Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome: a randomized controlled trial examining improvements in emotion regulation, defense mechanisms, quality of life, and IBS symptoms.

Studies have provided evidence for the effectiveness of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ISTDP) in treating medically unexplained symptoms (MUS). This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of ISTDP on individuals living with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in terms of, emotion regulation (ER) abilities, defense mechanisms, quality of life (QOL), and IBS symptoms. A total of 30 patients diagnosed with IBS were recruited and randomly assigned to either the intervention (n = 15) or control (n = 15) group. Pre- and post-treatment assessments were conducted, along with a follow-up assessment after ten weeks. Repeated measures analyses of variance were employed to analyze the data. The findings revealed that ISTDP led to significant improvements in ER, defense mechanisms, and QOL, as well as a reduction in the severity and frequency of IBS symptoms. These results provide further support for the efficacy of ISTDP as a treatment modality for individuals with IBS.

The effectiveness of group intervention focused on intolerance of uncertainty on psychological distress and quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients.

AIM AND BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a long-course incurable disease as well as an unknown prognosis causing patients to experience a variety of psychological outcomes. Meanwhile, inability to control the disease-related uncertainty leads to the use of maladaptive coping strategies, causing more psychological distress. This study investigated the effectiveness of intervention focused on the intolerance of uncertainty on psychological distress and quality of life in MS patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research adopted a true experimental design. All phases of the study were conducted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic during 2021 in Tehran. The statistical population of the study was purposefully selected from among MS patients and was randomly assigned to three groups of 20: IU intervention and two control groups (cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and treatment as usual (TAU) groups). The study included pre-test, post-test, and follow-up stages. The outcome measures of the study included the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) as well as Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 (MSQoL-54). Mixed analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The results showed that IU intervention compared to CBT, is more effective on psychological distress (depression P = 0.006, anxiety P = 0.01, and stress P = 0.01) and quality of life (P = 0.001) in MS patients. Nonetheless, IU-focused intervention is more effective than TAU on psychological distress (depression P = 0.0001, anxiety P = 0.0001, stress P = 0.0001) as well as quality of life (P = 0.0001) in these patients. CONCLUSIONS: IU-based intervention can reduce psychological distress and improve quality of life of MS patients. Accepting uncertainty can reduce the anxiety and stress of MS patients which can increase the quality of life of these patients.

Investigating Anxiety and Fear of COVID-19 as Predictors of Internet Addiction With the Mediating Role of Self-Compassion and Cognitive Emotion Regulation.

Background: In addition to many deaths due to the Coronavirus pandemic, many psychological issues and problems are affecting people's health. Including the constant anxiety and fear of infecting themselves and their families, COVID-19 has led to excessive spending of time in cyberspace and the Internet. Methods: In this study, the role of fear and anxiety of COVID-19 in predicting Internet addiction among 1,008 students was investigated. The mediating role of the two components of self-compassion and cognitive emotion regulation has also been measured. Data collection was done online due to the outbreak of the disease and a modeling method was used to analyze the data. Results: The results shows that anxiety and fear of COVID-19 has a positive and significant relationship with both Internet addiction (r = 0.32) and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies (r = 0.17), and it has a negative relationship with self-compassion (r = -0.25). Conclusions: The findings suggest that self-compassion can play a protective role against internet addiction at the time of COVID-19 pandemic while maladaptive strategies for emotion regulation can be risk factors for anxiety and fear of the virus.

The Persian version of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory-Short Version (YPI-S): A psychometric evaluation.

Studies on the psychopathy construct are mostly limited to Western cultures, and there is a lack of research in this area in non-Western countries, specifically in Iran. The present study aimed to examine the factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent validity of the Persian version of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory-Short Version (YPI-S) with a sample of 668 school-attending adolescents in Iran (46% girls; Mage = 16.35). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed three-factor model. While the internal consistency of some YPI-S scores was unsatisfactory, the YPI-S scores showed the expected relations with external correlates (e.g., aggression, hyperactivity), supporting the validity of YPI-S scores. The authors' results supported the YPI-S for assessing psychopathic traits in Iranian adolescents. The modification of the YPI-S factor structure, the low factor loadings of some YPI-S items, and the inadequate internal consistency of some YPI-S dimensions indicate cultural influences on the assessment of cross-cultural traits.

