Iranian Journal of Practice in Clinical Psychology
Volume:11 Issue: 2, Spring 2023

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of group metacognitive therapy on internet addiction and cognitive-emotional regulation among adolescents.

We used a quasi-experimental design that included pre-test s, post-tests, and follow-ups. In the 2020-2021 academic year, all the male adolescents in Qazvin City, Iran were included in this study. A total of 30 adolescents were randomly selected and assigned to intervention or control groups based on the convenience sampling method (n=15). We provided ten 90-min group metacognitive therapy sessions to the intervention group, while the control group received no intervention. The internet addiction questionnaire along with the cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire was used to collect the data. We conducted the multivariate analysis of covariance, repeated measures, and Fisher least significant difference post hoc test via the SPSS software, version 26.

The results of this study demonstrated that group metacognitive therapy significantly affected adolescents’ internet addiction and cognitive emotion regulation (P<0.05). In addition, the analysis revealed that internet addiction and cognitive emotion regulation among adolescents were significantly different between intervention and control groups. The treatment remained unchanged at the follow-up stage (P<0.05).

It is recommended that school and family counselors be trained and given executive duties in group metacognitive therapy, which influences Iranian adolescents. These methods may assist overactive adolescents and their families in achieving their learning goals through empowerment, analysis, and interpretation workshops and meetings.

The level of mobility and general health has decreased among students in virtual classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study aims to investigate the mental and physical complications caused by inactivity among the students of Farhangian University during virtual classes. 

This was survey research with a cross-sectional design. The statistical population included all male and female students studying at Farhangian University of Mazandaran Province, Iran. According to the determination of the sample size based on the Morgan table, 475 students, consisting of 214 females and 261 males, were randomly selected as the statistical sample of the study. The research instruments include the international physical activity questionnaire, Saehan Caliper (SH5020), the Coopersmith self-esteem scale (1967), the Beck depression questionnaire, and the Nordic skeletal and muscular disorders questionnaire. To analyze the data, we used the independent sample t test to compare the two groups. All analyses were conducted using the SPSS software, version 24.

The research findings showed that the average weekly activity level among women was 634±281 MET/min, and the average weekly activity level among men was 472 ±231 MET/min. In terms of fat percentage by gender, men’s average fat percentage was 21.47%±4.74%, and women’s average fat percentage was 31.55%±4.37%. Meanwhile, the self-esteem scores of male and female students were obtained at 29.72 and 29.43, respectively. The difference between the two was considered significant as P<0.05. In addition to these findings, the correlation between self-esteem and activity level was +0.41. On the other hand, 25(67%) female students and 12(32%) male students suffered from high depression. 

Concerning students’ skeletal-muscular disorders, findings proved that both genders suffered from physical complications during virtual classes. This study suggests increasing the level of physical activity to reduce body fat mass, increase mental health, and reduce skeletal disorders, which can be properly accomplished through university planning and prioritizing the health of male and female students.

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of transdiagnostic treatment on maladaptive personality traits and mentalized affectivity of patients with generalized anxiety disorder comorbid with depression.

This was a quasi-experimental study with a single case method. The statistical population included people with generalized anxiety disorder comorbid with depression who were referred to counseling centers in Isfahan City, Iran in 2020. From this population, 5 people were selected via purposive sampling and they were intervened with transdiagnostic treatment through weekly sessions held individually. The subjects were assessed at the baseline, third, fifth, eighth, and tenth sessions, and during a 1-month follow-up period using the short version of the adult version of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fifth edition, personality questionnaire, and the mentalized affectivity scale. To report the data, we used visual analysis, reliable change index, improvement percentage, and statistical and clinical significance.

The visual analysis, percentage of improvement, and reliable change index (RCI≥1/96), showed that transdiagnostic treatment created statistically significant changes and improvement in mentalized affectivity components, negative affectivity, and detachment; however, it did not have a significant effect on other personality traits (antagonism, disinhibition, and psychoticism).

Transdiagnostic treatment is an effective treatment to modulate the mentalized affectivity, negative affectivity, and detachment of people with generalized anxiety disorder comorbid with depression.

Several studies have explored the correlation between postpartum depression and a weak mother-infant bond; however, fewer studies have analyzed how other postpartum mental health conditions, such as childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or important personal characteristics, including adult attachment styles, affect the quality of the mother-infant bond. This study aims to examine the association between attachment styles and postpartum bonding in mothers, considering the mediating influence of postpartum depression and childbirth-related PTSD.

A total of 150 mothers, 4 to 12 weeks postpartum, completed a demographic questionnaire, the Edinburgh postpartum depression questionnaire, the posttraumatic stress questionnaire related to the birth of a child, the mother-child bonding questionnaire, and the attachment style questionnaire. The posttraumatic stress related to the birth of a child questionnaire was translated into Persian for the first time and was used after confirming its validity and reliability. The proposed model was examined by the structural equation modeling method.

The conceptual model’s results showed that the direct and standardized effect of anxious attachment style (β=0.49, P=0.001) and avoidant attachment style (β=0.47, P=0.001) on postpartum depression were significant. Also, the direct effect of anxious attachment style (β=0.59, P=0.001) on postpartum PTSD was significant. However, the coefficient of avoidant attachment style (β=-0.04, P=0.581) was not significant for postpartum PTSD. Also, the coefficients were investigated from the direct effect of postpartum depression, postpartum PTSD, anxious attachment style, and avoidant attachment style. The obtained results showed that postpartum depression (β=0.27, P=0.001), postpartum PTSD (β=0.43, P=0.001), and anxious attachment style (β=0.39, P=0.001) could predict the mother-child bond. However, the avoidant attachment style (β=0.00, P=0.946) could not predict the mother-child bond.

