Iranian Journal of Psychiatry
Volume:10 Issue: 4, Autumn 2015

Theory of mind (ToM) or mindreading is an aspect of social cognition that evaluates mental states and beliefs of oneself and others. Validity and reliability are very important criteria when evaluating standard tests; and without them, these tests are not usable. The aim of this study was to systematically review the validity and reliability of published English comprehensive ToM tests developed for normal preschool children. We searched MEDLINE (PubMed interface), Web of Science, Science direct, PsycINFO, and also evidence base Medicine (The Cochrane Library) databases from 1990 to June 2015. Search strategy was Latin transcription of ‘Theory of Mind’ AND test AND children. Also, we manually studied the reference lists of all final searched articles and carried out a search of their references. Inclusion criteria were as follows: Valid and reliable diagnostic ToM tests published from 1990 to June 2015 for normal preschool children; and exclusion criteria were as follows: the studies that only used ToM tests and single tasks (false belief tasks) for ToM assessment and/or had no description about structure, validity or reliability of their tests. Methodological quality of the selected articles was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP). In primary searching, we found 1237 articles in total databases. After removing duplicates and applying all inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected 11 tests for this systematic review. There were a few valid, reliable and comprehensive ToM tests for normal preschool children. However, we had limitations concerning the included articles. The defined ToM tests were different in populations, tasks, mode of presentations, scoring, mode of responses, times and other variables. Also, they had various validities and reliabilities. Therefore, it is recommended that the researchers and clinicians select the ToM tests according to their psychometric characteristics, validity and reliability.

Zār is the term used to describe a form of spirit possession common in northern African, eastern African, and some Middle-Eastern societies. Although these regions share some cultural similarities arising from their history of slavery, in these places, zār varies in prevalence, clinical characteristics, and social context. Based on a selective review of the literature, this paper looks at the place of zār spirit possession in both DSM-IV and DSM-V; it also examines how zār is manifested in Iran and in African countries including Sudan, Ethiopia, and Egypt; and it aims to provide practical information to mental health clinicians so that they can better understand how this cultural concept is practiced by Iranians and Middle Eastern and African immigrants living near the Persian Gulf coast.

Violence imposed on wives by their inpatient psychiatric husbands has not been studied yet. The current study surveyed the rates and predictors of violence committed by inpatient psychiatric husbands towards their wives. A convenient sample of wives of 209 married male psychiatric inpatients completed a self-reported questionnaire. They were asked about physical, emotional, social and economic abuse. More than 80% of the husbands socially abused their wives; 73.0% of the wives had been regularly beaten by their husbands; the rate for humiliation was 77.2%; and only 14.1% of the wives reported that their sexual relationship with their husbands is with desire.onclusion: There is a dramatic high rate of different types of abuse toward wives by their inpatient psychiatric husbands. They are commonly victimized by their husbands. Moreover, different types of violence always co-occur. Future studies should consider this important issue which is unfortunately an ignored research area.

Experiencing ‎pleasant events during daily life ‎has a significant positive role in ‎the personal mental health and ‎acts as a keystone for “behavioral ‎activation” (BA) interventions. ‎There are serious differences in ‎the pleasant event schedules in ‎different cultures and countries. ‎We aimed to develop a Persian ‎checklist of pleasant events ‎‎(PCPE) to provide and validate a ‎culturally compatible checklist for ‎Iranians.‎ To develop a checklist ‎of pleasant events, inspired by ‎Pleasant Events Schedule (PES) ‎‎(MacPhillamy & Lewinsohn, ‎‎1982), we held three focused ‎group discussions with 24 normal ‎healthy participants from both ‎genders (female = 12) and asked ‎them to mention as much ‎pleasant events as possible. ‎When the list reached saturation ‎level, the inappropriate items with ‎respect to legal, cultural and ‎religious concerns were omitted. ‎The final checklist of PCPE ‎consists of two subscales: ‎Frequency (frequency of events ‎during last month) and ‎pleasantness (perceived ‎pleasantness of events). The total ‎score consists of frequency ‎multiplied by pleasantness. To ‎test the reliability and validity of ‎the checklist, the PCPE, ‎Depression, Anxiety and Stress ‎Scale (DASS), the Persian ‎version of WHO Quality of Life ‎and the Demographic ‎Questionnaire were administered ‎in a sample of 104 participants ‎‎(50 male and 54 female).‎ Frequency, ‎pleasantness and the total scores ‎of PCPE showed high levels of ‎internal consistency (Cronbach’s ‎alpha,. 976,. 976 &. 974, ‎respectively). Further support for ‎the convergent validity of the ‎PCPE was obtained via ‎moderate negative correlations ‎with depression, anxiety, stress ‎scores in DASS and positive ‎correlation with quality of life as ‎well as respondent’s perceived ‎happiness. There were negative ‎correlations between frequency, ‎pleasantness and total scores ‎and age of the participants ‎‎(Pearson correlation coefficient, r ‎‎= -.194, p<0.05; r = -.270, p<0.01 ‎& r = -.234, p<0.05, respectively).‎Conclusion‏:‏‎ PCPE as an ‎assessment tool has shown to ‎have good reliability and validity ‎among Iranians. Further steps ‎should be taken to validate this ‎instrument in different ‎psychopathologies such as ‎depression, addiction and ‎obesity.

