Masoomeh Hoseinian, Fatemeh Mohammadifar,
Volume 19, Issue 2 (Volume19, Issue 2 2025)
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) on stress among female seventh-grade students with social anxiety in District 3 of Tehran. The present study was applied in terms of purpose and employed a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest and a control group. The statistical population comprised all female seventh-grade students with social anxiety in schools of District 3 of Tehran during the academic year 2025. The sample consisted of 20 students (10 in the experimental group and 10 in the control group) selected based on the cut-off score (50) of the Connor et al. (2000) Social Anxiety Scale and in coordination with school counselors, and were then randomly assigned to the two groups. Data collection instruments included the Connor et al. (2000) Social Anxiety Scale, the Lovibond and Lovibond (1995) Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and the ISTDP intervention protocol based on Davanloo's (1990) approach. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 26 at both descriptive (mean, standard deviation) and inferential (analysis of covariance) levels. The results of analysis of covariance indicated that Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy had a significant effect on reducing stress in female students with social anxiety, and the results of the Bonferroni post hoc test showed that the mean stress scores of the experimental group in the posttest phase were significantly lower than those of the control group.
Ali Yousefi Rudpish, Roya Tavakoli, Fatemeh Mohammadifar, Ziba Poursadegh Gavgani,
Volume 19, Issue 3 (Volume19, Issue 3 2025)
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of an integrated family therapy program (combining cognitive-behavioral and emotion-focused approaches) on reducing depression and improving metacognitive beliefs in spouses. This quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population included all couples who referred with symptoms of depression. A sample of 30 people (15 in the experimental group and 15 in the control group) was selected using a convenient and purposive sampling method and randomly assigned. The research instruments included the Beck Depression Inventory and the Wells and Cartwright-Hatton Metacognitive Questionnaire. The experimental group received the treatment protocol during 10 sessions, and the data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance. The results showed that integrated family therapy significantly and strongly reduced depression and significantly improved metacognitive beliefs in the experimental group compared to the control group. In addition, the results of the follow-up phase showed that the treatment effect remained stable in both dependent variables. Based on the findings, combining cognitive-behavioral and emotion-focused approaches in the form of family therapy can be used as an effective and sustainable intervention to promote mental health and correct dysfunctional cognitive-emotional processes in spouses.
