IRANIAN JOURNAL OF HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
Year:2019 | Volume:2 | Issue:1 (3)|Papers Count:12

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (ECBT) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) on the C-reactive protein (CRP) level in patients with psoriasis. Method: This research is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design, a follow-up period, and control and intervention groups. The statistical population included all patients with psoriasis referring to Skin and Stem Cell Research Center (SSRC), Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). In this study, 30 patients were selected as the sample and were randomly assigned to the control group (5 males and 5 females), the first intervention group (5 males and 5 females), and the second intervention group (5 males and 5 females). Patients in the first and second intervention groups participated in 8 sessions of ECBT and MBCT, respectively, and subjects in the control group received no intervention and were placed in the waiting list. The pretest, posttest, and follow-up CRP level were measured using laboratory kits. The data were analyzed using the repeated measures ANOVA through SPSS v. 22. Results: The results showed that both ECBT and MBCT reduced the CRP level equally. The same results were also obtained during the follow-up period. Conclusion: The study findings suggested that both ECBT and MBCT can be effective treatments for physical, psychological, and biological problems caused by psoriasis.

Objective: The emergence of chronic diseases, such as Parkinson, seriously damages the patients’ psychological health besides their physical health. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of the package of hope therapy based on positivist approach on life quality and psychological wellbeing of patients with Parkinson. Method: The present study was quasi-experimental with pretest, posttest, control group and two-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the present study included the people with Parkinson in the city of Isfahan in the winter of 2018-19. The participants of study were 40 patients with Parkinson who were selected through non-random available sampling. The selected samples were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups (20 patients in the experimental group and 20 in the control group). The experimental group received training intervention of hope therapy based on positivist approach in ten ninety-minute sessions for three months. The applied questionnaires in this study included the questionnaires of life quality (WHO, 1994) and psychological wellbeing (Ryff, 1980). The data from the study were analyzed through repeated measurement ANOVA. Results: The results showed that the training package of hope therapy based on positivist approach has significant effect on life quality and psychological wellbeing of Parkinson patients (f= 83. 83, f= 117. 68, p<0. 001). The score of the effect of training hope therapy based on positivist approach on life quality and psychological wellbeing of Parkinson patients were 77 and 83 respectively. Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that training package of hope therapy based on positivist approach can lead to the improvement of life quality and psychological wellbeing of Parkinson patients due to enjoying the methods of hope therapy and positivist psychotherapy.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of schema therapy on depression and relapse in heroin-dependent men. Method: This research was a semi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design with control group. To do this research, among people who refered to Tehran Addiction Treatment Clinic in October to February 2017, 40 referees were selected and randomly assigned to experimental (20) and control groups (20). In this study, the experimental group received the Yang Scheme Program for 10 sessions of 90 minutes, while the control group was on the waiting list for the treatment. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory and a urine test to measure the existing substance in the pre-test and post-test phases. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that in the post-test stage, schema therapy could significantly reduce depression and the relaps rate in heroin-dependent men compared to control group. Conclusion: Schema therapy has therapeutic benefits for heroin addicts as a leading method in the field of cognitivebehavioral therapy and also is effective in reducing the relaps problem.

Objective: Social well-being, like other aspects of well-being, is one of the variables studied in health psychology, so one of the key issues that threatens the health of women is violence. The aim of this research was to study the role of emotion failures and social well-being in predicting violence against women. Methods: This research was descriptive and correlational. The population under study was all women applicants for divorce in Ardabil city in 2016 among whom 106 were selected through available sampling method. Tools of data collection were the scale of violence against women and questionnaires of alexithymia and social well-being. Data analysis was done through Pearson correlation and Multiple Linear regression formula. Results: The results indicated that there is a significant positive correlation between alexithymia and violence against women (P<0. 05). Moreover, there was a significant negative relationship between social well-being and violence against women (P<0. 05). The results of regression analysis showed that 64 percent of the variance of violence against women is significantly explained by emotion failures and social well-being variables. Conclusions: According to the findings, it can be concluded that the recognition of emotions at the individual level as well as the identification and description of emotions and awareness of emotions can be effective in improving couples’ relationships and reducing family violence. Besides, contributing in family and society and accepting the community and its members with their weaknesses and strengths as well as having effective relations with close and supporting people can lead to reduction in violence against women.

