[ study of personality traits and demographic characteristics of prisoners with psychopathic personality disorder in comparison with ordinary prisoners in sample of Tehran prisoners, Tehran, Iran]

Most conducted research about psychopathy has been done among Western countries' prisoners and it has remained unclear whether these findings are applicable in other contexts. The aim of this is to survey personality traits and demographic characteristics of prisoners with psychopathic personality disorder in comparison with ordinary prisoners in sample of Tehran prisoners. This study was done based on descriptive method. 202 prisoners were selected among Ray City prisoners in Tehran and the applied method was sample available. All prisoners completed Hare [PCL-SV] psychopathic personality disorder checklist and five personality traits Questionnaire, McCare and Costa [Neo-FFI]. Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation, Regression, and T student for independent groups. The prevalence of psychopathy disorder among prisoners of this group was reported 10.89. Statistical analysis by Pearson correlation test, regression analysis and T student independent groups, represent a significant positive relationship between Psychopaty and extraversion [p=1%] and a significant negative relationship between openness and Psychopaty [p=5%], agreeableness and conscientiousness [p=1%], respectively. No relationship was found between psychopathy, and neurosis. Furthermore, results indicated that, in comparison with non-psychopathic prisoners, psychopathic prisoners were more neurosis and extraversion, however, they showed low level of openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. According to the findings, psychopathic disorder and five personality traits are related. Therefore, futher studies in the field of examined variables can provide more information

[Comparison of the effects of narrative therapy and diet therapy on the body mass index in overweight and obese women]

This study was carried out with the aim of comparing the effect of diet therapy and narrative intervention on the extent of body mass index [BMI] reduction in overweight and obese women. This was a quasi experimental-interventional study, in which 30 overweight women were selected by random sampling from among those consulting the Diet Clinic and randomly assigned to one of 2 intervention [group 1, diet therapy alone; group 2, diet therapy plus narrative therapy] and a control group [receiving no intervention]. The period of intervention was 5 weeks. Weight of all the subjects with light clothing was measured by a Seca scale to the nearest 0.5 kg and their height by a stadio-meter to the nearest 0.5 cm. The BMI was calculated by dividing weight [in kg] by squared height [m2]. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 16 software, the statistical test being covariance analysis and paired t- test. Data analysis showed that diet therapy alone [group 1] had no significant effect on the BMI [P>0.05], while in group 2 [diet therapy plus narrative therapy] BMI decreased significantly [P<0.001]. Inter-group comparison [among the 3 groups] showed that there were no significant difference between diet therapy and narrative therapy with regard to BMI. The findings show that in the first phase of intervention life narratives about overweight help obese women correct their nutritional habits. This is followed by BMI reduction in the second phase. Since diet therapy is not consistent with the women's life narratives, it plays no role in correcting life narratives for more successful dieting. Considering the efficacy of narrative therapy in body mass index reduction and no effect by diet therapy alone, further studies on the life narratives of overweight women and their correction are recommended

[Psychometric properties of DASS-42 as assessed in a sample of Kermanshah high school students]

Psychological scales are increasingly used as important tools for assessment of intelligence, talents, academic achievement and personality characteristics and as a help in diagnosis of mental or personality disorders. Besides other methods of studying behaviors, these tools can be used for such purposes in schools, industrial and commercial organizations, public offices, universities and medical centers. This study aimed to assess psychometric properties of Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale [DASS-42] in a sample of high school students in Kermanshah. This was a psychometric study executed on Kermanshah high school students in 2003-2004 academic year. A total number of 400 students were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling. In addition to DASS-44, other scales used in this study include: Beck Depression Inventory [BDI], Zung Anxiety Scale [ZAS] and Studets' Stress Scale [SSS].Data were analysed running SPSS-10 software. The depression subscale of DASS-42 showed a high correlation [0.849] with the BDI in a 0.01 level of statistical significance. The stress subscale of DASS-42 was also found to have a 0.757 correlation co-efficient with SSS, again statistically significant at a 0.01 level. The rates of Chronbach alpha for the depression, anxiety and Stress subscales of DASS-42 were found to be 0.94, 0.85 and 0.87 respectively. The KMO rate for the present study was 0.88 which indicates a large-enough sample size for factor analysis. The Cruet-Bartlett's test also showed a chi-square rate of 0.794 with a degree of freedom equal to 861, which was again significant at a 0.01 alpha level. After factor analysis, the factors which showed high specificity measures were compared with those introduced by the original authors. Hence this study identified a three factor model which can be regarded as identical with the model introduced by the original authors