Iranian Journal of Psychiatry
Volume:9 Issue: 4, Autumn 2014

Back ground: Emotional communication and economic factors play an important role in having a satisfying relationship and a more successful marriage. In this regard, we investigated the 10-year outcome of partners from three different economic levels regarding the relationship between emotional intelligence (EI) and marital satisfaction. The research was designed as a descriptive-correlative survey and data were analyzed[M1] using Pearson correlation test and stepwise regression.Methods and Material: Participants were 159 couples (N = 318) who were randomly selected through clustered sampling. The questionnaires included: Bar-on Emotional Intelligence (1997) and Enrich Marital satisfaction (1989). The findings revealed that the average values of emotional intelligence (m = 333.1) and marital satisfaction (m = 300.77) were high in the under-rich region (p<0.05). Moreover, there was no significant relationship between interpersonal and marital satisfaction within the under-rich region. On average, emotional intelligence accounted for 40.8% of marital satisfaction within those three regions (p<0.01). The results of the regression analysis showed that general mood is the most effective factor changing marital satisfaction in the three studied regions (R2= 0.34), rich (R2= 0.42) and semi-rich (R2= 0.52) regions (p<0.01). The most influential factor changing marital satisfaction in the under-rich (R2= 0.28) region was found to be stress management (p<0.01).

The aim of this study was to examine the differences between ADHD subtypes in executive function tasks compared to themselves and normal controls. In this study, 45 school aged children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and 30 normal children who were matched based on age and IQ score in Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) were compared in terms of executive function. We used Wisconsin Sorting Card Test to assess executive function in both groups. We also used children's scores in Children Symptom Inventory-4 (CSI-4) for diagnosing ADHD and specifying ADHD subtypes. Data were entered in SPSS-17 and analyzed by T-test and ANOVA static tests to clarify the differences between ADHD and controls and between ADHD subtypes. Scheffe’s test was also used to identify which groups were different from one another. The mean and standard divisions (SD) were used for descriptive analysis. ADHD subtypes are significantly different in terms of perseverative responses (p≤ 0/01) and perseverative errors (p≤0/001). Based on Scheffe’s test, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders-Hyperactive type (ADHD-H) is not that different from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders-Inattention type (ADHD-I) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders-Combined type (ADHD-C), but there are significant responses and perseverative differences between ADHD-I and ADHD-C in terms of perseverative errors. ADHD-C shows more perseverative responses and perseverative errors than ADHD-I. The findings of this study revealed that executive function patterns are different in children with ADHD compared to normal children. In this study it was also found that ADHD subtypes are also different in terms of perseveration and response inhibition domains; ADHD-C has more deficits in these domains.

Chronic pain is a common disorder with a high prevalence of psychiatric disorder that imposes a worse prognosis on both conditions. Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is estimated to be the fourth most prevalent life time psychiatric disorder, but yet has gained less attention in chronic pain comorbidity researches. Ninety three heterogeneous chronic pain patients who attended a pain clinic in Tehran (Iran) in an outpatient setting during three months were included in this study. Diagnosis was made by Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). The mean age of the patients was 46.37 (SD 15.005) years; of the patients, 66.7% were female and 33.3% were male. The mean duration of pain was 34.43 (SD 51.422) months. The mean pain severity on numerical pain scale was 5.82 (SD 1.950) from 10. The mean pain site number was 3.68 (SD 3.401) from the maximum of 27 places. Furthermore, 61.3% of the participants were diagnosed with lifetime OCD, 25.8% with subclinical OCD and 61.5 % with major depressive disorder (MDD). OCD diagnosis was not correlated with MDD or pain intensity. Female gender was associated with OCD (OD; 4.182, 95% CL (1.655-10.568)). Pain intensity was correlated with MDD (P < 0.05). The high prevalence of OCD was comorbidity, independent of MDD and most pain characteristics. The high prevalence of OCD may be explained by the high rate of undiagnosed cause of pain as well as cultural and local factors. Using screening tests is suggested for tackling under diagnosis and under treatment of OCD and MDD.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a computer – based training program of attention, memory and executive functions in enhancing neuropsychological performances as well as functional outcome in clients with schizophrenia. A total of 15 clinically stable out patients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) criteria for schizophrenia, diagnosed with different types of schizophrenia: paranoid, disorganized, residual, based on DSM- IV-TR were selected to participate in this study. All patients were randomly selected using a conventional sampling method and assigned to 60 hours individual sessions of computer – assisted cognitive remediation (CACR).This was a pre- experimental study with pretest and posttest in a single group. Cognitive functions were checked with Continuous Performance Test (CPT), Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Wds) and Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ). The symptoms of patients were measured with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Remediation was performed utilizing the Rehacome® software. Patients received the cognitive remediation program including attention, concentration and working memory. All participants were followed up after an interval of one month and three months. Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis. After 3 months, the findings showed that patients’ scores improved in the time factor. Also, a significant improvement favoring cognitive remediation was found in several cognitive measures including Reaction Time (F = 4015p<.05, Eta = 0.242), Wds (F = 11.806, p<.05,Eta =. 48) PRMQ1(F = 3.314, p<.05, Eta = 0.20) PRMQ7(F = 2.85, p<.05, Eta = 0.18). Computer-assisted cognitive remediation training program was effective in improving the performance of schizophrenic patients. CACR did not have any effects on the positive and negative symptoms. Long- term follow-up studies are needed to confirm the maintenance of such improvements.

