مجله روانپزشکی و روانشناسی بالینی ایران
سال بیست و هشتم شماره 2 (پیاپی 109، تابستان 1401)

The present research was carried out to explore the perceived impact of terrorist attacks in terms of dread, lack of control and extent of exposure in death anxiety. It was also intended to explore the moderating effect of resilient attributes, and religious beliefs were investigated.

Sample consisted of 359 students (directly perceived =159, and in-directly perceived =200). Their age ranged between 15-22 years. Sample was collected from Islamabad and Rawalpindi. 223 of them males with mean age (M=18.97 years, SD=2.48), and 136 females with mean age (M =18.53, SD=2.68). Data was collected through Perceived impact of terrorist attack scale (Khan & Rafiq, 2016), Death anxiety scale (Templer, 1970), The Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA)(Friborg, 2003), and Religiosity questionnaire (Rafiq & Shehzadi, 2013). Quantitative research method was used in the study. After data collection, data was analyzed using SPSS and Process. Descriptive statistics, correlational analysis, and moderation was done.

  Results of correlational analysis indicated that perceived impact of terrorist attacks (dread, lack of control, and extent of exposure) were significantly positively (P≥0.001)  associated with death anxiety among directly and in-directly perceived individuals however directly perceived individuals were found to be less fearful about death as compared to in-directly perceived individuals. Religious beliefs and resilient attributes appeared to have moderating effect on relationship between perceived impact of terrorist attacks and death anxiety.

From the findings we may infer that belief about hereafter, presence of God, and coping may reduce death anxiety more in directly exposed than indirectly exposed individuals.

Sex addiction is one type of behavioral addiction that is characterized by extreme fantasies and hard-to-control sexual behaviors. This disorder causes problems in the lives of affected people and their victims. The treatment is non-pharmacological and psychological, which are time-consuming and expensive. Short-term interventions are one of the ways to help these people. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of short-term clinical guidelines to treat sexual addiction disorder in affected individuals.

This was a randomized clinical trial study with pretest-posttest and follow-up. The studied population in this research included all people with sexual addiction disorder who live in Isfahan City, Iran. The statistical population was those who had the chance to be included in the study. These were individuals who were referred to outpatient and residential drug abuse treatment centers, psychiatric treatment centers, and sexual disorders treatment clinics. Using the balance block randomization method, 30 male subjects who were diagnosed with sex addiction disorder based on the cut-off point of the hypersexual behavior inventory (HBI) with a score of 53 and above were randomly divided into 2 intervention and comparison groups. The intervention group received ten 120-min therapy sessions held weekly. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the treatment sessions had to be held virtually (Skype). The comparison group was put on hold so that they could benefit from the treatment if the guide was effective. Both groups completed the HBI three times. The first time was immediately before the treatment, the second time immediately after the intervention, and the third time 3 months later in the follow-up phase. The results were analyzed via repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA) in the SPSS software, version 22.

In the present study, there were 30 patients with a sexual addiction disorder, of which 15 were in the intervention group and 15 were in the comparison group (the mean age of the participants was 26.4 years). The mean scores of HBI in the intervention group in the pretest, posttest, and follow-up stages were 67, 49, and 57, respectively, while the mean scores of HBI in the comparison group were 64, 60, and 59 for the pretest, posttest, and the follow-up, respectively. Repeated measurement findings showed that this clinical guideline is effective in reducing participants’ sexual addiction symptoms (P < 0.01).

Clinical guideline for short-term treatment of sexual addiction disorder is effective in reducing the symptoms of sexual addiction disorder. Using this method, which can be held online, and considering its short time and reduced cost of treatment, allows more people to benefit from it.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is defined in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as annoying and unpleasant thoughts or images (obsession) associated with repetitive and unwanted actions (compulsion). This study aims to compare emotional schema therapy augmented exposure and response prevention (ESTERP) with exposure and response prevention (ERP) and pharmacotherapy in improving the symptoms of OCD patients.

