Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Integrated Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapy in Motivational Structure of Hepatitis B Patients

Background: It is essential to understand and support hepatitis B patients to minimize their challenges and limitations and provide them with appropriate treatment. Therefore, it is essential to incorporate training and consulting programs to prepare for and identify various aspects of the disease. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of mindfulness-integrated cognitive-behavioral group therapy (MiCBT) in the motivational structure of hepatitis B patients in Tehran, Iran. Methods: This quasi-experimental study utilized a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The study sample consisted of 28 hepatitis B patients selected from all patients visiting specialist clinics in Tehran in 2020. Following the interviews and completion of the Personal Concerns Inventory, 14 patients were selected per group using simple random sampling and were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. A posttest was conducted after 12 sessions of MiCBT (one 90-min group session weekly for three months). Data were analyzed using the multivariate analysis of covariance in SPSS software. Results: The results revealed a significant increase in adaptive motivational structure (P < 0.001) and a significant decrease in maladaptive motivational structure (P = 0.012) in hepatitis B patients following the therapeutic intervention. Conclusions: The study indicated the MiCBT effectiveness in increasing adaptive motivational structure and decreasing maladaptive motivational structure in hepatitis B patients. As a therapeutic approach, MiCBT can make the motivational structure of hepatitis B patients more adaptive.

Effectiveness of a Cognitive-behavioral Group Therapy for Complicated Grief in Family Members of Patients With Cancer

Introduction: complicated grief can affect a large number of individuals who have lost a relative due to cancer. Objective: to assess the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT) for complicated grief in those who have lost a relative due to cancer in comparison with a psychoducational and emotional expression intervention (PSDEEI).Method: 249 relatives of deceased cancer patients with complicated grief were randomly assigned to treatment with CBGT or PSDEEI. Complicated Grief (ICG), depression (BDI-II), hopelessness (BHS), anxiety (BAI) symptoms and general health (GHQ28) were assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and follow-up at 6 and 12 months. Results: the CBGT group improved significantly (p<0.001), with the scores in ICG, BDI-II, BAI, BSH, and GHQ28 (p<0.001) being higher than those for the PSDEEI group in each of the assessed moments, with high effect sizes: ICG (η2=0.16), BDI (η2=0.10), BAI (η2=0.06), BSH (η2=0.21) and GHQ28 (η2=0.21). At the 12-month follow-up, the number of cases of complicated grief decreased by 81.1% for the CBGT group vs. 31.7% in the PSDEEI group. Conclusions: The CBGT treatment is effective for complicated grief, for depression, anxiety, and hopelessness symptoms and for mental health, and is superior to PSDEEI treatment.

The Effect of Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy on Children’s Self-Esteem

(1) Background: Self-esteem plays an important role in developing emotional resilience and wellbeing in children. Yet, there has been little related research on Cognitive Behavioral Group Therapy on this topic. Our aims were to assess the effect of the Child Self-Esteem CBT (CSE-CBT) protocol on children’s self-esteem in grades five and six; to assess the effect of the CSE-CBT protocol on the therapeutic process; and to explore the feasibility of delivering the CSE-CBT protocol in a school setting. (2) Methods: Eighty elementary school children in grades five and six, divided into four intervention and four control groups, attended 12 structured sessions using the CSE-CBT protocol, led by specially trained teachers. The children completed questionnaires to assess their self-esteem at the beginning and at the end of the study, and answered weekly questionnaires that assessed therapeutic process. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the data. (3) Results: The CSE-CBT protocol had a significant effect on improving children’s self-esteem over the course of the study, regardless of the children’s working alliance with the teacher leading the group. (4) Conclusions: The findings suggest that the CSE-CBT protocol has the potential to benefit children’s self-esteem and indicate that school teachers can be trained to administer the CBT-protocol.

Adolescent Perspectives on How an Adjunctive Mobile App for Social Anxiety Treatment Impacts Treatment Engagement in Telehealth Group Therapy

Adjunctive mobile mental health apps to supplement mental health treatment have been growing in recent years given their ability to address treatment engagement barriers. However, few studies have explicitly examined how these mobile apps impact treatment engagement, and even fewer have investigated this topic through adolescents’ perspectives. To this end, we conducted semi-structured interviews with five adolescents who used an adjunctive mobile mental health app in combination with telehealth cognitive behavioral group therapy for social anxiety. Using a multidimensional framework of treatment engagement, we elicited their perspectives on how the app impacted their engagement in telehealth group therapy and gathered their suggestions for improving the app. Using a consensual qualitative research approach, we learned that adolescents felt the app increased their comfort with others in therapy and their expectations about the effectiveness of mental health apps. They also indicated that the app prepared them for in-session participation and facilitated out-of-session skills practice. Adolescents had valuable suggestions such as adding app features to facilitate social connectedness between group members and adding appointment reminders in the app. This preliminary study highlights implications for future adjunctive mobile mental health app developers and researchers to increase adolescents’ treatment engagement in mental health services.

Psychological aspects in the problems of infertility among the population of various countries.

The problem of infertility in the 21st century has become extremely important for public health in various countries, affecting the birth rate of the population and the number of humanity. Infertility, affecting approximately 8–12% of the world’s population, is associated with factors such as unwillingness to conceive, the age of the female partner, the number of diseases that affect fertility, etc. Questions of the influence of psychological problems, often regarded as the causes of idiopathic infertility, such as stress, depression, sleep disturbances, are of particular interest to researchers. A review of works on the potential impact of stress and depression on reproductive function showed not only a definite relationship, but also the difficulty of determining causal relationships due to the lack of a single assessment tool. P u r p o s e o f t h e s t u d y : to review foreign scientific literature containing information on the role of psychological factors in the formation of reproductive health disorders of the population, including infertility. M a t e r i a l s a n d m e t h o d s : bibliographic, information and analytical methods and the method of comparative analysis were used. R e s u l t s . Mental health issues are often viewed as the causes of female and male infertility. To improve the quality of life of patients with infertility, it is necessary to address the issues of a causal relationship between psychological health and infertility, psychological health when using IVF and ways to solve the problem of psychologically induced infertility. The risk of developing depression and the relationship of a higher degree of anxiety with clinical pregnancy after IVF are shown. Due to the inaccurate data on the relationship between psychological stress and a decrease in male reproductive function, psychological stress is considered in studies as a risk factor for erectile function and ejaculation in men against the background of a high level of stressful life events, compared with women. Findings. Research has proven the effectiveness of psychological support and cognitive-behavioral group therapy in fertility treatment programs, including interventions accompanying IVF. Studies of psychological ways of correcting depression and positive IVF results have shown the importance of programs for influencing the mental state of couples undergoing treatment for infertility reasons.