مجله روانشناسی و روانپزشکی شناخت
سال هشتم شماره 5 (پیاپی 38، آذر و دی 1400)

Depression is the most common mental disorder. Transcranial direct-current stimulation is a new treatment for depression.

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of transcranial direct-current stimulation on reducing depression among the non-clinical population.

The study was carried out using quasi-experimental method along with pre-test and post-test, a control group and one follow-up stage. The statistical population was students of the Farhangian University of Zanjan in 2019 out of which 45 subjects were selected by purposive random sampling and replaced randomly in 3 groups with 15 members, including transcranial direct-current stimulation group, sham group, and control group. The groups were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages. Research data were analyzed by a statistical covariance method using SPSS software version 21.

The results showed that depression scores in the experimental group (Transcranial direct current stimulation) had a significant decrease in the stages of post-test (F=20.883, P<0.01) and follow-up (F=14.761, P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the sham and control groups. Comparison of the means showed that the group of transcranial direct-current stimulation in the post-test and follow-up stage had a lower score than the other groups.

Transcranial direct-current stimulation is effective in reducing depression among the non-clinical population. Therapists and specialists can consider the practical implications of transcranial direct-current stimulation on reducing depressive symptoms.

There is not in-depth knowledge about the master narrative of identity and its quiddity in current generation of Iranian adolescents.

 The aim of this study was to identify and validate the master narrative model of identity of Iranian adolescents.

 This study was a basic research with a mixed approach. In the qualitative phase, the population consisted of male adolescents aged 15-20 years old, as well as psychologists and sociologists in Tehran in 2020. Nineteen adolescents were selected by convenience sampling and six specialists by purposive sampling. In the quantitative phase, the population consisted of adolescents aged 15-20 years old in Tehran in 2020, from which 218 people were selected by convenience sampling. In the qualitative phase, data were collected through the life story interview (McAdams, 1995) and in the quantitative phase by a researcher-made questionnaire. In the qualitative phase, data were analyzed through the content analysis method and in the quantitative phase through the confirmatory factor analysis.

 The results of content analysis in addition to factor analysis indicated the master narrative model of adolescents includes components such as family belonging, adherence to religious values and obedience to parents. Results of second-order factor analysis also indicated the obedience to parents (Z=1.32) has the most contribution in the model.

 Despite the development of modern values in Iranian society, traditional values still play a significant role in the master narrative of identity of Iranian male adolescents.

In addition to physical exercises, cognitive interventions such as imagery and modeling facilitate the learning of skills.

The present study was conducted with the aim of determining the effect of progressive exercise therapy and combination self-modeling on behavioral disorders in children with intellectual disability.

This study was a semi-experimental study with experimental group and control group. Among the exceptional children in Najafabad in 2019, 30 educable children with intellectual disabilities aged 8-12 years were selected based on inclusion criteria. Experimental groups underwent training intervention training for 4 weeks and four sessions per week. The tool used was Rutter children behavioral questionnaire. The data were analyzed with repeated measures analysis of variance trough SPSS20 software. 

The results showed that there was a significant difference between the means of self modeling behavioral disorders and progressive exercise therapy in the post-test phase with their averages in the pre-test phase (P<0.05). Examination of the means showed the combined self- modeling group had a better behavioral disorders score in the post-test phase than the other groups. Also, in the post-test phase, the mean of behavioral disorders in the progressive exercise therapy group was better than the control group. 

The findings of the present study showed the progressive Exercise therapy and combination self-modeling in educating and assisting the behavior of children with intellectual disability are effective. They could learn from the way in terms of time for educators, teachers and parents are beneficial.

According to evolutionary evidences, humankind has a pattern of polygamy, similar to other primates. In the following article, we discussed the polygamy evidences and its psychosocial consequences.

The following article discusses women’s issues in polygamous families, with information gathered from studies of communities in which polygamy is legal and common.

The current study was a systematic review. From 2001 to 2020, related keywords have been searched and 30 articles have been extracted from valid internal and foreign databases such as SID, Science Direct and PubMed. Afterwards, the polygamy’s effects have been studied in 17 articles.

Polygamous marriages have been found to encounter various issues, such as low levels of self esteem, parenting and family dysfunctions, as well as struggling with psychological disorders such as somatic symptom disorder, depression, panic, anxiety, dysrhythmia, interpersonal sensitivity disorder, paranoia, and hostility.

According to review, it can be concluded that although our biological foundation was not built for monogamy, findings indicate that following this evolutionary biological process (following polygamy) can be harmful for human kind and should be reconsidered.