This was a randomized clinical trial study. The participants included all patients with OCD who were referred to hospitals and clinics in Tehran City, Iran. A total of 45 patients with OCD were selected through purposeful sampling, of which 15 patients were randomly assigned to the ESTERP group, 15 to the ERP group, and 15 to the pharmacotherapy group. After randomly placing the patients in the three groups, all patients completed the Yale-Brown obsessive–compulsive scale second edition (Y-BOCS-II), the four systems anxiety questionnaire (FSAQ), and the Beck depression inventory (BDI-II) before, in the end, and 2 months after the treatment. Then, the data were analyzed using nonparametric tests and the reliable change index.

There was a significant difference between the treatment of ESTERP with ERP and pharmacotherapy in the symptoms and severity of OCD and anxiety (except for the depression variable) in patients with OCD. In addition, the findings of the clinical significance of ESTERP compared to the other two treatments showed more significant changes in symptoms and severity of OCD and depression (except for the anxiety variable).

Both ESTERP and ERP treatments are effective in patients with OCD and both lead to more improvements in patients’ symptoms than pharmacotherapy.

This research aims to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on pain intensity, anxiety, depression, and quality of life of patients with chronic pain via randomized clinical trials.

The study population consisted of all patients with chronic pain referred to Imam Reza Army Hospital. Of these patients, 50 cases who met the inclusion criteria and were willing to participate in the study were selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to the experimental (n = 25) or control groups (n = 25). After selecting the patients and randomly assigning them to the two groups, the research questionnaires were completed by the patients before and after the treatment. After obtaining a written consent letter from the research participants, the experimental group received MBSR therapy (8 weekly sessions) while the control group did not receive any intervention. The questionnaires included the numeric pain rating scale (NPRS), the World Health Organization quality of life (WHOQOL) (WHOQOL-BREF), the Beck anxiety inventory (BAI), and the Beck depression inventory-second edition (BDI-II). To comply with the ethical principles, after the end of the study, MBSR therapy was administered to the control group as well. The data were analyzed via analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of covariance in the SPSS software, version 19.

The results of the analysis showed that MBSR therapy reduces pain severity, anxiety, and depression in patients with chronic pain (P < 0.05). The findings also showed that MBSR therapy improves the quality of life of patients with chronic pain (P < 0.05).

Along with the common medications for chronic pain, MBSR therapy can be used to improve the quality of life and reduce the severity of pain, anxiety, and depression in patients with chronic pain.

Human body needs an adequate amount of night’s sleep after a long day to regain its power. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT-I) for insomnia on emotional regulation and dysfunctional sleep beliefs among insomniac patients.

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest, posttest, follow-up test, and a control group. The sample included 43 people referring to sleep disorders clinics in Rasool-e-Akram Hospital and two private clinics for psychiatrists with a sleep fellowship in Tehran City, Iran in 2020. Of the 43 patients suffering from insomnia, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), 36 individuals were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, of which 20 cases were selected and randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 10) and a control group (n = 10).

The results demonstrated a significant difference between the emotional regulation and dysfunctional beliefs scores of the experimental and control groups in the posttest (P < 0.05). The results of the follow-up test indicated the sustainable effects of the therapeutic intervention on emotional regulation and dysfunctional sleep beliefs of the experimental and control groups compared to the pretest (P < 0.05).

Considering the significant effects of CBT-I on insomnia and dysfunctional sleep beliefs in the insomniac, this treatment can be used to improve their condition in sleep laboratories or other clinics.

The formulation of emotion-focused and compassion-focused behavioral intervention therapy can explain the relationship between the dimensions of problems and the health promotion of patients with headache symptoms and present the first combined treatment for emotional problems and the sedation of the nervous system to investigate and comprehensively prevent the symptoms of primary headaches.

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest, posttest, and follow-up with a control group. The sample consisted of 45 patients with primary headache symptoms who were referred to the neurology clinic of Khatam Al-Anbia Hospital in Tehran City, Iran. They were selected by the purposive sampling method and randomly divided into two experimental groups and a control group (15 people in each group). The experimental groups underwent a combination of compassion-based emotion therapy (ten 60-min sessions) and compassion-focused treatment (eight 60-min sessions). The control group received no intervention. After collecting the data, they were entered into the SPSS software, version 24. Descriptive statistical indices (mean and standard deviation) and statistical inference (repeated measures analysis of variance and the Bonferroni post hoc test) were used to analyze the data.

