احمد علیپور

Objective: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral Stress Management (CBSM) on distress tolerance, pain perception, and interleukin-12 (IL-12) in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Method: The present study was a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest and follow-up with control group. The statistical population included all female patients with relapsing-remitting MS who had referred to Neuroscience and Rehabilitation Research Centers of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. 20 patients were selected by convenience sampling and were randomly assigned into experimental (10 patients) and control groups (10 patients). The experimental group received the CBSM. Participants completed scales. To measure IL-12, the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used. The data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) and Bonferroni post-hoc test. Results: CBSM increased the distress tolerance and components of pain perception (perceived influence of important people and doing daily affairs) (p <0.001) and it decreased pain severity and IL-12. Also, these changes remained stable during follow-up. Conclusions: CBSM is an effective to influence on distress tolerance, pain perception, and IL-12 in MS patients.

Objective: the present study aimed at studying the relationship between job stress and personality traits and also if the effect of job stress on personality traits was moderated by social support. Method: The populations consisted of offshore personnel working in Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) in Kharg Island. 234 participants using convenience sampling answered three questionnaires (job stress, very brief NEO-form, and perceived social support of family-scale). Four main hypotheses using structural equation analysis were examined. Results: The findings showed a predictive effect between the personality traits and job stress except for openness to experience such that job stress had an increasing effect on neuroticism and a decreasing effect on extraversion, agreeability, and conscientiousness. Social support, on the other hand, as a moderator decreased the effects of job stress on personality traits except for openness to experience, extraversion, and agreeability such that it decreased neuroticism and increased conscientiousness. Conclusion: the results generally revealed the predictive effects of job stress on personality traits and showed that social support, as a buffer, can reduce the effects of job stress on personality traits. The results were discussed based on the existing models on personality changes.

Abstract The aim of the present study was investigating the effectiveness of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) on neurocognitive performance in people with mild neurocognitive impairment. Using meta-analysis and integrating the research results, this study has specified the extent of the effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on improvement of neurocognitive function in people with mild neurocognitive impairment. Method: For meta-analyses Magiran, SID, and Irandoc databases were used to search Persian articles and Science direct, Scopus, and PubMed databases were used to find foreign articles, using ‘MCI’, ‘transcranial direct current stimulation’, tDCS, and ‘mild cognitive impairment’ key words for foreign articles and their Persian equivalents for Persian articles. Of the 29 studies, 11 that were methodologically acceptable were meta-analyzed. The research tool was a meta-analysis checklist. Results: The results of meta-analysis indicated publication bias in the studies. Due to the heterogeneity of the studies, a random effect model was used. The effect of Hedges for the impact of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on neurocognitive functions in people with mild neurocognitive impairment was 0.26, which is a large effect. Conclusion: This result shows clinicians can choose transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as effective intervention for patients who suffer from mild cognitive impairments. More investigations are necessary to find the cognitive benefits of using transcranial direct current stimulation in elderly people and other cognitive impaired persons.

Objective: The present research aimed to determine the pure and combined effect of both techniques of mindfulness based-relaxation (MBR) and Transcranial Electrical Simulation (tCES) on decreasing prospective and retrospective memory errors and failure of executive functions of patients with type 2 diabetes. Method: The study is a randomized three-group double-blind clinical trial with repeated measures designs. The sample of the study consisted of 30 patients selected with convenience and purposive sampling method from Diabetes Association of Bonab city, and they were randomly assigned to the three groups of 10 subjects: MBR, CES, MBR+CES groups; and they received interventions related to their group in 10 individual sessions. All patients were assessed by the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS) and Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ), before and after the intervention, and one month after the intervention. Result: The results of split-plot analysis of variance (SPANOVA) indicated the change of the mean of retrospective and prospective memory over time, and the change of prospective memory over time in different groups. The results of covariance analysis and the post hoc test of Ben Foruni indicated that in the follow-up phase, the prospective memory errors in the MBR+CES group were significantly lower than both the MBR and CES group (P <0.05). Conclusion: The results of the study provide many theoretical and practical implications for improving the cognitive function of type 2 diabetic patients following MBR and CES therapeutic techniques.