Psychometric Properties of Persian Version of Short Schema Mode Inventory.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the short Schema Mode Inventory (SMI). METHODS: The short SMI was translated into Persian by three clinical psychology professors and then back-translated into English by two professors in English language. Between 2017 and 2018, patients from Iran Psychiatric Hospital and Rasoul Akram Hospital who were diagnosed with personality disorder in Axis II by a psychiatrist and had minimum education of middle school were included. Controls included students and staff of the Iran Medical Sciences University who had minimum education of middle school. All participants were asked to complete the short SMI and the Young Schema Questionnaire - Short Form (YSQ-SF). Internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), test-retest reliability, confirmatory factor analysis, internal correlation of schema mode subscales, and correlation between short SMI and YSQ-SF were assessed. RESULTS: Of 406 participants, 205 (50.7%) were patients and 201 (49.3%) were controls. The fitness indices indicated that the 14-factor model was reliable, with χ2 = 12917.97, p < 0.001, df = 5795, χ2/df = 2.23, CFI = 0.96, NNFI = 0.96 SRMR = 0.08, and RMSEA = 0.05. The internal consistency of the short SMI was satisfactory (M = 0.94). Among 34 participants in the control group who completed the short SMI again after 2 weeks, test-retest reliability was high (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.88, p < 0.001). The short SMI and YSQ-SF correlated strongly in terms of the overall scale and most subscales. The patient and control groups differed significantly in most subscales. CONCLUSIONS: Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the short SMI showed good validity and reliability. It can be used in clinical and research settings.

Tools for the Measurement of Psychological Aspects of Organ Donation among the Families of Brain-dead People.

BACKGROUND: According to the basic ethical principle of non-maleficence, organ procurement systems need to be accountable to donor families. As organ donation can be potentially traumatic, donor families are at risk of developing psychological damage. Appropriate measurement tools are needed to diagnose such disorders and develop appropriate treatment measures. OBJECTIVE: To examine the appropriateness of measurement tools and approaches used in previous studies for assessing donor families' psychological well-being. METHODS: A structured online search was conducted in electronic databases namely ScienceDirect, PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Ovid, and Web of Science. The main inclusion criterion was the use of psychological assessment tools for data collection. RESULTS: 10 studies were included in which different tools had been used for measuring donor families' psychological well-being in the following 5 dimensions: stress, depression, grief, general health, and positive legacy of trauma. The major pitfalls of the reviewed studies were failure to specifically assess complicated grief and differentiating it from other psychological disorders, diversity of the tools used for psychological well-being assessment, and lack of clear definitions of donor families' psychological well-being and its dimensions. CONCLUSION: Donor families' psychological well-being is a complex and multidimensional concept and the existing measurement tools cannot accurately assess it. Therefore, the concept needs to be clearly explored and defined. Developing a comprehensive measurement tool or a set of scales is necessary for the early diagnosis of any impairment in donor families' psychological well-being.

A comparative study of beneficial effects of Olanzapine and sodium valproate on aggressive behavior of patients who are on methadone maintenance therapy: a randomized triple blind clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown a high prevalence of aggressive behavior in abstinent heroin users who are on methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) compared with healthy controls. Some studies suggest that olanzapine and valproate may be effective in managing aggressive behavior and preventing a relapse of substance misuse in patients on methadone regime. AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of these medications in the management of aggressive behavior and prevention of relapse in patients maintained on methadone. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred and one patients on MMT were randomized into two treatment groups of olanzapine (2.5-15 mg) and sodium valproate (600-1000 mg). Both groups were treated for 12 weeks. Patients visited the clinic twice weekly to receive medication. Patients' urine samples were screened for trace of any illicit substances on each visit. Upon each consultation, the clinicians, using overt aggression scale-modified version (OAS-M), assessed the degree and frequency of aggressiveness in each patient. RESULTS: Fifty three patients completed the trial. Both medications significantly reduced the overt aggression and subscales of irritability, aggression and suicidality. Improvement was more pronounced in the group treated with olanzapine. The mean percentages of positive urine samples for morphine, cannabis and methamphetamine abuse for the 12 weeks period of the study were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Both olanzapine and sodium valproate are useful as an adjunctive agent in reducing aggressive behavior in heroin dependent individuals who are on MMT, but the beneficial effect of olanzapine was greater than sodium valproate in this respect.  

Control of persistent auditory hallucinations through audiotape therapy (three case reports).

