International Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Volume:8 Issue: 3, 2014

The present research aims to compare the cognitive performance of the people suffering from washing compulsion، checking compulsion and generalized anxiety disorders in the realm of autobiographical memory. The selected samples in this causal-comparative study include 14 people suffering from checking compulsion، 14 suffering from washing compulsion، 17 suffering from generalized stress and 15 normal people who were all homogenized in the variables of age and level of education، and had the same social and economic conditions. The tools in this research included the Yale-brown obsessive-compulsive scale، Beck’s depression and anxiety inventories، the structured autobiographical memory interview and the autobiographical memory test. Finally، the research findings were analyzed through ANOVA، MANOVA analysis statistical methods. The results indicate that the average overall score of the healthy group is higher than that of the washing compulsion group in the autobiographical memory interview and higher than that of the checking compulsion group in the subscale of the childhood semantic memory. Also in the autobiographical memory test، the average production of the specialized autobiographical memory in the healthy group is higher than that of the washing compulsion group especially when the stimulus words are positive. It seems that the people suffering from washing and checking compulsions have weaker performances in the autobiographical memory in compared to the normal people and those suffering from general anxiety disorders.

As the main motivation for cosmetic surgery is appearance changing and improving happiness and self-confidence, this issue can be viewed as a consequent of psychological patterns. The purpose of this study was to study the relationship between cosmetic surgery seeking and two psychological factors of narcissism and inferiority feelings. This study was a correlative and post facto research. 50 individuals who were seeking cosmetic surgery and were admitted at cosmetic clinics in Tabriz were asked to participate. The subjects were assessed by a inferiority feeling scale and narcissistic personality inventory [NPI-16]. Data were analyzed by using a multivariate analysis of the variance and logistic regression analysis methods. Results showed that the seeking cosmetic surgery group got high scores in inferiority feelings and low scores in narcissistic characteristics. It also became clear that seeking cosmetic surgery was positively related to inferiority feelings and negatively related to narcissistic characteristics. As inferiority feelings play an important role in approaching to cosmetic surgeries, self enhancement and self-acceptance methods are recommended as alternative therapeutic methods in the treatment of cosmetic surgery patients.

Marital satisfaction is necessary for a successful and productive family life and is regarded as one of the determiner factors of a healthy society that will lead to a better next generation. The aim of the present study is to examine the mediating role of love stories in regards to early maladaptive schemas and marital satisfaction. The statistical population of this study was the married population in Arak city. For this purpose 210 couples were selected via available sampling. These couples answered to the Young Schema Questionnaire-short Form (YSQ-SF), the ENRICH’s marital satisfaction questionnaire, and the Love Stories Scale (LSS). The results showed that the early maladaptive schemas have a negative and significant correlation with marital satisfaction. In addition, the results of the path analysis indicated that the genre stories (war, theater, and mystery) have a mediating role in regards to early maladaptive schemas and marital satisfaction and early maladaptive schemas have an indirect effect on marital satisfaction through love stories. It seems that both early maladaptive schemas and love stories are the internal criteria in selecting a spouse and is considered as an important factor in marital satisfaction. Thus, it is important to consider the role of early maladaptive schemas and love stories in assessing and also beginning treatments for low marital satisfaction.

