Avicenna Journal of Neuro Psycho Physiology
Volume:7 Issue: 1, Feb 2020

Marriage has always been considered as the starting point of the family and hence is a complex and very delicate form of human relationship. Commitment is one of the critical predictors of an individualschr('39') willingness to stay in a marriage and a determinant factor regarding its time and quality. In this regard, the present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of imago relationship therapy (IRT) and Feldmanchr('39')s integrated approach on marital commitment in conflicting couples in Tehran, Iran.

This quasi-experimental applied research was conducted based on a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population of this study included all of the conflicted couples who referred to the Department of Womenchr('39')s Affairs in the Post Bank of the District 6 of Tehran municipality and a Psychological Clinic in the District 22 of Tehran municipality in 2018. In total, 30 couples were enrolled in the study who were equally divided into two groups of intervention and control. The required data were collected using the marital conflict questionnaire developed by Barati and Sanei (1998) and marital commitment questionnaire developed by Adams and Jones (1997). Moreover, the collected data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance.

Based on the results, both the IRT and Feldmanchr('39')s integrated approach affected the personal (F=27.63, P<0.001), ethical (F=69.70, P<0.001), and structural commitment (F=40.51, P<0.001). Nevertheless, IRT affected marital commitment more than the Feldmanchr('39')s integrated approach.

It can be concluded that IRT and Feldmanchr('39')s integrated approach can improve the marital commitment of conflicting couples.

Generalized anxiety and depression are prevalent in patients with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases leading to many complications. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of metacognitive therapy and behavioral activation on depression in the elderly with type 2 diabetes.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted based on a pretest-posttest design using a follow-up and control group. The study population consisted of elderly with type 2 diabetes who referred to five endocrine and metabolism clinics in region 11 of Tehran, Iran, during 2017. A total of 45 males and females were selected by purposive sampling method based on the inclusion criteria. Then they were assigned randomly to one control and two case groups. The Beck Depression Inventory (Second Edition) was utilized to measure the depression scale. In total, eight 90-min group intervention sessions were held weekly. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 25) through analysis of covariance and repeated measures ANOVA.

The results showed that metacognitive therapy (F=15.07, P<0.001) and behavioral activation (F=7.09, P<0.008) were significantly effective on depression in the elderly with type 2 diabetes, and there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in this regard (P<0.001).

This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of metacognitive therapy and behavioral activation on depression in the elderly with type 2 diabetes. The results showed that metacognitive therapy and behavioral activation were significantly effective on depression in this population with type 2 diabetes. Moreover, behavioral activation was more effective than metacognitive therapy on depression reduction.

According to global statistics, in every society, more than 10% of children are born with different characteristics from those of their peers, meaning they are mentally different from their peers. Children with intellectual disabilities are at a greater risk of refractive errors and other ocular problems. Regarding this, the present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of refractive errors and ocular findings in children with intellectual disabilities studying at the special schools of Hamadan, Iran, within 2017-18.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 90 students with intellectual disabilities studying at the exceptional schools of Hamadan in 2017-18. The data was collected using a checklist recording such data as demographic information, level of education, and eye examination results. Visual acuity, refraction, slit-lamp examination, and fundoscopy were performed by an optometrist and an ophthalmologist. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software (version 16.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) at a significance level of <0.05.

The mean age of the students was 9.4±2.7 years (age range: 6-18 years). Based on the data, 56 (62.2%) cases were female. With regard to the ocular findings, 78 (86.7%), 16 (17.8%), and 12 (13.3%) students had refractive errors, amblyopia, and strabismus, respectively. The most common refractive error in students was mixed astigmatism (n=66, 73.3%), followed by hypermetropia (n=35, 38.9%). Refractive errors and ocular diseases had a higher prevalence in female students under the age of 11 years and preschoolers; however, this difference was not statistically significant. Out of 78 children with refractive errors, 18 (23.1%) cases had an ocular disease (P=0.063).

According to the findings of this study, the prevalence of refractive errors and eye diseases was higher in children with an intellectual disability than in the general population. Furthermore, the girls and children with a younger age were found to be at a greater risk of ocular disorders. Consequently, the screening or periodic examination of these children is a measure of vital importance.

Obesity and overweight are among the most common health problems in adolescence, which is rapidly increasing as a serious threat to health. Eating attitude is one of the most crucial issues in eating disorders that include beliefs, thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and relationships with food. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of group schema-therapy on eating attitude and self-regulation of overweight adolescent females with binge eating disorder.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted using a pretest-posttest design with a three-month follow-up. In total, 30 female students were selected purposefully within the age range of 15-17 years and body mass index of 25-29.9 from high schools in Sari, Iran during 2018. Subsequently, according to the obtained score of 17 and higher in the binge eating scale, they were assigned into two experimental (n=15) and control groups (n=15) using a randomized complete block design. The experimental group participated in 13[Z1]  group schema therapy sessions of 1.5 h weekly. Both groups were assessed again one week after the intervention and three months after the last session of the treatment. The data were collected using the Binge Eating Scale, Young Schemas Questionnaire with 90-question Short Form, Eating Attitude Test-26, and self-regulation questionnaire. Moreover, the data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22) through repeated measures of ANOVA and covariance analysis.

The results indicated significant differences between pretest and posttest regarding the eating attitude and self-regulation scores in the experimental group, which were consistent until the follow-up stage (P<0.05).

