Iranian Journal of Practice in Clinical Psychology
Volume:11 Issue: 3, Summer 2023

The present study was done to investigate the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies in the relationship between early maladaptive schemas, alexithymia, and emotional intelligence with the somatic symptoms in people with somatic symptom disorder (SSD).

The research population consisted of 360 people with SSD referred to the psychosomatic department of Taleghani Hospital in Tehran in 2021 and were referred by psychiatrists and psychologists of medical centers selected by an accessible sampling method. The participants were asked to complete the Toronto alexithymia scale, early maladaptive schemas questionnaire, Bar-on emotional intelligence scale, cognitive emotion regulation strategies scale, and Takata and Sakata psychosomatic symptom scale. Data were analyzed by correlation analysis and structural equation modeling test

The findings indicated that the hypothesized model had a good fit with the data. The results of the path analysis showed that cognitive emotion regulation strategies play a mediating role in the relationship between alexithymia and maladaptive schemas with SSD. Also, the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies between emotional intelligence and somatic symptoms was not significant.

Based on the findings of the research, it can be concluded that maladaptive schemas and alexithymia with somatic symptoms have no linear and simple relationship, but other variables, such as cognitive emotion regulation strategies play a mediating role in this relationship. Also, the findings of the current research can be used in order to prevent and understand the underlying etiologies and treatment of SSD.

The present study was conducted to find the effectiveness of training in metacognition and emotion regulation on the health behavior self-management of middle-aged overweight people and investigate the difference in the effectiveness of training based on metacognition and emotion regulation.

This research was a semi-experimental study with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up and two intervention groups and one control group. The participants were people referring to weight loss clinics in Tehran. Convenience sampling was done by inviting on social networks. The total number of the research sample was 57 people who were placed in two experimental groups of training based on metacognition (18 people), emotion regulation (19 people), and a control group (20 people). All three groups were first pre-tested for self-management of health behavior. Then, the two experimental groups received the desired intervention; metacognition training and emotion regulation, and then, all three groups were subjected to a post-test using Walker and Pender’s lifestyle questionnaire, and the results of the two experimental groups and the control group were compared.

The results showed that metacognition (F(2, 34)=98.987, P<0.001, effect size=0.853) and emotion regulation (F(2, 36) =118.450, P<0.001, effect size=0.868) were effective in health behavior self-management and increasing health behaviors in general. There was no significant difference between their effectiveness (P>0.211).

There are many theories to explain the principles used in health behavior and self-management to perform health behavior and promote and educate it. This research dealt with this category from the perspective of some of the principles of the third wave of cognitive behavioral therapy, and its results can be used in the formulation of health promotion training programs in healthcare systems. This research aimed to explain some of the individual and psychological aspects of health behavior. Specifically, the results of this research can be used in the prevention and treatment of overweight in institutions engaged in this field.

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of play therapy combined with a traumatic cognitive-behavioral approach on the symptoms of trauma and the feeling of loneliness of the victims of sexual abuse.

This research was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population comprised all sexually-abused Afghan girls. Of whom 20 individuals were selected using the available sampling method. To conduct the questionnaire, the experimental and control group participants were examined before and after the experiment. Data were collected using Asher and Wheeler’s child trauma symptoms scale and the child loneliness scale presented by Foa et al. The assessment program consisted of 14 sessions for the treatment group, and the control group did not receive any intervention. Finally, the collected data were analyzed using covariance analysis.

By controlling the effect of the pre-test, a significant difference was observed between the mean scores of participants’ trauma symptoms and the mean scores of participants’ loneliness in terms of group (P<0.05). 

The results revealed that the play therapy combined with the cognitive-behavioral trauma-oriented treatment resulted in reduced trauma symptoms but not loneliness in these children.

The challenges of grief caused by the COVID-19 epidemic and how to deal with it are serious issues affecting people worldwide, including Iran. Accordingly, the present study aimed to explore the nature of mourning for those who lost their family members during the COVID-19 epidemic and identify the quality of strategies used to cope with it. 

This qualitative study was conducted using a grounded theory approach. The study participants were 20 survivors of COVID-19 in Tehran City, Iran, who were grieving the loss of their loved ones during the epidemic in 2021. The participants were selected using purposeful sampling. The data were collected through quasi-structured interviews with the participants. The collected data were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. 

The results revealed three main categories: Underlying factors affecting grief (beliefs and attitudes toward death and the afterlife, the public reaction to grief, the specific position and role of the deceased), the nature and development of grief (including feelings of anger at the community and the medical staff, the nature of death due to COVID-19 and blaming oneself for the illness and death of the deceased), and coping and managing grief (coping the thought of death and the meaning of life, inducing life in oneself and other survivors, and changing the pattern of thinking and behaving towards others and life).

