مجله تحقیقات علوم رفتاری
سال بیست و دوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 75، بهار 1403)

Substance use disorders are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, little is known about the effectiveness of treatment for patients with both diseases. Also, standard drug treatment has shown mostly negative outcomes. This study aimed to determine the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on ADHD symptoms in men with substance use disorder.

Methods and Materials:

 This research is a semi-experimental study with a pre-test and post-test research design with experimental and control groups. The statistical population of the research consisted of people with substance use disorder with ADHD symptoms referring to the clinics of district 10 of Tehran. The sampling method was purposeful and based on the criteria for entering the research, 30 people were selected. To collect data, the individual clinical profile form, Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-V), Wechsler et al.'s Adult Self-report Scale of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ASRS) were used. In this research, data analysis was done in two parts, the first part was dedicated to descriptive findings, in which indicators such as mean, standard deviation, percentage and frequency were used. The second part was related to inferential findings, in this part, univariate covariance analysis was used in quantitative data and was used in SPSS version 26 software.

Findings:

 The findings of the research showed that after controlling for the effect of the pre-test, the difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the two groups for the variables of attention deficit and hyperactivity is significant, and the average scores of the experimental group in the variable of attention deficit and hyperactivity is also significantly lower than the control group (P<0.05).

The results of the present study show the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy on attention deficit and hyperactivity in men with substance use disorder.

Research has shown that stuttering has a negative impact on a person's overall vitality and emotional, social, and psychological health, potentially leading to a reduction in the quality of life of adults who stutter; So, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy based on mindfulness on social anxiety, self-efficacy and quality of life of adults with stuttering with a psycholinguistic approach.

Methods and Materials:

 The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of the study included all adult men with stuttering who referred to psychological clinics in Mashhad in 1402. Among these people, 30 people were selected by available sampling and according to the entry and exit criteria. In addition, they were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups (15 people in each group). participants in the pre-test and post-test stages of social anxiety scales; World Health Organization quality of life short form; They completed the self-efficacy questionnaire. The experimental group received the cognitive behavioral therapy program based on mindfulness in 8 sessions of 90 minutes, and the control group was subjected to regular daily training. Data analysis was done using SPSS-24 software and multivariate analysis of covariance test, following statistical assumptions.

The results showed that training based on cognitive behavioral therapy based on mindfulness is significantly effective on social anxiety, self-efficacy and quality of life of adults with stuttering (P<0.05).

According to the research results, it is possible to help improve social anxiety, self-efficacy, and quality of life of adults with stuttering through cognitive behavioral therapy based on mindfulness.

Sexual aggression and rape is one of the most challenging concepts in the current era; so the aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of The Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression (AMMSA) Scale in the Iranian population. For this purpose, factor structure, validity and reliability of the scale was examined.

Methods and Materials: 

A sample group of 937 Iranian people living in Iran who were between 20 and 50 years old, were selected by convenience sampling method; Then they completed the scale of The Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to investigate the factor structure of the scale, Pearson correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the validity, and Cronbach's alpha method was used to determine the internal consistency of the components of this scale. Intra-class correlation coefficient was also used to evaluate the reliability of the retest.

Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the AMMSA scale has an acceptable factor structure. Cronbach's alpha coefficients obtained from all components (above 0.9) also showed that this scale has a good internal consistency and also the correlation coefficients of Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) confirmed divergent and convergent validity of the scale, respectively (P<0.001).

The results showed that The Acceptance of Modern Myths about Sexual Aggression (AMMSA) Scale has appropriate validity and reliability in Iranian population.

Depression is a condition that is associated with severe suffering and major damage to the patient's general health, quality of life, and social and occupational activities, which in some cases may lead to suicide. Depression is one of the causes of disability in the world, which has brought a lot of care and economic burden. Since the burden of care and the economic burden of depression have been reported significantly, it is necessary to consider new ways to understand the heterogeneity of clinical phenotypes in depression. Therefore, this article presents a report to review neuropsychological immunological studies in depression.

