Psychological Perceptions of Women With Sexual Arousal Disorder: A Qualitative Study in Iranian Culture.

Objective: Psychological perceptions are concerned with how a person perceives and psychologically frames life with an illness. The current study sought to examine the psychological perceptions of women suffering from Female Sexual Interest/Arousal Disorder in the setting of Isfahan, Iran. Materials and methods : The study was done according a qualitative design, and it was conducted in Isfahan, Iran, from July 2018 to February 2019. Twenty in-depth interviews were performed with 20 patients who were recruited on the purposeful method. The thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data. The data were organized using MAXQDA software (version 12). Results: The following four themes were extracted: (i) Dysfunctional cognition, which includes five sub-themes: attention bias, belief bias, memory bias, perceptual bias, and cognitive distortion; and (ii) Relationship and partner factors, which include four sub-themes: psychological maltreatment, aggression, deception, and betrayal.; (iii) lack of life skills, which includes four sub-themes: poor problem-solving, poor sexual knowledge, poor understanding and intimate relationships, and immature defense mechanisms; and (iv) lack of motivation and genuine interest, which includes two sub-themes: forced marriage and lack of initial affection and attraction to the husband. Conclusion: Internal and interpersonal factors were shown to have a role in the creation of sexual arousal disorder in Iranian women, according to the study. As a result, designing scenarios for cognitive bias modification and educational programs for improving interpersonal skills would be beneficial.

Developing Cognitive Bias Modification Scenarios for Women with Sexual Interest Arousal Disorder and Comparing Effectiveness with Mindfulness Therapy.

The aim of the present study was to develop and validate the scenarios of cognitive bias modification of interpretation (CBM-I) in women with sexual interest arousal disorder (SIAD) and comparing its effectiveness with mindfulness therapy in Iran. This study was performed by mixed method in two phases. In the first phase of the study, CBM treatment scenarios were developed. In the second phase, 45 women with SIAD were selected and randomly divided into three groups (two experimental groups and one control group). In the qualitative phase of the research on the evaluation of the designed scenarios, 80 scenarios remained among the 100 scenarios by meeting the content validity criteria, fidelity, acceptance, and satisfaction with the treatment. Both experimental treatments exceeded the no treatment control but that mindfulness was more effective than CBM-I as measured by the Female Sexual Function Index Questionnaire (p < 0.001). According to the findings, the use of CBM-I to replace positive interpretations with negative interpretations of cognitive bias in SIAD has a clinical application. Therefore, CBM-I can be used as practical treatment along with other treatments to reduce the symptoms of sexual dysfunction.

Effects of Implementing the Alexander Technique on Enjoying the Sense of Motherhood in the Postpartum Period.

BACKGROUND: The broad concept of maternal well-being includes psychological concepts, social aspects, and aspects of becoming a mother. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of implementing the Alexander technique on enjoying the sense of motherhood. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a clinical trial conducted in two phases. In the first phase, using the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, 226 mothers were asked to undergo a scale test of enjoying the sense of motherhood after childbirth. In the second phase, 88 pregnant women were divided into two experimental groups. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire about enjoying the sense of motherhood. Independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney test, Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, analysis of variance test, Box test, and Levine test were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Results of this study showed that the mean scores of the constructs of enjoying pregnancy (P > 0.001), motherhood, and child care satisfaction (P > 0.001) in the experimental group were significantly higher than the control group. Moreover, the construct of trusting their own abilities to cope with maternal duties (P > 0.01) did not show significant differences between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicated that the Alexander technique can promote mothers' psychological well-being and their pleasure of becoming a mother and the related constructs. Results also revealed that using this technique, educating and recommending pregnant women to use this technique will be beneficial.

Focusing on psychiatric patients' strengths: A new vision on mental health care in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Identifying and using the strengths of patients, in practice, is a new territory. Today, the need to educate nurses and psychiatric patients about positive psychology in practice and the importance of understanding and focusing on strengths is clear. However, little is known about the strengths the psychiatric patients use and experience. Thus, this study has been designed and conducted in order to understand how people with psychiatric disorders demonstrate their strengths. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In the present study, 13 semi-structured, qualitative interviews with patients and 2 focus groups with nurses were carried out. In addition, a qualitative content analysis was used to identify significant strengths. RESULTS: Based on the results, the four main strengths consisted of: Finding a meaning in daily living, work as enduring strength, entertaining activities, and positive relationship. Patients also reported that health care providers rarely focused on patients' strengths, and experts confirmed these findings. Our findings indicate that patients' own strengths are a pivotal factor in getting through their illness from their perspective. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the enduring legacy of pessimism regarding psychiatric patients, these people have a repertoire of strengths. Nurses should, therefore, have a greater focus on eliciting and nourishing psychiatric patients' strengths in their care. It is suggested that the theoretical and practical aspects of patients' strengths be incorporated in nursing school curricula.