Practice in Clinical Psychology
Year:2017 | Volume:5 | Issue:1|Papers Count:8

Objective: This project aimed to study early maladaptive schemas in adults with parents afflicted with schizophrenia.Methods: In a causal-comparative study, a sample of 39 adults with one schizophrenic parent as the experiment group and 40 students without schizophrenic parents as the control group were selected. Both groups completed early maladaptive schema questionnaire. Descriptive statistics as well as multi-and single-variable analysis of variance were applied.Results: Significant differences were found in early maladaptive schemas of rejection/ disconnection, impaired autonomy/performance, and over vigilance/inhibitions as well as in the subscales of emotional deprivation, defectiveness/shame, failure, and unrelenting standards.Conclusion: Feelings of failure and insecurity leads to formation of early maladaptive schemas in children of schizophrenia. The chronicity of schizophrenia, patients’ behavioral difficulties, and stigmatization lead to feelings of defectiveness and lack of security in children and early maladaptive schemas.

Objective: The current study aimed at investigating the role of patience and its components in predicting self-control among high school students in Shiraz, Iran.Methods: The statistical population of the study included all high school students of Shiraz. Three hundred and thirty-two students (161 females and 171 males) were recruited via cluster sampling method. The subjects participated in the study by completing the patience scale for children and adolescents and self-control scale. To analyze the data, mean, standard deviation (SD), and Pearson correlation coefficient were used. Moreover, to investigate the role of patience and its components in predicting self-control, simultaneous multiple regression analysis was utilized.Results: The results showed that patience total score and the components of transcendence, contentment, persistence, and hesitation positively and significantly correlated with self-control (P<0.01). Patience total score also positively and significantly predicted self-control (b=0.58; P<0.001). This variable explained 33% of the variance. Moreover, transcendence (b=0.18; P<0.001), hesitation (b=0.27; P<0.001), and persistence (b=0.35; P<0.001) positively and significantly predicted self-control. These variables explained 36% of the variance.Conclusion: According to the role of patience and its components in predicting self-control, it is recommended to utilize educational strategies of patience to enhance self-control among high school students. To emphasize the components of patience in teaching educational strategies of patience is also suggested.

Objective: The present study aims at investigating the effects of behavioral therapy techniques through operant conditioning and observational learning on children’s aggression aged 4-6 years.Methods: To this end, a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study with two experimental groups and a control group was designed. We used non-probability purposive sampling method to select 45 mothers of aggressive children out of all mothers in Deylam City, Iran. They were randomly assigned into three groups (each group included 15 participants). Primary data were collected using the questionnaire developed by Vahedi, Fathi-Azar, Hosseini-Nasab, and Moghadam (2008). To analyze the data, multivariate analysis of covariance, 1-way analysis of covariance, and Bonferroni tests were used.Results: The results indicated that teaching operant conditioning and observational learning techniques to the mothers reduced their children’s overall aggression along with its components, including verbal-offensive, physical-offensive, and relational aggression as well as impulsive anger.Conclusion: These techniques are recommended to be used in clinical interventions to teach the families how to control their children’s aggression.

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the association between Islamic lifestyle and addiction potential among adolescents residing in Eslamshahr City, Iran.Methods: This was a cross sectional study. The statistical population consisted of all students attending public high schools during 2012-2013 academic year in Eslamshahr City. The sample size was 211, who were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling method. The Islamic lifestyle and addiction potential questionnaires were used to collect data.Results: The Pearson correlation coefficient showed significant and inverse associations between the components of Islamic lifestyle and addiction potential, except for ‘timeliness’ (P<0.01).Conclusion: Those adopting an Islamic lifestyle are less prone to substance abuse.

Objective: Depression is a growing public health problem, which needs more consideration in primary care settings. By focusing primarily on developmental psychology, attachment style is one of the most influential variables on the risk of internalized disorders. Although attachment styles have strong effects in emotional aspect of human mental life, emotional turbulence and dysfunction are considered as key factors in depression disorder. This study aimed to examine the effect of attachment styles on emotion recognition, emotion regulation, emotional perspective taking, and depression in multivariate space. To this end, attachment styles are considered as input separately; emotion recognition in three categories (neutral, negative, and positive), emotion regulation, and emotional perspective taking set as mediator of equation; and depression as an output.Methods: Participants were all high-school students, selected based on multistage random sampling method. Finally, 296 students participated in the study and all ethical issues included informed consent were approved by the Ethics Committee of University of Isfahan. Statistical analysis was done by AMOS 22 and SPSS 22. The study instruments were attachment styles questionnaire (ASQ) by Hazen and Shaver (1987), facial emotion recognition pictures by Ekman and Frizen (1978), emotion regulation skills questionnaire (ERSQ) by Berking and Znoj (2008), emotional perspective taking dilemmas, and Beck depression inventory (BDI-II) (1996). The data analysis was done using Structural Equation Modeling.Results: According to model fit indices of c2=2703.41, df=1804, CFI=0.86, and RMSEA=0.04, this model relatively appropriate fit the adolescents girls sample, thus the main hypothesis of the study was confirmed. In addition, attachment styles have direct and indirect effects on depression. The indirect effect of attachment styles were mediated through emotion recognition, emotion regulation, and emotional perspective taking.Conclusion: Attachment styles have a strong and significant effect on emotional state and also probability of depression of adolescent girls. Children in secure relationship learn to recognize and regulate their emotions in addition to taking others’ perspective about emotional filed. Thus, in facing high pressure situations of adolescence, they would experience lower levels of depression.

