نشریه عصب روانشناسی بالینی ورزشی
سال دوم شماره 2 (بهار 1401)

 Cancer is a chronic disease that causes many patient issues and concerns. Death anxiety and problem-solving are seen in these patients. In the present study, neurofeedback training (NFT) is a non-invasive method. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of NFT on death anxiety and to problem-solving in cancer patients.

 The present research is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest-follow-up design and two experimental and control groups. Individuals were randomly assigned to each group. The sample included 32 breast and ovarian cancer patients under chemotherapy in Rafsanjan city in 2021. The Participants completed the death anxiety questionnaire (Templer, 1970) and the Problem-solving inventory (Heppner and Petersen, 1982). Data were analyzed with the analysis of covariance in SPSS software.

 The results showed that NFT had been an effective method for death anxiety and four subscales of problem-solving, including sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking at posttest and follow-up (p<0.05).

 It can be concluded that neurofeedback intervention therapy has effectively reduced death anxiety and increased problem-solving skills, and psychologists can use this method.

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder in which positive and negative symptoms play an important role in its prognosis. Exercise-based interventions as a non-pharmacological treatment play a crucial role in rehabilitation and treatment management of negative symptoms and cognitive function of these patients due to its positive mental and physical effects. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of different sport and exercise training on improving the negative symptoms and cognitive deficiences of patients with schizophrenia.

To find documents related to the effect of exercise on improving the negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia, keywords were created and searched in the databases of Google, Yahoo, Science Direct and SID. They were then divided into three areas: "The effect of exercise on schizophrenia," Improving cognitive function through exercise "and treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia with exercise program".

Fidings:

 The results showed that different exercise programs such as aerobic, strength and yoga exercises are effective in improving the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and cognitive function. Also, the results showed that drug treatment has no effect on improving the negative symptoms in schizophrenic patients. Aerobic exercise improves attention, processing speed, memory and performance. Aerobic exercise plays an important role in combating cognitive impairment, memory, hippocampal volume, and nerve flexibility. Yoga, in particular, improves long-term memory.

Exercise can improve clinical signs, global functioning, quality of life and depressive symptoms in schizophrenia. In particular, the greatest effect has been observed with the improvement of negative symptoms, which has promising consequences for the future performance outcomes of these patients.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder and one of the most common childhood disorders. The present study aimed to determine the effect of karate kata techniques training on selective attention and working memory (visual-spatial) of students with ADHD.

The present research is a quasi-experimental study. It was designed with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. Thirty students with ADHD were randomly sampled among male and female students of first to fifth grade (7-11 years of age) in 2015-16. They were placed in two groups consisting of 15 individuals(control and test).In order to diagnose this disorder, revised short form of Connors's Rating Scales (Conners, 1990) was used. Before beginning the training, both groups performed the Stroop selective attention test (Stroop, 1935), and square designing micro test, digit span test (numeric visual memory), and letter-number sequence subsclaes of the 5th edition of Wechsler intelligence scale for children (Wechsler, 2015) as pretests. Then, the experimental group received the training program for 22 sessions (including two sessions for teaching the basics and basic terms of Kata and 20 sessions for training for 60 minutes). After finishing the training program, the test was carried out for two groups, and the data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance in SPSS software.

Results showed that teaching karate kata techniques affects the degree of visual numeric memory (forward function) and working memory (visual-spatial) (p<0.05). But it does not effective on the visual numeric memory (reverse function), the total score of visual memory, digit span, and selective attention (interference score and interference time) (p>0.05).

Karate kata techniques training is a effective method for enhancing students' working memory (visual-spatial) with ADHD.

 The emotional atmosphere of the family (EAF) has an outstanding impact on the performance of young athletes. Nowadays, the generation gap (GG) and addiction to online social networks (AOSN) are some of the most pressing issues that have attracted the attention of psychologists. This study aimed to predict the EAF based on the GG and AOSN of young football players in Tehran. 

 The method of the present study was descriptive and correlational studies. The population of this study consisted of male football players selected from the youth football schools in Tehran in the fall of 2021, from which 169 youth football players were selected using a multi-stage random sampling method. Data were collected using the Family Emotional Atmosphere Questionnaire (FEAQ), the Perceived Generation Gap Questionnaire (Olson, 1999), and the Mobile Social Addiction Questionnaire by (Khajeh Ahmadi et al., 2016). Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis.