In recent years researchers in human science have been interested in qualitative researches. Considering the qualitative research capabilities and its potential role in the development of psychology, this study evaluated the qualitative research conducted by Iranian psychologists. The present study is a systematic review. By Searching the Internet websites of Scientific Information Database (SID), Noormags, Magiran and Ensani, 21 articles in the subject of psychology, which had been conducted by Iranian psychologists, were identified and evaluated. The findings reveal that few details on methodologies and the research processes have been presented and in some cases, applying the qualitative method was not appropriate for the research questions. The phenomenological and the interview method have been mostly used. Although more than a decade has passed since the publication of the first qualitative study by Iranian psychologists, the number of articles with a qualitative approach and their quality are poor. Due to the role of this approach on the production and the development of psychology, it is expected that qualitative research will find its actual and desired position among researchers in psychology.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of cognitive-behavioral training on increasing self-regulation. This studywas a pretest-posttest study in which 34 students who had the lowest total scores from the Bofard questioner (1995) were selected and randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. Afterwardseight cognitive-behavioral training sessionswere administrated for the experimental group. The content of the sessions weredesigned based on combining the twotraining packages of Binder (2000) and Shahni Yelagh and colleges (1385). At the end of the training sessions, the post-test (self-regulation) was administrated to both the experimental and control groups. The results of the analysis of the covariance showed that self-regulation in the training group significantly increasedas compared to the control group. In sum, it is proposed that it is best to use acombination of cognitive-behavior training and other methods or strategies in order to increase self-regulations in students.

The present study was done to compare the effectiveness of meta-cognitive therapy (MCT) with the control group in the treatment of general anxiety disorder (GAD) and meta-cognitive beliefs. This research was a randomized controlled clinical trial study. They were initially screened according to general anxiety inventory, and then 30 participants who met the exclusion-inclusion criteria were selected and randomly assigned to two groups of meta-cognitive therapy and control group (15 in each group). The population of the study was comprised from the pretest, posttest with a one month follow up design and a control group by a GAD scale and a meta-cognitive questionnaire. The experimental groups received 8 sessions of meta-cognition therapy while the control group did not receive any interventions. Data were entered into the SPSS Ver. 18 and analyzed by repeated measurements, Paired T Test, Independent T Test. A significant efficacy was observed in reducing GAD and meta-cognitive scale and also a significant effect size (ES) was observed among the meta-cognition group. Also the level of effectiveness in meta-cognition therapy was significant. The highest rates of recovery were related to the scales of GAD (ES=2.38) and meta-cognitive beliefs (ES=2.38) respectively. Meta-cognition therapy can be considered as one of the treatment strategies for general anxiety disorder in comparison to the control group due to significant efficacies. All this is because MCT targets worry as a key cognitive feature of GAD and reduces the symptoms of GAD.

Today, the most common type of headache is a tension which its cause has not yet been well understood. The purpose of this study was to family performance components in patients with Tension-type headaches and patients without Tension type headaches. This research was a case-control study in which 120 patients (including two groups with and without tension headaches) referred to the headache clinic and public center of Baqiyatallah in 2013. The cases were selected by a convenience sampling method and the controls were selected randomly. In order to collect data family functioning devices were used (FAD). Data analysis showed that there are significant differences between family functioning in patients compared to the Controls. Results also showed that there are significant differences among the factors of problem solving, communication, affective responsiveness, affective involvement, behavior control, and general functioning. It can be concluded that one of the factors that can cause or maintain family functioning are tension-type headaches. By improving all the aspects of family functioning we can reduce the incidence and severity of tension-type headaches.

Over the recent years, the sources of stress and unfavorable situations are increasingly rising. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between egocentrism and early maladaptive schemas with well-being in students. The methods which were used in this research were correlation and stepwise regression. The number of the studied cases consisted of 400 students of the Tehran Payam- Noor University from four different social classes and levels in the society that were sampled by using stratified random sampling. They were asked to complete the personal fable scale and the new imaginary audience scale in order to evaluate egocentrism and three other scales were completed to consider early maladaptive schemas (EMSs), Personal well-being (PWB), individually. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, stepwise regression analysis. The analysis showed that there were significant negative relationships between well-beings and maladaptive schemas and egocentrism. Stepwise the regression analysis showed that there were significant negative correlations between social Isolation/Alienation, emotional deprivation, negativity/pessimism, insufficient self-control/self-discipline and in vulnerability with well-being. The maladaptive schemas and invulnerability has a key role in predicting students’ psychological well-being. By being aware of the emotional needs and creating a better relationship with the same age groups, these students can lead to a much better social perception and an increase in psychological well-being status.

