abbas pourshahbaz

Bipolar disorder type I (BD-I) is marked by periodic mood swings, including episodes of mania and depression. Factors such as family stress and cognitive impairments are crucial in the relapse of this disorder.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of family-focused therapy (FFT) and social cognition and interaction training (SCIT) in preventing relapses of BD-I and enhancing patients' interpersonal relationships and social functioning.

This experimental study featured a controlled, pretest-posttest design with a three-month follow-up, conducted from 2019 to 2020. Sixty primary caregivers of patients with BD-I in Zahedan, Iran, were purposively selected and randomly assigned to three groups. The SCIT group (only patients) and the FFT group (patients with primary caregivers) each underwent 15 sessions of group interventions. Research tools were administered before and after the intervention, as well as in the follow-up. Baseline differences in outcomes were assessed using independent samples t -tests for completers vs. non-completers and analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the three intervention groups.

Results indicate that both SCIT and FFT significantly improved relapse prevention and enhanced social functioning, except in the domain of interpersonal relationships. Here, SCIT proved more effective than FFT in post-tests (β = 3, P = 0.034) and follow-up (β = 5.043, P = 0.001).

Given that FFT is an evidence-based treatment for BD-I, integrating SCIT can further enhance intervention effectiveness, particularly in improving interpersonal relationships and social functioning by addressing environmental factors and social cognitive deficits.

The hierarchical taxonomy of psychopathology (HiTOP) aims to address the limitations of traditional nosologies. This model organizes borderline personality disorder (BPD) along two dimensions: The distress sub-factor of negative affectivity and antagonism.

For the HiTOP model to be effectively integrated into clinical practice, its clinical utility must be established. This study aimed to assess the clinical utility and diagnostic validity of HiTOP in diagnosing BPD.

This cross-sectional study included 113 inpatients with a primary diagnosis of BPD and 100 nonclinical individuals. The Structured Clinical Interview for diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) Personality Disorders, Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5-Screening Personality Questionnaire, Personality Inventory for DSM-5, and the Personality Assessment Inventory–Borderline Features Scale were used for BPD diagnosis and severity assessment. Multiple regression analyses were conducted on BPD-HiTOP-related and other maladaptive personality domains to identify the best predictive factors for BPD. Borderline personality disorder scales were created based on the regression algorithms. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses and diagnostic efficiency statistics were used to assess the relative diagnostic efficiency of these scales.

Regression analyses indicated that negative affectivity and disinhibition significantly predicted BPD severity, whereas antagonism did not. The ROC analysis demonstrated that both the HiTOP-BPD algorithm (antagonism/negative affectivity) and the proposed BPD algorithm (disinhibition/negative affectivity) showed excellent accuracy. Regarding diagnostic validity, the proposed BPD algorithm exhibited higher sensitivity and specificity levels compared to the HiTOP-BPD algorithm.

These findings support the clinical utility of the disinhibition-negative affectivity algorithm in diagnosing BPD.

Disruptive and conduct behaviors are the most common conditions used to help adolescent patients refer to mental health clinics for counseling. The prevalence of this disorder is increasing and it is necessary to concentrate on this topic. The comorbidity of conduct disorder (CD) with other emotional and behavioral problems is common. One of the comorbidity disorders for which contradictory results are reported is attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Several studies have demonstrated the comorbidity of these two disorders in patients with a younger age of onset, more severe symptoms, and more stable disease. Hence, this study determines the prognostic value of the Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory adolescent-restructured form (MMPI-A-RF) for CDs and investigates the effect of comorbidities, such as ADHD.

The sample of the present comparative casual study consisted of 295 adolescents who were selected by purposeful sampling, based on the current and the Kiddie schedule for affective disorder and schizophrenia-present and lifetime for school-age children (6-18 years old) and the final version of the MMPI-A-RF questionnaire. The Mean±SD of all the MMPI-A-RF scores were compared among three groups of patients with CD (n=40), patients with a comorbid diagnosis of conduct disorder and ADHD (n=68 people), and patients with other psychiatric disorders (mood and anxiety disorders). Analysis of variance was used to determine the significance of differences among the three groups. If the deviations were significant, the Games–Howell post hoc test was used to inspect differences between the groups.

