Iranian Journal of Practice in Clinical Psychology
Volume:4 Issue: 4, Autumn 2016

Sexual dysfunction is frequently reported as a side effect of many antidepressant medications. As a result, for those depressed patients to whom sexual desire is important, psychological treatment may be a better intervention. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the possible changes in sexual desire following psychological treatments in depression, when focus of therapy is not on sexual function.
This is a quasi-experimental study, which was conducted in Tehran, Iran. A total of 281 depressed patients in the remission phase underwent psychological treatments, either cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT, n=131) or mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT, n=150). The therapy did not focus on any aspect of sexual function. Using a single item measure before and after treatment, sexual desire of the patients was categorized into intact, mild, moderate, or severe decline. A total of 255 participants completed the study questionnaires and were randomly assigned to CBT (122) and MBCT groups (133). Before therapy, 128(50.2%) participants were categorized in intact sexual desire group, 73(28.6%) in mild sexual desire dysfunction group, 40(15.7%) in moderate sexual desire dysfunction group, and 14(5.5%) in severe sexual desire dysfunction group. Logistic regression was used for analyzing the data by SPSS-16.
Low sexual desire in depression remission was predicted by age (P CBT might be superior to MBCT in improving sexual desire in patients with depression. Further studies using validated sexual function questionnaires are necessary.

We aimed to determine the relationship between self-efficacy and alexithymia with vulnerability to drug abuse among students.
The study method was descriptive and correlational. In this study, 483 male high-school students from Salmas City, Iran were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method. All participants completed the Toronto alexithymia scale, general self-efficacy scale, a questionnaire to identify people at risk of addiction. The obtained data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation and simultaneous regression analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20.
Based on the study findings, self-efficacy has the greatest ability to predict vulnerability to addiction. Next comes alexithymia which positively predicts vulnerability to addiction.
The present study showed that low self-efficacy and failure to understand and express emotions can play important roles in the tendency of young people to drug addiction. Accordingly, clinicians can prevent the tendency of young people to addiction with improving the self-efficacy and enhancing the ability of individuals to control the emotions.

This study was conducted to compare marital satisfaction among married nurses with three different mate selection styles.
This study is descriptive ex post facto. A total of 222 married nurses were selected using random sampling method from two educational hospitals affiliated to Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences and four private hospitals of Ahvaz, Iran. They completed mate selection styles questionnaire and the short form of marital satisfaction scale. The data were analyzed through ANOVA by using SPSS16.
The findings indicated significant differences in marital satisfaction between married nurses with free choice and arranged styles and between married nurses with free choice and mixed styles. But there was no significant difference between married nurses with arranged and mixed styles with regard to their marital satisfaction.
The study nurses who belonged to recent generation of the community made their choices based on personal styles and criteria, and their families had no role in their marriage. Also, compared with last generations, they have higher marital satisfaction.

The present study aimed at investigating the relationship between attachment styles and self-efficacy in blind and non-blind female high school students in Tehran.
The statistical population consisted of all female students studying in grades one or two in Tehran girl’s high schools, in the academic year 2014. The study design was causal-comparative, conducted on 120 subjects consisting of 60 blind girls selected through convenient sampling method and 60 non-blind girls selected through randomized clustering sampling method. Data were collected through two questionnaires of attachment styles of Collins and Read (1990) (RAAS) and self-efficacy scale (SEQ-C) of Muris. To analyze the data, descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (multivariate analysis of variance) were used.
The study results indicated a significant difference between blind and non-blind students’ efficacy and attachment styles. Avoidance attachment style as well as emotional, social, and public efficacy of these two groups revealed no significant difference. Moreover, the results indicated a significant difference between anxiety attachment style and emotional, social, and public efficacy of these two groups (P>0.05). Finally, a significant difference was observed between secure attachment style and emotional, social, and general efficacy of blind and non-blind students.
The blind and non-blind students are significantly different with regard to anxiety and secure attachment styles. However, their emotional, social, and academic self- efficacy seems to be the same. Although there was a significant difference between blind and non-blind students with regard to attachment styles, a significant association was seen between different dimensions of self-efficacy of blind and non-blind students (P

The relationship between obsessive compulsive disorder and schizophrenia has been a matter of dispute for ages. This study aimed to investigate the differences between schizophrenia with obsessive compulsive symptoms (OCS) and schizophrenia without OCS in affecting positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
Study participants comprised 30 patients with schizophrenia with OCS and 30 patients with schizophrenia without OCS which were enrolled through convenience sampling method from Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Diagnosis was made by a psychiatrist using SCID-I and the data were gathered using positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) and Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale (Y-BOC). MANCOVA test was used for analyzing data.
Results indicated that there was not any difference between schizophrenia with OCS group and schizophrenia without OCS group with regard to positive symptoms, but the difference in negative symptoms between two groups was significant.
The present study reveals that OCS may be a protective factor for schizophrenia. Further studies are needed to investigate other factors and mediators involved in this association