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the relationships between anxiety sensitivity (AS), irritability and intrusive thoughts (IT) and sleep problems in patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).Methods: The study population consisted of all patients with GAD who referred to counseling and psychological centers in Isfahan, Iran, in 2015. A total of 49 patients were selected out of the whole population as the study samples using convenience sampling method. To collect data, a questionnaire covering demographic and clinical information, the anxiety sensitivity index-revised, the thought control questionnaire, the irritability scale, and the sleep problems questionnaire were used. Using the SPSS22 software, the collected data were analyzed by multiple regression analysis and Pearson correlation test.Results: Results of multiple regression analysis showed that problems of sleep onset, sleep continuity, and waking up could be anticipated by anxiety sensitivity, irritability and intrusive thoughts in patients with GAD. Results of Pearson correlation test indicated significant relationships between AS and sleep problems related to sleep onset, sleep continuity and waking up; also between irritability and sleep onset problems; and finally between IT and sleep waking up problems (P<0.05). However, no significant relationship was observed between irritability and sleep continuity and waking up problems or between IT and sleep onset and sleep continuity problems (P>0.05).Conclusion: According to the results, the anxiety sensitivity has more relationship to sleep onset, sleep continuity, and waking up problems in patients with GAD.

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of education based of the cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral model on the reduction of meta-worry beliefs in patients with social anxiety disorder (SAD).Methods: The research was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population comprised all patients with SAD referring to public and private centers for consulting and psychotherapy in Kermanshah, Iran, in 2016. The study sample were selected using purposeful sampling method. A total of 30 patients were chosen through structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis I disorders (SCID-1) and administering meta-worry subscale of Well’s questionnaire of anxious thoughts (1994). Then, they were randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control. The study instrument was the meta-worry subscale of Well’s questionnaire of anxious thoughts (1994). Twelve cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral treatment sessions (for the developed model) on the basis of relevant theoretical insights were held for the experimental group twice a week while the control group received no intervention. After the treatment, both groups were evaluated with the questionnaire of anxious thoughts. For data analysis, ANCOVA test was administered using SPSS19.Results: The results showed that education based on cognitive, metacognitive, and behavioral model was effective on the reduction of meta-worry belief among patients with SAD in the experimental group (P<0.001).Conclusion: Considering the effectiveness of the model, it seems that therapists and counselors can use this developed model to reduce meta-worry belief among patients with SAD.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association of metacognitive beliefs and perfectionism with test anxiety among students.Methods: The present study was a cross sectional research. Study population comprised all male and female students of Kermanshah City. A total of 440 students (200 males and 240 females, aged 17-18 years) in the third or fourth grade of Kermanshah high schools (academic year 2015-2016) were selected by random cluster sampling method. The data were collected using test anxiety inventory, metacognitions questionnaire, and multidimensional perfectionism scale. For analyzing the data, we used analysis of regression method.Results: There were significant positive correlations between the test anxiety with cognitive confidence (r=0.29, P<0.01), positive beliefs (r=0.10, P<0.05), cognitive self-consciousness (r=0.35, P<0.01), uncontrollability and danger of thoughts (r=0.45, P<0.01), and need to control thoughts (r=0.16, P<0.05). Also, there was significant positive correlations between test anxiety with concern over mistakes (r=0.36, P<0.01), doubts about actions (r=0.41, P<0.01), parental expectations (r=0.23, P<0.01), parental criticism (r=0.33, P<0.01), personal standards (r=0.40, P<0.01) and organization (r=0.16, P<0.05). Moreover, analysis of regression indicated metacognitive beliefs and perfectionism are predictors of test anxiety.Conclusion: Results of this study support the metacognitive model of test anxiety and showed that people’s metacognitive beliefs have important role in test anxiety. Also, results indicated perfectionist individuals are vulnerable for test anxiety.