مجله روانشناسی و روانپزشکی شناخت
سال نهم شماره 5 (پیاپی 44، آذر و دی 1401)

Shame is a self-conscious emotion that can be named psychological pain. The consensus is that shame has adaptive and maladaptive aspects. In other words, although shame warns individuals about the loss of their social position, its experience could lead to different types of psychopathology, namely personality pathology. The aim of the current study was (1) to explore the theoretical perspectives about the association between shame and personality disorders and (2) to investigate the congruency of empirical findings with the aforesaid theories. By conducting a narrative review of the most significant references existing in the literature, we found that most of the theories and studies were about cluster B personality disorders (and in particular, about borderline, antisocial, and narcissistic personality disorders). Shame plays a distinct role in the development and maintenance of the above-said personality disorders. The most notable difference is related to the level of consciousness in which shame is processed. Moreover, particularly in the relationship between shame, grandiose narcissism, psychopathy, and antisocial personality disorder, inconsistencies among theories and empirical findings were observed. Experiencing shame could have enduring impacts on individuals' mental health. When shame is internalized, it may lead to the development of personality disorders in different ways and patterns.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. This has led doctors, psychologists to seek to discover the causes, treatment and ultimately improve the mental health of this group of patients.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of group schema therapy on death anxiety and emotional turmoil in patients with breast cancer in Shiraz.

The present study was quasi-experimental and of pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this research included all patients referred to medical centers and hospitals in Shiraz from July to September 2019 diagnosed with breast cancer. Using the targeted sampling method, 50 women with breast cancer were selected and randomly assigned to 2 groups (control and experimental). The experimental group received the educational intervention of group schema therapy in 8 sessions of 45 minutes and 1 session per week. The control group did not receive any intervention; the questionnaires used in this research included Death Anxiety Questionnaire and Depression, Anxiety and Stress Questionnaire. SPSS version 24 software and covariance analysis were used for data analysis.  

Findings showed that group schema therapy training protocols had a significant effect on reducing death anxiety and emotional turmoil in women with breast cancer (P≤0.001). The effect size for death anxiety and emotional disturbance was 0.576 and 0.247, respectively.

The effectiveness of group schema therapy on reducing death anxiety and emotional disturbance was confirmed in the present study. It is suggested to use this type of treatment to help women with breast cancer.

Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder, and one of the variables that are important in people with schizophrenia is emotional self-regulation. On the other hand, another study has shown that there is a relationship between emotion regulation disorder and ambiguity intolerance.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between emotion regulation and meta-concern in the tolerance of ambiguity in patients with schizophrenia.

The present study was a correlational study and a cross-sectional study was conducted. The research population was schizophrenic patients referred to the Forghani-Nekoui Psychiatric Center in Qom in 2020. The sample of the study was 141 hospitalized patients or referred to a psychiatric center, which were selected using the convenience sampling method. In order to collect information, Questionnaires on Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale, Wells' Metacognitions Questionnaire and Ambiguity Tolerance Questionnaire were used. Research data were analyzed using pathway analysis with PLS software.

The average score of the difficulty in performing purposeful behaviors in times of helplessness was 54.1±21.63 and the average score of the difficulty in controlling impulsive behaviors in times of helplessness was 67.27±19.27. The average score of the ambiguity tolerance questions was 25.12±4.32. No significant relationship was found in the relationship between the variables, difficulty of emotion regulation and transcendence, difficulty of emotion regulation and tolerance of ambiguity. The only significant relationship was shown between the effect of meta-worry on the ambiguity tolerance (P=0.049).

Therefore, it can be concluded that these patients, as mentioned, have less capacity to tolerate ambiguity and meta-worry. It is suggested to pay more attention to these aspects in the treatment of schizophrenia patients.

Various psychological factors, such as mood and anxiety symptoms, can affect pain outcomes.

The present research was conducted to identify these factors aiming at providing a conceptual model of pain outcomes based on emotional schemas and symptoms mediated by experiential avoidance, pain acceptance, and self-compassion of patients with chronic pain.

In this descriptive correlational research, the statistical population consisted of men and women (aged 30-50) with chronic low back pain referring to pain clinics in Akhtar, Labafinejad, and Imam Hossein hospitals, Tehran, Iran, in 2019-2020. We selected 400 people using a convenience sampling method considering the inclusion criteria. The tools included the Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (MASQ), Emotional Schemas-Short Form, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ), Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ) and the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). Data were analyzed with SPSS-21 and LISREL-8.8 using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).

The fitted model showed that the direct effect of mood and anxiety symptoms on increasing emotional schemas (p<0.05) was equal to 5, and the direct effect of emotional schemas was significant on increasing experiential avoidance, reducing pain acceptance and self-compassion (p<0.05). Also, the indirect effect of mood and anxiety symptoms through increasing emotional schemas, increasing experiential avoidance, decreasing pain acceptance, and self-compassion on increasing pain outcomes was significant (p<0.05).