The aim of the present research was to compare the efficacy of desensitization with eye movements, reprocessing therapy and meta- cognitive therapy on the self- control of patients suffering from panic disease. This study was a quasi- experimental study with a pretest- posttest design and a control group. The sample consisted of 48 selected patients with panic disease in Tabriz city. The subjects were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and a control group. The two used techniques were desensitization with eye movements, reprocessing therapy and meta- cognitive therapy. In order to collect data the Tanji self- control Questionnaire and also the pretest- posttest were used in two stages. Data were analyzed by using the multivariate analysis of variance. The results showed significant differences between the therapeutic groups and the control group. The multi- comparison tests revealed that meta- cognitive therapy is more effective compared to desensitization with eye movements and reprocessing therapy in increasing the self- control of patients. Also, the efficacy of desensitization treatment with eye movements and reprocessing therapy in increasing the self- control of patients was more effective compared to the control group. Considering the advantages of meta- cognitive therapy over desensitization with eye movements and reprocessing therapy in increasing self- control, it is recommended that therapists use this method in patients who are suffering from panic disease.

The aim of the present research is to study and investigate the impact of knowledge sharing on employees’ empowerment through contribution in decision making and contributive learning in the Kerman University of Medical Sciences. The current study is a descriptive research and has a correlative approach. The population of this survey consists of the whole employees of Kerman University of Medical Sciences. In order to select the attendance of this study, 264 people were chosen according to the simple random sampling. The data collection method in this survey was a standard questionnaire. Findings indicate that there is a significant positive association between knowledge sharing and employees’ psychological empowerment through contribution in collective decision making (with standardized solution 0/87+0/76) and contributive learning (with standardized solution 0/87+0/76) in the Kerman University of Medical Sciences. According to the results of this research, knowledge sharing, contribution in decision making and contributive learning can improve psychological empowerment directly. It is said that if knowledge sharing is done through contribution in decision making and contributive learning, the effect of this improvement will decrease.

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of behavioral parent training methods for the mothers of children with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD) in improving the mental health of these mothers and reducing the externalizing behavior symptoms of their children. The research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design and a control group. To do so, 24 mothers of children with ADHD were selected using at-hand sampling and were divided into control and experimental groups. Both groups filled out the general health scale, children behavior checklist, and Conners’ parents rating scale for ADHD. In the next step, the behavioral parent training methods were implemented in the experimental group in 9 ninety-minute sessions while the mothers in the control group went under their normal procedures. At the end of the instructional session, both groups filled out the mentioned questioners as the post-test. Covariance analysis was used for analyzing data. The results of the analysis of the covariance showed that behavioral parent training methods improved the mental health scores in mothers in the experimental group in comparison with the control group. Also it can be said that the aggression and rule breaking scores decreased among children. The results totally showed that the behavioral training of mothers improves their mental health and also the behavior problems in their children suffering from ADHD.

Due to the growing elderly population and the prevalence of the phenomenon of staying in nursing homes, psychiatric disorders in this population have become inevitable. In such circumstances, paying more attention to the non-drug therapies seems necessary.Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of structured group reminiscence on the depression and self-esteem of older women. This study is quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest-follow up design with a control group. The population includes all the elderly female nursing home residents in the city of Kermanshah. Among them, 24 elderly were selected and have been randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Seniors who were in the experimental group received 12 weekly sessions of structured group reminiscence and control group received no intervention during this time. In order to record the score changes, the brief mental status examination, depression among seniors, and Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale questionnaires were filled out by participants during the pretest-posttest level and three months after the intervention. The result of the analysis of the covariance indicates the effect of the structured group reminiscence on reducing the symptoms of depression and increasing self-esteem among female seniors. These results were maintained in a three month follow-up only for depression scores. Based on the findings of this study one can once again emphasize the importance of the effect of structured group reminiscence on the improvement of psychological disorders among the elderly.