Background: Cognitive-attentional syndrome (CAS) is one of the primary constructs of depression, the treatment of which is highly challenging because of its high prevalence and the emergence of symptoms such as feelings of sadness, emptiness, and hopelessness. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of behavioral activation (BA) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in CAS in patients with depression. Methods: This quasi-experimental research utilized a pretest, posttest, and two-month follow-up design with a control group. The study population comprised 260 patients with a diagnosis of depression who referred to the psychological centers of Ahvaz in 2019. The sample consisted of 45 patients with depression selected by convenience sampling. We randomly divided the participants into two experimental groups (BA and ACT) and a control group (n = 15 per group). The research instrument included the cognitive-attentional syndrome (CAS-1) questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24.0 with descriptive and inferential statistics, such as mean, standard deviation, and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). Results: In terms of CAS and its components, there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the posttest and follow-up phases (P = 0.0001). Besides, ACT and BA significantly reduced CAS and its components in the posttest phase (P = 0.0001). However, the effectiveness of BA in decreasing CAS and its components remained during the follow-up phase. Furthermore, the results showed that ACT was more effective in reducing attention to threat and metacognitive beliefs during the posttest phase. Conclusions: According to research findings, both BA and ACT are efficient therapies in reducing CAS in patients with depression. Thus, both approaches can be used to strengthen treatment interventions to reduce CAS in patients with depression.

This study delves into investigating Kafka's A Hunger Artist and Rumi's A Man of Baghdad, in which they have dramatized sense of dissatisfaction, its causes and consequences in a symbolic manner. In fact, it has utilized the story of Rumi that its main character is in a condition similar to the main character in Kafka's story. In both stories the main characters somehow are imprisoned in their ideals, and what distinguishes between these two stories is the different viewpoints that they adopt in confronting their ideals. Actually, the limited view of human beings and being detached from reality, and actually being detached from themselves, has been considered the main cause of dissatisfaction. So, the flagrant relationship among human ideals, enjoyment, and suffering is resulted from their intangible borders. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to reveal the human choices in searching for happiness, escaping from the sense of dissatisfaction, and manifold encounters with reality, and ultimately attaching to the ideals that are embedded in the themes of the both stories.

Background: Anger rumination affects adolescents’ mental health and seriously damages their functions in interpersonal and communication situations and their social adjustment function in various family, academic and occupational situations. Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the relation of anger rumination and self-criticism with social maladjustment with the mediating role of psychological flexibility in adolescent boys and girls in Ahvaz (Iran). Materials & Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The statistical population was all secondary school students of Ahvaz in the 2020-21 academic year. The 848 participants (443 girls and 405 boys) aged between 16 and 18 years old, were selected using multistage cluster sampling. The research instruments included the Anger Rumination Scale, Levels of Self-Criticism Scale, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–II, and Social Development Scale. Multigroup SEM was used to compare the proposed model between the girls and the boys. Results: There was a significant direct relationship between anger rumination, self-criticism, psychological flexibility, and social maladjustment (P<0.001). The findings suggested that psychological flexibility played a mediating role in the relationships of anger rumination and self-criticism with social maladjustment (P<0.01). In addition, there was a significant direct relationship between anger rumination and self-criticism to social maladjustment in boys, while this relationship was not significant in girls. Conclusion: The results suggested the desirable goodness of fit of the final model. Therefore, it is suggested to consider the roles of anger rumination, self-criticism, and psychological flexibility in predicting social maladjustment in students while regarding their gender differences in developing and implementing educational programs

Vertical hydraulic conductivity (K v ) of riverbed is an important variable exerting impact on the exchange of water and salts between riverbeds and the surrounding underground water systems. However, there is little detailed information on the spatial variations of the riverbed K v , and there is hardly any information on its timing variations. Time changes in the amount of K v of the riverbed reveal the need for further studies as a potentially significant controlling factor in temporal variations in the amount and spatial patterns of water fluxes and solutes between groundwater and surface waters. With this in view, this study adopted a time series analysis approach to investigate the hydraulic conductivity measured over a year from January 2016 to January 2017 on a weekly basis for a downstream point of the Gorgan Ziarat River, Iran. The researchers first began to verify the hydraulic conductivity data, which was a downward trend during this period, from the particle size distribution of the riverbed for several times over the course of a year. Then, after identifying the existing data trends, autocorrelation and partial autocorrelation coefficients were determined. Finally, an ARMA model (1,1) was identified as the superior model. The mean squared error was used to evaluate the selected model. Moreover, Pert-Manto test was used to test the validity and reliability of the model.

No abstract