Objective: Acceptance and commitment therapy has been used to treat anxiety disorders recently. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy for psychological symptoms in students with social anxiety disorder, including difficulty in emotion regulation, psychological flexibility based on experiential avoidance, self-compassion, and external shame. Methods: This study was a semi-experimental clinical trial. Twenty four students with social anxiety disorder were randomly divided into two groups after initial evaluations: an experimental group (12 subjects) and a control group (12 subjects). The experimental group received 12 treatment sessions based on a protocol of acceptance and commitment therapy for anxiety disorders, and the control group was put on a waiting list. Self-Compassion (SCS), Difficulty in Emotion Regulation (DERS), External Shame (ESS), Social Anxiety (SPIN), and Acceptance and Action (AAQ-II) questionnaires were used to assess participants. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: Acceptance and commitment therapy was shown to be effective at the post-test and follow up stages for reducing external shame, social anxiety, and difficulty in emotion regulation and its components, and for increasing psychological flexibility and self-compassion (p < 0.05). The largest effect size of treatment was for increase of psychological flexibility and the lowest efficacy was for the components "difficulty in impulse control" and "limited access to emotional strategies" at the post-test and follow-up stages, respectively. Conclusion: Acceptance and commitment therapy may be an appropriate psychological intervention for reducing the symptoms of students with social anxiety disorder and helping them to improve psychological flexibility. Emotion and related problems can be identified as one of the main targets of this treatment. Clinical trial registration: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials, IRCT20180421039369N1.

: Background: Earthquake is one of the most common natural disasters. A 7.3" Richter earthquake happened at 5km from the town of Ezgeleh in Kermanshah province in 2017, which caused several physical and mental injuries. The present study was conducted to investigate the sleep quality and mental health difficulties of those affected by earthquake and predict sleep quality according to severity of symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in the township of Sarpol-e Zahab, which suffered the most damage. Methods: A total of 999 earthquake survivors living in temporary tents and camps were assessed in terms of sleep quality and pattern using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and severity of psychological symptoms using Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale 10 days after the disaster. Results: According to the results, poor sleep quality was experienced by 20.61% of survivors, severe stress by 60.5%, and severe depression by 41.5%, and moderate anxiety by 74%. The subjective quality, efficiency, daily dysfunction, use of hypnotics, and total sleep quality had a positive and significant relation with severity of experienced depression, anxiety, and stress. Sleep latency had a positive and significant relation only with stress, and sleep disturbance with depression and stress. Conclusions: Severity of depression, anxiety, and stress can predict changes in total sleep quality of those affected by earthquake. Stress can be considered as the sole predictor of total sleep quality and the only factor that can explain components of sleep quality. The implications of the present study are debatable.

Objectives: Although some studies have shown the effectiveness of music therapy on insomnia (secondary insomnia), no study has so far investigated the effectiveness of music therapy with Persian traditional music on the treatment of primary insomnia. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of music therapy with Persian traditional music on the treatment of primary insomnia.Methods: This study was a controlled clinical trial with 30 participants with primary insomnia. Participants were randomly assigned to intervention (N = 15) and control (N = 15) groups. Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), insomnia severity index (ISI), and depression, anxiety and stress scales (DASS-21) were used to evaluate the intervention results. Anxiety, stress, depression, insomnia and sleep quality were measured before and six weeks after the intervention.Results: One-way ANCOVA results showed that music therapy with Persian traditional music significantly improved insomnia, sleep quality and depression in the intervention group. There was however no significant difference between the two groups in terms of anxiety and stress. Conclusions:Persian traditional music can be used as an effective and cost-effective way to improve sleep quality and reduce depression associated with primary insomnia.

Introduction: The pattern of brain waves in primary insomniacs is different from healthy subjects. Studies have shown that binaural beats can alter the pattern of brain waves in healthy individuals, but the efficacy of binaural beats in altering the pattern of brain waves in primary insomniacs has not yet been investigated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of theta binaural beat on the absolute power of theta activity in primary insomniacs. Methods: This study was a randomized clinical trial with experimental and control groups. Primary insomniacs received theta binaural beats in the experimental group and white noise in the control group. Their brain waves were recorded by EEG for 25 minutes, the first 5 minutes without stimulus (1st block), 15 minutes after receiving stimulus (binaural beat or white noise), and the last 5 minutes without stimulus (5th block). Matlab software (R2019a), EEGLAB toolbox and SPSS-24 were used for data analysis. Results: The absolute power of theta activity in the experimental group was significantly higher in the last block comparing to the first block in all brain lobes (P< 0.05). The largest changes in theta activity were in temporal and parietal lobes, and the last one was in prefrontal lobe. In the control group, none of the brain lobes showed significant difference in the last block compared to the first block. Conclusion: Theta binaural beat can alter the absolute power of theta activity in primary insomniacs. The implications of the study are discussed.

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