Living with Multiple Sclerosis: A Phenomenological Study of Worries, Concern and Psychological Problems in Iranian Patients with MS

Multiple sclerosis (MS), as a progressive and degenerative illness, has an impact on different aspects of individual lives and may lead to difficulties, concerns, and worries in patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate concerns, worries and problems in patients with MS. We used a descriptive phenomenological qualitative approach. Participants were volunteers purposively selected based on their availability. We carried out deep interviews with 15 MS patients and analyzed the detailed information obtained from these interviews by using Colaizzi’s method. We extracted six essential themes and thirty-four sub-themes associated with MS from the content of the interviews. The main themes were labelled “Confronting existential concerns,” “Crisis of facing up with the illness,” “Suffering from the illness,” “Relationship,” “Confrontation with spirituality and religion,” “Searching for tranquility.” Results of the present study also reiterated the following: Patients with MS seem to lose meaning of life and this together with problems in dealing with existential concerns, may lead to the “disintegration of self,” hence resulting in considerable psychological disturbance and distress. It is concluded that the illness evokes psychological injury such as existential anxiety, relationship disturbance and hopelessness, and these psychological injuries can lead to relapsing of MS

Reflections from Indigenous Psychology on Emotional Disorders: A Qualitative Study from Iran

AbstractIntroduction: Depression and Anxiety literature in Iran is suffering from the lack of culture/indigenous studies in assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of emotional disorders especially in Azeri ethnic zone, and still there is no comprehensive research on how Azeri speaking individuals percept and experience depression and anxiety. Current study is carried out in order to identify depression and anxiety dimensions in Azeri ethnic group with emphasis on dimensional classification of emotional disorders.Methods: In a cross sectional qualitative design, 32 informants from Azeri ethnicity (14 patients, 13 lay people, and 5 professionals) participated in the study from September 2013 till December 2014. Individual in-depth interviews had been conducted with regard to highlighted themes of explanations, reporting the experiences and perceptions of the participants from emotional disorders. Data were analyzed through content analysis technique.Results: Primary results indicated that 11 main theme categories identified in Azeri ethnic group which are dimensional constructs related to emotional disorders: Avoidance, Dysfunction, Arousality, Disorganized Personality, Repetition, Somatization, Problematic Behavior, Maladaptive Cognition, Awareness, Positive, and Negative Emotionality.Discussions: In the same line with related researches in the field, Somatization had the highest frequency of symptom report by participants. However, current evidences are not supporting the hypothesis of "Somatizing" depression and anxiety in non-western people including Iran, and perhaps other psychological processes are involved in somatic symptom report. Theoretical advantages and implications of the study in the framework of clinical and indigenous studies are discussed. Keywords: Depression, Anxiety, Emotional Disorders, Azeri Ethnic Group, Cultural Dimensions, Qualitative Stud

Personality profiles of cultures: aggregate personality traits

Personality profiles of cultures can be operationalized as the mean trait levels of culture members. College students from 51 cultures rated an individual from their country whom they knew well (N = 12, 156). Aggregate scores on Revised NEO Personality Inventory scales generalized across age and gender groups, approximated the individual-level Five-Factor Model, and correlated with aggregate self-report personality scores and other culture-level variables. Results were not attributable to national differences in economic development or to acquiescence. Geographical differences in scale variances and mean levels were replicated, with Europeans and Americans generally scoring higher in Extraversion than Asians and Africans. Findings support the rough scalar equivalence of NEO-PI-R factors and facets across cultures, and suggest that aggregate personality profiles provide insight into cultural differences

Type A behaviour pattern and competition in adults and adolescents

A set of behaviour patterns characterized by excessive hostility, competitiveness, and impatience have been identified in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and labelled "Type A". Since several studies have shown that the Type A behaviour pattern is an independent psychological risk factor for heart disease, attempts have been made to modify the behaviour pattern in both healthy subjects and patients suffering from CHD by altering physiological, cognitive and behavioural characteristics. The present research offers an alternative approach to the modification of physiological responses in healthy Type A adults and adolescents. It is proposed that the core elements of Type A such as competition could be exploited in order to induce physiological relaxation rather than excitement. Four experiments were carried out. The first study identified behavioural and physiological characteristics of Type A subjects such as increased heart rate while competing. The second experiment used contingent and false heart rate biofeedback training to challenge Type A adults to decrease heart rate in a competitive situation. Biofeedback was found to be an effective method of training Type A subjects to relax. Furthermore, it was found that Type As decreased heart rate significantly more than other subjects when challenged to do so by biofeedback. As a first step in attempting a similar approach with adolescents and to see if an identifiable pattern of beliefs and fears associated with Type A exists in the younger population, a questionnaire was designed to identify these beliefs and fears. Type A adolescents were found to hold a similar pattern of beliefs and fears to that shown in adult subjects in previous studies. Furthermore, measures of beliefs and fears correlated significantly but modestly with measures of Type A. Using heart rate biofeedback, competition did not seem to have any specific effect on the performance of Type A adolescents. Nevertheless, Type As were found to be more responsive to biofeedback training than Type Bs and results for subjective reports of relaxation were encouraging. The results are discussed in terms of using challenging incentives to reduce physiological responses in Type A adults and adolescents. It is argued that programmes aimed at modifying Type A in healthy individuals have produced mixed results and have repeatedly failed to alter physiological responses. This is due to many problems including the fact that the negative consequences of the behaviour pattern are not readily recognized and therefore healthy Type As may be resistant to change. Furthermore, there are ethical issues involved in actually altering behaviour in an apparently healthy population. It is proposed that in view of these problems, challenging incentives such as competition could play a significant role in the reduction of physiological responses in healthy Type A individuals particularly the younger population