Considering the extent of scientific research in this field, only English and Farsi articles with a neuropsychological immunological approach have been used in the time range between 2015 and 2024 and in PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus databases. The keywords used were Neuroinflammation, Inflammation, Depression, and psychoneuroimmunology.

By reviewing the research literature in the field of neuropsychological immunology of depression, this article examined the interaction of stress and the immune system in three levels: 1. Inflammation and depression, 2. Immunological pathways in depression, and 3. The interaction of psychoactive interventions and inflammation in depression.

Neuro-psychological immunological studies of depression or the study of the interrelationship between the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems widely resolve the scientific and research gap regarding the relationship between depression and the immune system. Due to the relative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for the treatment of chronic diseases, psychosocial interventions may be a suitable strategy to reduce the burden of disease and improve human health.

This research aimed to compare the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy and analytical cognitive psychotherapy in reducing the psychological symptoms of people with borderline personality disorder.

Methods and Materials: 

This research is an applied research based on the goal. Based on the collection and type of data, it was quantitative and cross-sectional in terms of time. In addition, it was a semi-experimental research design in the form of pre-test-post-test with a control group. The statistical sample of the research was 45 people in a non-random way. They were chosen voluntarily. Multivariate covariance analysis was used in quantitative data and SPSS version 26 statistical program was used.

The research findings indicated that the scores for Borderline Personality Inventory (BPI) and Self-harm Thoughts and Behaviors (STB) were higher for individuals who underwent Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) compared to those who underwent Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

The results of the present study suggest that the Cognitive Analytic approach is more effective than Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Overall, it can be concluded that Cognitive Analytic Psychotherapy, by improving interpersonal relationships, emotional regulation, and self-concept in individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder, helps in reducing impulsive, unplanned, and thoughtless behaviors through a proper patient-therapist relationship, thereby improving the social functioning of these patients.

Students with learning disabilities are at a lower level in terms of emotional development and social adjustment compared to normal students. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of therapeutic intervention and life skills training on social adjustment of students with dictation disorder.

Methods and Materials: 

The current research was a semi-experiment with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this research included all the male and female students of the elementary third, fourth and fifth grades of the 3rd district of Tehran city in the academic year of 2021-2022 who were suffering from dictation disorder 20 students were selected using available sampling and randomly assigned to two experimental (10 people) and control (10 pepole) groups. The instrument of this study included Falah Chai's written test (1995), Wechsler intelligence scale for children fourth edition (1947), and Sinha and Singh adjustment questionnaire (1993). The experimental group received the training on life skills and treatment of dictation disorder during 8 sessions, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Analysis of multivariate covariance test was used to analyze the research data All statistical operations of the research were considered using SPSS version 24 software with a significance level of P<0.05.

The results of the research showed that after controlling for the effect of the pre-test, the difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of the two groups was significant for the variables of social, emotional and academic adjustment, and the mean scores of the experimental group in the variables of social, emotional and academic adjustment were significantly higher than the control group (P<0.05).

Therapeutic intervention and life skills training can be used to improve the social adjustment of students with dictation disorder.

Low achievement is viewed as an ability-productivity discrepancy rather than a learning-ability discrepancy; Therefore, the purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of the cognitive rehabilitation program on the cognitive abilities and academic performance of the gifted with low achieving.

Methods and Materials: 

This research was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this research was the students of the second secondary level of the gifted schools of Khoy city, who are known as gifted students. Among them, 30 students who met the criterion of low academic achievement were purposefully selected as a statistical sample and were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. To collect data, Salehi's academic performance questionnaire (2013) and Nejati's cognitive abilities questionnaire (2013) were used. The training program of the intervention group consisted of eight weeks of two sessions (16 sessions in total), 60 minutes of cognitive rehabilitation program training. The control group also followed their normal daily schedule. At the end of the sixteenth week, a post-test was conducted for all participants. The data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance test at the error level of 0.05 with SPSS-19 software.

The results showed that the sixteen-week cognitive rehabilitation program significantly increased academic performance (P=0.001) and cognitive skills (P=0.001) of gifted students with low progress.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the cognitive rehabilitation program can be used to improve the academic performance and cognitive skills of the gifted with low progress.