Bipolar disorder is a severe mental disorder, and its prevalence is around 1% to 2%. Despite a vast literature around bipolar disorder, the reasons of its nonadherence and rehospitalization is still obscure. Several symptoms of bipolar disorder include changes in activity level, cognitive abilities, speech, and vegetative functions, such as sleep, sexual activity, as well as aggression, irritability, impulsive behaviors, and suicide. Owning to severity of symptoms, the first line of treatment is pharmacotherapy. After treating the acute phase of the disorder and controlling the symptoms, the patient is discharged from hospital with a relatively stable condition. Therefore, it is necessary and important for a patient to follow and adhere to the treatment.
This research is a cross-sectional and prospective study. The study population includes all patients with bipolar disorder in Razi Psychiatric Hospital with a history of admission to psychiatric hospitals. A total of 73 patients with bipolar type I disorder with psychotic symptoms who had a history of admission to psychiatric hospitals with the same diagnosis, were recruited using a purposive, nonrandom sampling method. The study data were collected using medical records, semi-structured questionnaire (SCID), and a checklist.
The mean age of participants was 34.25 years, ranging from 20 to 51. It was found that only a few participants had a good treatment adherence (only 3.4%). The ANOVA and Chi-square tests showed demographic variables, such as gender, education, and age had effects on treatment nonadherence of patients with bipolar disorder. The results of linear regression analysis indicated that the t value for treatment adherence was significant (P The results of the present study highlight the importance of considering the demographic variables in bipolar disorders and further investigations.

The present study was carried out to examine the efficacy of psychoneurotherapy (PNT) on reducing symptoms severity in treatment-naïve patients with obsessive-compulsive washing. This study evaluated a new form of psychotherapy based on neurobiological model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
The study was conducted as a quasi-experimental research. The statistical population of this study included 130 obsessive-compulsive washers. A total of 40 patients were selected using inconvenience sampling method and then were randomly divided into two groups: PNT group (n=20) and sham feedback control group (n=20). Both groups received drug treatment, in addition, the experimental group received 20 sessions (twice per week) of PNT. The Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale (Y-BOCS), Maudsley obsessional-compulsive inventory (MOCI), depression, anxiety, and stress scale-21 (DASS-21), subjective united distress scale (SUDS) were administered before and after treatment. Eelectroencephography (EEG) was recorded in eyes open provocation stimuli condition. All EEGs were recorded drug free. Participants were prescribed PNT protocol based on the results of their quantitative EEG (QEEG) and low-resolution electromagnetic tomography analyses. The effects of PNT were analyzed using 1-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) after controlling pretest scores. The effect size (Cohen’s d), paired t test, and clinically significant change were calculated and assessed for all the clinical instruments.
Thirty patients completed this study. Despite some methodological limitations, our results indicated that psychoneurotherapy is significantly efficient on treatment’s target. ANCOVA results supported that PNT could significantly improve the severity of OCD symptoms, depression, stress, anxiety symptoms, and subjective united distress scale compared to what was seen sham feedback control group (All P Psychoneurotherapy showed preliminarily evidence for the efficacy in the treatment of patients with obsessive-compulsive washing. The study is an attempt to provide a new non-invasive treatment of OCD washing. Future studies are needed to confirm our findings.

In any society, attention to physical, mental, social, and cultural health status as well as spiritual interests and providing opportunities for realization of a dynamic and healthy life is considered as the guarantee for the community health in the coming years. One of the issues that troubles the mental health of some people is infertility. In this regard, this study aims to determine the effects of infertility stress, mental symptoms, and quality of life of infertile women on predicting success rate of intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment.
The present study employs correlational methodology. The study population comprised all women referred to Royan Infertility Institute, Tehran, Iran. The study sampling was purposeful and included 79 infertile women. Assessment tools used in this study were as follows: depression anxiety and stress scale (DASS-s), brief symptom inventory (BSI), fertility quality of life questionnaire (FertiQol), Newton infertility stress questionnaire, and demographic questionnaire. For statistical analysis, we used test correlation coefficients of data, multiple regression analysis, and logistic regression.
Nagelkerke squared correlation coefficient was equal to 0.253, i.e., the predictors of depression, anxiety, and stress, brief symptom, quality of life, infertility and infertility stress, all together can explain 25% of the variance of the dependent variable – success of ICSI / IVF treatment.
When couples are waiting for the result of their treatments, infertile women start mental rumination and experience a variety of negative emotional experiences. These negative responses which entail cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of individual’s psychological world, suppress the healing process and are underlying factors for physical vulnerability of infertile person against psychological pressures. Subsequently, this physical vulnerability influences outcomes of assisted reproductive technology.