Psychological reasons can cause and perpetuate non-cardiac chest pain. They are of particular importance because psychological factors can cause and exacerbate non-cardiac chest pain.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on anxiety and quality of life in patients with non-cardiac chest pain. 

This study is of a quasi-experimental type. The statistical population of this research is patients referred to Dr. Abbas Nabavi Cardiovascular Clinic, Dezful during the year 2021 with non-cardiac pain in their chest. The statistical sample of this work includes 30 patients that are chosen based on the purposive sampling method and divided into two groups, namely control and experimental. Beck Anxiety inventory and SF-36 Quality of Life inventory are used for data collection. Multivariate analysis of covariance, repeated measures of variance, and are applied in three stages of pre-test, post-test, and follow-up, using SPSS software (version 26).

Results indicated that the average of anxiety and life quality in pretest-posttest changed from 29.86±4.06 to 12.4 ± 4.03 and from 47.60 ± 10.06 to 79.73 ± 8.87. Based on the covariance method, in the post-test stage, 62%, and in the follow-up stage, 43% of differences in anxiety and quality of life between two groups were because of the acceptance and commitment therapy method (P≤0.05). Bonferroni test indicated an increase in anxiety level during the follow-up stage (P≤0.05).

According to the research results, it can be concluded that with the help of acceptance and commitment therapy, psychological disorders that cause non-cardiac chest pain can be reduced.

Research is one of the effective factors in promoting counseling and psychotherapy services; therefore, it is necessary to assess the research skills of counselors.

This study aimed to investigate the research skills of consultants of student counseling departments of Medical Universities in the Western Region of the country (Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Hamedan, Ilam, and Sanghor-Asadabad School of Nursing) in 2018.

In this descriptive study, 41 counselors of student counseling offices of Medical Universities in the Western Region of the country in 2018 were surveyed by census sampling method. The data collection tool was Marah (2010) Research Skills Assessment Questionnaire. Research data were analyzed by the Pearson correlation method in SPSS software version 22.

In the descriptive findings section, the results showed that 61% of the counselors were female and %39 were male, 63.4% of the respondents had a master's degree and 41% had a work experience of one to five years. The mean scores of methodological skills were measured as the optimal mean of 3.06±8.6 and the mean scores of statistical skills as the unfavorable means were measured as 2.06±5.2. Only the educational level of the subjects had a significant relationship with the level of research skills of the subjects (P<000).

In general, it can be concluded that the level of research skills of consultants was moderate; the weakness of research perspective in some consultants and also giving priority to consulting services over research work in the field can be Factors for this issue.

Chronic kidney disease is one of the health problems in today's world.

The aim of this study was to compare acceptance and commitment based therapy and mindfulness based cognitive therapy on spiritual health and blood pressure of hemodialysis patients.

The research method was quasi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design with control group. The statistical population of all hemodialysis patients in Gorgan in 2018 was 45 people selected using available sampling method and randomly divided into three experimental groups 1 (acceptance and commitment), experimental group 2 (mindfulness) and control group (15 people in each group). Under the same and simultaneous conditions, the pretest was performed with the Spiritual Health Questionnaire (SWB) from all three groups and blood pressure of the sample members was measured. The experimental groups were treated with acceptance, commitment and mindfulness (8 sessions of 60 minutes), but the control group did not receive any treatment. Then the post-test was performed on all three groups. Findings were analyzed by SPSS 22 software in descriptive and inferential statistics.

The results showed that both treatment approaches based on acceptance, commitment and mindfulness were effective in increasing spiritual health and reducing blood pressure (P<0.05). Comparing the effectiveness of these two approaches were not significantly different.

Based on the obtained results, it can be said that the treatment based on acceptance, commitment and mindfulness has increased spiritual health and decreased blood pressure in hemodialysis patients; Therefore, these treatments can be used along with medical treatment of these patients.

Executive functions are a set of high-level cognitive abilities that are related to the educational problems of children.

This research aimed to investigate psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition (BRIEF-2) and compare its indices among children with different types of specific learning disabilities (SLD).

This study was descriptive psychometric and causal-comparative research. The statistical population consisted of the 6-12-year-old-girls and boys with SLD, Isfahan city, in 2020-2021. A total of 346 students were selected using a convenience sampling method. The achievement tests were then taken, and BRIEF-2 was completed by their parents. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, differentiation analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficient, split-half reliability coefficient, and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) via SPSS.23.0 and AMOS.24.0 software.

Confirmatory factor analysis results showed that this scale has acceptable fit indices values (RMSEA=0.072), and construct validity and discriminant validity are confirmed (P<0.001). In addition, the results of Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.896) and split-half reliability coefficient (0.814) showed that the questionnaire has good reliability. Furthermore, MANOVA results indicated a significant difference between the indices of the BRIEF-2 and the type of learning disabilities (P<0.05).