The comparison of CD and CD+ADHD patients with other disorders revealed meaningful differences in almost all the indicators related to externalizing problems. The CD+ADHD group had markedly greater scores on the scales of antisocial behaviors (P<0.001), aggressive-revised personality (P<0.001), and conduct problems (P<0.001) compared to the CD group and other psychiatric disorders group.

The results are consistent with the background and revealed more severe symptoms and more functional degradation in the CD+ADHD group compared to the CD and other psychiatric disorders group. This subgroup can have different risk symptoms, clinical courses, and drug responses. MMPI-A-RF can supply valuable information about the comorbidity of psychiatric disorders.

Family-focused therapy (FFT) has been developed to address the significant impairments in psychosocial functioning among individuals with bipolar disorder (BD).

This study investigated the effectiveness of FFT combined with drug therapy in patient support in managing this disorder.

In this randomized controlled trial, 50 patients and their caregivers were randomly divided into 2 groups: A drug therapy group that only received medication and a family therapy group that received 15 one-hour sessions of FFT with their caregivers in addition to medication. The Expressed Emotion Questionnaire (EEQ), a modified version of the standard internal label questionnaire for the mentally ill, and theWorld Health Organization Quality of Life–Brief (WHOQOL-BREF) were used in the present study. Data were analyzed using the t-test.

Expressed emotion (EE) significantly decreased in the family therapy group (P = 0.001). Also, mental health and social health were better in the family therapy group than in the drug therapy group (P = 0.001). Nevertheless, no significant change was observed in the dimensions of physical and environmental health in both groups. The results of the study were relatively stable in all measurements in follow-up, except for the stigma.

Significant improvements were observed in EE and quality of life (QOL) in the family therapy group. This difference was not statistically significant in the stigma score despite the difference in the means of the 2 groups.

High resistance-to-treatment rates in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and various treatments remain significant obstacles to psychiatric disorder treatments.

The current study used network analysis to predict treatment response by psychiatric symptoms in the contamination/cleaning and danger/checking OCD subtypes.

We evaluated 136 patients (mean age: 30.50 ± 5.25) who finished a 12-week selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) course. We used the convenience sampling method. All patients completed structured clinical interviews for the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fifth edition research version (SCID-5-RV) at baseline and post-test. After treatment completion, the patients were categorized as responders and resistant according to their OCD severity scores (at the post-test). We used a network approach to determine the network structure of patients before and after the treatment. Network analysis was used by “the R programming language” to compare patterns of psychiatric symptoms. Additionally, we contrasted treatment-responsive patients’ network structure with treatment-resistant OCD patients in each subtype.

In baseline, dysthymia, insomnia, binge eating, agoraphobia, and panic were the most central (important) nodes in the danger/checking subtype. However, hoarding, ADHD, insomnia, depression, and panic were the most central nodes in the contamination/cleaning group at baseline. Also, global strength and symptom connectivity were higher in the contamination/cleaning subtype than in the danger/check subtype (P < 0.05). In the contamination/cleaning subtype, “insomnia” was the most significant predictor for categorizing patients as resistant at the post-test. For contamination/cleaning, panic and binge eating played similar roles in treatment outcomes.

Psychiatric symptoms can predict treatment responses in OCD subtypes. So, it is necessary to consider psychiatric comorbidities regarding OCD subtypes.

One of the most common problems among children and adolescents who suffer from SPD is having a deficiency in interpersonal relationships.

The current study aims to investigate the Persian version of psychometric properties of the ERQ and social skills among children and adolescents who suffer from SPD.

This study was applied and developmental in terms of aim and psychometric type, respectively. The population included all the patients with SPD in Tehran city in 2020-2021, from which 222 children and adolescents with SPD were selected by available sampling. Three scales of Emotion Regulation and Social Skills (2015), Social Interaction (2003), and Social Skills (1983) were used to collect the data. Besides, mean, standard deviation (SD), exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity, divergent validity, and SPSS-24 and AMOS-19 were run to analyze the data.

The result of factor analysis confirmed that the questionnaire is single-factor and explained 0.54 of that. The reliability was checked via Cronbach’s alpha for the total questionnaire (0.97), and the convergent validity of the parents’ form of this questionnaire was checked by social skill (0.63) and social interaction (0.49). This indicated the criterion and concurrent validity of this questionnaire.