The current study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a combined treatment based on virtual reality and mindfulness on trait-state anxiety in individuals with panic disorder.

Methods and Materials:

 The research employed a semi-experimental design with two experimental and control groups, utilizing pre-test, post-test, and a 45-day follow-up. The target population included all individuals exhibiting symptoms of panic disorder seeking counseling and psychotherapy services in Tehran during the years 1401-1402. The sample size consisted of 30 individuals diagnosed with panic disorder, selected purposively, and randomly assigned to the experimental (15 individuals) and the control groups (15 individuals). The experimental group underwent eight sessions of combined virtual reality and mindfulness-based therapy. Both groups answered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire in three phases (pre-test, post-test, and 45-day follow-up). The research data were analyzed using SPSS23 statistical software, employing mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) and independent and dependent t-tests for analysis.

The results showed that the average scores of trait and state anxiety in the experimental group at post-test and follow-up stages compared to the control group had a significant decrease (p<0.001). This means that the combined treatment of virtual reality-based therapy and mindfulness has been effective in reducing trait-state anxiety in individuals with panic disorders.

Based on the results indicating the positive effect of the combined treatment of virtual reality-based therapy and mindfulness on trait-state anxiety in individuals with panic disorders, therapists can utilize the combination of virtual reality and mindfulness packages for treating individuals with panic disorders.

In the last decade, violence against women has been mentioned as one of the most serious social challenges. The painful phenomenon of violence against women in its various dimensions endangers the physical and mental health of women and violates their human rights. Therefore, the current study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of emotional therapy schema on hidden anger and self-expression of women victims of domestic violence.

Methods and Materials:

 The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design and follow-up with a control group. The statistical population of the research consisted of women victims of domestic violence referred to the health centers of Flowerjan city in the summer of 2023. The statistical sample consisted of 30 women who were selected by Targeted sampling method and randomly assigned to experimental (15 people) and control (15 people) groups. The experimental group underwent emotional schema therapy for ten 90-minute sessions and the control group remained on the waiting list. A number of 30 people were assigned to the experimental group and the control group (15 people in each group) by the Purposive sampling method and by random assignment. The experimental group received emotional schema therapy during 11 sessions. While the control group did not receive any intervention. The data were collected using the latent communicative anger questionnaire (Nelson and Carroll, 2006) and self-expression (Gambrill and Ritchie, 1970) and were analyzed using repeated measures variance analysis in SPSS software version 23.

The results showed that the emotional therapy scheme led to the reduction of hidden anger and improvement of self-expression in women victims of domestic violence, and the effects of the treatment remained in the follow-up phase as well (p<0.01).

Therefore, by using the findings of the present study, emotional schema therapy can be used to improve the hidden anger and self-expression of women victims of domestic violence.

Psycho-physical disorder is one of the most common medical complaints and a type of debilitating disease that affects different aspects of the patients' personality; therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of short-term and intensive emotional-oriented therapy on personality organization in women with somatic psychosis.

Methods and Materials: 

This study was semi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test, and two-month follow-up plan with a control group. The target population was all patients with somatic psychosis who referred to the specialized neuropsychiatric clinic in Tehran in 1401. The sample size was determined by referring to Cohen's table. In this way, at the confidence level of 95%, the effect size was 0.30 and the statistical power was 0.83 for each group of 12 people. However, since there was a possibility of some samples dropping out and in order to generalize the results more, the sample size was determined to be 15 people in each group. In the first step, 30 people were selected by available sampling method, and in the second step, these 30 people were replaced in two experimental groups (15 people) and a control group (15 people) in a simple random way (by lottery). The data were obtained using Kernberg Stipo questionnaire (2003) and Nef self-compassion questionnaire (2003) and 15 treatment sessions were performed according to Dovanlo's treatment protocol.

The results of the study indicated the impact of intensive and short-term dynamic psychotherapy on the dimensions of self-compassion and personality organization in patients with somatic psychosis (P<0.001).