The effectiveness of short-term dynamic/interpersonal group therapy on perfectionism; assessment of anxiety, depression and interpersonal problems.

Perfectionism is acknowledged as a core vulnerability and a perpetuating factor in several psychopathologies. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of short-term psychodynamic/interpersonal group psychotherapy for perfectionism and perfectionism-related distress such as anxiety, depression, and interpersonal problems. This study is a quasi-experimental study applying clinical trial method and contains pre-test, post-test, follow-up periods and control group. The study population included students and the sample consisted of 30 people with extreme perfectionism, who were assigned in two groups of 15 people, experimental and waiting list groups using randomized block design. Research instruments included Tehran Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, Perfectionistic Self Presentation Scale, Perfectionistic Cognition Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Beck Anxiety Inventory and Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-32. In order to analyse the collected data, mixed analysis of variance and Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance were used in SPSS software version 22. The results show that the intervention in the experimental group compared to the waiting list group caused a clinically and statistically significant decrease in the mean scores. This result is observable and evident in all levels of perfectionism and psychological distress (anxiety, depression and interpersonal problems), except for the subscale of Non-Display of Imperfection from the Perfectionistic Self Presentation Scale. These results were preserved through the follow-up periods. These results show that short-term dynamic/interpersonal group therapy is effective in treating most of the components of perfectionism and concerning its effectiveness; it reduced psychological distress and showed that the components pertaining to perfectionism are factors of vulnerability in this regard.

Investigating the Role of Interpersonal Sensitivity, Anger, and Perfectionism in Social Anxiety.

BACKGROUND: The investigation of personality characteristics and emotional experiences of the people suffering from anxiety disorders is one of the most important issues which are considered by researchers and clinicians. Perfectionism, sensitivity to interpersonal rejection, and anger are personality traits related to social anxiety. In social anxiety disorder, it has also been focused on anger as a personality characteristic and as an emotional condition. The main purpose of this work is to investigate the role of these variables in predicting social anxiety among a nonclinical group of Iranian students. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 131 students completed the self-report version of Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Self-Report version (LSAS-SR), Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS), Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure (IPSM), and State and Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Multiple linear regressions were conducted to examine the concurrent associations between perfectionism, interpersonal sensitivity and quality of emotional experience, and expression of anger with severity of self-report social anxiety. RESULTS: Greater levels of FMPS total were significantly associated with a greater level of LSAS total, fear, and avoidance of social and functional situations (P = 0.022, P = 0.024, and P = 0.006). Moreover, a significant positive correlation between IPSM total (P = 0.015) with fear and also between anger expression index (P = 0.009) with avoidance subscale were found. CONCLUSIONS: In accordance to the previous researches, we found that perfectionism, interpersonal sensitivity, anger experience, and anger expression skills are related to social anxiety. How these personality traits are related to fear and avoidance of social situations and their concurrent effects on predicting social anxiety were discussed.

The psychometric properties of the Persian version of Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure.

BACKGROUND: Investigating the psychometric properties of existing psychometric scales in societies with differing dynamics can help with their external validity. This research specifically aimed at standardization and validation of Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure (IPSM) scale in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Persian version of the IPSM was produced through forward translation, reconciliation, and back translation. A total of 357, nonclinical students were selected through multistage sampling method and completed a set of questionnaires including IPSM. Internal consistency, convergent validity, divergent validity, and test-retest reliability of the Persian version of the IPSM were analyzed. To assess the construct validity, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed. RESULTS: Total IPSM, as well as all subscales showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α =0.86 and 0.51-0.71, respectively). Test-retest reliability at a 2-week interval was significant, with intraclass correlation coefficient ranging between 0.73 and 0.92. In terms of convergent validity, IPSM showed the significant positive correlation with self-report measures of depression, social anxiety, and anxious attachment style. IPSM showed negative correlation with Social Desirability Scale and secure (C subscale of avoidant attachment style [AAS]) and dependent (D subscale of AAS), thus demonstrated divergent validity with these constructs. According to the CFA, the responses of the sample in this study were fitted to the original five-factor structure. CONCLUSION: The IPSM showed good validity and reliability and could be useful in assessing interpersonal sensitivity in Iranian population.