Investigating executive functioning and episodic future thinking in Iranian women with breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: This study examined executive functioning and episodic future thinking among Iranian women with breast cancer. METHOD: We recruited 40 healthy female community volunteers and 80 females with breast cancer (either currently undergoing chemotherapy n = 40 or not undergoing chemotherapy n = 40). Participants were assessed using cognitive tasks that assessed executive functioning and episodic future thinking and a measure of cancer-related fatigue. RESULTS: Both cancer groups had poorer performance than controls on all measures of executive functioning and episodic future thinking. Those undergoing chemotherapy had poorer performance on all measures of executive functioning than those not undergoing chemotherapy. Cross-sectional mediation analyses revealed cancer-related fatigue had a significant mediator role between cancer group and executive functioning and episodic future thinking. CONCLUSION: Those with breast cancer, particularly those undergoing chemotherapy, may be experiencing cognitive difficulties. These cognitive concerns should be considered by health teams as addressing these impairments may assist in improving quality of life and treatment adherence.

Distinguishing between Iranian adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder and high and low depressive symptoms: The role of cognitive and emotional variables.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the role of cognitive and emotional variables in distinguishing between adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and either low or high symptoms of depression. METHOD: Adolescents (N = 90) aged between 13 and 17 years (Mage = 15.53, SD = 1.13) who had been exposed to an earthquake in Iran and had (a) not developed PTSD (n = 30), (b) developed PTSD with low symptoms of depression (n = 30), and (c) developed PTSD with high symptoms of depression (n = 30) completed a clinical interview, cognitive tasks, and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. RESULTS: We found that those with PTSD had poorer performance on executive functioning (inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory), episodic future thinking, and attention bias and had greater maladaptive emotion regulation strategies than healthy controls. Among those with PTSD, adolescents with high symptoms of depression performed worse on measures of executive function, attention bias, episodic future thinking, and the emotion regulation strategies of rumination and catastrophizing than adolescents with low depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Exploring these cognitive and emotion difficulties can assist in further understanding PTSD and depression and improve targeted interventions among adolescents. This is of particular relevance in Iran where the need for policies and interventions targeting PTSD has been identified. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Validation of the Farsi Version of the Adult Concentration Inventory for Assessing Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome.

The internal and external validity of cognitive disengagement syndrome (CDS) relative to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-inattention (ADHD-IN) was evaluated herein with Farsi-speaking adults. A total of 837 Iranian adults assessed throughout the whole country (54.72% women, Mage = 23.85; SD = 7.05; age range = 18 to 58 years; 75% between 18 and 24 years old; reporting higher educational training) completed self-report measures of CDS, ADHD-IN, ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), depression, anxiety, and stress. Seven of the fifteen CDS symptoms showed a good convergent (high loadings on the CDS factor) and discriminant (higher loadings on the CDS factor than the ADHD-IN factor) validity. CDS also showed stronger first-order and unique associations with depression than ADHD-IN, whereas ADHD-IN showed stronger first-order and unique associations with ADHD-HI and anxiety than CDS. The first-order and unique associations of CDS and ADHD-IN did not differ in relation to stress. This study is the first to support the validity of the self-report of assessing CDS symptoms with the Adult Concentration Inventory with Farsi-speaking individuals residing in Iran, thus further strengthening the transcultural validity of the CDS, and paving the way for further transcultural research in the field of CDS among adults.

Feasibility and acceptability of written exposure therapy in addressing posttraumatic stress disorder in Iranian patients with breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of written exposure therapy (WET) in reducing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in Iranian women with breast cancer. Secondary aims included examining the influence of WET on quality of life (QoL), overgeneral memory and illness perceptions. METHOD: Forty-six females with breast cancer and clinical symptoms of PTSD referred to the Razi Hospital in Rasht, Iran were randomly assigned to either WET (n = 23) or control (n = 23) groups. WET is a 5-session low-intensity exposure-based intervention for treating PTSD. The control group had no additional contact. Measures assessing PTSD, illness perceptions, overgeneral memory, and QoL were administered at baseline, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: Acceptability of WET was high; all participants completed all WET sessions. At post-intervention, 95.65% of the WET group met criteria for reliable change and 100% met criteria for minimal clinically important difference (MCID) and clinically significant change in PTSD symptom improvement. At follow-up, all WET participants met criteria for reliable change, MCID and clinically significant change in PTSD symptom improvement. No participants in the control group met reliable change, MCID or clinically significant change. The WET group had improved QoL and memory specificity and decreased threatening illness perceptions at post-intervention and follow-up when compared to controls. CONCLUSION: WET may be a useful intervention for use with breast cancer patients with PTSD symptoms and may be an important adjunct to medical and pharmacological treatments, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This study indicates further research in this area is warranted.

