Ahmad Alipour | Payam Nour University (original) (raw)

Papers by Ahmad Alipour

The prevalence of sleep disturbance is high among cancer patients, and the sleep problems tend to... more The prevalence of sleep disturbance is high among cancer patients, and the sleep problems tend to last for years after the end of treatment. As part of a large randomized controlled clinical trial (the MICA trial, NCT00990977) of the effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on psychological and somatic symptoms among breast cancer patients, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of MBSR on the secondary outcome, ' sleep quality ' . Material and methods. A total of 336 women operated on for breast cancer stage I -III 3 -18 months previously were randomized to MBSR (n ϭ 168) or treatment as usual (n ϭ 168); both groups received standard clinical care. The intervention consisted of an eight-week MBSR program (psycho-education, meditation and gentle yoga). Sleep quality was assessed on the Medical Outcome Study sleep scale at baseline, after the intervention and at six-and 12-months ' follow-up. Results. The mean sleep problem scores were signifi cantly lower in the MBSR group than in controls immediately after the intervention. Quantile regression analyses showed that the effect was statistically signifi cant only for the participants represented by the lower percentile of change between baseline and post-intervention, i.e. those who had more sleep problems; the MBSR group had a signifi cantly smaller increase in sleep problems than the control group. After the 12-month follow-up, there was no signifi cant between-group effect of MBSR on sleep quality in intention-to-treat analyses. Conclusion. MBSR had a statistically signifi cant effect on sleep quality just after the intervention but no long-term effect among breast cancer patients. Future trials in which participation is restricted to patients with signifi cant sleep problems are recommended for evaluating the effect of MBSR on sleep quality.

Objective: Emotional intelligence (EI) is a set of competencies that enable us to engage in sophi... more Objective: Emotional intelligence (EI) is a set of competencies that enable us to engage in sophisticated information processing of emotions and emotion-relevant stimuli and to use this information as a guide for thinking and behavior. Prefrontal cortexes (PFC) of brain and related regions have an important role in emotion and emotional regulation. Accordingly, we conducted a study to investigate the relation between EI and performance in Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) (a neuropsychological test, used to evaluate some of the frontal lobe functions).

Background and purpose: Psychiatric disorders as a chronic illness lead to the exacerbation of ph... more Background and purpose: Psychiatric disorders as a chronic illness lead to the exacerbation of physical symptoms and controlling them is very difficult. Respiratory chemical damaged veterans have many different psychiatric problems and low health-related quality of life. In this study, we evaluated the relations of spirometry parameters and health-related quality of life with mental health.

International journal of hematology-oncology and stem cell research, 2014

Despite achievements in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children, its burden on th... more Despite achievements in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children, its burden on the psychosocial status of patients is not well defined yet. This study aims to determine the impact of childhood ALL on emotional and behavioral pattern of the patients compared to healthy peers as assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). We studied 100 children with ALL (aged 6-12 years) and 100 healthy sex/age peers as control group. All ALL cases were treated by chemotherapy alone. After being informed by a psychologist, parents in both groups were asked to complete the CBCL form. Final results were then compared between the two study groups. There were no significant differences between the groups regarding the general characteristics. Failure in school performance, restricted group activity and less social relations were significantly higher in the ALL cases. Total competence was also significantly disturbed for the ALL cases. Social problems, attention problems, aggressive b...

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012

Relationship between handedness and thinking styles in female and male students was evaluated. Tw... more Relationship between handedness and thinking styles in female and male students was evaluated. Two hundred university students were selected. The Edinburgh handedness inventory and Sternberg-Wagner thinking styles inventory were used. Significant relationship was found between handedness and legislative, judicial, executive, hierarchical, monarchic, oligarchic, global, local, liberal, and conservative thinking styles. Left-handed participants used legislative, judicial, and hierarchical thinking styles more frequently. Right-handed individuals used executive and local thinking styles more. There is a relationship between handedness and thinking styles. The differences can be attributed to genetic characteristics, family, culture, and gender.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012

In this research the effects of handedness and depth of processing on the explicit and implicit m... more In this research the effects of handedness and depth of processing on the explicit and implicit memory was evaluated. An experimental research was carried out individually on 80 students using computerized measurement tools and Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. The data were analyzed through Variance Analysis Method. Results showed that the difference between examinees under different depths of processing is significant in explicit memory. Moreover, there was also a significant difference in explicit memory between the three groups. Mixed-handed and left-handed participants had better recall performance but there was no significant difference in implicit memory. Better performance of the mixed-handed in explicit memory recall test indicates that explicit memory function is dependent on the interrelation between the two hemispheres.

