International Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences
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Comparing the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Drug Therapy, and the Combination of These Two Methods in the Treatment of Major Depression
Get PDFIntroduction: A large number of people are afflicted with major depressive disorder, leading to high societal costs. In addition, the treatment remains one of the most challenging and controversial issues in mental health. The main purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), pharmacotherapy, and a blend of the two methods in treating major depressive disorder. Methods: A sample of 60 subjects was selected randomly from the middle-aged patients suffering from major depressive disorder (based on DSM-V criteria) with illness duration of one year that referred to all outpatient clinics of the Modares hospital in Isfahan. The patients were divided into four experimental groups including: acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), Drug Therapy, blend of the two aforementioned methods and control group. Statistical analysis was conducted using analysis of covariance. Results: Findings showed a significant difference in terms of depression among the three treatment groups. While the mean scores of depression in the posttest were 44.60 for the control group, the results for pharmacotherapy, ACT and combination group were 17.66, 26.53 and 15.13 respectively (p˂0.05). Discussion: Although, Pharmacotherapy and combined treatment are more effective than ACT alone, the combination of ACT and pharmacotherapy is the most effective with longer-lasting results in the treatment of adults with major depressive disorder in middle-aged Iranian patients. Declaration of Interest: None
Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on the Life Expectancy, Resilience and Death Anxiety in Women with Cancer
Get PDFIntroduction: An annual record of 90,000 new cases of cancer in Iran and a mortality rate of 55,000 affected cases is indicative of alarming outbreak of cancer in the country to the extent that an average of 100 people die each day due to this disease. The purpose of the present research is to evaluate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on the life expectancy, resilience and death anxiety in women with cancer.Methods: The present research is a semi-experimental research with pretest-posttest control group design. The research population consisted of all women with cancer who referred to the Cancer Institute of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran in 2017. Thirty women who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into two groups: experimental and control. Life expectancy, resilience and death anxiety scales were used and multivariate covariance analysis was applied for data analysis.Results: The results showed that life expectancy increased in the experimental group in compare with the control group (p<0.05) and the death anxiety of the experimental group decreased in compare to the control group (p<0.05) after acceptance and commitment training.Conclusion: Acceptance and commitment therapy is effective in increasing the life expectancy and resilience and also in decreasing death Anxiety in women patient with cancer. These findings can be used in designing of psychological treatment interventions in the field of cancer.Declaration of Interest: Non
Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavior Training on Modifying Self and Other- Deception among Females with Irrational Beliefs
Get PDFIntroduction: Self-deception and other-deception can be understood as lying to themselves and others. This research aimed to evaluate the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral intervention on improving self-deception and other-deception in women with irrational beliefs.Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted with two groups of experimental and control and by implementation of pre- and post-test, and using sample of 30 participants (15 in experimental group and 15 in control group). The sampling method was convenient method among volunteer women eligible to inclusion-exclusion criteria of research object. Measuring tools were Self-deception and other-deception and irrational beliefs questionnaires. Data were analyzed using MANOVA test.Results: Cognitive-behavioral intervention reduced self-deception, other-deception, and irrational beliefs in the experimental group compared with the control group (P<0.05).Conclusion: According to this results study, cognitive-behavioral therapy can be an efficient intervention for the correction of irrational beliefs, self-deception and other-deception.Declaration of Interest: NoneKey words: Cognitive-behavioral intervention, Irrational beliefs, Self-deception, Other-deception
The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT) on Perceived Stress and Body Mass Index in Overweight Women