The results of this study showed the efficiency of psychometric properties of ERQ and interaction skills, considering the diagnosis of emotional and social features of SPD children. Future studies can use this measure for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes among patients with SPD.

The facial feedback hypothesis proposes that facial expressions influence people’s emotional experiences.

The current study, conducted in 2022, aimed to investigate the impact of facial feedback on the nature and magnitude of changes in emotion, mood, and cognitive-emotional factors among individuals with mild depression. This was achieved through the use of electrical stimulation of the facial muscles. This study aimed to investigate the impact of bilateral electrical stimulation on the frontalis muscles (which act as inhibitory muscles of the corrugator) and zygomaticus muscles on the emotions and moods of individuals with mild depression.

In a single-subject experimental study with multiple baselines, six individuals with mild depression underwent daily sessions of facial electrical stimulation for 28 consecutive days. The stimulation was administered at two different sites, with three different baseline periods of 3, 6, and 9 days at each site. Specifically, three participants received electrical stimulation of the zygomaticus muscle, while the other three participants received electrical stimulation of the frontalis muscle. Visual analysis (diagrams and figures), within-phase examination, and between-phase examination were used to analyze longitudinal data using mixed model analysis (P < 0.05).

Mixed model analysis revealed significant changes in negative affect (P = 0.019), mood (P = 0.017), depression (P = 0.005), and symbol search (P < 0.001) among participants who received frontalis muscle stimulation. Additionally, the mood of participants who received zygomaticus muscle stimulation showed significant changes (P = 0.047) from pre-intervention to post-intervention. At the intervention and follow-up stages (one month after the last intervention session), all three participants who underwent frontalis muscle electrical stimulation met the standardized recovery criteria established by Segger et al. The reliable change index was measured at 8.46. A qualitative analysis of the depression scores revealed a significant difference in the post-intervention phase when frontalis muscle electrical stimulation was applied. Participants 4, 5, and 6 scored 9, 11, and 8, respectively.

This preliminary study provides empirical evidence on using electrical stimulation of facial muscles to reduce negative mood and depression. Given the various factors that play a role, more research and focused controlled studies are needed to test these findings.

The Personality Inventory for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (PID-5), is a trait-based measure of pathological personality designed to assess Criterion B of an alternative diagnostic system for personality disorders (PDs). In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relations among the PID-5 and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF); a commonly used self-report instrument with a hierarchical structure.

We examined the joint structure of the PID-5 scales along with levels of the MMPI-2-RF hierarchy to understand whether conceptually expected structures tend to be loaded with each other. Data were collected from 536 participants from the general population of Iran.

Findings of Pearson’s correlation analyses exhibited the generally expected patterns between the two mentioned measures on most scales, with some divergences. Similarly, although applying a set of joint exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) exhibited some factor loadings for PID-5 facets within the hierarchical framework of MMPI-2-RF scales that were different to what was theoretically expected, both measures were generally loaded in a conceptually expected way, indicating that they have a similar dimensional structure.

Our findings provide support for adequate convergence of maladaptive personality traits and psychopathology structures, as well as for utilizing MMPI-2-RF to measure personality psychopathology from a dimensional perspective. The implications of these results are discussed by the authors.

In the absence of an age normed developmental battery for Persian, the major objectives of this research are to develop a reliable and valid clinical linguistic battery to collect normative data from 3 to 7-year-old healthy Persian speaking children. The battery can also be used to measure severity of language impairments in 3 to 7-year-old Persian speaking children as compared with their aged matched peers.