The findings showed that the quality of life variable is not significant because of the non-compliance with the spheric default in the intragroup effect and time factor (F = 3.47, df = 1.15, and P < 0.05); however, the interaction of the factor of time and group (F = 8.25, df = 2.31, and P < 0.01) shows a significant difference (P < 0.01) in the quality of life variable between pretest, posttest, and follow-up and time interaction with the group (between the three groups).

Compassion-based emotion-based combination therapy packages can help control the current situation and subsequent decisions of patients in the face of the signs and symptoms of early headaches by creating a calm mental environment and relieving any pressure or stress. Therefore, compassion-based emotion-based combination therapy is a treatment option that can be used to increase the quality of life of people with primary headaches.

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of compassion-focused acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on psychological flexibility and psychological distress in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

This was an experimental study with pretest-posttest, follow-up, and control group design. The statistical population included all multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, who were a member of the Khuzestan MS Society. From this population, 50 patients were selected by the simple random sampling method. Then, 32 patients were randomly selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria and divided into two groups, namely the control group (n = 16) and the experimental group (n = 16). The experimental group was randomly divided into two groups of 8 patients. The experimental group received ten 90-min sessions of compassion-focused ACT. The participants answered the open and engaged state questionnaire and psychological distress scale. The obtained data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) in the SPSS software, version 24.

The results of MANCOVA showed a significant difference between the experimental and the control group in psychological flexibility and psychological distress in the posttest and follow-up stages.

The compassion-focused ACT is effective in increasing psychological flexibility and reducing psychological distress in patients with MS.

It is highly important to identify the factors related to the general quality of life of parents, especially mothers of children with autism. Therefore, the present study aims to predict parenting stress based on mindfulness and meta-parenting considering the mediating role of parental self-efficacy of mothers of children with autism.

The present correlational study was conducted using the structural equation modeling (SEM) method. The study population included all mothers of 2- to 14-year-old children with autism referring to the therapeutic clinics in Tehran City, Iran, in 2021. Of this population, a total of 250 individuals were selected using the purposive sampling method and then responded to the parenting stress (PSI-SF), mindfulness (MAAS), meta-parenting (M-PQ), and parental self-efficacy (PSAM) questionnaires. The data were analyzed via the SEM method in the AMOS 21.0 software.

The total path coefficient between mindfulness (P < 0.01, β = - 0.671), meta-parenting (P < 0.01, β = - 0.256), and parental self-efficacy (P < 0.01, β = - 0.352), and parenting stress was negative and significant. Also, the indirect path coefficient between parenting stress and mindfulness (P < 0.01, β = - 0.153) and meta-parenting (P < 0.01, β = - 0.116) was negative and significant at the level of 0.01. Moreover, the squared multiple correlation coefficient (R2) for the parenting stress variable was obtained at 0.63.

Mindfulness and meta-parenting can predict parenting stress in mothers of children with autism both directly and with the intermediation of parental self-efficacy. Therefore, to develop interventions for preventing high levels of parenting stress, it is necessary to utilize the findings to improve parents’ parent-child relationships.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused fear and anxiety worldwide, especially amongst nurses. Examining the psychological effects of this disease on the mental health of nurses involved in the care of patients with this infection is critically important. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the nurses’ psychology capital and their views on mental security, job satisfaction and clinical performance.

One hundred consenting nurses from a university general hospital in Arak, Iran, completed three well-established questionnaires that asked about their psychology knowledge, views on mental security and clinical performance. The data were analyzed statistically, using confirmatory factor analysis and partial least squares method. Also, the path analysis test, t-test and regression beta coefficient were used to test the study’s four hypotheses on psychological capital and security.

The findings indicated that there were significant relationships, based on the theoretical model, amongst the nurses’ views on their psychology knowledge (or capital) and that it had a positive and significant effect on nurses' psychological security for working with COVID-19 patients. Also, the knowledge positively impacted their clinical performance and professional efficacy, while improving their sense of optimism, patience and hope for future.

There were positive interactions between the nurses’ psychological capital and the clinical performance, mental security, optimism and hope. Nurses with psychology capital had less worries on these subjects than those who lacked it. Such nurses believed they were more resourceful and able to provide better care to patients with coronavirus infection than those who lacked the knowledge.