Psychometric properties of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, second edition (BRIEF2) self-report form in Iranian adolescents.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the psychometric properties of a Persian translation of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, Second Edition (BRIEF2) Self-Report form. METHOD: Participants were 589 typically developing adolescents (336 girls and 253 boys), ages 11-18 years old (M = 15.16; SD = 2.04), in Iran. They completed the Persian version of the BRIEF2 Self-Report form and Teenage Executive Functioning Inventory (TEXI). The Persian translated BRIEF2 psychometric properties were examined via internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent validity via associations with TEXI scores, and internal structure using structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate fit of the three-factor structure from the original English version BRIEF2. RESULTS: Findings indicated the Persian version of BRIEF2 Self-Report form yielded scores with robust reliability, with internal consistency ranging from .87 to .93 and test-retest correlations ranging from .89 to .96, and adequate convergent validity, with correlations with the TEXI ranging from .48 to .79. SEM revealed that a three-factor solution was the best fitting model for the seven subscales of the Persian BRIEF2. CONCLUSION: These findings support the clinical use of the Persian BRIEF2 in Iranian adolescents, including the interpretation of the BRIEF2 three-factor structure, as well as the multidimensional nature of executive functions.

Psychometric properties of the behavior rating inventory of executive function, second edition (BRIEF2) in a sample of children with ADHD in Iran.

This study investigated the psychometric properties of a Persian translation of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function(BRIEF2) in 253 children with ADHD in Iran (137 boys, 116 girls)ages 8 to 12 years old (M = 10.04; SD = 1.42). The parents of the children completed the Persian BRIEF2 and the Childhood Executive Functioning Inventory (CHEXI). The findings indicated that the Persian version of BRIEF2 had good reliability (internal and test-retest) and satisfactory to good validity (convergent and construct). With respect to its construct validity, confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a three-factor solution was the best model fit for the nine subscales of the BRIEF2, which supports the valid interpretation of the three BRIEF2 indexes in the Persian BRIEF2. These findings support the clinical relevance of the Persian BRIEF in Iranian children with ADHD, as well as the multidimensional nature of executive functions.

Investigating cognitive control and cognitive emotion regulation in Iranian depressed women with suicidal ideation or suicide attempts.

OBJECTIVE: This study compared cognitive control (working memory, interference control, perseveration) and cognitive emotion regulation among Iranian women with depression who had attempted suicide, had only suicidal ideation, and healthy controls. METHOD: Participants (N = 75) completed a clinical interview, cognitive control tasks, and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire. RESULTS: Those with suicidal ideation or previous attempts had poorer cognitive control and cognitive emotion regulation than controls. Furthermore, those who had attempted suicide had poorer cognitive control and reported greater use of self-blame, rumination, and catastrophizing, and less use of acceptance, than those with suicidal ideation only. There was an indirect effect of cognitive control deficits on suicidality through cognitive emotion regulation (self-blame, acceptance, rumination, catastrophizing). CONCLUSIONS: Exploring these cognitive deficits and difficulties can assist in further understanding the risk factors for suicidality and improve targeted interventions. This is of particular relevance in Iran where the need for policies and interventions targeting the prevention of suicide has been identified.

Investigating Emotion in Malay, Australian and Iranian Individuals with and without Depression.

This study investigated the influence of culture and depression on (1) emotion priming reactions, (2) the recall of subjective experience of emotion, and (3) emotion meaning. Members of individualistic culture (Australia, n = 42) and collectivistic culture (Iran, n = 32, Malaysia, n = 74) with and without depression completed a biological motion task, subjective experience questionnaire and emotion meaning questionnaire. Those with depression, regardless of cultural group, provided significantly fewer correct responses on the biological motion task than the control group. Second, the collectivistic control groups reported greater social engaging emotion than the Australian control group. However, the three depressed groups did not differ culturally. The Australian depressed group reported significantly greater interpersonally engaging emotion than the Australian control group. Third, the collectivistic groups reported significantly greater social worth, belief changes and sharing of emotion than the individualistic group. Depression did not influence these cultural effects. Instead we found that those with depression, when compared to controls, considered emotions as subjective phenomena, that were qualifying for relationships with others, and associated with greater agency appraisals. The applicability of the biocultural framework of emotion in depression was considered.