دکتر محمدسعید عبدخدایی

transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and mindfulness are two commonly used interventions for targeting cognitive processes related to emotional pathology.

The current research is applied and quasi-experimental. The population was students aged 19 to 26 at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Among them, 60 healthy college students were selected through a purposive sampling method according to the stress, anxiety, and depression scale and were randomly assigned to 4 groups. In this study, we examined how tDCS in combination with mindfulness influenced the anxiety reactivity to induced rumination. All populations received either active or sham anodal tDCS to DLPFC or active or sham cathodal tDCS to the IPL, delivered either in active or sham mindfulness meditation. anxiety was assessed 5 times across the study. To collect data, the Spielberger State-Anxiety Inventory was completed by each participant. In the end, the data were analyzed descriptively by mean and standard deviation and inferentially by mixed variance analysis.

The between-group analysis revealed that after a single session of tDCS combined with mindfulness meditation, there were no significant differences in anxiety scores across the five stages. However, the within-subject analysis indicated significant changes in anxiety levels across the five assessment times.

Concurrent single sessions of tDCS and mindfulness in the form of a body scan did not create a significant difference between the groups in any of the anxiety assessment times. However, with the continuation of mindfulness in the form of focusing on breathing, there were significant differences in the level of anxiety response compared to the previous stage

Objectives:

 Problematic pornography use (PPU) is one of the emerging clinical concerns that can negative affect individual performance. Therefore, it is necessary to use emerging behavioral and technological treatments. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in reducing craving and PPU in young men.

Methods :

This is a clinical trial with a pre-test/post-test/follow-up design. The study population consists of all men aged 18-24 years referred to the counseling clinic of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran in 2022 with diagnosed PPU. Of these, 9 were selected purposefully based on the entry criteria. They were placed in three groups of ACT, tDCS, and ACT±tDCS, using the computerized random number generator in SAS software, version 9.4 and the sequentially numbered, opaque, sealed envelopes (SNOSE) to preserve random allocation concealment. The data were analyzed based on visual analysis, percentage of non-overlapping data index, and mean percentage reduction (MPR).

Results:

 The ACT led to a decrease in craving (MPR=26.2% with an effect size of 0.63) and PPU (MPR=27.05% with an effect size of 0.62). Also, tDCS led to a decrease in craving (MPR=22.7% with an effect size of 0.56) and PPU (MPR=21.2% with an effect size of 0.53). The combined treatment (ACT±tDCS) led to a decrease in craving (MPR=33.4% with an effect size of 0.72) and PPU (MPR=29.3% with an effect size of 0.67). The effects in all groups were significant (P<0.05).

Conclusion:

 The combination of ACT and tDCS can lead to a more significant reduction in craving and PPU in young men than ACT and tDCS alone. ACT is more effective than tDCS in reducing craving and PPU.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of self-knowledge education with Sadra's approach on increasing spiritual intelligence.

This research was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest and control group design. The statistical population includes the female students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. From this population, 40 students were selected using convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into two experimental (n=20) and control (n=20) groups. The experimental group received six sessions of self-knowledge education with the Sadrai approach, and the control group did not receive any intervention. The Sohrabi and Naseri's spiritual intelligence questionnaire was used to collect data at two stages of pre and post test.  The data were analized using ANCOVA and MANCOVA methods by SPSS-19 software.

The results showed significant difference between the experimental group and control group in the variable of study indicating that self-knowledge education with Sadra's approach led to the promotion of spiritual intelligence of female students of Ferdowsi University.

The aim of this study is to extract concepts from the heart of transcendent philosophy to form a psychological theory. The basic premise is that Sadr al-Muta'allehin's views include the implications needed to formulate a theory of psychology. The second and third assumptions are that various aspects of a psychological theory can be deduced from the transcendent philosophy of Mulla Sadra. Moreover, Mulla Sadra's opinions have explanatory and helpful concepts in comparison with the existing theories in psychology.The results of the research confirm thiese assumptions and show that Mulla Sadra's views carry significant notions in the science of psychology, and by examining Sadra's anthropology, the basic assumptions in a psychological approach can be extracted.In this paper, presuppositions in the field of ontology are extracted and compared with the field of "human position in the world" with the approach of existentialism and in the field of "human definition" with the approach of behaviorism. Furthermore, some assumptions concerning "human evolution and development" have been extracted and compared in the fields of "human instincts" using a psychoanalytic approach, and "evolutionary features" based on Piaget's theory of "constructivism".Regarding the stages of infinite evolution in Sadra's views, we have not found any equivalent in psychology for comparison.