The aim of this study was to achieve a better understanding of schizoaffective disorder. Therefore, we obtained electroencephalogram (EEG) signals from patients with schizoaffective disorder and analyzed them in comparison to normal subjects. Forty patients with schizoaffective disorder and 40 normal subjects were selected randomly and their electroencephalogram signals were recorded based on 10-20 international system by 23 electrodes in open- and closed-eyes while they were sitting on a chair comfortably. After pre-processing for noise removal and artifact reduction, we took 60- second segments from each recorded signals. Then, the absolute and relative powers of these segments were evaluated in all channels and in 4 frequency bands (i.e., delta, theta, alpha and beta waves). Finally, Data were analyzed by independent t-test using SPSS software. A significant decrease in relative power in the alpha band, a significant decrease in power spectra in the alpha band and a significant increase in power spectra in the beta band were found in patients compared to normal subjects (P < 0.05). The predominant wave in the centro-parietal region was the beta wave in patients, but it was the alpha band in normal subjects (P = 0.048). Also, the predominant wave of the occipital region in patients was the delta wave, while it was the alpha wave in normal subjects (P = 0.038). Considering the findings, particularly based on the significant decrease of the alpha waves in schizoaffective patients, it can be concluded that schizoaffective disorder can be seen in schizophrenia spectrum.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common behavioral problem during childhood and in school-aged children. Various projection drawings have been designed for assessing children’s personality and psychological disorders including the tests of draw a person (DAP) and draw a family (DAF). We aimed to compare the differences between typically developing children and children with ADHD using these tests. In this case-control study, all the 9-10 year-old boy students studying at the third and fourth grades were enrolled from schools in the 2nd educational district of Shiraz, south of Iran. Eighty students were then selected and enrolled into the ADHD group and the control group. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition- text Revised (DSM-IV-TR), and the Child Symptoms Inventory were used to diagnose the children with ADHD. We evaluated and analyzed impulsiveness, non-impulsiveness, emotional problems and incompatibility indices in the DAP and DAF tests in each group. A significant difference was found in the indices of incompatibility and emotional problems, impulsiveness, non-impulsiveness and DAF between typically developing children and those with ADHD. The mean (±SD) total scores of the above mentioned indices in the ADHD group were 19.79(±2.94), 12.31(±1.84), 5.26(±2.29) and 5.89(±2.13), respectively (P<0.001). The corresponding figures for these indices in the normal group were 12.11(±4.74), 5.63(±2), 10.36± (2.33) and 2.88(±2.13), respectively (P<0.001). Significant differences were obtained between the control group and children with ADHD using these two drawing tests. The rate of impulsivity and emotional problems indices in drawings of children with ADHD was markedly more common than those of the typically developing children. This suggests the need for further assessment to screen ADHD.

