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

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

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

Effect of Caffeine on the Fixation Component of Eye Movement in the Reading Process

Background: Caffeine is a kind of methylxanthine whose consumption can promote the cognitive and executive functions of the human brain. Objectives: In this study, we seek to investigate the effect of drinking coffee on the period of the eye movement fixation component. Materials and Methods: The research was of the quasi-experimental type. 60 subjects were randomly divided into two groups of thirty. The subjects in one group drank coffee before the experiment was conducted. The other group, which is the control group, did not. Both groups would then read a text, and the eye movement tracking device would record the fixation periods of the subjects’ eyes while reading. Results: The results of the independent t-test comparing the mean fixation time in the two groups demonstrated that the difference was significant at the 0.001 level, where the group that drank coffee before studying had significantly less fixation time than the control group. Additionally, Cohen’s d index of 4.29 determined that the difference lies in the maximum effect size range. Conclusion: It can be concluded that drinking a cup of coffee before studying can lead to decrease in eye movement fixation period and increase in information encoding and processing speed

Cognitive training for modifying interpretation and attention bias in depression: Relevance to mood improvement and implications for cognitive intervention in depression

Depressed individuals interpret ambiguous information more negatively and this has been suggested a central component in cognitive models of depression. In this study we investigated the effectiveness of the interpretation modification training on modifying interpretation bias in depression and its association with symptoms reduction. In a double-blind, randomized controlled design, twenty-two depressed individuals (mean age = 19.86, SD = 1.16) were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. They completed 10 sessions of cognitive training with the Ambiguous Hallmark Program (AHP) over 5 weeks. Participants' interpretation bias and their depressive scores were assessed and compared before and after the intervention. Results showed that the AHP significantly decreased negative interpretation in the experimental group. Additionally, a significant decrease in the depressive scores was also observed in the intervention group compared to the control group. We also observed the transfer of learning from the AHP training to another interpretation bias task. The AHP can significantly modify negative interpretations and symptoms in depression providing preliminary supporting evidence for its clinical application especially in mild-to-moderate depression. Improved cognitive control over emotional information and unbiased attention to them could explain effects of the Interpretation modification paradigm. Further studies need to examine the efficacy of the AHP as a potential cognitive intervention in depression