanderbilt ADHD diagnosis parents rating scale (VADPRS) and clinical interviews. Data analysis was conducted using ANCOVA (analysis of covariance).Results: The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the performance of the experimental and control groups at posttest, and upon the follow-up (P<0.05).Conclusion: LPT has positive effects on clinical symptoms of ADHD in preschool children. Hence, this method can be used to improve the mental health of children with ADHD and their parents.

Objective: The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of transdiagnostic treatments on worry and rumination of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Methods: The study population included all mothers of children with ASD in Isfahan City. Among mothers of children with ASD, 40 individuals were selected from those who obtained the highest scores in worry and rumination (At least one SD higher than the mean scores of the group) and were randomly divided into control and experimental groups. To collect data, the Rumination Response Scale (RRS) and Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) were used. The data were analyzed through multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) using SPSS-21.Results: The results indicated that the transdiagnostic treatment is effective on the rumination (F=26.91, df=1 and 36, P<0.001) and worry (F=10.86, df=1 and 36, P<0.002).Conclusion: Transdiagnostic treatment method can be an effective educational program for reducing emotional problems in mothers of children with ASD.