According to the results of this study, it is recommended that clinical specialists use the group schema therapy approach in the treatment of people with binge eating disorder.

Marital conflict is a type of lack of ongoing meaningful agreement between spouses. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on sexual self-efficacy and marital satisfaction in couples with marital conflicts.

This quasi-experimental study was carried out on the intervention and control groups with a pretest/posttest design and follow-up. The study population consisted of 30 females who referred to counseling centers in district 1 of Tehran, Iran, in 2018 through simple random sampling. The participants were randomly divided into two groups, each with 15 members. The intervention group received mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and the control group received no intervention. Data collection tools were the questionnaires of sexual self-efficacy, marital satisfaction, and marital conflicts. The questionnaires were filled out by the participants before and after the intervention and 3 months later. The collected data were analyzed using repeated measurement analysis and analysis of covariance by SPSS software (version 22).

The results of the study showed that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy led to increased sexual self-efficacy (P<0.033) and marital satisfaction (P<0.003) in the intervention group; however, in the control group, there was no significant difference in pretest, posttest and follow-up scores.

Based on the results, it can be concluded that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy can improve sexual self-efficacy and marital satisfaction in couples with marital conflicts.

This study was conducted to investigate the role of intelligence, creativity, and personality characteristics of successful and unsuccessful social workers in empowering female household heads.

This applied research was conducted on 24 social workers that were providing services to the female heads of households under the cover of welfare organization from 2015 to 2018 in Tehran and Alborz Provinces, Iran, using a causal-comparative method. The study population was selected using the multi-stage cluster sampling method. After data collection, the participants were divided into two groups of successful and unsuccessful cases based on their success in empowerment. The research tools included the Neo Personality Inventory, Abedi Creativity Questionnaire, and Cattell Intelligence Test. The data analysis was performed using ANOVA.

The results showed a significant difference between the social workers successful and unsuccessful in the empowerment of female household heads in terms of intelligence. Among the personality traits, only extraversionism was significantly different between the two groups. The result was not also significant for creativity.

Based on the findings, it can be argued that the identification of the characteristics of successful social workers can help empower the female heads of households who suffer from many economic, social, psychological, and cultural problems. Therefore, the findings of this study can be useful in identifying the demographic and psychological characteristics of successful social workers in adopting strategies that reduce social harm in this group and empower them.

Sexual satisfaction is one of the factors affecting the continuity of marital relationship and satisfaction with this relationship. Regarding this, the present research was conducted to develop a model of Iranian sexual satisfaction in terms of marital adjustment, marital quality, and marital conflict.

This applied exploratory study was conducted during 2018-2019 using a qualitative method and data-based approach. The data were collected using in-depth interviews. After the interview, the obtained data were subjected to inductive analysis. In other words, there was no previous conceptual framework for coding and categorization, rather the analysis was performed freely and according to the coding technique of data theory. To assess the validity of the content of the subject matter, the table of contents was submitted to six faculty members of psychology who were familiar with qualitative research and sexuality issues, who confirmed the content validity of the identified themes.

Based on the results, the final model of the research consisted of eleven different themes, including seven stimulants, namely preparation, sexual preferences, sexual representation, cognition, attitude, sexual behaviors, and sexual consequences, and four preventive factors, namely cognitive impediments, emotional barriers, barriers to behavior, and environmental barriers.

Recommendations for couples to obtain sexual satisfaction must be based on both stimuli and barriers as identified in this research.

The present study aimed to compare early maladaptive schemas between individuals with and without substance use disorder (SUD) in Hamadan, Iran.

The present causal-comparative study was conducted on a total of 200 individuals with and without SUD referring to the addiction treatment centers in Hamadan, Iran, during 2016. The participants were selected based on the stratified random sampling method. In addition, the required data were collected through the Young’s Schema Questionnaire Short Form and analyzed using the independent samples t-test by SPSS software (version 22).

The obtained results indicated a significant difference in early maladaptive schemas between the participants with and without SUD. Accordingly, the scores of early maladaptive schemas of the subjects with SUD were generally higher than those reported for the participants without SUD (df=198; the p-value of the first column<0.05; the lowest and highest p-values of Levene’s test reported as 0.000 and 0.542, respectively).

There was a significant difference between the scores of early maladaptive schemas in individuals with and without SUD. Accordingly, the frequency of early maladaptive schemas of the participants with SUD was generally greater than that reported for those without SUD.

Diabetes mellitus is known as one of the health emergencies of the 21st century. This disorder is associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, stroke, diabetic nephropathy, neuropathy, retinopathy, and pregnancy complications, as well as lower quality of life, high economic burden, and high risk of premature death.

The aim of this study was to investigate the necessity of and barriers to developing psychological interventions to treat, improve, and manage type II diabetes from the perspective of health policymakers in Iran.

This qualitative study was conducted on 11 policymakers of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran within 2016-2019. The data were collected using semi-structured and in-depth interviews and then analyzed by content analysis.

The main themes related to the necessity of developing psychological interventions included impact on the quality of life, disease management, cost-effectiveness, and complications of diabetes.

The current study was conducted on senior health policymakers in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. Accordingly, our findings can be used in decision making and the development, implementation, and evaluation of psychological intervention programs for type II diabetic patients in Iran