The effectiveness of emotion focused therapy on mental pain, experiential avoidance, and forgiveness in women with depression, who experienced a romantic relationship breakup

Introduction: Depression and love trauma syndrome are characterized by changes in mood and emotions and disruptions in performance. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of emotion focused therapy on mental pain, experiential avoidance, and forgiveness in women with depression, who experienced a romantic relationship breakup. Method: In the present study, a semi-experimental, pretest-posttest, control group design with a threemonth follow-up was employed. The statistical population consisted of all females, aged 18-35 years, who experienced a romantic relationship breakdown in Isfahan, Iran, in 2021. Thirty participants were selected via available sampling and randomly divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group participated in 10 sessions of emotion focused therapy (90 minutes per session). For data collection, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-V Axis I Disorders (SCID-I), Love Trauma Syndrome Questionnaire (1999), Beck Depression Inventory (1996), Heartland Forgiveness Scale (2005), Orbach & Mikulincer Mental Pain Scale (2003), and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (2004) were used. Descriptive and inferential data were analyzed in SPSS Version 24, using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: The results indicated significant differences in the mean scores of mental pain, experiential avoidance, and forgiveness between the experimental and control groups (P<0.001). Regarding these variables, 73.1%, 39.7%, and 80.1% of the variance between the groups in the post-test, and 76.2%, 41.8%, and 77.1% of the variance between the groups in the follow-up were attributed to the effects of intervention, respectively. Conclusion: The emotion focused therapy was effective in improving the mental pain, experiential avoidance, and forgiveness of women with depression and who experience relationship breakdown. Therefore; this method can be used to improve the emotional health of these women

Comparison of the Effect of Milk and Pistachio Snacks on Anthropometric Indices in Overweight or Obese Women: A Randomized Crossover Trial

Background

Weight management is the key to prevent and treat the adverse consequences of overweight and obesity. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of consuming milk and pistachio snacks on anthropometric indices in overweight or obese women.

Methods

In this randomized crossover trial, 60 overweight or obese women with a mean age of 24 ± 4.2 years were randomly divided into two groups. Women in the milk group received 200 mL/day low-fat milk while women in the other group received 30 g/day pistachio for 4 weeks. After a 6-day washout period, the participants received a similar intervention in a crossover manner.

Results

Out of the total 60 participants, 52 completed the study. At the end of the study, the weight of women in the milk group significantly decreased (70.8 ± 8.4 vs. 69.9 ± 8.3, P value = 0.001). No statistically significant changes were observed in the weight of participants in the pistachio group (70.3 ± 8.4 vs. 70.6 ± 8.3, P value = 0.06). Further analyses showed a slightly significant beneficial effect on waist circumference (WC) (P-value =0.068) and body mass index (BMI) in the milk group P value = 0.01).

Conclusions

Based on the observed positive effects of milk intake on weight loss in this crossover study, milk consumption may be considered an appropriate snack in weight loss programs in overweight or obese women.

Comparison of Two Validation Nutrition Tools in Hospitalized Elderly: Full Mini Nutritional Assessment and Short-form Mini Nutritional Assessment

Background:

The aim was to determine validity, reliability, and cutoff of full-mini nutritional assessment (MNA) and MNA-short form (SF) also which one was better for the screening of malnutrition in the Iranian hospitalized elderly.

Methods:

In this cross-sectional validation study, 96 hospitalized elderly ≥60 years selected from two hospitals in Tehran. Anthropometric measures (body mass index [BMI], mid-arm circumference [MAC], calf circumference [CC], abdomen, and waist skinfold thickness) and laboratory tests (albumin and hemoglobin levels, and red blood cell count were performed. Nutrition tools (full-MNA and MNA-SF), cognition tool (mini-mental state examination, depression scale (Geriatric Depression Scale15 and activities of daily living (ADL) index (Modified Barthel-ADL) were administered.

Results:

The full-MNA scores were significantly correlated to measures of MAC, BMI, waist, and CC. The MNS-SF scores were significantly related to measures of MAC, waist, and CC. Serum albumin showed a poor correlation with both tools. At cutoff 24 in full-MNA had a sensitivity 75% and specificity 77.8% and the MNA-SF considered 62.5% sensitivity and 65.3% specificity at cutoff 10.50 to detect well-nourished from malnourished subjects. The internal consistencies of both tools were >90%. In exploratory factor analysis, six components found for full-MNA and two components for MNA-SF. Known group validity of full-MNA was reflected significant differences between geriatric patients with expected higher full-MNA scores and patients with expected lower scores (BMI ≥24 vs. BMI <24 or bed ulcer or assisted food intake).

Conclusions:

It seems the Persian version of full-MNA is more appropriate in comparison to MNA-SF for screening malnutrition in the Iranian hospitalized elderly patients.

Effect of Group Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Health-Related Quality of Life in Females With Premenstrual Syndrome

Background

The premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is characterized by intense physical and psychological changes. The most common symptoms include anxiety, depression, fatigue, anger, irritability, sense of being out of control, confusion, change in appetite and sleep, bloating and breast tenderness. The symptoms affect the quality of life of women, and cause impairment in many aspects of life.

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on improvement of health-related quality of life in female students with premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

Materials and Methods

In this study, 40 students with PMS were selected from Shahid Chamran university in Tehran, Iran, and were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. Participants in the intervention group received 10 sessions of CBT. Women in the control group did not receive any treatment.

Results

The results of ANCOVA were statistically significant (P < 0.001), and showed that group CBT improved the quality of life in the experimental group compared to the control group. In addition, the effects of the intervention on quality of life lasted for 2 months.

Conclusions

Cognitive-behavioral therapy can be effective in improvement of health-related quality of life of female students with PMS.