psychological Intervention

Background: Gratitude is a general state of thankfulness and appreciation. The majority of empirical studies indicate that there is an association between gratitude and a sense of overall well being..Currently, mental health is especially important in some occupations with harsh work conditions which require strong personal and mental capacities. Psychological well-being and happiness is especially important in personnel working in the healthcare sector. This study aimed to assess whether gratitude training affects psychological well-being and happiness in hospital personnel. Method: In this semi-experimental study with pre-test and post-test, 72 personnel working in 5 hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, participated. The participants were randomly divided into intervention and control groups using block randomization. Then, the participants in the intervention group were given 10 group sessions of 90 minutes gratitude training. Ryff’s Scale of Psychological Well Being, Subjective Happiness Scale, Gratitude Questionnaire-6, and a Gratitude training package were used for data collection. Results: The results show that there is no significant difference in the mean scores of psychological well-being, domains of psychological well-being, and happiness between the two groups at baseline, and gratitude training significantly affected all domains of psychological well-being (except for autonomy) and happiness. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that Gratitude training is effective in enhancing psychological well-being and Happiness.

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of exposure therapy in enhancing life satisfaction and cognitive flexibility in adults with ADHD. This study employed a randomized controlled trial design, with 30 adults diagnosed with ADHD randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 15) receiving eight sessions of exposure therapy or a control group (n = 15) receiving no intervention. Life satisfaction and cognitive flexibility were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and five-month follow-up using the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) and the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI), respectively. Data analysis was conducted using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) to examine within- and between-group differences over time, with post-hoc pairwise comparisons performed using the Bonferroni adjustment. The results indicated a significant main effect of time and group, as well as a significant interaction effect between time and group for both life satisfaction and cognitive flexibility (p < 0.01). Post-hoc analyses showed that the experimental group demonstrated significant improvements in both variables from baseline to post-treatment (p < 0.001), with these gains maintained at follow-up. In contrast, the control group showed no significant changes over time. The findings suggest that exposure therapy effectively enhances life satisfaction and cognitive flexibility in adults with ADHD, with long-term benefits observed at follow-up. Exposure therapy appears to be a promising intervention for improving life satisfaction and cognitive flexibility in adults with ADHD. By reducing avoidance behaviors and promoting adaptive cognitive responses, this approach may help individuals with ADHD develop greater emotional and cognitive adaptability. The sustained benefits observed at follow-up suggest that exposure therapy may provide long-lasting improvements in quality of life for this population.

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of Sandplay Therapy in reducing self-handicapping behaviors and improving the quality of life in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 30 children diagnosed with ASD, who were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 15) receiving Sandplay Therapy or the control group (n = 15) receiving no intervention. The intervention consisted of eight 90-minute sessions conducted over eight weeks. Self-handicapping behaviors were measured using the Self-Handicapping Scale (SHS), and quality of life was assessed using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), both of which demonstrated established validity and reliability. Assessments were conducted at pre-test, post-test, and five-month follow-up. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA, with post-hoc comparisons conducted using the Bonferroni test. The results indicated a significant reduction in self-handicapping behaviors in the experimental group from pre-test (M = 42.85, SD = 4.31) to post-test (M = 31.76, SD = 3.76) and further at follow-up (M = 29.45, SD = 3.45), while no significant changes were observed in the control group. Similarly, quality of life improved significantly in the experimental group, with scores increasing from pre-test (M = 52.12, SD = 5.12) to post-test (M = 63.45, SD = 4.78) and follow-up (M = 67.32, SD = 4.50), whereas the control group remained stable. ANOVA results confirmed significant main effects of time and group, as well as a significant interaction effect (p < 0.05). Bonferroni post-hoc comparisons indicated that improvements were sustained at follow-up. Sandplay Therapy is an effective intervention for reducing self-handicapping behaviors and enhancing the quality of life in children with ASD, with sustained benefits observed at follow-up. These findings highlight the potential of nonverbal, expressive therapies in supporting emotional regulation and adaptive functioning in children with ASD.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of resilience training and acceptance and commitment group training on improving quality of life in male students from divorced families, while controlling for age at the time of parental divorce and the duration since the divorce. Methods and Materials: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 90 male students in grades 5 to 9 from Kouhchenar County, whose parents were divorced. Participants were selected using convenience sampling from six schools with the highest prevalence of students from divorced families and were randomly assigned to three groups: resilience training (n = 30), acceptance and commitment training (n = 30), and control (n = 30). The interventions included ten 50-minute weekly sessions based on Kruger’s (2006) resilience protocol and eight weekly sessions based on Hayes and Rose’s (2008) ACT protocol. All participants completed the WHOQOL-BREF before the intervention, immediately after, and at a one-month follow-up. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and MANCOVA while adjusting for confounding variables. Findings: Significant improvements were observed in all four domains of quality of life—physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environmental health—in both intervention groups across time (p < 0.001). The time × group interaction effect was also significant for all components (p < 0.001). Between-subjects analysis showed significant differences in posttest mean scores among the three groups (p < 0.001), and Bonferroni post hoc comparisons confirmed that both experimental groups outperformed the control group (p < 0.001), with the ACT group showing significantly greater improvements than the resilience group in all domains (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Both resilience training and ACT-based group training effectively enhanced the quality of life of students from divorced families; however, ACT demonstrated superior and more sustained improvements. These findings highlight the potential of ACT as a preferred school-based intervention for adolescents coping with familial disruption.