According to the results, specialists active in the psychophysical field, especially the psycho-physical field, can consider the use of emotion-oriented methods and intensive and short-term dynamic psychotherapy in the treatment of these people, along with other treatments.

This study compares emotion-oriented schema therapy and transactional analysis's effectiveness in addressing marital conflict communication beliefs, aiming to improve effectiveness and reduce recovery time.

Methods and Materials: 

The research method is semi-experimental, with a pre-test-post-test design and a control group with a follow-up stage. The statistical population of this research consisted of all couples who referred to Abadan counseling centers and Abadan judicial service offices in 2022. The statistical sample consisted of 30 couples who were randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group based on the criteria for entering the research. The research tool was Eidelson and Epstein (1982) Communication Beliefs Questionnaire. Research protocols included emotional schema therapy written by Leahy, Tirch and Napolitano (2011) and interactional behavior analysis by Eric Byrne (2011). Multivariate covariance analysis and Bonferroni post hoc test were performed using SPSS version 26 statistical software at a significance level of 0.05 for data analysis.

The findings show that in the groups of emotion-oriented schema therapy and transactional analysis, there is a significant difference in all variable components of communication beliefs in the pre-test, post-test and follow-up phases (p≤0.05), but There is no significant difference in between the post-test and follow-up (p≥0.05). Also, there is no significant difference between the two experimental groups in the post-tests and follow-up group comparison (p≥0.05); But there is a significant difference between the control group and the two experimental groups (p<0.05).

According to the results of the research, it can be said that both treatments are effective on the variable of communication beliefs and its components in couples with marital conflict.

The ever-increasing expansion of cyberspace has affected people's lives. The new generations who were born in this space, day by day, use cyberspace more and have formed a virtual lifestyle, so the purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of life skills training on the cognitive flexibility and social well-being of students’ dependence of cyberspace.

Methods and Materials: 

The design of this research is a semi-experimental type of pretest, posttest and follow-up with experimental and control groups. The statistical population of this research includes students’ dependence to cyberspace of Neyshabur city in the year 2022-2023. The sample of the research was selected using the convenience sampling method of 30 students’ dependence to cyberspace of Neyshabur city. Research tools included internet addiction questionnaire (Young, 1998), cognitive flexibility scale (Martin and Rubin, 1995), and social well-being questionnaire (Keyes, 1998). The life skills training program was taken from Zare et al. (2019) research, which was implemented in eight ninety-minute-sessions. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. The data was analyzed using SPSS software

The results show that the life skills training program has been able to improve cognitive flexibility and social well-being among the students dependence of cyberspace.

Life skills training by improving cognitive, emotional and skill abilities increases the perception of emotions and provide adaptive responses that improve cognitive flexibility and social well-being of students.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of emotional schema therapy on emotion regulation and reduction of high-risk behaviors in female adolescents.

Methods and Materials: 

This was a semi-experimental with pretest-posttest design and control group .in which 30 people, as a sample, were randomly selected from 14- to 18-year-old junior high school girls in Mashhad who had high-risk behaviors and problems in Emotion regulation and have been referred to the Education Counseling Center of Khorasan Razavi Province, and were randomly divided into experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. In this study, the clinical interview form of children and adolescents, the Grass Emotion Regulation Strategies Questionnaire (ERQ) and the Iranian Adolescents Risk Scale (IARS) were used.

The results of multivariate analysis of covariance showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in all components of high-risk behaviors except tendency to violence, so that the mean post-test scores of the experimental group were significantly less than that of the control group. In addition, there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in emotion regulation strategies, so that in the reappraisal strategy, the mean scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than that of the control group, and in the suppression strategy, the mean scores of the experimental group were significantly less than that of the control group.

In conclusion, emotional schema therapy was effective in regulating emotions and reducing high-risk behaviors in female adolescents.

Suicide is a complex social consequence and it is an increasing problem among female students, and many skills and interventions have been provided to prevent suicide. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of holographic treatment on social curiosity and academic vitality of female students attempting suicide.

