Affective Norms for 362 Persian Words

Background: During the past two decades, a great deal of research has been conducted on developing affective norms for words in various languages, showing that there is an urgent need to create such norms in Persian language, too. The present study intended to develop a set of 362 Persian words rated according to their emotional valence, arousal, imageability, and familiarity so as to prepare the ground for further research on emotional word processing. This was the first attempt to set affective norms for Persian words in the realm of emotion.  Methods: Prior to the study, a multitude of words were selected from Persian dictionary and academic books in Persian literature. Secondly, three independent proficient experts in the Persian literature were asked to extract the suitable words from the list and to choose the best (defined as grammatically correct and most often used). The database normalization process was based on the ratings by a total of 88 participants using a 9-point Likert scale. Each participant evaluated about 120 words on four different scales.  Results: There were significant relationships between affective dimensions and some psycholinguistic variables. Also, further analyses were carried out to investigate the possible relationship between different features of valences (positive, negative, and neutral) and other variables included in the dataset.  Conclusion: These affective norms for Persian words create a useful and valid dataset which will provide researchers with applying standard verbal materials as well as materials applied in other languages, e.g. English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, etc

A Comparison of Facial Emotion Recognition in Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and Non-epileptics

Abstract Introduction: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is related to the mesial temporal lobe structures such as the hippocampus, amygdala, and Parahippocampal gyrus. In patients with TLE, the amygdala complex is a component of the temporal lobe that is damaged. Previous studies on emotional processing have proven deficits due to amygdala damage in these patients. The present study compares the facial emotion recognition in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and healthy controls. It was hypothesized that the TLE group have more dysfunctions than non- people with epilepsy. Methods: In this comparative study, 120 subjects, including 60 patients with a definite diagnosis of the temporal lobe and 60 non-epileptic individuals, were recruited using purposive sampling. The patient group was chosen from the Chamran hospital and Iranian Epilepsy Association, Tehran, Iran. The research data were collected by the Ekman computer test of facial emotion recognition. This test uses 36 images to measure the six basic emotions (i.e., happiness, disgust, anger, fear, sadness, and surprise); these images were adapted from the Ekman and Friesen series of images. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance by SPSS Statistics 19-IBM in two levels of response accuracy and reaction time in TLE patients and healthy individuals. Results: Data analysis showed a significant difference in the response accuracy of facial expressions of happiness, disgust, anger, fear, sadness, and surprise in patients with TLE (P < 0.01). Furthermore, recognizing emotions of fear, disgust, and anger in patients with TLE was more inadequate. When it came to the reaction time of emotion recognition, the TLE patients showed a higher functional impairment than the healthy group (P < 0.01). The reactions to fear and disgust were notably slower than other emotions. Conclusions: The results showed more inaccurate facial emotion recognition of fear, disgust, and anger inferred from facial expressions. Moreover, the reaction time response of facial emotion recognition for all six emotions was slower, compared to non-epileptics. Assessing the emotional recognition dysfunction through this measurement can facilitate recognizing the emotional deficiency regarding social communication in TLE patients. Psychological dysfunction can be a predictor of not a good response to the treatment, more frequency of seizures, and worse quality of life in these patients

Effectiveness of memory bias modification in reducing depression and rumination symptoms and autobiographical memory bias: a pilot study

There is a strong interest in cognitive bias modification as a new intervention that targets key underlying vulnerability factors of depression. Memory bias is believed to be a risk factor for the onset and maintenance of depression. In this study, we aimed to examine the effectiveness of memory bias modification on depression symptoms, ruminative thoughts, and autobiographical memory bias. We recruited 40 participants with mild depression who were randomly assigned to two groups of positive (n = 20) and neutral (n = 20) training. The participants were instructed to read and learn French-paired words with their Farsi translations. Next, they were encouraged to recall positive or neutral Farsi translations of French words according to their groups in the first session. After training, and in the second session (follow-up), they were asked to recall all the Farsi translations of the French words. Data were collected using Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II), Rumination Response Scale (RRS), Self-Referent Encoding Task (SRET). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Repeated retrieval practices resulted in better recall of the target words of the training in both conditions. Still, none of the groups had significant changes in depression scores, ruminative thoughts, and emotional aspects of memory bias. Our results suggest that two sessions of modifying memory biases were not sufficient for reducing the symptoms of depression and rumination. Implications of the finding from this study for future works are further discussed

