Background: Although the life expectancy of many cancer patients has increased due to the increasing progress of medical science today, however, since this disease is still the cause of a high percentage of deaths, it is always accompanied by fears, stress and reduced adaptation. On the other hand, health resources are increasingly highlighting spirituality and its importance in health and illness. Objectives: This research was conducted in order to investigate the effect of existential psychotherapy using the Yalom method using the story therapy approach on the level of anxiety, stress, depression and life expectancy in women with cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Methods: The present study was an experimental study based on pre-test-post-test randomized group design with a control group with a sample of women with cancer undergoing chemotherapy who referred to one of the private clinics in Karaj city in Iran. 24 people were selected by random sampling method after the initial evaluation and were randomly replaced in two groups of 12 people, control and experimental. After that, all the subjects were tested by means of research tools, including Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale (DASS-21) and Snyder’s Hope Scale (SHS). The people of the experimental group participated in existential group therapy interventions during 8 sessions (tow-hours sessions), while the control group did not receive any intervention. At the end, the tests were conducted again for all 24 people and after collecting the questionnaires, the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS and the statistical test of covariance analysis. Results: The findings indicated that Yalom existential group psychotherapy led to a significant difference between the groups in the level of depression (P < 0.0001), stress (P < 0.0001), anxiety (P < 0.0001) and the level of Life expectancy (P < 0.0001) in women with cancer undergoing chemotherapy was compared to the control group. Conclusions: The obtained results indicate that group psychotherapy using the story therapy approach has been significantly effective in reducing depression, anxiety and stress and increasing the life expectancy of women with cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

The aim of the present study is to predict marital satisfaction in employed women based on personality traits and sense of humor. This study is a correlational study. The statistical populations include all of the employed women in high schools of District 1 of Arak city (Iran). The sample and the sample size were selected randomly in clustering form among all schools of Arak city the five of which were chosen in which 250 employed women were selected as sample size. In this study, MIS, NEO personality Inventory and Martin's Humor Test were used. To test the hypotheses and homogeneity of variances, Pearson correlation test and Levin test were used respectively. By SPSS software, the obtained data was analyzed using Pearson Coefficient. The results of this study demonstrated that there was a significant relationship between marital satisfaction and humor. This could be concluded that an increase in personality traits and sense of humor lead to an increase in marital satisfaction in employed women.

The present study aims to investigate the role of cognitive emotion regulation and thought control strategies in the connection between attachment styles and domestic violence in couples in Arak. The population consists of married students in public and Azad universities in 2014-2015 academic years. The sample size of 361 people was estimated using Krejcie and Morgan sampling table . To have a representative sample and to prevent possible loss of participants, the sample of 380 people is selected using multistage cluster sampling method. The study is correlational. Three tools including Garnefski et al. (2001) cognitive emotion regulation, Collins & Read's Attachment Questionnaire (1990) and domestic violence questionnaire have been used in the present study. Data were analyzed using SPSS software and Pearson's correlation coefficient method. The results showed that cognitive emotion regulation strategies and thought control strategies significantly affected the connection between attachment styles and domestic violence in student couples which led to the confirmation of the research hypothesis.

Background: Despite facing new opportunities, entering a university and changing family life into student life create tension. This tension generates psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, and homesickness for the students. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of resilience in homesickness among students of Arak University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In this cross-sectional research, the study population included all bachelor students of Arak University of Medical Sciences in 2018. In total, 205 students were randomly selected to participate in the study. For data gathering, the homesickness questionnaire by Zare and Aminpour and the Connor-Davidson resilience scale were used. Pearson correlation and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Results: The results indicated a significant relationship between homesickness and resilience (P = 0.000, R =-0.62). Furthermore, resilience could explain 38.9% of the variance of homesickness in the students. Conclusions: This study indicated a relationship between homesickness and resilience among students of medical sciences. Thus, it is recommended to provide students with resilience training at the beginning of university education.