Get PDFIntroduction: Being overweight is a serious threat to women's health, imposing enormous costs on the individual, national and global levels. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based eating awareness training on perceived stress and body mass index in overweight women in Tehran. Methods: The research design is experimental with pre-posttest and control group. The statistical population consisted of all women referring to health center in Niavaran, Tehran in the first trimester of 2019 due to being overweight. They were replaced randomly. Mindfulness group training was conducted in 8 sessions once a week. Before and after the intervention, participants completed a perceived stress scale and their BMI was calculated. Results: Results of covariance analysis showed that mindfulness training significantly decreased perceived stress (p<0.05) and also significantly decreased body mass index in the experimental group compared to the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Given these findings, it can be said that in addition to the usual therapeutic treatments for overweight, psychological training for women can play an effective role in their health beliefs and behaviors.Declaration of Interest: NoneKey words: Perceived stress, Mindfulness approach, Overweight women
The Effect of Optimism Training on Emotional Problems and Life Satisfaction in Patients with Myocardial Infarction
Get PDFIntroduction: Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the leading causes of death in the developed world. The purpose of the present research was to examine the effect of optimism training on reducing emotional problems and increasing satisfaction with life (SWL) in patients with MI.Methods: This research was a quasi-experimental one with the plan of the pre-test post-test control group. The statistical population included all patients with MI 40-65 years old who were treated in Kasra hospital in Karaj in 2019. The sample was 90 patients with MI assigned to the two groups experimental and control group randomly. Data were collected using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21) and the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS). The data were analyzed using the methods of Univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance.Results: The result showed that optimism training significantly decreases emotional problems and increases life satisfaction in the experimental group (P<0.01).Discussion: This finding has important implications as regards the education and mental health of patients with MI. Based on the results, it is necessary to pay more attention to two variables emotional problems and SWL in the design of interventions to reduce the psychological problems of patients with MI
Ecological Model of Adaptation with Diabetes type 2: Development and Study of Empiric Fitness
Get PDFIntroduction: The present study aimed at presenting and testing a model to describe the adaptationphenomenon among the patients engaged with type 2 diabetes (T2D).Methods: This is a correlational research design wherein a total of 350 individuals referring to fourspecial medical centers for diabetes at Tehran (Iran). The research instruments included theJackson’s five-factor questionnaire, demographic and social support subscales of diabetes careprofile, cognitive appraisal of diabetes scale, problem areas in diabetes survey, Billings and Mooscoping strategies scale, appraisal of adaptation to diabetes scale, and HbA1C level.Results: The outputs of the tests on the final model of the research showed that the behavioractivating system, fight, flight and freeze system, global social support, and “Get” social supportimpose significant effects on the cognitive appraisal. Moreover, the “Get-Want” and Global Socialsupport, Fight, Flight and freeze System and the cognitive appraisal affected the adaptive taskssignificantly. The Fight, Flight and freeze System and the adaptive tasks imposed significant effectson the problem-focused emotional-physical coping. The Problem focused socio-cognitive copingand the emotional-physical coping affected the initial adaptation significantly. Behavior inhibitionsystem, all the three components of social support, and Problem focused Socio-cognitive copingimposed significant effects on the secondary adaptation. And finally, Global social support andinitial adaptation affected the HbA1C significantly. In addition, a number of intermediate effectswere verified.Conclusion: Upon accessing the model of adaptation to disease for a particular individual, one canaccess his/her adaptation profile and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of his/her adaptationstructure and formulate the required interventions accordingly
The Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management Training and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Interleukin 12 in patients with Multiple Sclerosis
Get PDFIntroduction: The levels of Biomarkers such as interleukin 12 (IL-12) are elevated in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management (CBSM) training and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on IL-12 in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients. Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest and follow-up with control group. The statistical population included all female patients with Relapsing–Remitting MS who had referred to Multiple Sclerosis Research Center of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Sina Hospital. 30 patients were selected by convenient sampling method and were replaced randomly into two experimental groups and one control group (each group included 10 patients). One of the experimental groups received the CBSM training and another experimental group received the ACT. To measure IL-12, the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used. The data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with repeated measurement. Results: The results showed that ACT had no significant effect on IL-12 (p>0.05), but CBSM training significantly reduced IL-12 and these results remained in the follow-up period (p<0.001). Discussion: Relaxation techniques in CBSM can increase diaphragmatic breathing and decrease stress experience, including cortisol levels and stress. Subsequently, physiological symptoms reduce stress and thus affect the level of biomarkers like IL-12. Therefore, it can be useful in improving biological parameters in patients with MS