Development of this battery is considered as a descriptive tool in which reliability and validity of the normative data were developed in 3 stages. The first version with 9 different sub-tests, 180 items and two descriptive pictures was developed after cultural and linguistic adaptations for the Persian language for different linguistic levels of phonology, morphology, syntax and pragmatics. The first draft was performed using 200 3 to 8-year-old healthy children in Tehran to measure the sensitivity of different tasks of the test for different age groups. This draft was not sensitive for 8-year-old children. The CVR of the first draft of the battery was checked by 3 Persian speaking clinical linguistic experts and 3 expert speech therapists and also was introduced to 20 SLP experts in a clinical linguistic workshop. In the second stage, based on the results and suggestions, necessary corrections were made in the test structure and items. Also, plural morpheme task of the previous version which was not sensitive enough, was removed and a new semantic task (word definition) as a sensitive semantic task used in other developmental language batteries was added to the battery. The results showed that the diagnostic sensitivity of the test for the 8-year-old age group is not satisfactory. The final version of the battery consisted of 9 subtests with 105 items and two descriptive pictures were used to collect normative data from 200 children. To evaluate reliability and validity of the final version, the opinions of 8 speech therapists and linguists were used.and to evaluate the construct validity, the correlation matrix and confirmatory factor analysis and for its validity Cronbach’s alpha were used. The final version of the battery was sent to expert speech therapists in 5 selected target group provinces (Tehran, Mazandaran, Fars, Esfahan and Khorasan) to collect normative data from 1200 3 to 7-year-old typically developement children in available kindergartens and schools. Finally, the collected data for task items and connected speech measures were processed and analyzed using SPSS software, version 20.

The content validity was 0.78 and test reliability was 0.76. In addition to confirm the construct validity and diagnostic validity of the test, the correlation between the sub-tests and the overall test scores were also significant at the level of 0.01 (with a correlation of 0.20 to 0.83). The norm for each age group was six months and one year and was calculated as a standard score and reported in the tables.

Finally, the results of the normative data of this battery are proved to be clinically normative as an indication of the level of linguistic development for each age group and also determine the severity of their language impairment. The battery can also be used to measure the efficacy of rehabilitation in 3 to 7-year old Persian speaking children.

 In recent years, particular emphasis has been placed on the role of mental imagery in psychopathologies.

 The current study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Spontaneous Use of Imagery Scale (SUIS-P) in the general Iranian population.

 The current psychometric study was carried out on 474 Iranian individuals in 2020 through convenience sampling. The SUIS, ambiguous scenarios test relevant to depressed mood (AST-D), and Beck Depression Inventory-second edition (BDI-II) were filled out by the study subjects. Moreover, for the determination of divergent validity between the SUIS and BDI-II, the Pearson correlation was also used. Data analysis was performed by SPSS Software (version 24).

 The internal consistency of the total score of the SUIS was acceptable (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.75). The significant positive relationship between the SUIS and AST-D (r = 0.34; P < 0.01) showed good convergent validity. No significant correlation was observed between the SUIS and BDI-II. Factor analysis using the principal component analysis with a varimax rotation introduced four factors. The four factors explained 0.55 of the total variance. Regarding construct validity, the inter-item correlation and item-total correlations of the SUIS-P were in an acceptable range.

 Based on the results, the SUIS has excellent psychometric properties in the Iranian population and can be used in research and therapeutic interventions.

Some temperamental vulnerability factors along with cognitive vulnerability variables are essential to understand depression. Recent conceptualizations for depression, have also focused on emotions and their dysregulation, regarding their potential role in the development, exacerbation, or maintenance of emotional disorders. However, theoretical associations between emotion regulation and the cognitive model's constructs have remained unclear. The present study examined the mediating role of emotion dysregulation in the relationship between negative affect, dysfunctional attitudes, and negative automatic thoughts with depressive symptoms. The design was descriptive – correlational and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Population of the current study were some volunteer people who lived in Tehran and Isfahan, in that, 250 of them were selected via convenience sampling following a public announcement. After that, participants responded to Beck depression inventory-II, automatic thoughts questionnaire, cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire, positive and negative affect scale, and dysfunctional attitudes scale. The results of SEM showed that the conceptual model of the research had a good fitness to research data. In addition, all direct and indirect path coefficients were statistically significant. Therefore, the supposed mediating role of emotion dysregulation was approved. According to the results, it can be inferred that emotion dysregulation might be one of the mechanisms through which temperamental and cognitive vulnerability factors lead to depressive symptoms.

The aim of this study was to determine the role played by psychological distress in the relation between personality dimensions and pregnancy outcome of women undergoing in vitro fertilization/Intra-Cytoplasmic Injections (IVF/ICSI) treatment.

This prospective cohort study was conducted for 12 months on 154 infertile women who were receiving IVF/ICSI assisted reproductive treatment for the first time. Research instruments for measuring psychological distress included the Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI) and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). One of these was completed prior to ovarian stimulation and the other during the embryo transfer stage. The temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R 125) was employed once to assess personality dimensions prior to the ovarian stimulation stage. Independent t-test, Mann Whitney test, Repeated Measures and path analysis were performed for statistical analysis of data.