Those veterans suffering from Post Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience a low quality of life. This study investigated how the quality of life of warfare victims with PTSD was influenced by mindfulness training (MT) This study followed a randomized controlled trial and included a pre-test, post-test and delayed post- and was conducted in 2012 at Shahid Rajaee Hospital in Isfahan, Iran. The participants were 28 randomly selected male warfare victims with PTSD who were assigned into control and experimental groups. Data were collected using World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire-26 (WHOQOL-26). Repeated measures ANOVA was run to analyze the data. The findings of this study indicated a statistically significant decrease in the mean score of the experimental group in both post-test and delayed post-test. Also, in comparison with the control group, there was a statistically significant increase in the mean scores of the physical and psychiatric health, social relationship and social setting and condition of the experimental group in the post-test and delayed post-test (p< 0.01). The findings of this study lend support to the effectiveness of MT in improving the quality of life of those veterans with PTSD and have significant implications for drawing our attention to mindfulness-based treatments as a way to enhance the quality of life of warfare victims suffering from PTSD.

Acne is the most common skin disease and isotretinoin is the most powerful drug among the various drugs used for its treatment, but it has some adverse effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of isotretinoin on depression and quality of life of a group of patients undergoing isotretinoin therapy before and after the treatment course. In this prospective study, 98 patients with severe acne were enrolled consecutively and underwent isotretinoin therapy receiving 0.5 mg/kg/d of isotretinoin for 16 weeks. Isotretinoin effects on quality of life and depression were evaluated using Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaires, respectively. In this study, 98 patients suffering from severe acne (38 males and 60 females) were enrolled. Treatment of acne was associated with improvement of quality of life scores in both male and female patients (p = 0.001). Considering the cutoff value of 13 for mild depressive mood in the BDI score, in total, 48 (49%) of the enrolled patients (21 males and 33 females) had a mild depressive mood before the commencement of the treatment in this study. The analysis of before and after treatment BDI scores showed that the number of patients and also the mean score of BDI were increased in both male and female patients after the treatment (p<0.05). Isotretinoin therapy improved the quality of life of patients suffering from acne, but depression was accentuated in the patients to some extent.

Mental health is an essential component for positive adaptation that enables people to cope with adversity to achieve their full potential and humanity. In this study, using a community based approach, the social determinants of mental health in Iranian women were extracted; and in addition, priority setting for interventional programs according to analytical framework of WHO was implemented. This study was a community based participatory research (CBPR) in district 22 of Tehran (Iran). The target group was married females with age range of 18-65 years. In this study, mental health priorities were extracted by qualitative methods according to Essential National Health Research model (ENHR) and the analytical framework of WHO. Data analysis was done based on content analysis by the open code 3.6 software. In the quantitative phase, according to secondary data, 1144 individuals (560 females and 584 males) were selected, of whom 41 percent had impaired mental health based on General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) (P<0.05). According to the qualitative phase, the first mental health priority in socioeconomic level was lack of insurance for unattended families, it was unemployment in differential exposure level and it was lack of knowledge and skills related to dealing with stress in the differential vulnerability level; in differential outcome and consequence levels, the priorities were lack of free counseling centers in the study area and lack of facilities for mental health rehabilitation. Providing training courses to improve the skills to deal with stress is considered one of the most important interventions for mental health promotion in women.

The most commonly used instrument for the research and treatment of excessive internet use is Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT). While the IAT has been translated to several languages (including Persian) and has demonstrated good psychometric properties across several independent studies, there is still a room for alternative assessment instruments. This study reports a validation of the Persian version of the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ). A sample (n = 296) from Kerman, Iran was administered the translated Persian version of the PIUQ as well as the Persian version of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness scale, Satisfaction With Life scale, and questions related to use of technology and the internet. Analyses using confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses demonstrated that the Persian version of the PIUQ had good internal reliability and concurrent validity (with loneliness and satisfaction with life), but they also had an alternative factor structure that did not support the original factor structure. The Persian version of the PIUQ produced adequate psychometric properties (internal reliability and concurrent validity), but care should be taken in the interpretation of the factor structure.