Identifying emotional components of event-related potentials in the brain functioning of individuals with contamination obsessions and comparison with healthy control group

The present study aimed to examine the emotional components of event-related potentials (ERPs) in individuals with contamination OCD and compare them with a healthy control group. A convenience sample of 45 participants was included, consisting of 30 individuals diagnosed with contamination-type OCD and 15 individuals in a healthy control group. Both groups participated in an ERP study where they encountered a computer-based task presenting both contamination and neutral pictures, while their brain activity was recorded. The data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (RANOVA) with SPSS-24 and Matlab software. Findings suggest that in P3 amplitude, only individuals with OCD exhibited a larger positive amplitude (p < 0.05) in response to contaminated pictures compared to neutral pictures and in N2 amplitude, only individuals with OCD exhibited a larger negative amplitude (p < 0.05) in response to contaminated pictures compared to neutral pictures in the central vertex (Fz). These findings hold promising implications for the development of more targeted and effective treatments for contamination OCD, emphasizing the importance of emotion-oriented approaches to address the unique neural patterns observed in the frontal vertex

Prevalence of bullying and its relationship with trauma symptoms in young Iranian students

Objective Bullying and peer victimization in school are serious concerns for students,parents, psychologists, and school officials around the world. This descriptive study examinedbullying/victimization among Iranian students and the relationship between bullying andtrauma symptoms.Methods This study was a cross-sectional research and descriptive correlative study.Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data. The RevisedOlweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire and Trauma symptoms checklist for children (TSCC-A)were administered to 591(325males and 266 females) students aged 10 to 14 year.Results The results revealed that 38.4 % of students reported bullying behavior. In addition,victims had the highest level of depression, anxiety, and anger compared to uninvolvedstudents. Bullies were not related to trauma symptoms.Conclusion Conclusions include detailed recommendations for further empirical studies

PTSD symptoms and self-injury behaviors among Iranian soldiers: the mediator roles of rumination and social support

In the last decade, a large volume of research has highlighted the importance of identifying risk and protective factors of self-injury behaviors in military installations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the fitness of the functional PTSD-based model of self-injury behaviors among soldiers residing in Iran military installations. Four hundred man soldiers residing in Tehran military installations that committed self-injury behaviors completed Self-Harm Inventory (SHI), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), PTSD Checklist (PCL), and Ruminative Response Scale (RRS). Correlation analyses showed positive associations between PTSD symptoms, rumination, and self-injury. A negative correlation was found between social support and self-injury (p < 0.0005). Path analysis revealed that PTSD symptoms were positive predictors of self-injury and had direct and indirect effects on these behaviors, mediated by increased rumination and decreased social support (p < 0.05). The results of this study revealed that rumination and social support in the relationship between PTSD symptoms and self-injury have a mediating role, so in order to prevent and treat self-harm behaviors, interventions that decrease rumination and increase perceived social support of soldiers are recommended

The relationship between marital satisfaction with demographics characteristics in the population of Tehran 2016

AbstractBackground and Aim:The family has important and multiple effects on various aspects of individual and social life.Marital satisfaction influences on the family. The aim of current study was to determine the effectsof demographic factors on marital satisfaction in selected population of Tehran.Materials and Methods:This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample was of 90 couples (180 individuals) whichwere selected by convenience sampling from the people who were working in centers affiliated tothe Ministry of Health. They had spent at least two years of marriage, and they didn’t haveaddiction and severe psychiatric disorders. After removing the falsified questionnaires, the 80couples (160 individuals) were investigated. Enrich marital satisfaction questionnaire and aresearcher- made demographic characteristics questionnaire were completed for each couple. Datawere analyzed by Pearson's correlation and paired t-test.Results:The relationships between age (p=0.07 for women &amp; p=0.85 for men), family size (p=0.07 forwomen &amp; p=0.8 for men), income (p=0.09 for women &amp; p=0.6 for men), difference age of couple(p=0.92 for women &amp; p=0.55 for men) and length of marriage (p=0.36 for women &amp; p=0.36 formen) and marital satisfaction were not significant.Conclusion:Marital satisfaction scores were higher than expected in women and men. Also no significantrelationship with determinant variables was not consistent with some studies. This issue shows needfurther examination to generalize the results to other couples.Keywords:Satisfaction, Marital Relationship, Demographic Factor