The COVID-19 survivors who are grieving the loss of their loved ones can use this model to better understand and manage to cope with grief and adapt to it simultaneously. Ultimately, this process led to adaptation to mourning and adopting effective coping strategies in the COVID-19 survivors. The core category revealed in the study was “optimal coping with grief and loss during the COVID-19 epidemic”.

The present study was conducted to predict obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) severity based on childhood traumatic experiences through the mediating role of self-criticism.

This descriptive correlation study was done using structural equation modeling. The statistical population included adults living in Mashhad in 2021, aged from 18 to 50 years with access to the Internet. Of these, 340 individuals were selected as a sample using the available method. Data were collected using the Yale-Brown obsessive scale (Y-BOCS), the childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ), and the levels of self-criticism questionnaire LOCS. Data analysis was performed using the structural equation modeling method using SPSS software version 26 and AMOS software, version 24.

Results showed a significant correlation between childhood traumatic experiences (r=0.51) and self-criticism (r=0.57) with the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (P<0.01). Also, the results of structural equation modeling showed that the model of the present study had an acceptable fitness and the mediating role of self-criticism in the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (χ2/df≤3) was significant (0.001).

Based on the findings of this study, traumatic childhood experiences are able to predict and affect the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms through interaction with self-criticism.

Marriage has been introduced as the most important and main communication factor between humans. Infidelity in marriage is one of the most damaging problems that affect commitment and marriage relationships. The present study investigated the role of early maladaptive schemas in predicting components of marital infidelity.

This study attempted to determine the role of early maladaptive schemas in predicting legitimacy, seduction, normalization, sexuality, social background, and sensation seeking in marital infidelity. The population comprised all the students of Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Iran, in the academic year 2019-2020. Considering the size of the population, 200 students were selected as a sample through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using an infidelity questionnaire (Yeniceri & Kökdemir, 2006) and Young’s early maladaptive schemas questionnaire (Young, 1999).

Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed a significant negative correlation (β=-0.15) between the over-vigilance/inhibition and the legitimacy of infidelity (P<0.01). There was a significant positive correlation (β=0.10) between impaired autonomy and performance with normalization (P<0.05). Also, impaired limits had a significant positive correlation (β=0.10) with the social background in marital infidelity (P<0.05). Multiple regressions analysis showed that over-vigilance/inhibition (β=-0.024, P>0.05) and impaired limits (β=0.15, P>0.05) were predictors of legitimacy. Impaired autonomy and performance (β=0.15, P>0.05) and other-directedness (β=-0.13, P>0.05) were predictors of seduction. Impaired autonomy and performance were predictors of normalization (β=0.06, P>0.05). Over-vigilance/inhibition could predict sexuality (β=-0.13, P>0.05). Disconnection and rejection could predict sensation seeking (β=0.016, P>0.05).

The results indicated the predictive role of early maladaptive schemas on the tendency of marital infidelity. When couples become aware of negative initial maladaptive schemas, conflict and eventually marital discord may decrease.

Some theories state that a deficiency in cognitive control makes people more vulnerable to the occurrence of repetitive negative thoughts. The present study is aimed to investigate the association between cognitive control and repetitive thinking in major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).

Thirty people with major depressive disorder and 30 people with generalized anxiety disorder were selected by purposive sampling method from counseling and psychiatry centers in Shiraz City. Then, the Stroop and Wisconsin tests were performed and the questionnaires on rumination, worry, depression, and anxiety were completed. The obtained results were analyzed by Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).

The results showed that there was a negative and significant relationship between cognitive control and rumination in the depression group and worry in the generalized anxiety group. The level of cognitive control, rumination, and worry was not significantly different in cases with major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

Based on the results of this study, reducing attention control is considered a risk factor for repetitive thinking, including rumination and worry. The lack of significant difference in cognitive control, rumination, and worry can indicate common unified transdiagnostic components in these disorders.

The stigma of mental disorders is a common phenomenon, that barricades seeking medical help. Stigma includes a negative attitude toward a person that occurs due to a distinctive feature, such as race, sexual orientation, or mental disorder. Regarding the negative consequences of the stigma in the course of the disorder and the life of people with mental illness, the aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Iranian version of the stigma-9 questionnaire (STIG-9) in people with mental disorders.

The statistical population included all military personnel with mental disorders hospitalized in the 505 Psychiatric Hospital from October 2020 to January 2021. By convenience sampling method, 95 patients were selected. For data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS software, version 26, and for factor analysis, R Coding software version 3.6.3 and R package lavaan 0.7 were used.

The face validity was evaluated quantitatively using impact score and the content validity was evaluated quantitatively using content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) based on the opinion of 15 experts. All items were validated in terms of face and content validity. To evaluate the internal consistency, Cronbach’s α coefficient was calculated (α=0.86). Factor analysis was used to evaluate the construct validity. The results of factor analysis showed that the questionnaire had three factors.

The Stig-9 questionnaire is an appropriate instrument to evaluate perceived stigma in people with mental disorders in Iranian society.