Auditory hallucinations are found in patients with schizophrenia. For some patients with persistent psychotic symptoms, hallucinations are unresponsive to medications. We report three cases with schizophrenia and persistent auditory hallucinations. In this study three types of tapes were used: pure music, music and speech, blank tapes. The patients were asked to record the duration and severity of their auditory hallucinations when they were listening to tapes. Audiotape therapy led to a significant decrease in the duration and severity of the hallucinations (p < 0.05). This study supports treating persistent auditory hallucination by altering external stimulation. Therefore, audiotape therapy could be helpful.

Frequency and severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms/disorders, violence and suicidal in schizophrenic patients.

BACKGROUND: This study determined the prevalence and severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms/disorder (OCS/OCD), aggression and suicidal in schizophrenic patients. Also we compared the prevalence and severity of aggression and suicidal in schizophrenic patients with and without OCS/OCD considering anxiety, depression and substance abuse as confounding factors. METHODS: During 2007 and 2008, 100 schizophrenic patients were evaluated with Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Spilberger State/Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Scale for suicide Ideation, and Overt Aggression Scale. RESULTS: OCS/OCD and suicidal attempts were seen in 33%, 10% and 12% of patients respectively. The most common form of aggression was against others (55%), and aggressive obsessions were seen in 10% of the patients. Comparing patients with and without OCS/OCD, there were no significant differences in the severity of schizophrenia, suicidal and overt aggression. The severity of overt aggression was related to the patients' age and education reversely. Also, there was a relationship between their suicidal thoughts and residence in the cities. CONCLUSIONS: High rate of aggressive obsessions and lack of relationship between severity of aggression and presence of OCD indicated that these patients did not act on these thoughts. The risk of suicide was more serious in patients living in the cities, and risk of violence was more serious in younger and less educated patients.

Glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic subunit promoter polymorphisms and associations with type 1 diabetes age-at-onset and GAD65 autoantibody levels.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) promoter polymorphisms are susceptibility factors for type 1 diabetes (T1D), T1D age-at-onset and T1D autoantibodies. T1D patients and control subjects from the Swedish Childhood Diabetes Registry and the Swedish Diabetes Incidence Study registry were genotyped for two GCLC promoter polymorphisms; the GCLC -129 C to T single nucleotide polymorphism (GCLC -129 SNP) and the GCLC GAG trinucleotide repeat polymorphism (GCLC TNR). Glutamate decarboxylase antibody (GAD65Ab) positive T1D patients with the GCLC -129 SNP C/T genotype have increased GAD65Ab levels (p-value, <0.05) compared to the GCLC -129 SNP C/C genotype. T1D patients with an age-at-onset of 14-35 years who possess the GCLC -129 SNP T/T genotype have a higher GAD65Ab index than T1D patients with the GCLC -129 SNP C/C genotype (p-value <0.05). In addition, T1D patients with an age-at-onset of 14-35 years possess the GCLC TNR 7/8 genotype at a lower frequency than the control subjects (OR, 0.33, 95% CI, 0.13-0.82). The GCLC -129 SNP and GCLC TNR appear to be in linkage disequilibrium (p-value<0.0001). These results suggest that GCLC promoter polymorphisms may influence GAD65Ab levels and may influence the age at which T1D is diagnosed.

D6S265*15 marks a DRB1*15, DQB1*0602 haplotype associated with attenuated protection from type 1 diabetes mellitus.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The HLA class II DQB1*0602 allele confers strong dominant protection against type 1 diabetes but protection is not absolute. The aim of this study was to identify markers within the HLA region that differentiate DQB1*0602 haplotypes and show different associations with disease risk. METHODS: We defined alleles at eight microsatellite markers spanning the HLA region in a case-control cohort from Sweden. RESULTS: We found that allele 15 at marker D6S265 (109 kb centromeric of HLA-A) was over-represented among patients carrying DRB1*15, DQB1*0602. A detailed haplotype analysis showed that DRB1*15, DQB1*0602 haplotypes carrying D6S265*15 have a ten-fold higher odds ratio (OR) than those carrying other alleles and thus confer reduced protection [OR D6S265*15=0.186 (95% CI 0.074, 0.472) vs OR D6S265*15-=0.017 (95% CI 0.005, 0.062), p<0.001]. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Our data support the existence of a locus that modifies the protective effect associated with DQB1*0602. Typing for allele D6S265*15 can identify a less protective DQB1*0602 haplotype, thereby allowing a more accurate prediction of type 1 diabetes risk.