This study investigated the effectiveness of blended learning based on virtual social networks with a social constructivist approach on students' academic self-efficacy and academic achievement. The statistical population included students of Farhangian University in 2019-2020, 75 of whom were selected by available sampling method from Shahid Hasheminejad Campus in Mashhad and were randomly divided into three groups of 25 people. The research method was quasi-experimental and required information were collected by academic achievement test and owen and Faraman's academic self-efficacy questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS24 software. The results investigated that students of blended learning had higher academic achievement compared to the other two groups. Also, there is no significant difference between the academic self-efficacy of students with blended learning and face-to-face education, and students participating in blended learning had higher academic self-efficacy than students with social networks-based education. Accordingly, the use of blended learning based on social networks is suggested as a suitable educational method in university education.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of dialectical behavior  therapy in reducing psychological symptoms in patients with mitral valve prolapse syndrome.   

The present study is a quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistical population included all female patients with mitral valve prolapse syndrome in Mashhad who referred to Ferdowsi University Clinical Psychology Clinic, Imam Reza and Ghaem Hospitals in Mashhad. Among the volunteers, 16 were They were selected from interview and initial screening by purposive sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The research instruments included the Albanian Panic Questionnaire, Krupp Fatigue and Generalized Anxiety Inventory (GAD-7) and the data were analyzed by SPSS software version 21 and one-way analysis of covariance.

The results showed that dialectical behavior therapy was effective in reducing psychological symptoms (P <0.01).

This approach has paved the way for improving the psychological health of these patients.

Coping with stress is one of the most important research areas in health psychology. Researching in this regard requires a tool with strong psychometric properties and validation in Iranian culture. The purpose of this study was to investigate the most commonly used short-scale factor structure, the Carver’s Brief Cope.

Methods & Materials: 

This study was a cross-sectional and methodological study of test type. The statistical population consisted of all students studying at Birjand University in 1977-98. Sampling was available by the method. The condition for entry into the study was the experience of a stressor for at least 6 months. After receiving a medium or high score on the perceived stress level, 629 students completed the 28-question form. Data was analyzed using SPSS V. 15 and laser software V. 8.8. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to determine the factor structure of the questionnaire. A confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirming the factors. Reliability was established through retesting and internal consistency.

Ethical Considerations:

 This study is part of a PhD. thesis, registered (Code: IR.UM.REC. 3/50099) at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Before entering the study, an informed consent was obtained from the subjects.

 After confirming the face and content validity quantitatively and qualitatively, the exploratory factor analysis results after varimax rotation showed 55.139% of the total variance explained by the first eight factors with a higher than one specific value. However, in confirmatory factor analysis, the first two factors, 4 and 7, were omitted due to insufficient power to explain the present variables. Finally, the goodness-of-fit indices of the RMFIA, PFI, GFI, IFI, IFI, CFI, AGFI confirmed the fit of the six-factor structure with the data. Reliability of the instrument was also confirmed by internal consistency (α=0.73) and test-retest reliability (r=0.59).

 The highly abbreviated 6-item form of Carver’s Brief Cope showed good validity and reliability in the student sample and can be used in health psychology studies.

The purpose of this study was to design a blended learning model based on virtual social networks with social constructivist approach and determine its effectiveness on academic performance, academic self-regulation and social cognition of teacher students. The blended learning model, having been developed based on virtual, social, and training protocols, was validated by experts. The effectiveness of the model was verified through a quasiexperimental study whose statistical population consisted of teacher students in Farhangian University. A sample of whom 75 undergraduate teachers were selected through convenient sampling from Shahid Hashemi Nejad Campus in Mashhad and were randomly divided into three groups of 25, each receiving instruction through blended learning, in-person education, and virtual social networks for 10 sessions. Data in the study encompassed the participants’ responses to Academic Performance Test, Pintrich and DeGroot’s SelfRegulation Strategies Questionnaire (MSLQ) and Nejati’s Cognitive Abilities Questionnaire in pre-test and post-test phases. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and MANOVA, with SPSS 24, to examine the difference between the participants’ pre-test and post-test scores. The results suggested that instruction through virtual social networks had a significantly higher effect on the academic performance of the students compared to the other two educational methods. On the other hand, the students in blended learning group had higher academic selfregulation and social cognition than those who received instruction through virtual social networks. Nevertheless, there was no significant difference between social cognition and academic self-regulation of students in blended learning group and in-person group.

The main purpose of this paper is to explain the difficulties of existing assessment approaches and suggest an alternative approach in order to overcome these difficulties. Therefore, firstly, the existing assessment approaches have been criticized and next an intergral assessment approach was presented based on the neuro-phenomenology which was inspired by the causal layered analysis, Ken Wilber's theory of integral and fuzzy logic. The most important features of this approach to assessment are holographic attitudes towards human life, reciprocal relationships between mind, brain, body and environment and a synchronous consideration of first-person experiential and third-person experimental approaches to cognition.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of assertiveness group training on employees’ self-assertiveness and quality of work life  

The design of this research was pretest-posttest with control group design. From the statistical population, 24 employees with job tenure at least one year were selected by convenience sampling method and then randomly assigned in experimental and control groups (each 12 employees). The experimental group received eight 90-minatue sessions while the control group remained at waiting list. The instruments included Walton quality of work life and Gambrill & Riche’s assertiveness questionnaires. ANCOVA was used for data analysis.

