Iranian Journal of Practice in Clinical Psychology
Volume:3 Issue: 1, Winter 2015

Breast cancer as a most common invasive cancer in women, provoking mental disorders for patients. To adjust with this situation, patients use kind of coping style. In present study, we aimed to determine the relationship between mental disorders and coping style in women with breast cancer. This research was a correlational study. 127 women among all women with breast cancer who were referred to health centers in the city of Kermanshah randomly selected. To estimate psychological distress, DASS- 42 questionnaire, and coping strategies Billings and Moos questionnaire (1981) are used. Interactive effects were assessed by using the spss 17. results show that there are significant positive relationships between anxiety, stress and depression with avoidance coping strategy. And high level of anxiety and depression provoking emotion coping strategy.The results of the stepwise regression showed that depression and stress are suitable predictors of avoiding coping style whereas to predict emotion coping strategy, stress and anxiety are valid. Mental disorders can be one of the important factors in characterize of coping style. Therefore our result demonstrates the importance of mental disorders on coping style in breast cancer.

In recent years, interpersonal relationships have become more complex and increasing number of people suffers from seclusion and loneliness. Early maladaptive schemas (EMSs), important cognitive structures, are expected to have a profound effect on interpersonal relationships. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between EMSs and interpersonal problems among university students. This study was a cross-sectional correlational study. A total of 150 female students selected using snowball sampling method out of Rasht universities and completed the Short Form of Young Schema Questionnaire (SF-YSQ) and the 64-item Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-32). For data analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient test and stepwise regression were administered. SPSS-20 was used for statistical analysis. Results showed positive significant correlations between EMSs’ domains, especially the domains of disconnection/rejection and impaired autonomy and performance with interpersonal problems. Given the important role of EMSs in interpersonal relationships, and the significant role of interpersonal relationships in psychological adjustment, further investigations on this field seem necessary.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of parenting styles in predicting behavioral and emotional problems in adolescents. This study is a descriptive, cross sectional, and correlation research. All students enrolled in the first grade in boys’ guidance school of District 3 in Tehran city and their parents constituted the population. One hundred and eighty participants comprising 60 adolescents (boys) and their parents participated in the study. Convenience sampling method was used for recruiting these participants. Parents completed Baumrind’s Parenting Styles Questionnaire (PSQ; Baumrind, 1972) and students responded to the Seattle Personality Questionnaire for Children (SPQC; Greenberg & Kusche, 1990). A stepwise regression analysis was utilized to address the prediction power of Behavioral and emotional problems The results indicated that authoritarian style in fathers is associated with depression, as well as behavioral and emotional problems (total score). However, the authoritarian style in mothers is related to anxiety, depression, as well as behavioral and emotional problems (total score). Moreover, permissiveness in mothers is associated with conduct problems. The results are consistent with the results of previous studies stressing the role of parents in predicting children’s behavioral-emotional problems.

The present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of group Triple-P on the relationships of mother-child with ID (Intellectual Disability). In this semi-experimental study with pretest and posttest design by control group, Parent-Child Relationship Scale (PCRS) was determined in 40 random clustering selected mothers of children with ID before and after the intervention. The aim of the scale was to obtain information with regard to emotional aspects such as conflict, closeness, dependency, and positive relationship. The mothers were randomly assigned in experimental and control group with equal numbers. Experimental group participated in 8 sessions (each session lasts for 60 minutes; twice a week) and were trained by Triple-P, but control group did not. Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used for analyzing the data by using SPSS software (version 16, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). There were significant differences between experimental and control group with respect to emotional aspects such as conflict, closeness, dependency, and positive relationship as a whole after participation in intervention sessions (P<0.001). There was a significant decrease in conflict and increase in closeness, dependency, and positive relationship in experimental group. Our findings showed that group Triple-P has led to promotion of relationships of mother-child with ID.

Alexithymia is recognized as a disability in explaining or understanding emotions and manifests at emotional and functional levels. This study was conducted with the aim of clarifying the role of early maladaptive schemas and attachment style in alexithymia disorder. This research was a correlational study. In this study, 220 students of Tabriz University were selected by stratified random sampling. Then,The Toronto Alexithymia Scale questionnaire (TAS-20), Adult Attachment Questionnaire (AAQ) of Hazan and Shaver, and the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF) were conducted to them. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and simultaneous regression analysis. Statistical analysis were performed using the SPSS 20. The results showed that components of early maladaptive schemas, ‘Impaired Autonomy’ and ‘Over-vigilance’ and among attachment styles, avoidance could positively predict the alexithymia. Accordingly, early maladaptive schemas and attachment style are essential to predict and treat people with alexithymia.