Determinants of Authoritative Parenting Style in Iranian Mothers

Objectives: The primary goal of this study was to identify the determinants of mother&rsquo;s authoritative parenting style upon the ecological model of parenting. There are some factors involved in this model such as a parent (i.e. developmental history, personality), and child characteristics (i.e. temperament and developmental issues) and environmental factors. Methods: The statistic population of this study includes mothers in Tehran having preschool children between 4&ndash;6 years old. By convenient sampling, eight kindergarten schools were selected, and mothers completed the questionnaires. The sample consisted of 157 mothers who had the authoritative parenting style based on the score of Baumrind&rsquo;s parenting style questionnaire. The participants completed the questionnaires and data was analyzed with regression analysis. Results: The parent&rsquo;s neuroticism (r=-0.253, P<0.01), social support (r=-0.200, P<0.05) and some temperamental characteristics of child i.e. excitability (r=-0.526, P<0.01) and activity (r=-0.163, P<0.05) were significant variables in prediction of authoritative parenting style. Discussion: This study enhances our understanding of the primary determinants of authoritative parenting style in Iranian mothers. The authoritative parenting style is a function of interactional mother and child characteristic and contextual components. These parents had a low score on neuroticism. Therefore, they had emotional stability and could manage their impulse and negative emotions about child maltreatment. Also, their children had low scores in excitability and a high score in sociability. Additionally, the authoritative mothers had weak social support. One explanation for this result is that&nbsp; mothers are the autonomy people and stand on their own rules and had little need to others

Comparison of Personality among Mothers with Different Parenting Styles

Objective: Mothers have an important role in child- rearing, and maternal personality has theoretically been considered as the most influential factor determining the parenting style, because it is thought to affect parental behavior. However, the influence of personality on parenting styles has received surprisingly little attention. The aim of the present study was to compare personality components among mothers with authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles. Method: Using a multistage random cluster sampling method, we selected 8 kindergartens in Tehran. The sample consisted of 270 mothers with preschool children aged 4 to 6 who completed the NEO and Parental Authority Style Questionnaire. Results: Results revealed significant differences among the authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive styles in personality characteristics. There were significant differences between groups in extraversion (f(2,267) = 151.65, p≤0.0001 ), agreeableness (f(2,267)=215.23, p≤0.0001 ), conscientiousness (f(2,267)=336.016, p≤0.0001 ), neuroticism (f(2,267)=1151.1, p≤0.0001 ), and openness to experience (f(2,267)=110.8, p≤0.0001 ). Conclusion: This study revealed the significant role of personality in parenting style

A comparison of facial emotion recognition in patients with early- and late-onset temporal lobe epilepsy

Background: Epilepsy is accompanied by a series of clinical manifestations of frequent and abnormal discharges of brain neurons. Early onset of epilepsy can normally cause severe cognitive, emotional and social impairments. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to compare the recognition of facial emotions in patients with early- and late-onset temporal lobe epilepsy. Materials and Methods: In a causal-comparative study, after definitive diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy, 80 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy included 40 early- and 40 late-onset are recruited in the study by using purposive convenience sampling. The research instruments were by Ekman test of facial emotion recognition and clinical psychiatric interview based on DSM-V. SPSS 19 analyzed data using multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The results showed significant differences in response accuracy and reaction time of facial emotion recognition between the two groups of early- and late-onset temporal lobe epilepsy (p&lt;0.01). These differences were significant in the response accuracy for recognition of sadness, as well significant differences represented in the reaction time for all six basic emotions (happy, sadness, fear, disgust, anger and surprise). Conclusion: Patients with early-onset temporal lobe epilepsy performed poorly in recognizing sadness. Furthermore, these patients had a longer reaction time in recognizing facial emotions such as; fear, sadness, anger, disgust, happiness and surprise than patients with late-onset temporal lobe epilepsy. &nbsp