Hemophilia is a chronic disease which due to several reasons, including frequent absences from school and reduced motivation, leads to the incident of test anxiety among patients. This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy in test anxiety among students with hemophilia. The current study followed a pretest, posttest, and two-month followup quasi-experimental design with an experimental group and a control group. This study had a statistical population including all senior elementary and junior high school students with hemophilia who had medical records in Zahedan Hemophilia Society. After screening them, 60 students were selected and randomly assigned to two 30-person groups of experimental and control. Since some patients refused to continue taking part in this study, the sample decreased to 57 people. Measurement tool used in this study was Sarason Test Anxiety Scale. Positive psychotherapy was held in 8 sessions (two 120-minute sessions per week) and a follow-up was conducted two months after completing the psychotherapy. Data were analyzed using a repeated measure analysis of variance. Results showed that positive psychotherapy significantly reduced test anxiety among the students with hemophilia. Moreover, the stability of the effects of this therapy in the follow-up was confirmed. The obtained results indicated that policymakers should pay a lot of attention to this new positive psychological training and its effects on reducing test anxiety.

No abstract

Hemophilia is a genetic bleeding disorder results from a deficient in synthesis of a protein needed for blood clotting. The number of people with hemophilia in the United States is about 20,000. Iran having the ninth largest Hemophilia population in the world. Hemophilia lead to many psychological and physiological complications. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on the Life expectancy as one of psychological aspects in hemophilia students. Methods: The present study is a quasi-experimental interventional study along with experimental and control groups. The subjects were evaluated in the pre-test, post-test and two-month follow-up. Study population including all senior elementary and junior high school students with hemophilia who had medical records in Zahedan Hemophilia Society. After screening, 60 students were selected and randomly assigned into two 30-member groups of experimental and control. The research tool was Snyder Children's Hope Scale questionnaire (1991). Positive psychotherapy workshop was held in 8 sessions (Two 120 minutes sessions weekly) and followup test was done two months after the end of the last training session. The obtained information was analyzed through repeated measurement variance. Results: The results show significant effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on increasing Life expectancy in patients with hemophilia and indicated the durability of this therapy in the follow-up stage. In this research we highlighted the need for training and using positive psychotherapy as a new, safe and effective psychological therapy for student suffering Hemophilia. Conclusion: We emphasize for the implication of this study result and method by clinicians and policy makers to manage psychological problems of students suffering from Hemophilia.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) tries to increase the psychological acceptance of individuals during mental experiences (thoughts, emotions, etc.) and to decrease their ineffective control of behaviors. This study aimed to determine the impact of ACT on the psychological flexibility of students with thalassemia in Zahedan City, Iran. Methods: The present study was a quasi-experimental interventional study with experimental and control/ waiting groups. The subjects were evaluated in the pre-test, post-test, and two-month follow-up stages. The statistical population included all students with thalassemia studying in senior elementary and junior high schools in Zahedan. A total of 60 volunteers were selected and randomly assigned into two groups (control and experimental), each one including 30 subjects. The research tool was the Psychological Flexibility Test. ACT was conducted during 8 sessions (Two 120-minute sessions per week during one month), and a follow-up test was taken two months after the end of the intervention. The study data were analyzed through repeated measures analysis of variance. Results: The results indicated a significant effect of ACT on increasing the cognitive flexibility in patients with thalassemia and supported the stability of this psychotherapy at the follow-up stage (F=63.823, P=0.001). Conclusion: ACT can be used to increase cognitive flexibility and to treat psychological disorders. Comparing cognitive flexibility scores of the samples in the pre-test, post-test, and follow up stages suggest that ACT is an effective method for improving cognitive flexibility in students with thalassemia major.