Putting Fame and Celebrity in a Psychosocial Framework: A Scientific Analysis

In many cultures, reaching fame and celebrity is the most desirable goal and/or fantasy for the majority of society; and this is primarily fueled by the media. Consequently, a multitude of psychological studies have been performed in this field, although a comprehensive psychological theory has yet to be formulated. This article provides an extensive analysis of the bibliography of all psychology articles published in the Scopus database from 1928 to 2022. For accomplishing this, the VOSviewer software tool was used. A total of 1,987 psychology articles were found in the Scopus database, revealing an increasing trend of research in recent years. The fact that most of these articles belong to the field of neuropsychology shows the gap between important research and theory in theoretical psychology. While the number of psychological studies in the field has increased, there have been no bibliometric studies on the state of research and its process. This survey, drawing on the scientific map in the field, will attempt to identify areas that remain neglected

Comparing Locus of Control, Assertiveness and General Health among Young Drug Addicts in Iran

"n "nObjective:The aim of this research was to compare the characteristics of assertiveness, locus of control and general health among young drug dependent patients in Iran. "n "nMethods: Three groups of Iranians: were choosed. The first group included drug dependent patients who had volunteered for treatment and had registered in the local Welfare Organization; the second group included dependent patients who were in the prison; and the third group held nondependent patients. All the participants were male and were matched for age and educational level . The following instruments were used in the present study: locus of control  uestionnaire , Assertiveness Scale and the General Health Questionnaire, GHQ. "n "nResults: The results of the present research showed that there were significant differences among the three groups in ssertiveness, locus of control and GHQ scores. It was found that participants in the non addictive group were more assertive and more internal in their locus of control and had higher GHQ scores than the other two groups. The participants in the prison group reported less assertiveness and lower GHQ scores than the non addictive group ; and their locus of control was more external. Conclusion: "n The results this study may be useful in terms of possible strategies for changing an attributive style in young adults in the framework of psychotherap

Investigating the effects of cognitive interventions on reducing pain intensity and modifying heart rate and oxygen saturation level

Introduction:In the present study, we investigated the efficacy of cognitive interventions in reducing reported pain intensity as well as modifying heart rate or oxygen saturation level in children with cancer during lumbar puncture or intrathecal injection. Moreover, we studied the relationship between the reported pain intensity and changes in heart rate and oxygen saturation level resulting from lumbar puncture or intrathecal injection.Material and Methods:This is a clinical trial using a pretest-posttest design with control group. 41 child-parent pairs were selected and randomly assigned to two groups. The children were visited twice; on first visit, both groups received routine care. On second visit, the experiment group received cognitive interventions and the second group received routine care. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, Oucher’s self-report pain intensity scale, and pulse oximeter. We used analysis of covariance and Pearson’s correlation to analyze the data.Results:Our findings indicate that the interventions efficiently reduce reported pain intensity, lower heart rate and increase blood oxygen saturation level during lumbar puncture or intrathecal injection. We also found a significant positive correlation between reported pain intensity and changes in heart rate, and a significant negative relationship between reported pain intensity and changes in oxygen saturation level. Conclusion:Cognitive interventions are efficient for reducing reported pain intensity, lowering heart rate and increasing oxygen saturation level during lumbar puncture or intrathecal injection. We recommend cognitive interventions to be used during this painful procedure to manage pain and minimize physiologic changes resulting from lumbar puncture

مقایسه حافظه صریح و ضمنی کودکان با اختلال کم¬توجهی- بیش¬فعالی و همتایان عادی

مقدمه: حافظه صریح بیش از حافظه ضمنی به منابع توجهی نیاز دارد. هدف این پژوهش مقایسه حافظه صریح و ضمنی کودکان مبتلا به اختلال کم­توجهی- بیش­فعالی و کودکان با تحول طبیعی است. مواد و روش­ها: پژوهش مقطعی مقایسه­ای در 15 دانش­آموز مبتلا به اختلال کم­توجهی- بیش­فعالی و 15 دانش­آموز سالم از مدارس شهرستان ابرکوه انجام شد. برای حافظه صریح لیست کلمات به فرد ارائه می­شد و فرد باید کلمات شنیده شده را یکبار بدون تأخیر و یک­بار با تأخیر بیان می­کرد. برای حافظه ضمنی نیز باید لغات شنیده شده را از بین لغات ارایه شده مشخص نماید. جهت تحلیل داده­ها از آزمون­های تی مستقل و تحلیل واریانس دو عاملی استفاده شد. یافته­ها: نتایج نشان داد که کودکان مبتلا به کم­توجهی- بیش­فعالی در حافظه صریح عملکرد پایین­تری نسبت به کودکان سالم دارند (05/0P). نتیجه­گیری: کودکان با کم­توجهی- بیش­فعالی در حافظه صریح نقص دارند. پیشنهاد می­شود رویکردهای توانبخشی و آموزشی، حافظه ضمنی را برای مداخلات کودکان کم­توجه- بیش­فعال به کار گیرند. کلید واژه­ها: حافظه صریح، حافظه ضمنی، اختلال کم­توجهی- بیش­فعال