The results of this study showed no significant difference between the pregnant and non-pregnant groups in personality traits (Harm avoidance and self-directness) and psychological distress (FPI and DASS scores). Repeated measures showed a significant difference in stress, anxiety, and depression levels between the two stages of ovarian stimulation and embryo transfer (P < 0.01). Path analysis showed no significant direct and indirect effect for harm avoidance on the pregnancy outcome when psychological distress was mediated.

The effect of psychological factors on IVF outcomes is more complicated than is generally assumed and more studies are mandatory to clarify the relationship between personality traits and infertility treatments.

Research has demonstrated that individuals with a history of depression engage in complicated strategies (e.g., thought suppression) that may mask the possible existence of major depression. Increasing the mental strain, such as retrieving a six-digit number, may reveal depressive thinking in previously depressed individuals. This study examined the hypothesis that thought suppression could mask a cognitive vulnerability to depression and illustrated how cognitive tasks disrupt mind control.

This case-control study recruited 255 participants with a convenience sampling method conducted at the Razi Educational and Therapeutic Psychiatric Center (Tehran, Iran) in 2021. Participants were divided into five groups, then they were evaluated by a scrambled sentence test (SST) after random assignment to either mental load or no mental load conditions. The number of negative unscrambled statements was used as an index of negative interpretation bias. After gathering data, analysis of variance (ANOVA) for different group factors and conditions was carried out to test the main hypotheses.

The effect of the intervention provided to each group on the score of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HRDS) was significant (F (4, 208) = 511.77, P < 0.001). A significant correlation (r = 0.36, P < 0.01) was found between depression (HDRS) and negative interpretive bias (SST). Analysis of ANOVA has revealed a significant effect on the group (F (4, 412) = 14.94, P < 0.001). The effect of the mental load was not significant (F (4, 412) = 0.09, P = 0.75), but the group × load interaction was significant (F (4, 412) = 5.03, P < 0.001). Post hoc test was used to draw multiple comparisons between the five groups.

The results revealed that people who are vulnerable to depressive disorders are predominantly engaged in thought suppression, which can conceal their depressogenic thinking until cognitive requests consume their mind control efforts.

Assisted reproductive technology treatments are stressful procedures, but there are individual differences in the emotional response to them. Differences in response to this stress may be related to the outcome of infertility treatment.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between coping strategies and infertility self-efficacy with pregnancy outcomes of women undergoing in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment.

This was a prospective cohort study and the 154 infertile women were psychologically evaluated in 2 stages: once before ovarian stimulation and again during embryo transfer. The research measurements used were the revised COPE, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the Infertility Self-Efficiency Scale.

There was no significant difference between the group of non-pregnant women and the positive pregnancy group in terms of coping strategies (mental rumination, self-blame, active confronting, goal replacement, avoidance) or self-efficacy in either of the 2 stages of ovarian stimulation and embryo transfer. The Mann-Whitney test did not show any statistical difference between the clinically pregnant women and the only laboratory positive pregnant group. Moreover, the self-blame and mental rumination strategies were positively related with anxiety and depression. Conversely, active confronting, goal replacement, avoidance and self-efficacy were associated with decreased depression, anxiety and stress levels.

It can be concluded that there is no relationship between coping strategies and infertility self-efficacy with in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcomes. Further research is needed to clarify the effects of other psychological factors on the pregnancy outcomes of assisted reproductive treatment.

Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS) is the best questionnaire for assessing anhedonia, but it is unavailable for the Iranian population. Anhedonia is common in ordinary people but is often neglected, leading to major depression.

This study examined the psychometric properties of (DARS) in the Iranian population.

This psychometric study was conducted on a sample of 474 general Iranian population in 2020 using the convenience sampling method. The participants completed the DARS and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). The Pearson correlation coefficient was also used to determine convergent validity between DARS and BDI-II. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 24.

Cronbach’s alpha (internal consistency) for the total score was 0.84. The relationship between DARS and depression (r = -0.37; P < 0.01) showed relevant convergent validity. The test-retest reliability coefficient (3-week interval) equaled 0.77. Exploratory factor analysis with a varimax rotation showed four factors. These four factors explained 0.64 of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fitness for the 4-factor model construct.