This research aimed to study the relationship between scrupulosity and obsessivecompulsive symptoms as well as obsessive-compulsive-related cognitive styles (obsessive beliefs and thought-action fusion). This was a correlational study. The study population included all individuals who referred to counseling centers of Tehran from August to December 2010 and diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and also all Persian speakers with OCD who were active in internet from August to November 2012. A total of 30 individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (mostly Iranian Muslims) were recruited from different psychological counseling centers in Tehran. In addition, 50 individuals with OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) were recruited via internet social networks. For screening, we used Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R). Convenience method was used for the sampling. In order to collect data, Penn Inventory of Scrupulosity (PIOS), Thought-Action Fusion Scale (TAF), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R), and Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ) were administered. Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. SPSS version 18 was used for data analysis. Results showed that there were significant relationships between scrupulosity and obsessive-compulsive symptoms total score (r=0.275, P<0.05); also scrupulosity and obsessive beliefs (r=0.558, P<0.01); and scrupulosity and thought-action fusion (r=0.506, P<0.01). Results also revealed that the variations in scrupulosity scores could be best predicted by ‘anxiety’ and ‘Importance and Control of Thoughts.’ Scrupulosity is a subtype of OCD and is obsessive in nature. As explained by cognitive-behavioral theories of religious OCD, scrupulosity is closely related to the ‘Importance of Thoughts and Controlling Thoughts,’ as well as moral and probability ‘Thought-action Fusion.’ The results were in accordance with the findings of comparable studies on Christian samples. Results were explained according to Islamic views, and the implications for research and practice were discussed.

One way of improving the quality of life is to eliminate its barriers. Selfhandicapping is a form of problematic behavior, which investigating its effect on the quality of life is of great importance. The present study aimed to examine the relationship of selfhandicapping with the quality of life in primary students. This research is a correlational that condoucted on students of grades 3 to 5 in elementary schools of Zahedan. It included 365 primary students (154 boys and 211 girls) that were selected using stratified random sampling method. Research tools were questionnaires of KIDSCREEN-52 quality of life (2005) (KQoL) and self-handicapping (2001) (SH). Correlation Pearson and regression analysis were used by SPSS/16 for statistical analyses. The findings indicated that among components of quality of life, physical wellbeing (0.03), psychological well-being (0.03), negative mood (0.03), self-perception (0.03), autonomy (0.01), parents’ relationship (0.02), social support (0.07), financial resource (0.007), and efficiency in school environment (0.02) were predicators of self-handicapping. Considering negative effects of self-handicapping and its relation with academic achievement and quality of life, identifying self-handicapped students and helping them using a consultant can be useful.

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of metacognitive therapy on decreasing depression in women with breast cancer. A single-case design was employed in this research. An AB form of single-subject experimental design was used in this study with 3 baselines (every 10 days) before intervention stage and two measurements during intervention stage and one follow-up (after two month). Our statistical population was chosen from women who had referred to radiotherapy department of Imam Hussein Hospital in Tehran. Out of them, 3 patients whose age range was 20 to 55 years, with non-metastatic tumor, no prior history of psychiatric disorders before cancer, scored >20 (moderate depression) by Beck Depression Inventory, were selected through purposeful sampling. Intervention included 8 sessions of 60 minutes of metacognitive therapy once a week, which has been designed to suit of the patients with specific needs. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Ruminative Response Scale (RRS), and Depression Metacognitive Beliefs Scale (DMB-S) were employed to collect the data. The result of the analysis showed that the highest level of improvement in depression was 56% and the lowest level was 37%. In addition, the highest percentage of improvement in ‘thought rumination’ was 35%, while the lowest percentage of improvement was 21%. Finally, the highest percentage of improvement in ‘depression metacognitive beliefs’ was 87%, whereas the lowest percentage was 58%. In summary, the results indicated that metacognitive therapy would result in decrease of depression scores (in BDI scale), ‘thought rumination’ and ‘depression metacognitive beliefs’ (in DMB scale) and this effectiveness was persistent after two months follow-up. It seems that metacognitive therapy can help women with breast cancer to reduce their depression and ‘thought rumination.’