Iranian Journal of Practice in Clinical Psychology
Volume:10 Issue: 1, Winter 2022

Given the significance of consequences of Covid-19, as well as the health of students, this study aimed to predict the fear of Covid-19 based on spiritual well-being and self-efficacy among Iranian students: focus on the mediating role of mindfulness.

This study was a descriptive correlational study. An online sampling method was used, and the sample included 396 students in Tehran. Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE), Fear of Covid-19 scale, and Paloutzian & Ellison's Spiritual Well-being Scale (SWBS) were used for data collection. An independent t-test, Pearson correlation, and regression test were used to analyze the data.

The results show that the overall effects of religious well-being (β =-0.192, P=0.001), existential well-being (β = -0.227, P=.001), and self-efficacy (β=-0.093, P=.013) were significant. The indirect effects of religious well-being (β =-0.026, P=0.001), existential well-being (β =-0.013, P=0.016), and self-efficacy (β=-0.04, P=0.001) were significant. The direct effects of religious well-being (β=-0.253,P=0.001), existential well-being (β =-0.205, P=0.016), and self-efficacy (β =-0.133, P=0.013) were significant.

This study discovered that spiritual well-being, self-efficacy, and mindfulness are associated with a reduction in perceived fear of Covid 19 in Iranian students and also expanded our knowledge of mediating roles of mindfulness.

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of schema therapy with acceptance and commitment therapy with exposure techniques on cognitive avoidance in female patients with generalized anxiety disorder.

10 women with generalized anxiety disorder were selected through purposeful sampling with Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID-5). To determine the absence of Personality disorder Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III) (Millon and Groosman, 2005) was used. Schema therapy was conducted for 20 weekly sessions and ACT with exposure techniques for 12 weeks and follow-up 6 weeks. The Cognitive Avoidance Questionnaire (CAQ) (Sexton and Douglas, 2004) was used as pre-test and post-test, and to track the results. Analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results showed that schema therapy is more effective than ACT in the subscales of thought suppression (F=12.80, p=0.037) and avoidance of threatening (F=25.61, p=0.015), but they have no significant statistical difference in other subscales and total score. Both treatments significantly reduced the total score of cognitive avoidance, but they did not have a statistically significant difference.

It is concluded that Schema therapy and ACT with exposure techniques are effective in reducing the severity of symptoms and improving cognitive avoidance in females with Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between reward sensitivity and punishment sensitivity and positive emotion regulation strategies and negative emotion regulation strategies among students.

189 students studying at one of Tehran Universities were selected by accessible random sampling method, and then Emotion Regulation Scale, Attention Control Scale, Experiences Questionnaire, Emotional Regulation Questionnaire, Positive Emotion Response Questionnaire, and Punishment Sensitivity Questionnaire and Reward sensitivity were distributed among them to collect data. Data were analyzed using SPSS-26 software using Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis.

Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant relationship between punishment and reward sensitivity and positive and negative emotion regulation strategies. Multiple regression analysis showed that sensitivity to reward and punishment could well predict positive emotion regulation strategies. Multiple regression analysis results indicated that sensitivity to reward and punishment could also predict negative emotion regulation strategies.

sensitivity to Punishment and sensitivity to reward were significant and common factors in emotion regulation. These results show that activation as a technique plays a significant role in the behavior that enhances the individual's search for reward. And suggesting that this approach can increase reward-seeking and thus improve emotional regulation.

This study examined the effectiveness of group schema-based parenting education on modifying the child's early maladaptive schemas and improving the quality of the parent-child relationship.

The design of this research is quasi-experimental pretest-posttest with control group. The statistical population of this study includes all mothers and their daughters aged 8 to 10, in District 2 of Tehran, in 1399-1400. Among 65 mothers who announced their readiness to participate in the course by available sampling, 40 of them were selected according to the inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned to two groups of 20 people in experimental and control group. In this study, Schema Inventory for Children (by Rijkeboer & De Boo) and also the Parent-Child Relationship Scale (by Pinata) were used. The data of this study were analyzed by Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA).

