International Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences

Background and Aim:Given the prevalence of somatic symptoms disorder among Iranians, the aim of this research is to evaluate and verify the psychometric characteristics of Takata and Sakata psychosomatic complaints scale among psychosomatic patients.

Materials and Methods:In this study 360 people who referred to the psychosomatics department of Taleghani Hospital in Tehran in 2022, as well as the patients referred by the physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists of medical centers were selected through convenience sampling method. Internal consistency method (Cronbach's alpha) was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. Also, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to determine the factor structure. To ensure convergent validity, Goldberg general health scale (GHQ-28) was used and SPSS and Lisrel software were applied for analyzing data.

Results:The results of the Cronbach's alpha indicated the appropriate internal consistency of the whole questionnaire and its components. Cronbach's alpha for the whole questionnaire was 0.957. In the exploratory factor analysis, a "hyper stimulation" factor was extracted. According to confirmatory factor analysis, the goodness of fit indicators of proposed model were confirmed (Chi-Square/df: 1.297, RMSEA: 0.029, SRMR: 0.031, CFI: 0.976, IFI: 0.976) and all paths were significant. Regarding the convergent validity, somatic symptoms component, anxiety, dysfunction in social action and function, and depression have a direct and significant relationship with psychosomatic problems.

Conclusion:The Persianversion of the takata and sakata psychosomatic complaints scale, is a reliable and valid tool for assessing of the severity of psychosomatic symptoms in Iranian psychosomatic patients.

Background and Aim:Personality disorders (PDs) are widespread, rigid, and maladaptive with collections of traits that impair individuals and limit their capacity to function effectively. Recent studiesindicate that PDs are consistently associated with several demographic characteristics. The present study was conducted toinvestigate the differences between the demographic characteristics of DSM-5 Sections II and III PDs in an Iranian clinical sample.

Materials and Methods:Data on the demographic distribution of DSM-5 Sections II and III PDs were derived from a total of 430 Iranian patients with PDs presenting to four clinical centers in Tehran using well-established measures. Different statistical analysis methods were used to compare demographic differences between DSM-5 Sections II and III PDs. These analyzes were performed using SPSS software V. 22.

Results:Data analysis indicated that educational level, gender, age, marital status, average monthly household costs, and ethnicity had an impact on most PDs. In return, birth order accounted for the changes in only DSM-5 Section II histrionic PD.

Conclusion:Current research reveals that certain demographic subgroups have an impact on PDs. Accordingly, the need for psychiatric services for these individuals needs to be explored.

Background and Aim: The research was conducted with the aim of developing and validating an intervention protocol based on the mental security of divorced women and investigating its effectiveness on their resilience and psychological well-being.

Materials and Methods: The research was conducted using a mixed method. The research method in the quantitative part was a quasi-experiment with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this part of the research consisted of all the divorced women of al-Shatar city in 1400-1401, and 30 people (15 people in the experimental group and 15 people in the control group) were selected by simple random method. For each investigated factor, considering 12 experts, the minimum acceptable value for CVR is 0.88 and for CVI index is 0.79 based on Lauche table. In the qualitative part, a semi-structured interview and the tools used in the quantitative part were the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale Questionnaire (CD-RIS), and the psychological well-being questionnaire of Rief (1998).

 Results: In the quantitative part, the results showed that the intervention protocol based on the psychological security of divorced women is effective on resilience and psychological well-being of divorced women.

Conclusion: Several factors play a role in the process of forming the mental security of divorced women, and by identifying them in different environments, cultures, and societies, necessary and effective measures can be taken to improve and promote the mental security of divorced women.

Background and Aim:Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) research is of great interest due to the prevalence of 9%-17% among Iranian children and its negative effects on several aspects of life, including students' academic future. This study evaluates the effectiveness of virtual reality therapy plus Ritalin use versus Ritalin consumption alone on sustained attention, divided attention, and impulsivity in children diagnosed with this disorder.

Materials and Methods:This was a semi-experimental study with a control group with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up designs. The statistical population consisted of 30 children randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups recruited by convenience sampling. The experimental group participated in twelve 90-minute virtual reality intervention sessions. The Integrated Visual and Auditory (IVA-2) Continuous Performance Test was utilized to collect data, which were then analyzed using MANOVA in SPSS-26.