Methods and Materials:

 The current research was a semi-experimental type with a pre-test and a post-test with a control group. The statistical population included all female students of Isfahan secondary school in 1402 who had a history of suicide in the last two years. Among them, 30 people were selected by the available sampling method and were replaced randomly and by lottery in two experimental and control groups (15 people in the experimental group and 15 people in the control group). The experimental group received holographic therapy (9 sessions) and one session every week for 90 minutes, and the control group did not receive any intervention during this period. The research questionnaires included the social curiosity questionnaire of Todd et al. (2018) and the academic vitality scale of Martin and Marsh (2006). For data analysis, univariate covariance analysis was used with SPSS version 25 software.

The results showed that holographic therapy was effective in increasing social curiosity and academic vitality in the post-test phase (p<0. 001).

The findings of the present study can be used in the selection and design of the most appropriate therapeutic approach to reduce suicidal thoughts of female students with psychological distress.

The experience of childhood trauma is all the unpleasant and unpleasant experiences that a person has experienced during childhood either directly in relation to his caregivers and attachment figures, or as a result of the neglect and negligence of his attachment figures in relation to a stranger, he has experienced misbehavior. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of emotion-oriented intervention on attachment styles, hyperexcitability and fearful dreams in people with complex trauma symptoms.

Methods and Materials: 

This semi-experimental research, including pre-test-post-test, control group, was conducted on all adults with symptoms of complex trauma referring to psychological clinics in Isfahan province in spring 2002. The sampling method in the first stage was based on the available sampling method and they were randomly divided into two experimental groups (15 people) and control (15 people) and using the questionnaire of consequences of childhood traumas in adulthood by Bernstein et al, Collins and Reed attachment style questionnaire, Mitmansgruber hyperexcitability questionnaire, Mitmansgruber et al. The data were analyzed using Levine's test, Shapiro-Wilko test, analysis of covariance test.

The findings indicate that for secure attachment (F=44. 628 and df=1), avoidant attachment (F=28. 168 and df=1), anxious attachment (F=42. 228 and df=1), For the variable of negative over-excitement (F=74. 508 and df=1) and positive over-excitement (F=27. 197 and df=1) as well as for the variable of scary dreams (F=46. 446 and df=1), then From the pre-test control, in the post-test phase, the effect of the group is significant (P<0. 01).

The results of the research showed that emotion-oriented intervention has an effect on attachment styles, hyperexcitability and scary dreams in people with complex trauma symptoms

Caregivers of individuals with schizophrenia play a crucial role in providing support and assistance to their loved ones who are grappling with the challenges of schizophrenia. These caregivers often shoulder important responsibilities such as medication management, providing emotional support, and assisting with daily tasks. However, caregiving for individuals with schizophrenia can also be challenging and stressful, leading to emotional distress. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of family-centered therapy (FCT) on the psychological capital of caregivers of schizophrenic patients.

Methods and Materials: 

This study employed a semi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group and three-month follow-up. The study population consisted of caregivers of schizophrenic patients attending Imam Hossein Hospital. Thirty caregivers were selected using convenience sampling and were then systematically assigned to either the experimental or control group. Two participants in the experimental group withdrew during the intervention sessions, resulting in a reduction in the experimental group to 13 participants. The experimental group underwent twelve 60-minute sessions of FCT intervention once a week. Data were collected using the Luthans Psychological Capital Questionnaire (2007) and analyzed using mixed analysis of variance.

The mean psychological capital of caregivers who received family-centered therapy intervention showed improvement compared to the control group at posttest and follow-up stages (p<0. 001).

Consequently, this study demonstrates the significant positive impact of family-centered therapy on the psychological capital of caregivers of schizophrenic patients. The findings highlight the effectiveness of this therapeutic approach in enhancing the well-being and resilience of caregivers in coping with the challenges of schizophrenia caregiving. These results underscore the importance of incorporating family-centered interventions in comprehensive caregiving and support provided to caregivers, ultimately enhancing their psychological well-being and capacity to cope with caregiving demands.