Iranian Journal of Health Psychology

Objective: Pathogen disgust has evolved as a psychological adaptation in response to the avoidance of disease-causing organisms. Recently, evolutionary social psychologists have proposed the existence of a behavioral immune system that has evolved to avoid pathogens as a psychological adaptation. However, researchers claim that the concept of a behavioral immune system is not the same as pathogen avoidance. Therefore, in this study, the aim is to investigate whether the behavioral immune system is the same as the pathogen avoidance system or has a broader meaning. Method: using Google Scholar database keywords such as disease avoidance, pathogen disgust, the behavioral immune system were searched. PubMed for the behavioral immune system, system over perception disease cues, and disease over perception bias was investigated. All-time periods were used for this review study and more than two hundred documents were reviewed and extracted according to the criteria. Results: The findings show that there are three main mechanisms involved in the behavioral immune system. This system includes the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral mechanisms. Therefore the results showed that the behavioral immune system has a broader meaning than the pathogen avoidance system. Conclusion: Research on physiological correlations with emotional experiences shows that disgust is evoked in response to pathogen-related stimuli and is associated with unique patterns of autonomic nervous system and neural activity. However little is known about the functional connections between anatomical structures, neurochemical processes, and various cognitive and behavioral phenomena that are the manifestations of the behavioral immune system, and more studies are needed in this area.

Objective: Drug addiction is one of the four worldwide crises of the third millennium, at the forefront of risks and societal ills, and one of the most severe challenges confronting today's societies, particularly ours. The purpose of this research was to assess the efficacy of mindfulness on drug craving, stress, and cortisol levels in Mashhad-based males who used crystal meth. Method: Pre- and post-tests with a control group were the sort of quasi-experimental study used. The statistical population comprised all males who used crystal meth, which was sent to the Ofogh Rah-e Sabz addiction treatment clinics in Mashhad, from which 30 participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups using accessible sampling methods (15 people in each group). They answered the Holmes and Rahe stress questionnaire in addition to the Somoza et al. cravings questionnaire. And their urine was examined to determine cortisol levels. The experimental group got eight sessions of mindfulness treatment, whereas the control group received no treatment. Multivariate analysis of covariance was used to examine the research data. Results: The findings indicated that mindfulness lowered cravings and stress while increasing cortisol levels (p<0/001). Conclusion:According to the results, mindfulness-based interventions may be utilized with medical therapy for methamphetamine addicts.

Objective: Obesity is one of the risk factors for various diseases as well as mortality and women suffer from it more than men. Therefore, this study was conducted to design and evaluate the effectiveness of bioenergy economy intervention on self-compassion, self-efficacy and weight loss in women with obesity. Methods: The method of the present study is a quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test and control groups. The statistical population of the study included obese people referring to psychological counseling centers and nutrition clinics in Tehran in the spring and summer of 2019. Fifty obese women were selected by convenient sampling method and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The Self-compassion scales of Neff and self-efficacy questionnaires of Scherer et al. were used to collect data. The weight and body mass index of participants were also calculated. Based on instructions of the bioenergy economy protocol of the American University of Medical Energy, a special training package for obesity was designed and the intervention group was trained with this protocol in 8 sessions of 120 minutes for 8 weeks. Data analysis was performed by analysis of covariance by SPSS software version 24. Results: The results showed the effectiveness of bioenergy economy on self-compassion and self-efficacy (P<0.01). Conclusion: With this description, it can be claimed that effective interventions such as bioenergy economy can be used to increase the health and self-care of people with obesity to prevent the destructive effects of obesity and its complications.

Introduction: One of the basic human needs that plays a vital role in sustainable development is mental health. In the digital age, Internet addiction is a threat to mental health. So this study aimed at validating the treatment entry questionnaire for Tehran University students in 2019. Method: Participants were 324 undergraduate and postgraduate students of state universities in Tehran, who were selected through one-step cluster random sampling. All participants completed the Urbanoski and Wild’s (2012) Treatment Entry Questionnaire, the Miler and Tonigan (1996) Change Readiness and Treatment Eagerness Scale, and the Young Internet Addiction Questionnaire. Results: Data were analyzed using the confirmatory factor analysis model. Confirmatory factor analysis of the data showed that the three-factor structure of the identified, intrinsic, and extrinsic treatment motivation has a good fit, and the validity of the scale was confirmed by face and content validity. Convergent validity evidence confirmed the positive relationship between identified, intrinsic, and extrinsic treatment motivation with subscales of recognition, taking the step, and ambivalence of the Readiness for Change and Treatment Motivation scale. Cronbach's alpha test was used to assess the reliability of the whole scale (0.95) and each subscale of identified motivation (0.94), intrinsic motivation (0.89), and extrinsic motivation (0.86). Conclusion: The results showed that the Persian version of the treatment entry scale for the student population has acceptable psychometric properties and can be used as a valid tool in psychological research.

Objective: Although HIV-infected women in Iran face many problems, researches in this area are limited. This research aims to understand and deeply comprehend the issues and challenges of HIV-infected women. Method: Qualitative content analysis was used in this study and participants in the research of HIV-infected women were using three supportive health centers in Tehran. 17 participants were selected through purposive sampling method. The data collection technique is a semi-structured in-depth interview. Thematic data were coded and interpreted using thematic analysis. Results: 6 categories of interview analysis were: "social exclusion", "job problems", "social phobia caused by stigma", "mental problems", "treatment problems" and “coping mechanisms”. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that HIV-infected women face many challenges in the individual and social field for the social reunion and to reduce their problems, besides individual empowerment, structural and social interventions are also essential. The results of this study can be used in the field of policy-making, the presentation of supportive programs, social services for HIV-infected women and their families.

Objective: Women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) experience negative emotions. Considering the importance of these emotions and their significant impact on mental health of women with HIV, and also considering the gap of information in this regard, this study aimed to assess the effect of compassion-focused therapy on mindfulness and rumination in women with HIV. Method: This was a quasi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test phases, and a control group. Sixty women with HIV were selected and randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. The experimental group received nine 90-min sessions of compassion-focused therapy, held once a week. The instruments used included the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire (RRQ). The questionnaires were filled-out by patients in both the experimental and control groups in two stages before and after the intervention. Results: According to the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), compassion-focused therapy significantly increased the mindfulness dimensions (observing, non-judging, non-reactivity to inner experience) in the experimental group, compared with the control group at post-test (P<0.05). No significant difference was observed between the experimental and control groups in terms of rumination-reflection.Conclusion: It appears that compassion-focused therapy would be effective in increasing the mindfulness dimensions in women with HIV.