Objective: The present research aimed to determine the pure and combined effect of both techniques of mindfulness based-relaxation (MBR) and Transcranial Electrical Simulation (tCES) on decreasing prospective and retrospective memory errors and failure of executive functions of patients with type 2 diabetes. Method: The study is a randomized three-group double-blind clinical trial with repeated measures designs. The sample of the study consisted of 30 patients selected through convenience and purposive sampling method from Diabetes Association of Bonab city. The selected subjects were randomly assigned to the three groups of MBR, CES, MBR+CES; then they received interventions related to their group in 10 individual sessions. All patients were assessed by the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS) and Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ) before and after the interventions, and one month after the interventions. Results: The results of split-plot analysis of variance (SPANOVA) indicated the change of the mean of retrospective and prospective memory over time, and the change of prospective memory over time in different groups. The results of covariance analysis and the post hoc test of Ben Foruni indicated that in the follow-up phase, the prospective memory errors in the MBR+CES group were significantly lower than both the MBR and CES groups (P <0. 05). Conclusion: The results of the study may provide many theoretical and practical implications for improving the cognitive function of type 2 diabetic patients following the MBR and CES therapeutic.

Objective: Chronic pain is one of the most important medical problems that affect many people every year. The highest prevalence of chronic pain is in adulthood. Sleep problems are one of common symptoms of chronic pain. The aim of this study was to compare sleep quality in mothers with chronic pain and healthy mothers. Methods: This study was comparative and its statistical population was included all women referred to the Pain Clinic of Imam Hossein Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Among them, 159 persons were selected using convenience sampling method. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Von korff Pain Intensity Scale and demographic information Form were used to collect data. Data analysis was done using t-test and one way analysis of variance. Results: The results showed that sleep quality in mothers with chronic pain was significantly different from healthy mothers, and with increase in pain intensity, sleep quality decreased. Conclusions: Results of this study have implications on need pay attention to quality of sleep in mothers with chronic pain and its impact on daily routine and their duties as a parent.

Objective: The purpose of the present study was to predict self-efficacy of women with breast cancer based on quality of life, religious orientation, resilience, death anxiety, psychological hardiness and perceived social support. The research method was descriptive and regression type. The statistical population in this study included all patients with breast cancer referring to Cancer Institute of Imam Khomeini and Milad hospitals in Tehran in 2018. Method: Purposeful sampling method was used to select the sample. After sampling procedure, 300 patients with breast cancer patients were selected based on the criteria for entering and leaving the research. The research tool was a general self-efficacy questionnaire of Sherer et al. (1982), multi-dimensional perceived social support questionnaire (Zimt et al., 1989), Allport Religious Orientation (1967), Kobasa Psychological Hardiness Questionnaire (1979), Templar’ s Death Anxiety Scale (1970)), The Conor-Davidson Resilience Questionnaire (2003) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (1996). Regression analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The results of data analysis showed that factors of quality of life, religious orientation, resilience, death anxiety, psychological hardiness and perceived social support have 21% ability to predict self-efficacy. Conclusion: The relationship of factors of quality of life, resilience, psychological hardiness and social support with self-efficacy is positive at 5% confidence level, and the positivity of these coefficients actually indicates that increasing these factors increases self-efficacy (p <0. 05). Death anxiety also has a significant negative correlation with self-efficacy (p <0. 05).

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of emotional regulation and coping therapy training on life style of adolescent at risk of drug abuse. Method: The present study was a quasi-experimental research with two experimental and one control groups. The statistical population of this study consisted of all 577 boy students in secondary high schools (the second period) in Kish Island, in 2017-18, and finally 45 students were selected based on entry criteria and randomly divided to 3 groups (emotional regulation training group, coping therapy training group, and control group). The research tool was WHO quality of life questionnaire. Data were analyzed using covariance analysis. Results: The results showed that emotional regulation and coping therapy training programs had a positive effect on life style and these changes have been steady in the follow-up stages. Conclusion: It is concluded that emotion regulation and coping therapy programs can be used to improve the quality of life in adolescents.

