Effectiveness of Self-Help Mindfulness on Depression, Anxiety and Stress

Introduction: Growing evidence shows that mindfulness based on self-help interventions have advantages for physical and psychological health in different populations. The mindfulness based emotional balance is a new program and efficacy of which has not been investigated in self-help format.  Methods: This study was a randomized control trial (RCT) with wait-list control. After screening and applying inclusion and exclusion criteria eighty students of Kermanshah University of medical sciences were assigned randomly to the mindfulness-based emotional balance self-help or the wait list control group. Anxiety, depression, stress, and mindfulness were measured prior to the intervention after the intervention, and two-month after end of intervention as follow-up. DASS-21 and MAAS were used.  Results: Significant decrease in anxiety, depression, and stress in addition to a significant increase in mindfulness in the experimental group in the posttest. However, there were no significant changes in any of the aforesaid measures in the wait list control group. The resultant benefits were persistent in the two-month follow-up. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, this type of treatment can be used as an efficient and cost-effective method to improve psychological problems such as stress, depression and anxiety.  Declaration of Interest: Non

Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of Iranian Version of External Shame scale

Objective: Shame is one of the important self-conscious emotions that have a crucial function in mental well-being and vulnerability to mental disorders. Lack of shame and being very ashamed one come with psychopathology. Shame consists of two important components, those are internal and external. External shame scale at first was designed by Gross and his colleagues. According to their factor analysis, 3 factors of feel of inferiority, feelings of emptiness and being ashamed of making mistake are determined for external shame. Method: In order to survey about psychometric properties and factor structure analysis of this scale, 210 individuals from Shahid Beheshti university of medical sciences in Tehran were chosen in available sampling procedure. The participants were also asked to complete the scales of external shame, self- compassion, negative affect and perfectionism.Liserl-8 andSSPS-18 were used for analyzing data. Cronbach's Alpha, Correlation Coefficient and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were calculated. Results: The three-factor structure of external shame scale was supported by the results of Confirmatory Factor Analysis in Iranian sample(RMSEA=0/09،NFI=0/94،CFI=0/96). External Shame Scale had the positive and meaningful correlation with perfectionism(17/0) and negative affect(51/0)and had negative and meaningful correlation with self-compassion(21/0). Also Cornbrach’s Alpha coefficient, for the whole of scale and factors of feel of inferiority, feelings of emptiness and being ashamed of making mistake were gained 0/93, 0/92, 0/71 and 0/75 respectively. Conclusion: The three-factor structure of external shame scale demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties in Shahid Beheshti University. Shame positively relate to symptoms of psychopathology. The external shame scale have suitable psychometric properties for the use of research and clinical practice

Keeping Things Positive: Affect as a Mediator between Physical Activity and Psychological Functioning

Higher physical activity is generally associated with more favorable psychological functioning. However, the role of positive and negative affect in such associations is unclear. Accordingly, this cross-sectional study explored whether affect mediated the relationship of physical activity with psychological well-being (PWB) and psychological dysfunctioning (PD). Young Iranian adults (N = 200) completed self-rating questionnaires covering physical activity, positive and negative affect, and proxies of PWB and PD. Regression analyses indicated that higher physical activity levels and higher positive and lower negative affect predicted proxies of PWB. The same (albeit in the opposite direction) applied to proxies of PD. Structural equation modeling indicated that positive and negative affect mediated the relationship between physical activity and PWB/PD. Accordingly, change in affect might be an important mechanism behind the association of physical activity and PWB/PD. Future research should further explore this across target populations and cultural contexts. Longitudinal and/or experimental studies are needed to disentangle causality