DARS is useful in assessing anhedonia in the normal population. According to the results, this scale has acceptable validity and reliability in the Iranian population and can be implemented in therapeutic interventions and research.

 Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is defined as inflicting damage to one’s own body. It begins in adolescence and tends to become chronic.

 Considering the high prevalence and chronicity of NSSI among girls, the present study aimed to investigate the factors affecting the prevalence of NSSI in female adolescents from their perspective.

 The participants consisted of 604 female high-school students in Saveh, aged 14 - 17 years (14.29 ± 1.11), who were selected via random cluster sampling from November 2018 to January 2019. They answered six questionnaires, including the Inventory of Statements About Self-injury (ISAS), Ways of Coping questionnaire (WCQ), Child Abuse Self-report scale (CASRS), Family Emotional Involvement and Criticism scale (FEICS), Emotion Reactivity scale (ERS), and Aggression questionnaire (AQ). Data were analyzed using logistic regression analysis.

 The predictor variables of child abuse, emotion reactivity, perceived parental criticism, family emotional involvement, and problem- and emotion-focused coping styles could successfully distinguish NSSI individuals from those without NSSI (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between minor and moderate groups.

 Family emotional support is a protective factor, while criticism, child abuse, and emotion-focused coping style are risk factors for NSSI.

Word retrieval problems are among the limitations observed in children with specific language impairment during the initial schooling years. These restrictions are predictive of reading problems and poor performance at school. Additionally, studies on lexical access in Persian speaking children are scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate and compare naming accuracy and latency in children with and without specific language impairment.

Twenty 7-9-year-old children with specific language impairment and 20 age-matched peers were recruited as the study participants. They were requested to name the 128 black and white line-drawing pictures from a Persian picture naming set for children, as rapidly as possible. We compared the effects of psycholinguistic variables on naming latency in the explored children with and without specific language impairment.

Linear mixed-effects modeling presented an interaction between the research groups and the psycholinguistic variables. Significant main effects were found for name agreement (P≤0.00) and the age of acquisition (P=0.05) in children with typical language development; significant effects for name agreement (P≤0.00) and log frequency (P≤0.00) were revealed in children with specific language impairment. 

The obtained models indicated that psycholinguistic factors could differently affect the naming latency in children with and without specific language impairment. Factors that may have accounted for the findings are discussed in this paper.

In spite of our general knowledge about psychological roots and defects of developmental processes in the formation of somatic symptoms, the effect of the interaction of developmental components with cognitive‑emotional variables is unclear. Previous researches suggest that individuals with insecure attachment may have a higher risk to experience of somatic symptoms. The main aim of this study is “Modeling the Relationship between Attachment Styles and Somatic Symptoms with the Mediating Role of Emotional Processing.”

This study was a descriptive‑correlational study. Two hundred and twenty individuals aged 18–59 years living in Tehran were selected by available sampling from the general population. Collins and Reed’s Adult Attachment Scale, Baker’s Emotional Processing Scale, and Patient Health Questionnaire were used to collecting data. Data analysis was performed by Pearson correlation and independent t‑test. The conceptual model presented in this study was tested with a path analysis approach.

Given the Chi‑squared size (² = 1.214; P > 0.05), it can be said that the proposed conceptual model fits well with the observed model. Besides, checking the other absolute and relative indices also shows a very good fit of the model.

Our results showed that when the reciprocal effects of attachment styles were controlled, secure attachment could be considered as a protective factor against deficits in emotional processing and somatization of negative emotions. On the other hand, we found that when the dominant attachment style in individuals was anxiety based, it could be possible that they experience deficiency in the processing of emotion and more severe somatic symptoms.