Experiential avoidance, pain acceptance, and self-compassion could mediate the relationship between emotional symptoms and emotional schemas to pain outcomes. Therefore, developing therapeutic interventions based on emotional schemas to reduce emotional schemas and experiential avoidance and increase pain acceptance and self-compassion could help reduce pain outcomes in patients with chronic pain.

Understanding the cognitive-social factors that contribute to group success is crucial in creating and maintaining a group and its cohesion process.

The present study was conducted to investigate the persistent effect of problem-solving methods and create interpersonal relationships on the cognitive-social dimensions of the group environment of athletes.

This study was a semi-experimental type of research with a pre-test and post-test design. The statistical population was all female students of Islamic Azad University- Yadgar Imam Branch in the academic year 2017-2018. The statistical sample included 57 volunteer students who were randomly divided into three groups such as control, problem-solving exercises, and interpersonal relationship exercises. After the pre-test, all participants performed the desired exercises for 12 weeks and then took part in the post-test. The group Environment Questionnaire of Caron & et al (1987) was used to evaluate the cognitive-social dimensions of the group environment. Data were analyzed using ANOVA with repeated measures and Bonferroni's posthoc test using SPSS version 20 software.

The results showed a significant difference. The time and group effects showed that the interventions had a significant effect on the dimensions of individual attractions to the group–social and group integration (P<0.05). The results also showed that a significant difference was observed in the interaction effect of the time*group. The results of the Bonferroni post-hoc test also showed that the method based on interpersonal relationships has a significant effect on the cognitive-social components of the group environment (P<0.05).

According to the results of this study, it can be said that if the communication channels between the coach and team members are open so that each member can share the cognitive-social dimensions related to their behavior with others, it will lead to better performance.

Depression in children with cancer can complicate the course of the disease and cause many problems in the treatment process.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression in children and adolescents with cancer.

This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Forty children with cancer admitted to the oncology ward of Besat Hospital, Sanandaj, with an age range of 7- 17 years in 2016, who were selected and assessed using a demographic information checklist and the Children's Depression Inventory (Kovacs, 1979). After collecting data, the data were analyzed by SPSS-20 software using descriptive statistical tests and chi-square.

The 15% of the subjects had depressive symptoms and 47.5% were on the verge of depression. The prevalence of depression was 21.1% in girls and 9.5% in boys (p=0.54), and there was no significant difference in terms of cancer type (p=0.99), treatment method (p=0.81) and demographic indicators (p>0.05).

Due to the relatively high prevalence of depression in this group of patients, it is recommended that the necessary screenings be performed to identify and refer patients with depression to psychiatric or psychological clinics to receive appropriate and timely treatment to help improve the quality of life of these patients and their families.

Anxiety and depression are the most common psychological problems that reduce employee productivity.

The present study was conducted to compare the level of anxiety and depression of satellite project staff and accommodation in companies located in Kharg Island.

The present study was a causal-comparative study. The statistical population of the study included all employees of the satellite project and residents of companies located on Kharg Island in 2021. Using the available method, 104 people (52 from the satellite plan and 52 from the island) were selected. Data were collected using the Anxiety-Depression-Stress Questionnaire (DASS-42). Research data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, parametric statistical defaults and multivariate analysis of variance with SPSS-26.

The results showed that the mean scores of anxiety (Eta=0.23, P=0.000, F=31.37) and depression (Eta=0.17, P=0.000, F=21.39) were significantly higher in the resident staff group than the satellite plan staff and there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups.

The results showed that employees living in companies based on Kharg Island experienced higher levels of anxiety and depression than employees of the satellite project. In this regard, island managers are advised to use psychologists to increase the psychological performance of employees to increase the productivity of the workforce.

Diseases such as high blood pressure with comorbid psychological problems can make it difficult to manage and control. People with this disease are likely to experience comorbid stresses.

The aim of the present study was the effectiveness of unified transdiagnostic treatment on psychological distress and alexithymia in people with hypertension with comorbid stress.

The present study was a semi-experimental type with a control group. 40 patients with high blood pressure with co-occurring stress were selected from health centers of Aliguderz city in 2021 through convenience sampling method. The participants were randomly assigned to the experimental group (20 people) and the control group (20 people). They completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Questionnaire (DASS-21, 1995) and the Toronto Ataxia Scale (1994) in two stages: pre-test and post-test. The experimental group received the unified metadiagnostic treatment protocol for 12 sessions of 60 minutes, but the control group did not receive any intervention. The data were analyzed with SPSS-18 and through multivariate analysis of covariance test.

The results of covariance analysis showed that unifield transdiagnostic treatment significantly effective in improvement alexithymia (F=56.24, P<0.01) and reducing depression (F=0.65, P<0.01), anxiety (F=8.86, P<0.01) and stress (F=5.43, P<0.01) in the sample of hypertension patients comorbid with stress.

The results of this study showed that the unified transdiagnostic treatment affects reducing psychological distress and alexithymia. Therefore, this protocol can be used to improve the psychological problems of these patients.

