International Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences

Background and Aim: Apart from the physical effects that COVID-19 causes, the disease is also associated with various psychological problems that required research and clinical attention. Purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of in-person and telehealth Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in people who have recovered from COVID-19.

Materials and Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-post design, a control group, and three-month follow-up. The statistical population consisted of patients who recovered from COVID-19 in Tehran between 2022-2023, of which 45 patients were selected using a convenience sampling method and randomly divided into three groups including the two study groups: in-person CBT and telehealth CBT group (15 patients for each) and a control group (15 patients). The in-person CBT group received 11 sessions, and the telehealth CBT group received 12 sessions. Research instruments included the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the Resilience Scale (RS). The data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance.

Results: The results showed that although both treatments led to improvements in psychological distress (P<0.01) and resilience (P< 0.01), the effectiveness of in-person CBT was greater and statistically significant. Between effects size for depression, anxiety, stress and resilience was 0.37, 0.38, 0.44, and 0.64, respectively.

Conclusion: The study results show that both in-person and virtual CBT lead to improvements in psychological distress and resilience in patients with a COVID-19 background compared to the control group, and the improvement rate for in-person CBT is higher in compared to the virtual group. In fact, in-person CBT leads to significant improvements in psychological distress and resilience.

Background and Aim: organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) contribute to a more positive and productive work environment. Understanding what factors influence OCB allows organizations to develop strategies to promote these desirable behaviors. This study aimed to predict OCB based on job attachment and cultural intelligence among Shiraz municipality employees.

Materials and Methods: The research method was descriptive-correlational. The research population consisted of all 303 employees of the Shiraz Municipality's Cultural-Social Organization in 2023. 108 employees were selected using a convenience sampling method. Data were collected using questionnaires for OCB, job attachment, and cultural intelligence. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and stepwise regression.

Results: The results showed significant positive relationships between job attachment and OCB (P<0.01) and cultural intelligence and OCB (P<0.01). Additionally, there was a multiple relationship between job attachment, cultural intelligence, and OCB among Shiraz municipality employees (P<0.01).

Conclusion: These findings suggest that employees with higher levels of job attachment and cultural intelligence are more likely to engage in OCBs. This study contributes to the understanding of factors influencing employee OCB by highlighting the importance of both affective (job attachment) and cognitive (cultural intelligence) factors.

Background and Aim: In recent decades, school aggression has increased dramatically, and the use of new practical approaches, such as design thinking, has increased. Therefore, this research was conducted to achieve more objective and comparable results to previous research and to investigate the effect of educational intervention based on design thinking using storytelling on aggression and empathy with feedback adjustment.

Materials and Methods: The researchers administered the Aggression and Empathy Scale to 120 students at a public school in Tehran. After evaluating the initial results, selected students (n: 80) were randomly assigned into four groups. Designing and implementing an intervention program Positive results were obtained by implementing a one-semester intervention program based on design thinking and storytelling which incorporated diverse feedback for one semester.

Results: The results showed that training based on the design thinking approach using storytelling effectively reduces aggression and increases empathy. Feedback also moderates this relationship. The results of the MANOVA test for aggression F=8.214, η2 = 0.250 showed a significant difference in students' performance after the intervention program. Also, empathy data F(1, 72) = 6.712, η2 = 0.214 confirmed the difference in empathy levels after training. (p< 0.05).

Conclusion: Design thinking using thinking and creativity skills as an innovative and promising educational approach can influence positive outcomes for children's social and emotional development. The study also underscores how feedback can be used to shape students' behavior and feelings, making it relevant to teachers and those involved in policy-making concerning education.

Background and Aim:Covid-19 caused many psychological problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on cognitive flexibility and interpersonal forgiveness in individuals who have recovered from the virus.