Language disorders may affect receptive and/or expressive language skills. The use of a validated and reliable assessment tool is essential to assess these skills in children. The present study aimed to develop a valid and reliable language development instrument for Persian-speaking children aged 2-6 years. The present cross-sectional study was conducted during 2016-2017 in three main Iranian cities, namely Mashhad, Tehran, and Isfahan. The target population was children between the ages of 2 and 6 in various kindergartens and schools. The Persian Language Development Scale (PLDS) was developed by incorporating linguistic characteristics of the Persian language and Iranian culture. Following a number of iterations, including a pilot study of 36 children, the final version of the PLDS tool was used to assess the receptive and expressive language skills of 460 children. The reliability and validity of the PLDS tool were examined. The content validity ratio (CRV) of the PLDS tool was 0.85. The tool could differentiate children by age, but not by sex. The test-retest reliability, with 10 days interval, showed a significant correlation between the coefficients of receptive (0.96) and expressive (0.93) scales. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for receptive and expressive scales was 0.93 and 0.98, respectively. The internal consistency, using the KR-21, for the receptive and expressive scales was 0.88 and 0.92, respectively. A language development scale has been developed to assess receptive and expressive language skills in Iranian children aged 2-6 years. The validity and reliability of the tool were confirmed.

Road accidents are a major cause of deaths, injuries, and financial losses globally, especially in developing countries. Iran is one of the countries with a high rate of road accidents causing considerable damage in different domains. Therefore, in order to tackle this problem, we need to examine its causes.

The aim of the present study was to examine the association of risky driving behavior with impulsiveness, attentional bias, and decision-making styles.

This was a descriptive-correlational study. The sample included 117 male drivers, aged 20 - 34 years, attending car insurance agencies in Tehran. The participants were selected using the convenience sampling method. The data were gathered using the Manchester Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ), the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), the Decision-Making Style Scale (DMS), and the Dot Probe Task to assess attentional bias. All data analysis was conducted using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis, by using SPSS, version 22.

According to the results of the Pearson correlation coefficient, risky driving behavior was significantly correlated with impulsiveness subscales (P < 0.01) and attentional bias (P < 0.05). In addition, significant relationships were observed between risky driving behaviors and three decision-making styles, including rational (P < 0.05), spontaneous (P < 0.01), and avoidant (P < 0.01).

Based on the study results, impulsivity, decision-making styles, and attentional bias as factors influencing drivers’ cognitive skills related to driving, could explain the increase in the frequency of risky driving behavior.

Gender role, sex-oriented attitudes, behaviors, cognitions, and emotions play an essential role in interpersonal relationships. Along with other factors, marital relationships and satisfaction can also be affected by a person’s gender role. The increased rate of divorce is related to a decrease in marital satisfaction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictor power of gender role conflict on marital satisfaction considering the role of demographic variables (age, income, number of children, and number of family members), marriage-related factors (duration of the marriage, family functioning), and mental health disorder. 

This was a cross sectional study. Participants were selected from couples who were attending West of Tehran health center. A total of 123 married couples aged 18 to 60 years who did not have mental or other medical disorders were recruited.  Data gathering tools were McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD), ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale, Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI), a sociodemographic questionnaire, and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Pearson correlation, chi-square, t test, ANOVA, Scheffe post hoc, and linear regression tests were used to analyze the data. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16, and in all statistical tests, significance level was set at p<0.05.

No significant correlations were observed between marital satisfaction and age, number of family members, duration of the marriage, number of children, and income (p>0.05). The presence of gender role conflict was correlated with lower marital satisfaction. Family functioning, gender role conflict, and presence of psychotic problems were predictors of marital satisfaction (p<0.001, R2=0.419).

Screening couples who applied for divorce due to psychiatric problems and gender role conflict and evaluating their family functioning may have a positive effect on reduction of divorce rate.

Various investigations demonstrated social cognitive impairments in schizophrenic patients. The impairments in schizophrenia patients are also associated with an increase in paranoid symptoms. However, comparing multiple domains of social cognition in subtypes of schizophrenia has received less attention.

The current study aimed at comparing multiple domains of social cognition in schizophrenic patients and the normal population as well as schizophrenic patients with and without paranoid symptom.

In this causal-comparative study, 44 schizophrenic patients with paranoid symptoms and 18 patients without paranoid symptom admitted to three schizophrenia care centers in Shiraz, from June 1st, 2017 to July 2nd, 2017 were evaluated. The control group included 38 staff of the studied centers. The research tools were the face emotion identification task, hinting task, and ambiguous intentions hostility questionnaire (AIHQ).