Objective: Health literacy is the capacity to get, process and realize basic information and services necessary to make proper decisions in the field of health. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the relationship between health literacy and demographic variables of Yazd city citizens. Method: This study was a descriptive (cross-sectional) one and the population included 385 people living in Yazd city in 2018. Data were collected using a researcher made questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed. The participants of this study were collected through random cluster sampling. This sampling method is also called group or complex sampling in which the population is not scattered. This method is used in large-scale population research. Initially, the statistical population is subdivided into regions containing so-called clusters. Among these components, some were selected and evaluated using simple sampling method. After completing the questionnaires by participants, the data analysis was performed using SPSS statistical software (22), Pearson correlation coefficient and Chi-Square Test. Results: The results indicate that there is a significant relationship between health literacy and age, and gender and marital status. The highest correlation coefficient was observed in the relationship between health literacy and age. Conclusion: Due to the effective demographic variables, it seems that demographic characteristic-based interventions should be designed and implemented in order to improve the health literacy of citizens.

Objective: Social anxiety disorder is commonly reported among obese individuals. Research has shown that people with high differentiation of self-experience less social anxiety. Mindfulness as a key mediating variable can have a significant effect on reducing social anxiety. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between differentiation of self and social anxiety with the mediating role of mindfulness in obese women. Methods: It is a non-experimental and correlation research based on path analysis. The study population consisted of all people referred to the Ayat Health Center of Tehran located in the district 19 with a BMI≥ 30 and under the supervision of the specialist of the center during the first 6 months of 2018. The final sample consisted of 103 participants, selected by simple random sampling. In this study, the data were collected by means of social phobia, differentiation of self, and mindfulness questionnaires. Fitness of the proposed model was examined by the structural equation modeling (SEM) using LISREL and SPSS software version 18. Results: Mindfulness plays a mediating role in the relation between differentiations of self and social anxiety. The proposed model also fitted well with the data. Conclusion: Considering the important role of mindfulness in reducing social anxiety, mindfulness seems to be essential to teach in Health Center Education Programs.

Objective: The majority of cancer patients have a poor quality of life. It seems that mindfulness-based group cognitive therapy can improve quality of life in these patients. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the effectiveness of mindfulness-based group cognitive therapy in improving quality of life among patients with cancer. Methods: The present study is a quasi-experimental research with pre-test and post-test with control group. The sample population consisted of 30 cancer patients selected through purposive sampling method who were randomly placed in two experimental and control groups (15 subjects per group). All subjects completed the quality of life questionnaire in pre-test and post-test stages. The findings were analyzed by the SPSS software and multivariate analysis of covariance tests. Results: The results showed that there is a significant difference between the control and experimental groups. It was shown that mindfulness-based group cognitive therapy had a significant effect on improving quality of life in experimental group (p< 0. 01). Conclusion: According to the results, it can be proposed that it is necessary for health centers and support associations to use mindfulness-based group cognitive therapy to improve their patients’ quality of life.

Objective: this study aimed to compare the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral based stress management training and positive therapy on self-regulation behaviors of females with primary hypertension. Method: In this semi-experimental study with pretest-posttest and control group, 48 women with primary hypertension were randomized in control (n = 16), positive therapy (n = 16) and stress management (n = 16) groups. All participants completed standard self-regulation behaviors questionnaire before and after interventions. The intervention groups received cognitive-behavioral based stress management training program for eight sessions. The control group did not receive any intervention during research. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and descriptive and inferential statistical methods (ANCOVA). Results: The findings indicated level of self-regulatory behaviors significantly increased in the intervention groups in compare to control group (P> 0. 05). Comparison of intervention group revealed superior effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral based stress management program versus positive therapy (Mean difference=28. 13, P>0. 05) Conclusion: cognitive-behavioral stress management training and positive therapy are effective on the self-regulation behaviors of women with primary hypertension. Improvement of self-regulation behaviors through psychological programs such as cognitive-behavioral stress management training and positive therapy reduce the burden of disease and enhance treatment adherence.