Results:In addition to continuing to take Ritalin, the virtual reality group showed considerable improvement in all research parameters, and their scores were significantly higher than those in the group that continued to take Ritalin alone (p<0.05). Moreover, the observed effects were persistent after 45 days of follow-up.

Conclusion:The results of this study demonstrate that virtual reality therapy effectively addresses cognitive difficulties in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ages seven to twelve. It is suggested that therapists employ virtual reality therapy to help these children's challenges since it can significantly enhance the efficacy of Ritalin.

Background and Aim: In recent years, drug addiction has become a widespread phenomenon among different social groups with other characteristics. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of emotional regulation training on aggression and coping styles of methamphetamine addicts.

Materials and Methods: The present study population is all methamphetamine addicts in Varamin city. The research sample of 30 people with methamphetamine addicts was selected from the addiction treatment clinic by available sampling and randomly allocated into two experimental and control groups. The emotion regulation protocol was trained in the experimental group during the 12 sessions, but the control group did not receive any training. To measure the variables, Bass and Perry Aggression Questionnaire (1992) and Andler and Parker’s (1990) Coping Style Questionnaire were used in pre-test and post-test.

Results: At the end of the sessions, data were analyzed using a covariance test. The results showed that emotional regulation training effectively decreases aggression, improves task-oriented and emotion-oriented coping styles, and reduces the avoidant coping style in methamphetamine addicts.

Conclusion: Due to the proliferation of social damage, such as methamphetamine addiction, experts in this field need to master new and effective ways of regulating emotions to help these patients prevent relapse to using the drug.

Introduction: The objective of this study was to investigate and compare the effects of three training courses including transactional analysis (TA), exposure and response prevention (ERP) and intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) on reducing academic anxiety among students in Tehran.

Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was a multi-lateral pretest-posttest with control group. Phillips Anxiety Test (1978) was used to measure the dependent variable, academic anxiety. In this research, 45 students who obtained higher score in academic anxiety test were subjected to three variables (educational methods) in three groups of 15 (experimental group) and 15 people were randomly selected for control group.

Results: The results showed significant differences between the pretest and posttest scores of all groups except the control group on the level of anxiety (P <0.05). Also, the difference between the three experimental groups in all four components of academic anxiety (test anxiety, fear of assertiveness, lack of self-confidence and physiological reactions) was significant at P <0.05 level.

Discussion: TA, ERP and ISTDP training courses help to reduce students' academic anxiety.

Background and Aim:Considering the growth of the population and the consequent high growth rate of elderely individuals, there is a great need to attend and recognize the problems related to the physical and psychological health of patients with dementia and their caregivers. Therefore, the present study aimed to find the effect of emotion efficacy therapy on entrapment and guilt in caregivers of patients with dementia.

Materials and Methods:It was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test, follow-up, and control group. The statistical population of the study included the caregivers of patients with dementia who were referred to neurology clinics in Isfahan in 2022, among whom 30 were selected by purposive sampling, taking into account the inclusion and exclusion criteria and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups each comprising 15 caregivers. The experimental group underwent eight sessions of 90-minute emotion efficacy therapy, and the control group was placed on the waiting list without intervention. The data were collected by Entrapment Scale and Caregiver Guilt Questionnaire and were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance.

Results:The results showed that emotion efficacy therapy significantly affected entrapment and guilt in caregivers of patients with dementia (p<0.05). Furthermore, the interaction of the effect of time and group membership was also significant for entrapment (internal, external), guilt (guilt about self-care, guilt about doing wrong by the care recipient, and guilt about not rising to the occasion as caregivers) except for the factor of guilt about having negative feelings towards other people and guilt about neglecting other relatives (p>0.05). It showed that the changes in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages were significant in each group. The level of difference between the groups in the entrapment was 37.4%, and it was 49.3% for the guilt.

Conclusion:Emotion efficacy therapy affects and changes the stimuli and underlying factors, including ineffective beliefs and thoughts; as a result, it can be used to decrease the entrapment and the guilt in the caregivers of patients with dementia.