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Objective: Most of the research conducted so far on effective treatments for social anxiety disorder has used traditional cognitive-behavioral therapies. However, recent pathological theories emphasize the role of emotion regulation in the formation and continuation of the symptoms of this disorder. Thus, this study was conducted to compare the efficacy of emotionfocused therapy (EFT) and the unified trans-diagnostic treatment for individuals diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test-post-test control group design and a three-month follow-up. The statistical population of the study included all the people aged 18-40 years who were diagnosed with social anxiety disorder from September to March 2021 in Tehran City, Iran. A total of 21 patients were selected using purposive sampling and assigned to three groups (two experimental groups and one control group (7 patients in each group). The experimental groups 1 and 2 received EFT in twenty 120-minute sessions (one session every week) and the unified trans-diagnostic treatment in twelve 120-minute sessions (one session every week), respectively, while the control group did not receive therapy intervention during this period. The brief fear of negative evaluation scale (BFNE) and the fear of positive evaluation scale (FPES) were used to collect data. The repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data in SPSS software, version 24. The significance level of the research was considered to be a=0.05. Results: The results indicated that both EFT and trans-diagnostic treatment effectively reduced the fear of positive evaluation, but unified trans-diagnostic treatment had no significant impact on reducing the fear of negative evaluation in this group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Accordingly, EFT and unified trans-diagnostic treatment were effective and practical methods to reduce the fear of positive and negative evaluation in this group. It is recommended that psychotherapists and counselors employ these approaches in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders associated with -diverse communicative problems and Asperger’s syndrome. The aim of this study was to compare alexithymia and personality factors in students with and without ASD. Methods: In this study 120 male students with and without ASD were included. All the students were from Rasht city, studying in the academic year 2016-2017. The students were asked to take up Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and Big Five Questionnaire for Children (BFQ-C). statistical comparison within the variables were carried out by Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The probability value less than 0.05 considered to be significant. Results: The MANOVA of results showed a significantly higher mean scores of alexithymia components and neuroticism in the students with ASD. However, the mean scores of agreeableness, extraversion, openness to experience and conscientiousness were significantly lower in the students with ASD (P<0.001). Discussion: The results garnered from this study implied that alexithymia and personality factors were significantly influenced by ASD. The findings of this research persuaded the pivotal implication of aforesaid facts on education and mental health of the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Considering the negative effect of self-handicapping on both mental and physical health and the positive effect of self-efficacy on success and efficacy of people, this research has been conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of meta-cognitive skills training on self-handicapping and self-efficacy of students. Methods: This research is an experimental study with pre/post-test, and 28 student participants were allocated to experimental and control groups randomly (14 persons per group). Jones and Rhodewalt Self-Handicapping Scale, Sherer and Maddux Self-Efficacy Scale, and Raven standard Progressive Matrices Test had been utilized for data collecting. The meta-cognitive training program was provided to the experimental group within two months in six sessions while students of the control group did not receive any training. Results: Covariance analysis proposes that meta-cognitive training has a significant effect on decreasing self-handicapping in experimental group; however, there are no significant differences in the results of self-efficacy post-test in both experimental and control groups. Discussion: Findings of the present study suggest that meta-cognitive skills training- as an effective training program- could be used for decreasing students’ self-handicapping. But with regards to the effectiveness of meta-cognitive skills training on self-efficacy, it is revealed that more variables are involved, and it needs further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]