‎‏ ‏Despite the fact that ‎the mobile phone has become a ‎pervasive technology of our time, ‎little research has been done on ‎mobile dependency. A valid and ‎reliable assessment instrument ‎corresponding to the Persian ‎culture is essential. This study ‎aimed to describe the ‎construction and validation of the ‎Persian version of TMD (Test of ‎Mobile phone Dependency) to ‎assess the addictive use of ‎mobile phone.‎ This was a cross-‎sectional study, for which data ‎were collected from 350 students ‎who were studying at Tehran ‎universities. Sampling method ‎was quota sampling. The ‎participants anonymously ‎completed the demographic ‎questionnaire, and CPDQ as a ‎valid questionnaire and gold ‎standard. Finally, clinical ‎interview [based on DSM-IV-TR] ‎was performed. To analyze the ‎data, concurrent validity, factor ‎analysis, internal consistency ‎‎(Cronbachα), split half; test-retest ‎and ROC Curve by SPSS18 ‎Software were used.‎ As a result of the ‎reliability analysis and factor ‎analysis by principal component ‎and Varimax rotation, three ‎factors (“salient”, “preoccupation” ‎and “Spend a lot of time and ‎money”) for both male and ‎female participants were ‎extracted. Internal consistency ‎‎(Cronbach's alpha) of the CPDQ ‎was. 92 (Cronbach alpha of the ‎factors is. 88,. 82, and. 84, ‎respectively). The test-retest ‎correlation of the TMD was ‎‎.56.The best cut off point for this ‎questionnaire (TMD) is 38.‎ The TMD proved to ‎have an acceptable internal ‎consistency with adequate factor ‎models to assess the extent of ‎problems caused by the "misuse" ‎of the mobile phone in the ‎Iranian society. Therefore, it can ‎be concluded that the Persian ‎version of the test was reliable ‎and valid; however, further ‎analysis is needed.‎

Addiction to narcotics ‎can cause serious problems and ‎monetary losses. Therapeutic ‎success can be predicted ‎through identifying lapse risk ‎factors.‎ Determining Job Risk ‎Factor of Lapse.‎ This was a cross ‎sectional study on 351 addicts ‎visiting five methadone clinics. A ‎Data collection sheet consisting ‎of questions on demographic ‎and job information was filled up ‎through direct interviews. ‎Information relating to lapse in ‎the first month was analyzed.‎ The mean (SD) age of ‎the participants was 40(12) ‎years; of them, 74% were ‎employed, of whom 34% had ‎lapsed. A relationship was ‎noticed between education ‎qualification (secondary school ‎compared with higher and lower ‎education) and lapse (p =. 04), ‎and also between type of drug ‎abuse (amphetamine) and lapse ‎‎(p =. 001).‎‎‏ Lapse was more ‎dependent on type of drug abused, ‎and employment had a protective role, ‎with no correlation with the type of ‎job and other job conditions. Non-‎work factors mediated/suppressed the ‎role of occupational conditions.

Nutrition in childhood has an important role in current and adulthood health. Recent studies have shown that the mother’s lifestyle has an important role in the methods used by mother to feed child. This paper aimed to investigate the association between mother’s weight efficacy lifestyle with feeding practices in children aged 3- 6 years. In this cross-sectional study which was carried out in 30 primary schools of Rasht (Iran) in 2012, 165 mothers with children aged 3-6 years were participated. Mothers reported their own and their child’s demographics. Aspects of mother’s weight efficacy lifestyle and mother’s control practices were assessed using Weight Efficacy Lifestyle (WEL) questionnaire and Comprehensive Feeding Practices questionnaire (CFPQ) respectively. Height and weight of mothers participated in the study were measured. The role of mother’s weight efficacy in predicting child’s feeding practices was assessed using linear regression. Results showed that mother’s weight efficacy was related to child feeding practices. The mothers with similar weight efficacy lifestyle applied similar methods in child nutrition. Mothers with better weight efficacy used more encourage balance and variety, environmental control, child involvement and less emotion regulation using foods.‎‏ The result of the ‎study showed that maternal ‎lifestyle was associated with ‎child feeding practices.‎

The global burden of conduct disorder is a major public health concern. Although there are different reports on the prevalence of conduct disorder in different Middle Eastern countries, to date, no research has reviewed them. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the literature and present the prevalence of conduct disorder among children and adolescents in Middle Eastern countries. Those cross-sectional studies with any type of random or non-random sampling, which described the prevalence of conduct disorder prior to age of 18, for at least one gender in the general or school-based populations who resided in Middle Eastern countries were included in this review. The scientific databases of PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Index Medicus for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (IMEMR), Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC), and Grey Literature including conference proceedings, and hand searching of key journals were searched from 1995 to the end of 2014. Two reviewers assessed the quality of the included studies independently and extracted the relevant data. This review provided a picture of different frequencies of conduct disorder in Middle Eastern countries and analyzed the sources of heterogeneity.

A young patient who presented with headache followed by positive and negative symptoms of psychosis and mutism was sent for the MRI of brain. MRI revealed a lipoma in the quardrigeminal area. We hypothesized that the neuro-vascular encasement of structures located at the upper dorsal midbrain by the lipoma caused the symptoms. A review of the current literature of quadrigeminal lipoma cases with presenting symptoms is provided. Lipoma in quardrigeminal area could give rise to symptoms of psychosis.