The Development and Standardization of Psychometric Criteria of Attitude toward Adoption Questionnaire (ATAQ) and its Relation to Prosocial Behavior and Character Strengths
Get PDFIntroduction: The preset study aimed to develop and standardize the psychometric criteria of attitude toward adoption questionnaire and its relation to prosocial behavior and character strengths. Methods: The method of this study was descriptive survey. The research population included all citizens living in Behshahr (N = 156195). The sample size of the study was 500 subjects of whom 50 subjects were selected through pre-investigation study by available sampling method and 450 subjects were selected by multistage cluster sampling in the final study. The research tools included the attitude toward adoption questionnaire, Prosocial Tendencies Measure Revised (PTM-R) by Carlo et al (2003), and character strengths questionnaire by Seligman and Patterson (2004). The research analysis method was exploratory factor analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: The results of exploratory factor analysis by main components with varimax rotation indicated two components of attitude toward adoption being named respectively cognitive as the aspects of attitude toward adoption and behavioral-emotional aspects of attitude toward adoption. These two components explained 43.25% of the variance of the total sample. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to measure the reliability of the questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.709 for the whole questionnaire, 0.71 for the first component, and 0.713 for the second one. In addition, there was a significant positive relationship between desired social tendencies and the cognitive aspect of attitude toward adoption as well as the behavioral -emotional aspects of attitude toward adoption (P ≤ 0.01). Conclusion: As a conclusion, the attitude toward adoption questionnaire has a desirable and appropriate validity and can be used as a useful tool for measuring the attitude toward adoption. Declaration of Interest: Non
A Randomized Clinical Trial in Comparing the Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Metacognitive Therapy on Mind-Wandering Index in Adolescents
Get PDFIntroduction: Acceptance and commitment and metacognitive therapies are considered as third wave therapies. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and Metacognitive therapy (MCT) on the mind-wandering index in adolescents.Methods: In a randomized clinical trial, 45 female adolescents in Karaj were estimated using a Cloninger sample volume estimation method and were selected through purposive screening sampling. They were randomly assigned into three groups. Two ACT and MCT were presented to the experimental groups in the form of ten sessions of 1 hour. The data were collected at three time intervals through a demographic checklist, a structured clinical interview and a mind-wandering questionnaire. Analysis of covariance and Bonferroni analysis tests were used.Results: The primary outcomes showed that both ACT and MCT had a significant effect on the mind-wandering index (p<0.01), although this effectiveness was more favorable in the MCT group (P<0.05). The secondary outcomes also showed the stability of the results in the follow-up stage (p<0.05).Conclusion: The results of this study suggest the effectiveness of third wave therapies on psychological indices. These findings can be combined with clinical applications in planning new therapeutic and educational perspectives.Declaration of Interest: Non
Gender Disparity in Death Rumination and Defence Styles: Sample Study Hospitalized Cancer Patients
Get PDFIntroduction: Cancer and the stress associated with it have a significant impact on not only publichealth, but also on individuals suffering from cancer can make stressful and pressure conditions forpatients. The aim of this study was to examine the role of gender and death rumination amongpatients with cancer.Methods: The study was done using death rumination questionnaire and defence stylesquestionnaire-60 (DSQ-60). The study was conducted on 200 hospitalized cancer patients.MANOVA test using SPSS was utilized for data analysis. .Results: According to gender disparity, patients suffering from cancer had high scores in deathexhaust as death rumination. Statistically significant results emerged also on projection (p< 0.05),projective identification (p< 0.01), and withdrawal (p< 0.05) from defence mechanisms. Inparticular, it was found that female cancer patients were more likely to engage in death-exhaust,projection, projective identification, and withdrawal styles.Conclusion: Overall, this report codifies the gender disparity in death rumination and defencestyles in hospitalized cancer patients with psychological adjustment in women with cancer,suggesting that these might be potential targets of psychological intervention for this population