The findings of the study revealed that insecure attachment styles were linked to challenges in forming a strong mother-infant bond. Anxious attachment was also associated with bonding difficulties, which were influenced by symptoms of postpartum depression and childbirth-related PTSD. In contrast, a higher degree of avoidant attachment style was associated with more significant difficulties in bonding, which were mediated by symptoms of depression. Accordingly, if interventions aim to enhance the mother-infant bond, treatment should focus on addressing childbirth-related PTSD, PPD symptoms, and insecure attachment styles.

This research aims to study the effectiveness of verbal self-instruction training on symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and academic procrastination in male teenagers with ADHD. 

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up with a control group. The statistical population included all male teenagers with ADHD in Tabriz City, Iran. A total of 30 male teenagers with ADHD were selected via the purposive sampling method and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The research tools were the child symptom inventory-4 questionnaire and the Solomon and Rothblum academic procrastination scale. Descriptive statistical indices and the analysis of covariance tests were employed for data description and testing of the research hypotheses. 

The F ratio of the univariate analysis of covariance for dependent variables showed a significant difference in the variables of academic procrastination and ADHD symptoms between the experimental and the control (P>0.001) group. Accordingly, verbal self-instruction is effective in improving academic procrastination and ADHD. 

The results showed that verbal self-instruction training affects symptoms of ADHD and academic procrastination.

This study aims to investigate the issues related to the formation and persistence of deliberate self-harm behavior in adolescents from Iranian mental health professionals’ viewpoints. 

The present qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to record the experiences of 9 mental health professionals with work experience in deliberate self-harm behavior in adolescence. The participants were selected via the purposive sampling method. The Sterling content analysis method was used to analyze the transcription of the interviews.

The semantic units of the interview were classified into 32 initial codes. The extracted sub-themes were as follows: A rejection of new identities, repression, the disintegration of social identity, materialism, economic poverty, unresolved parental conflicts, the lack of authority, the ambivalency between boundaries and freedom, shame, and guilt, blame, fear of harm, liberation, self-care, escape mechanism, and replacement, affect regulation, coping with self-disintegration and self-esteem, relationship conflicts with adults and peers, identity creation, identity disorder, boundless mental structure, lack of self-confidence, and distorted self-perception. The following four themes were categorized as subcategories of transformational injuries: Traumatic society, vulnerable family, interpersonal impact, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Mental health specialists considered deliberate self-harm traumatic; however, they deem it for eliminating negative emotions and controlling the internal and external world of adolescents. Furthermore, they consider this behavior a reaction to cultural conflicts, cultural materialism, and the disintegration of identity and role during adolescence in families not being capable to facilitate low-risk transformation for adolescents because of economic and psychological factors.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is associated with numerous psychological issues, such as anxiety and distress as a result of individual, health-related, social, and economic issues. This study aims to assess the general population in Iran for the negative impacts of the current pandemic on psychological well-being and to find possible protective and risk factors when facing such situations in the current COVID-19 pandemic.

A total of 317 people participated in an online survey in Iran from August 3, 2020, to September 20, 2020. Anxiety, depression, fear of COVID-19, emotion regulation, intolerance of uncertainty, illness perception, neuroticism, social support, and self-efficacy were evaluated. 

The results showed that measures that assess anxiety, depression, emotion regulation, intolerance of uncertainty, illness perception, neuroticism, social support, and self-efficacy were significantly related to fear of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the results of regression analysis demonstrated that neuroticism, intolerance of uncertainty, and illness perception could predict fear of COVID-19 beyond and above anxiety and depression.

Some factors, including neuroticism, illness perception, and intolerance of uncertainty are considered risk factors for mental health during this pandemic.

Cognitive enhancement is a noninvasive brain treatment that has the potential to improve cognitive deficits in patients with symptoms of cognitive impairment, such as mild cognitive impairment. Studies have not investigated the effectiveness of this method on people’s quality of life; therefore, this study aims to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive enhancement on the quality of life (QoL) of the elderly with mild cognitive impairment.

As a quasi-experimental study, the authors utilized the pre-test-post-test design with follow-up. The statistical population of the study was elderly with mild cognitive impairment. A total of 40 senior patients with cognitive abnormalities who were referred to the Rehabilitation Clinic of the Payambaran Hospital in Tehran City, Iran, were picked at random and assigned into an experimental and a control group. The experimental group underwent 12 sessions of cognitive enhancement. To measure the variables, the LEIPAD QoLquestionnaire was employed. The data were analyzed using the two-way repeated measures analysis of variance via the SPSS software, version 25. 

In terms of the post-test quality of life, the results revealed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups. The QoLof the elderly with mild cognitive impairment was impacted by cognitive improvement. The follow-up studies also demonstrated that the observed disparities between the groups were persistent over time (P<0.05).

In addition to affecting the cognitive abilities of the brain, cognitive enhancement can affect the QoLof the elderly with mild cognitive impairment.