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a transdiagnostic vulnerability factor characterized by a negative reaction at an emotional, cognitive, and behavioral level to uncertain situations.

The current study investigates the factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity of the Iranian version of the intolerance of uncertainty scale-12 and its predictive role in anxiety, depression, and contrast avoidance (CA).

This is a cross-sectional, psychometric study. Two large samples (N1=1210, N2=228) were collected with the convenience sampling method from three university students in Zanjan city (i.e., University of Medical Sciences, Azad University, and Payame Noor University) who were studying from February to July 2020. Data were collected using CAQ-GE, BAI, BDI-II, GAD-7 and IUS-12. The data were analyzed with  Mplus 7.4, Amos 24, and SPSS 26 software.

EFA and CFA supported the two-factor model for IUS-12. In addition, the results indicated that the IUS-12 has an excellent convergent validity (p<0.01) and an acceptable internal consistency (α=0.89). Regression analysis results confirmed the predictive role of IUS-12 in predicting anxiety and depression and pointed out the possible transdiagnostic nature of the CA.

Iranian version of IUS-12 showed good psychometric properties and a robust two-factor structure. Therefore, using it in predicting constructs related to anxiety and depression could help us extend our knowledge of the underlying factors of psychiatric disorders.

Avoidant personality disorder is a relatively common personality disorder, widely coinciding with other axis I and axis II disorders.

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of schema therapy and cinema therapy in improving early maladaptive schemas and harm avoidance temperament dimension in patients with an avoidant personality disorder.

This single-case research used a quasi-experimental multiple-baseline design. Among 18 to 35-year-old patients referred to the Armana Psychological Clinic in 2021, 4 individuals diagnosed with personality disorders based on a semi-structured clinical interview scale were selected by purposeful sampling. The tools used in this study were schema, temperament, and character questionnaires. The therapeutic program was held for 34 sessions of 60-minute, and the follow-up phase was performed 3 months after the end of the intervention. The data were analyzed by drawing charts and calculating clinical significance indices.

Participants’ scores in terms of schemas showed a descending trend from baseline to the end of the treatment, indicating slight improvement (25%-49%). Regarding the avoidance temperament variable, the scores showed a downward direction compared to baseline, revealing an improvement percentage of less than 25%. The scores of clinical significance indices (RCI≥1.96) in both variables indicated the effectiveness of the therapeutic method.

Schema therapy and cinema therapy were efficient in treating maladaptive schemas in patients with an avoidant personality disorder; however, efficacy was inadequate for correcting the variable of harm avoidance temperament.

Cancer is one of the most common diseases in the world today that in addition to causing physical problems causes psychological problems for patients. One of these problems is pain catastrophizing.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of psychological resilience and mindfulness in predicting pain catastrophizing through mediating role of positive emotions in patients with cancer.

This study was a descriptive and correlational research. The statistical population included all Adult cancer patients (over 18 years old) in Kerman in summer and autumn of 2021, that a total of 141 patients were selected as the sample using purposive sampling. For data collection, Standard Pain Catastrophizing Scale, PANAS Positive Affect Schedule, short form of the Freiburg Mindfulness Questionnaire and Connor and Davidson Resilience Questionnaire, were used. For data analysis, path analysis and Pearson correlation methods were applied by using AMOS software version 24 and SPSS version 23.

Results showed that the direct path of resilience (-0.27) and positive emotions (-0.32) to pain catastrophizing and direct path of resilience (0.24) and mindfulness (0.16) to positive emotions were significant. Also, the results of path analysis showed that the final model of the research had the goodness of fit (CMIN=0.373, NFI=0.99).

The results showed that positive emotions mediate the prediction of pain catastrophizing based on psychological resilience and mindfulness. It is suggested that therapists and cancer-related institutions include treatment programs related to these factors.

Having specific physical and mental characteristics, elders require a variety of needs and care. Depression is one the most common psychological issues in elders and neglecting the quality of elders’ medical environment can impact their mental health.

The present research aims to investigate the design of a healing garden at elderly care centers with an approach to improving the mental health of elders suffering from depression.

The present research has been conducted quantitatively and through the Grounded Theoury method. The research statistical population included elders suffering from depression residing at Najafabad Ayatollah Modarres Psychiatric hospital in 2020 that from among these individuals, 15 depressed elders between the age of 65-70 years old (8 males and 7 females) were selected through the purposive sampling method. Data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews and was analyzed through the Strauss and Corbin method in three stages of open, axial, and selective coding in the MAXQDA software.

The results are identified in form of healing garden components for improving the mental health of depressed elders including 300 initial (open) and selective codes and 3 main categories: relation with nature, five senses’ stimulation, and space quality for the healing garden’s patients, which had a positive impact on maintaining wellbeing and promoting mental health in depressed elders.

This research showed that healing garden components at elderly care centers are effective for developing peace, reducing stress, and promoting improvement in patients’ health. Therefore, it is recommended that care centers are designed considering the healing gardens’ components to provide the opportunity for developing the feeling of rejuvenation and release from all tensions for achieving good health and treatment.