نشریه پژوهشهای روان شناختی
سال ششم شماره 3 (زمستان 1380)

Today chemotherapy is the most important selective therapy for cancer patients. Unfortunately, in spite of positive effects of chemotherapy, this kind of therapy has many side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and distress which etiologically, have pharmacological and psychological bases. This study evaluated effectiveness of progressive Muscle Relaxation Training (PMRT) plus Meditation and pictorial Systematic Desensitization (PSD) through modeling for reduction of conditioned and psychological side effects induced by caner chemotherapy and also their effects on coping responses in cancer patients. Twenty one subjects were selected out of cancer chemotherapy patients and these subjects formed two experimental groups and one control group. These groups were matched on the basis of variables such as type and site of cancer, stage of disease, antineoplastics and antiemtics, protocol of chemotherapy, amount of side effects, age and gender. Results indicated two cognitive-behavioral interventions were effective in reduction of anticipatory nausea, vomiting and nausea during chemotherapy, and postchemotherapy distress and dysphoria before, during, and after periods of chemotherapy and physiological variables in pre and postchemotherapy. The interventions had limited differences in effectiveness. In addition applied therapeutic procedures produced positive changes in cognitive coping responses.

The main objective of this study was to construct and validate a scale for measuring schizotypal characteristics in the general population. Factor analysis of responses of 544 subjects to a preliminary scale comprising 134 items tapping various symptoms of schizotypal characteristics, resulted in the formation of a 3-factor structure scale consisting of 30 items entitled Schizotypal Characteristics Scale (SCS). These factors were entitled, respectively, Social Anxiety/Cognitive Disorganization, Magical Ideation and paranoid Ideation. The test-retest and internal consistency coefficients of SCS were satisfactory for the whole scale and its three subscales. The validity coefficients derived by concurrent administration of SCS and two other widely used scales, "Sc" subscale of Mini-Mult version of MMPI and "S" subscale of Millon Inventory (MCMI-II), as well as a purpose- designed scale based on DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for this disorder, were statistically significant. These findings indicate that the 30-item SCS is a reliable and valid scale for the measurement of schizotypal disorder, and its factor structure is more or less consistent with other scales reported in the literature.

The present research is a comparative study on some of the psychological characteristics of students in different colleges and departments of Shahid Beheshti University. The hypothesis being that there are correlations between students’ educational achievement, self- esteem, psychological health, and cognitive factors, with factors such as educational level, sex, employment, whether the field of study is applied or not, and the students expectations of their field of study. Participants were 1185 students who were selected using systematic sampling. The instruments used were as follows: a personal demographic questionnaire, an attitude questionnaire, an IQ test, a personality test, and a test of self-esteem. The results were analyzed using one way ANOVA, Cochran,s tests, Kruskall-Wallis ANOVA, t-test for independent sample, and multifactorial regression analysis. The outcome showed that students who were studying at post graduate level, employed students, and those who were living with their families, enjoyed higher self-esteem and better psychological health. These results are consistent with and confirm previous research in the filed.

In this study the role of positive environmental reinforcement and aversive events on self control behaviors were studied. According to previous behavioral findings it was predicted that environmental reinforcement and punishment would have some effects on self-reinforcement and self-punishment behaviors. Two hypotheses were advanced. For the purpose of testing these hypotheses 60 subjects were selected and randomly divided into three groups, and in another step of randomization each of the groups was randomly assigned to one of the experimental conditions. Overall, the findings confirmed each of the two hypotheses. Theoretical and empirical implications of results were discussed in detail in the discussion section.