We used the multivariate analysis of variance to compare the functioning of the sample groups. Based on the results, schizophrenic patients with/without paranoid symptoms exhibited worse performance than normal individuals in emotion perception (P = 0.01, P = 0.01) and theory of mind (P = 0.01, P = 0.01) tasks; however, patients with and without paranoid symptoms did not differ in these tasks. With respect to AIHQ, schizophrenia patients with/without paranoid symptoms inclined to use hostile (P = 0.01, P = 0.02, respectively) and blaming (P = 0.01, P = 0.02, respectively) attributions compared with normal subjects. Moreover, patients with paranoid symptoms inclined to use more hostile and blaming attributions compared to patients without paranoid symptoms.

Three variables of emotion perception, theory of mind, and hostile and blaming attributions were able to distinguish schizophrenia patients from healthy individuals, while only hostile and blaming attributions were able to distinguish patients with paranoid symptoms and those without paranoid symptoms.

Pain is associated with varying degrees of limitation in function. Although many people experience pain, but there is difference in disability. Some think this difference is due to pain severity or psychological variables such as fear of movement. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of pain severity and fear of movement on explanation of physical disability in patients with chronic pain. 207 patients with chronic pain (71 men and 136 women) were chosen by purposeful method and pain intensity subscale of multidimensional pain inventory, Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) and Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) were completed and data were analyzed by regression method. The mean age of the sample was 44.41 years and main location of pain for most was back (42%) and feet (22.7%). Regression analysis showed that pain intensity and fear of movement explains 33% of the variance in disability. While comparing the zero-order correlation indicates the pain severity is stronger. Pain severity and fear of movement are effective in disability and it is necessary, especially for treatments that aim to boost or restore the physical ability of patients, attention to them. Declaration of Interest: None.

Despite the existence of the large body of studies demonstrating cognitive responses to negative mood, cognitive responses to positive mood have received relatively less attention. The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Responses to Positive Affect (RPA) questionnaire in Iranian population. Using purposive sampling and a cross-sectional design, 499 participants of a community sample of Tehran, Iran during 2016 - 2017 responded to RPA, Ruminative Response Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Social Interaction Anxiety Scale, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale. Data was analyzed using SPSS 23 and AMOS 23. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 2 factors (positive rumination and dampening) which accounted for 47.84% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis results showed a very good fit to the data as χ2 = 135.51, df = 82, χ2/df = 1.65, P < 0.001, CFI = 0.98, GFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.03. Results of convergent validity showed that there are significant negative correlations between positive rumination and reflection, depression and generalized anxiety symptoms and significant positive correlations between dampening and brooding, reflection, depression, social phobia and generalized anxiety symptoms. Results of incremental validity analyses revealed that RPA subscales accounted for significant variance in depressive symptoms above and beyond brooding and reflection. Test retest reliability of positive rumination and dampening were 0.81 and 0.83, respectively. Responses to Positive Affect questionnaire demonstrates acceptable validity and reliability in Iranian population. Further research is needed to assess RPA in various clinical samples.

Studying voice acoustic parameters in vowel production is a crucial component of every standard voice evaluation. Voice Analysis is non-invasive. Nowadays, computerized Voice Analysis is growing rapidly. Therefore, understanding acoustic parameters in healthy and unhealthy individuals is more significant than before. This research is a step toward boosting our knowledge about voice acoustic parameters. The main purpose of this research is to study acoustic characteristics in dysphonic and healthy Iranian individuals. 

The current study was descriptive-analytic. Vowel Analysis was conducted through Praat software. Voices of 50 dysphonic patients and 50 healthy participants were evaluated. The acoustic parameters included average, standard deviation, and range of fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, the number and degree of voice breaks, and harmonic to noise ratio.

In all studied acoustic characteristics, patients’ mean scores were higher than controls’ mean scores, except for harmonic to noise ratio which was higher in the healthy individuals. Although, the number of voice breaks in healthy male and female population was zero, it was 1.8 in male patients and 4.4 in female patients (P<0.05).
jitter and shimmer in patients were dramatically higher (P<0.05) than their amount in healthy controls; moreover, patients’ fundamental frequency range (male: 54.6±59.0, female: 78.6±68.4) was extremely broader than individuals with normal voices (male: 9.7±4.1, female: 16.2±7.3).

It was clarified that there are considerably significant differences in some acoustic features. These differences may be used as a foundation for diagnosis and intervention in dysphonic patients. This study illustrated that Acoustic Analysis can differentiate healthy individuals from patients. Hence, it can be used as a non-invasive, fast and accurate method.