The BRIEF-2 has good psychometric properties to evaluate the executive functions in 6-12-year-old children with SLD. Considering the significant relationship between the indices of the BRIEF-2 and the type of learning disabilities, the weakness in the indices of executive functions may be probably associated with children' learning problems.

Autism spectrum disorder has been suggested as a neurological disorder that usually occurs in the early years of a child’s development.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of active game intervention and Exergames on executive functions in children with autism.

The method of this research is quasi-experimental and applied in terms of purpose, which was done using a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The subjects of the present study were children with autism aged 7 to 10 years in Gorgan in 2021, from which 36 people were selected by convincing method from two centers of children with autism. The instruments used in this study included the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale and the Working Memory Test. The Stroop effect test was also used to measure selective attention. Data analysis was performed using analysis of covariance and SPSS software version 24.

The results showed that active game intervention had positive effects on working memory (P=0.001) and selective attention (P=0.001). In addition, Exergames intervention had positive effects on working memory (P=0.001) and selective attention (P=0.001).

In general, the results of the present study emphasize the importance of using active games and exergames interventions to improve and strengthen executive functions in high-functioning autistic children.

Suicide is one of the major public health concerns worldwide which has numerous negative consequences for individual and society.

This study aimed to model the structural equations of suicide risk factors based on the three-step theory of suicide in individuals with the emotional disorders.

This was a descriptive study using structural equation modeling. The statistical population included all people with emotional disorders referring to psychiatric outpatient clinics of Razi Educational and Medical Center of Tabriz in 2020. 205 patients with emotional disorders were selected by purposive sampling method and, they answered the questionnaires of Suicide Ideation (STS), Suicide Attempt (SAS), Suicide Capacity (SCS), and Suicide Motivation Questionnaire (IMSA). Data were analyzed using Pearson SPSS correlation test version 23 and structural equation modeling.

The correlation coefficient results showed a significant relationship between pain, hopelessness, sense of connectedness, and suicide capacity with suicidal ideation and suicide attempt (P<0.05). The results of structural equation modeling showed that the indirect effect of hopelessness (0.234) and low connectedness (0.048) on suicide ideation via suicide capacity was significant. The results showed that the indirect effect of frustration (0.586) and low belonging (0.121) on suicide attempts via suicidal capacity was significant.

Using a three-step model can be useful in rapid diagnosis and action to distinguish people with only suicide ideation or who are prone to suicide.

Distress intolerance, difficulty in emotion regulation, and marital conflicts affect the quality of the couples life.

The present study investigated the effectiveness of marital adjustment training on couples distress intolerance, difficulty in emotion regulation, and marital conflict.

The present study was a quasi-experimental study with a control and experimental group. The study sample included thirty couples referring to counseling centers in 2019-2020 that were divided randomly in two experimental and control groups. Afterward, marital adjustment training was provided to the experimental group during eight sessions, and the control group did not receive any intervention. Simmons and Gaher distress tolerance questionnaires, Grotz and Roemer difficulty in emotion regulation, and Sanai and Barati marital conflicts were used in this study. The data were analyzed by covariance using SPSS software version 22.

The results showed marital adjustment training was effective on reducing distress intolerance (f=142.76 and P<0.01), the level of difficulty in emotion regulation (f=146.94 and P<0.01), and marital conflicts (P<0.01 and f=426.21). Accordingly, distress intolerance, difficulty in emotion regulation, and marital conflict were significantly reduced in the treatment group compared with the control group who did not receive any intervention.

The findings indicated that marital adjustment training could be an effective intervention in counseling centers for couples with communicative problems.

Sexual health is one of the main aspects of health that affects spouses at all stages of life.

The present study was investigate the relationship between sensation seeking and cognitive fusion with sexual health of married men.

The study was based on a descriptive correlational method. Statistical population consisted of all married men in Ardabil city in 2020. 110 men were selected as the statistical sample using the convenience sampling. For data collection the Sensation Seeking (Zuckerman, 1979), Cognitive Fusion (Gillanders, 2014) and Sexual Health (Manavi Pour, 2008) were used. Research data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression using SPSS18 software.

The results showed a significant relationship between sensation seeking and cognitive fusion with sexual health in married men (P<0.05). Also, the results of multiple regression showed that sensation seeking and cognitive fusion can predict the sexual health of married men by 0.63 (P<0.05).

Married mens sexual health is predictable with sensation seeking and cognitive fusion. It is recommended to help married men to improve their sexual health by training in overcoming sensation seeking and cognitive fusion.