 The results showed that AOSN (p<0.01, r=-0.46) and its components, such as personal performance, time management, self-control, and social relationships, have a significant negative relationship with the EAF of young football players (p <0.01). GG (p <0.01, r = -0.38) and its components, such as solidarity with father, solidarity with mother, duration of interaction, place, decision-making, emotional communication, parents' relations with each other and their associations with children also had a significant negative relationship with the EAF of young football players (p <0.05). The results also indicated that the components of AOSN and the GG together explain 26% of the total variance of the EAF of young football players (p <0.01). The overall score of AOSN and GG also explained 37% of the changes in the EAF of the young footballers' families (p <0.01). 

 According to the findings, the EAF of young football players in Tehran is predicted based on the GG and AOSN.

 Nowadays, people are concerned about their appearance and body image. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of body dysmorphia and eating disorders in bodybuilding and fitness athletes in Arak city.

 This research is descriptive and prevalence research. The participants included 1582 (750 men, 832 women) bodybuilding and physical fitness athletes. In addition, the participants completed the eating disorders questionnaire (Stice et al., 2004) and the body dysmorphic disorder questionnaire (Phillips, 2009). Data were analyzed in SPSS software.

 The results indicated that the prevalence of body dysmorphic disorder in all participants was 18.52% (men 17.47%, women 19.47%), and binge eating disorder was 6.70% in all participants (men 7.73%, women 5.77%), bulimia nervosa disorder in all participants 10.30% (men 13.47%, women 7.45%), and anorexia nervosa disorder in all participants 6.51% (men 3.87%, women 8.89%).

  According to the findings of this research, it can be concluded that these disorders have a relatively high prevalence in bodybuilding and physical fitness athletes.

 Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by insufficiency in communication, and social interactions and limited and repetitive interests, behaviors, and activities. The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of implicit social skills training (iSSt) on improving the communication ability of children with ASD.

 The research method was quasi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design. The population consisted of 8-12-year-old children with ASD in Arak city in 2017, among whom 30 were selected by purposive sampling and were used in two experimental and control groups using random assignment. The experimental group members participated in the iSST as a group for ten weeks (two sixty-minute sessions per week), and no intervention was performed in the control group. The research instrument was the parental form of the social skills rating system (Grersham and Elliott, 1990). Data were analyzed with analysis of covariance in SPSS software.

 It showed that the implicit  social skills training in the experimental sample had a significant effect (p<0.01) on improving the communication ability of children with ASD.

According to the findings, iSST increases the communication ability of children with an autism spectrum disorder.

 This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBCR) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on anxiety and executive function among professional adolescent chess players.

 This study is a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest with a control group. The population consisted of professional adolescent chess players in Karaj in 2019. The study sample consisted of 45 (15 for each group) adolescent chess players selected by purposive sampling. They were randomly assigned to each group. Instruments for gathering data were Beck Anxiety Inventory-II (1996) and London Computer-based Tower Test (Shallice, 1982). The MBSR group and ACT received eight sessions, while the control group did not receive any treatment.

 The results indicate that MBCR and ACT significantly impact anxiety and the executive function of chess players (p<0.05).

 Sports psychologists can accordingly use these methods to improve anxiety and executive function in athletes.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between women's participation in rhythmic sports programs with emotional, psychological, social, and cultural factors.

The research method was descriptive correlation and data collection in the field and applied using a questionnaire and terms of using the results. The study's population includes all women participating in rhythmic sports movements in 1-4 districts of Tehran. First, SPSS Sample Power software was used to calculate the sample size. Then 384 persons were randomly selected. First, the participants completed the researcher-made questionnaire of women's participation in exercise programs, the emotional, social, and cultural factors questionnaire, and the psychological factors questionnaire (Goldberg, 1972). Then, data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, skew and tensile statistics, heuristic analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and Pearson correlation coefficient test.

 The results showed a significant relationship between women's participation in rhythmic sports programs and emotional, social, psychological, and cultural factors (p<0.05).

There is a significant relationship between women's participation in rhythmic sports programs and cultural factors.