Findings showed that there is no difference between the groups in terms of self-assertiveness and quality of work life before the intervention. After the intervention, there was a significant increase regarding self-assertiveness and quality of work life in experimental group.

Group training of assertiveness increased the self-assertiveness and quality of work life in experimental group compared with the control group. It appears that life skills training, especially assertiveness training should be implemented to improve skills in order to improve mental health. Also, the quality of work life is an important issue in the workplace.

The aim of this study was to investigate the healthy and pathological aspects of parenting among Iranian’s families. This study had a qualitative design and the method used is Grounded Theory. The population consisted of all Muslim parents with children over 10 years of age, living in Tehran and Karaj during the summer of 2016 to the summer of 2017. The sample consisted of 44 Muslim parents who were investigated through semi-structured interviews. The interviews' data were analyzed on the basis of grounded theory coding (coding paradigm or Strauss and Corbine method). Final codings consisted of 216 initial codes, 9 clusteres and 3 themes. In the axial analysis of the initial codes, 9 main clusters were extracted: rejection; kindness/support; over protection; inflexibility; optimum structure; chaos; coercion; assertiveness; autonomy support; negligence/passivity. Althought Theses clusters can be conceptually distinguished, but they have common features. In the selective coding, 9 clusters were integrated around 3 major themes : Intimacy (rejection; kindness/support; over protection); structure/rule (inflexibility; optimum structure; chaos); autonomy/freedom of action (coercion; assertiveness; autonomy support; negligence/passivity). Among these three themes, the medium cluster draws a balanced and healthy situation and two other clusters represent the pathological aspects of parenting. The results of this study showed that most of the parents involved in the study used a kind of authoritarian parenting style(the combination of over protection, inflexibility and coercion) and Healthy parenting (the combination of kindness/support, optimum structure and autonomy support) is located in the second rank.

The goal of this paper was to examine effectiveness of reality therapy group counseling on academic motivation and academic procrastination of high school students. This study was a quasi-experimental research with pretest/posttest design with control group. The study population consisted of female high school students of Mashhad district 5 that failed in at least one of their courses in 89-90 academic years and had participated in remedial classes. The research sample consisted of 20 students that had scored very high or very low on the academic procrastination and academic motivation questionnaire and voluntarily chosen to participate in the research. The experiment group received 8 sessions of reality therapy group counseling. The measures used in this study include Academic Motivation Questionnaire - Student (Abdekhodaie 1387) and Procrastination Assessment Scale Student (Solomon & Rothblum، 1984). The data analyzed by using the analysis of covariance method (ANCOVA). Results of study reveald that reality therapy group counseling program significantly decreased academic procrastination but had no effect on academic motivation.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of separation anxiety in children and evaluating the effectiveness of play-therapy، based on a cognitive behavioral approach on reducing separation anxiety. 358 children were selected in the first part of the study by multistage random sampling through day care centers of Mashhad City Hall-region 2. In the second part، 30 participants of children diagnosed as having separation anxiety and their parents confirmed their consent were put into test and control groups by random assignment. The assessment tool was CSI4 separation anxiety questionnaire. For the test group، 10 play-therapy sessions were carried out based on a cognitive behavioral approach. In the first part of the study، 13. 97 percent of 358 children were diagnosed as having separation anxiety. In the second part، the results showed that there exists a meaningful difference between post-test scores of children who received the therapeutic program and those of control group and separation anxiety of test group has decreased significantly. The study shows that the prevalence of separation anxiety among children is considerably high and its treatment is important because of further associated problems such as school refusal. Also After the treatment، a significant decrease in separation anxiety occurred and is maintained in the follow-up and this therapeutic program is recommended with respect to its fascinating material.

The goal of the present research was to determine the extent to which students use study and learning strategies (SLS), and its relationship with their academic achievement. Participants were 425 students from Literature and Social Science and Engineering schools of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, who were randomly selected among two grades (i.e., Year One and Three) from both types of university admission (i.e., First Admission vs. Second Admission). Karami's Questionnaire of Study and Learning Strategies in the Persian language was administered. Findings indicated that the student's usage of the SLS could be classified at the intermediate level, with the female students scoring higher than males, and those from the Literature and Social Science school scoring higher than those from the Engineering school. There was no difference among the students in regards with their admission type or grade. Also there was no correlation between the student's scores on their National University Entry Exam with their use of the SLS; however, there was a positive correlation between the student's SLS with their mean scores from their high school and their mean scores at the university from the previous semesters. The results of a regression analysis showed that meta-cognition process of knowledge and self-control had the most important roles in the academic achievement of the students.