Data analysis showed that parenting education had a significant effect on schemas of Vulnerability, Mistrust/ Abuse, Failure, Submission, Unrelenting standards/ Hyper criticalness, Self-sacrifice and Entitlement/ Grandiosity, but on the schemas of Loneliness, Defectiveness/ Shame, Enmeshment/ Undeveloped Self and Insufficient self-control/ Self-discipline had no significant effect. Data analysis also showed that parenting education has a significant effect on the subscales of closeness, dependence and total positive relationship, but has no significant effect on conflict.

The present study shows that group schema-based parenting education to mothers is effective on modifying some of the early maladaptive schemas of children and improving the quality of the parent-child relationship.

This study examined the role of social desirability, self-esteem, and some demographic variables in predicting students’ attitudes toward people with physical-motor disabilities.

The participants in this cross-sectional study were 300 students at Kurdistan University selected using convenience sampling. The students completed the items in the Google forms of the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC–SDS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965b), a Demographic Information Form, and the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale towards Persons with Disability (MAS). The collected data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficients and hierarchical linear regression analysis with SPSS software (Version 23).

The results showed significant attitudinal differences in students with different demographic characteristics except for gender and education (P < 0.05). In addition, social desirability and self-esteem together were stronger predictors of the students’ attitudes toward people with physical-motor disability than each of these variables alone (P > 0.05).

Various demographic variables and other factors like self-esteem and social desirability affected students' attitudes toward people with physical-motor disabilities.  A key implication of the present study is that the role of tested variables could differ depending on cognitive, affect, and behavioral dimensions of attitudes. Researchers must pay attention to this point in future studies.

With the development of technology and easy access to a variety of content in Internet, the pornography consumption along with individual characteristics can be one of the factors affecting couples' relationship. This study aimed to assess the role of pornography consumption and sexual perfectionism with mediating role of sexual self-concept on marital burnout among university students in Iran.

The research method was cross-sectional and correlation study. The sample of this study consisted of married students of Islamic Azad University, of which 210 answered online to Pornography Consumption Inventory (PCI- Reid, et al., 2011), The Multidimensional sexual Self-Concept Questionnaire (MSSCQ-Snell, 1998), Multidimensional Sexual Perfectionism Questionnaire (MSPQ- Snell, 2011), and Couple Burnout Measure (Pines, 1996).  The questionnaire of PCI and MSSCQ were translated into Persian for the first time and were used after confirming the validity and reliability. Correlation coefficients (using SPSS software) and path analysis (using LISREL statistical software) were used to investigate the variables of the couple burnout prediction model.

The results showed that positive sexual self-concept was not related to marital burnout and only negative self-concept was positively related to marital burnout. There was no direct relationship between pornography and marital burnout, but there was a positive relationship with the mediating role of negative sexual self-concept. Sexual perfectionism was positively associated with marital burnout.  Negative sexual self-concept also mediated between sexual perfectionism and marital burnout.  

The results indicated that high sexual perfectionism was associated with higher marital burnout and individual with negative sexual self-concept under the influence of pornography and high sexual perfectionism were more prone to marital burnout.

Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is characterized by somatic symptoms that are very distressing or cause considerable functional disability. SSD is associated with various medical and psychiatric conditions and imposes high costs on the patient's health care system. Therefore, diagnosis and treatment of SSD are crucial. The Somatic Symptom Scale-8 (SSS-8) is a valuable and brief self-report questionnaire to assess somatic symptom burden. The current study aimed to determine the psychometric properties of the Persian version of SSS-8 in depressed samples.

Data were drawn from a clinical setting with individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD, N = 122). convergent validity of SSS-8 was examined by assessing correlations with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Whiteley index (WI-14), and Somatic Symptom Disorder–B Criteria Scale (SSD-12) questionnaires.

Cronbach's alpha results confirmed the reliability of SSS-8. Reliability assessment with test-retest showed excellent reliability for scale. The CFA also approved the SSS-8 single-factor structure. The results of construct validity analysis of the questionnaire showed that SSS-8 has a positive and significant relationship with depression, anxiety, WI, and SSS-12.

The Persian version of the SSS-8 is an 8-item self-report questionnaire that health professionals and researchers can use to assess and screen somatic symptoms in individuals diagnosed with MDD.