Materials and Methods:A semi-experimental research design with pre-test, post-test, and follow-up assessments was employed, including a control group. The statistical population consisted of all COVID-19 patients who sought treatment at hospitals in MASKED FOR REVIEW in 2022. By availability sampling method, 30 individuals were selected and assigned to the experimental group (n=15) and the control group (n=15). The experimental group underwent nine sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Data collection instruments included the Cognitive Flexibility Questionnaire by Dennis and Vander Wall (2010) and the Interpersonal Forgiveness Questionnaire by Ehtshamzadeh.Covariance analysis was employed to analyze the data, and repeated measures analysis of variance was used to assess the stability of the treatment effects.

Results:The research findings demonstrated that cognitive-behavioral therapy significantly enhanced cognitive flexibility (η² = 0.77, F = 80.71, P = 0.001) and interpersonal forgiveness (η² = 0.72, F = 60.95, P = 0.001) in individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.

Conclusion:It can be concluded that cognitive-behavioral therapy is an effective treatment for improving cognitive flexibility and interpersonal forgiveness in individuals recovered from COVID-19. This can be explained by CBT's ability to reduce cognitive rigidity, promote adaptive thinking, and enhance emotional regulation, which helps individuals forgive others and cope better with the psychological effects of the illness.

Background and Aim:Psychosomatic disorders are characterized by a bidirectional manifestation of symptoms, encompassing both physical and psychological dimensions. A significant concern for adolescents experiencing psychosomatic issues is the fear of negative evaluation (FNE), which is primarily defined by an excessive and persistent fear of being negatively judged by others. This fear often leads to feelings of worthlessness and shame. The objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) and Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) in alleviating the fear of negative evaluation among adolescent girls with psychosomatic disorders.

Materials and Methods:The research method was semi-experimental with a pretest-posttest, a control group, and a one-month follow-up design. The sample consisted of 45 female students aged 14-18 years from Mashhad during the academic year 1402-1403, selected via convenience sampling. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: experimental group 1 (CFT), experimental group 2 (EFT), and a control group that received no intervention. The instruments utilized for data collection included the Lowry Evaluation Fear Questionnaire and the Takata Psychosomatic Complaints Scale. In the pre-test phase, all groups were assessed using these instruments. Following this assessment, experimental group 1 underwent eight sessions of compassion-focused therapy, while experimental group 2 received eight sessions of emotion-focused therapy. The control group did not participate in any therapeutic intervention. Post-intervention evaluations were conducted for all groups, followed by a follow-up assessment one month later. To analyze the data, repeated measures analysis of variance was performed using SPSS26.

Results:The findings indicated a significant difference (p<0.001) in reducing the fear of negative evaluation in the CFT and EFT groups. Notably, EFT was found to significantly decrease the fear of negative evaluation in adolescent girls with psychosomatic symptoms. These results remained stable throughout the follow-up period (p<0.001).

Conclusion:The superior efficacy of emotion-focused therapy compared to compassion-focused therapy can be attributed to its emphasis on reframing issues by addressing negative cycles, underlying emotions, and attachment-related needs. It suggests that EFT may offer a more effective therapeutic approach for reducing the fear of negative evaluation in adolescents suffering from psychosomatic disorders.

Background and Aim: Pain is expressed in conceptual metaphors, because it has abstract nature. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of compassion focused therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy on pain metaphorical perception in patients with musculoskeletal pain.

Materials and Methods: The method of this study was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test-follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population of this research included all patients with musculoskeletal pain who were referred to physical medicine and rehabilitation clinics in Tehran from January to the end of June 2024. Based on this, 45 patients with musculoskeletal pain were selected as candidates, and available, and two experimental groups and one control group (15 people in each group) were chosen by matching randomized method. All three groups responded to the Pain Metaphorical Perception Questionnaire (2024) in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages. The compassion focused therapy program was implemented in eight sessions on the first experimental group and acceptance and commitment therapy conducted in nine sessions on the second experimental group, for an hour and a half weekly. The control group received no intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS-26.

Results: The findings indicated that compassion focused therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy promote the pain metaphorical perception of patients with musculoskeletal pain (F=43.34), and the effect of both treatments continues over time (P=0.001).

Conclusion: It seems; Third-wave cognitive therapies such as compassion focused therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy can alter the psychological and cognitive-verbal aspects of pain.