Recently the researchers attend to positive psychology instead of attention to negative problems ... more Recently the researchers attend to positive psychology instead of attention to negative problems as disorders and disturbances. Happiness and happy person has spicily characteristics and benefits that the person how is depressed or unhappy hasn't it. In this ...

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2011

The current study documents the presence of cultural differences in the development of finger cou... more The current study documents the presence of cultural differences in the development of finger counting strategies. About 900 Middle-Eastern (i.e., Iranian) and Western (i.e., European and American) individuals reported in an online survey how they map numbers onto their fingers when counting from 1 to 10. The analysis of these bimanual counting patterns revealed clear cross-cultural differences in the hand and finger starting preferences: While most Western individuals started counting with the left hand and associated the number 1 with their thumb, most Middle-Eastern respondents preferred to start counting with the right hand and preferred to map the number 1 onto their little finger. The transition between the two hands during counting showed equal proportions of symmetry-based and spatial continuity-based patterns in the two cultures. Implications of these findings for numerical cognition and for the origin of the wellknown association between numbers and space are discussed.

International Journal of Psychology, 2006

... Ahmad Alipour a * pages 35-41. ... Notes. My special thanks go to Dr Maryam Vafaie, professor... more ... Ahmad Alipour a * pages 35-41. ... Notes. My special thanks go to Dr Maryam Vafaie, professor of psychology in Tarbiat Modarres University, for carefully reading and revising this article. REFERENCES. 1. Arani, T. 1927. Psychology, the science of psyche., Tehran: Heydari. ...

European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 2008

Women with fertility problems experience a higher prevalence of negative emotions than women with... more Women with fertility problems experience a higher prevalence of negative emotions than women without fertility problems. The goal of this study was to compare the effects of psychological intervention with psychotropic medication on the mental health improvement of depressed infertile women. In a randomized controlled clinical trial, 89 depressed infertile women that they were recruited and divided into three groups in three groups: cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), antidepressant therapy, and a control group. Twenty-nine participants in the CBT method received 10 sessions on relaxation training, restructuring, and eliminating negative automatic thoughts and dysfunctional attitudes to infertility. Thirty participants in the pharmacotherapic group took 20mg fluoxetine daily for 90 days. Thirty control subjects did not receive any intervention. All participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) at the beginning and end of the study. Paired t-test, ANOVA, chi(2), and McNemar tests were used to analyze the data. Fluoxetine significantly reduced the mean of three subscale scores of the GHQ anxiety (7.3+/-4.1 vs. 5.1+/-3.2), social function (7+/-2.8 vs. 4.3+/-2), and depression (7.8+/-5.2 vs. 4.4+/-2.2) but could not significantly change the mean score of psychosomatic signs. The CBT method effectively reduced the mean of all four GHQ subscales: anxiety (8+/-4 vs. 3.2+/-2), social function (7.2+/-2.6 vs. 4.7+/-2.5), depression (7.7+/-4.2 vs. 3.6+/-2.7), and psychosomatic signs (7.5+/-3.2 vs. 5.5+/-3.2). Also, both methods significantly reduced the total GHQ scores. Successful treatment of depression in three groups was fluoxetine group 50%, CBT 79.3%, and control 10%. The mean Beck scores among the groups at the beginning and end of study were, respectively: fluoxetine 23.2+/-8.6 versus 14.3+/-8.5 (p<0.001), CBT 20+/-7.9 versus 7.7+/-4.8 (p<0.001), and control 19.8+/-8.5 versus 19.7+/-8.4 (p=0.9). Although both fluoxetine and CBT significantly decreased the mean BDI scores more than the control group, the decrease in the CBT group was significantly greater than the fluoxetine group. Psychotherapy, such as group CBT, was superior to or at least as effective as pharmacotherapy to promote the well being of depressed infertile women.

تحقیقات علوم رفتاری, Dec 1, 2015

Arak Medical University Journal, Dec 15, 2006

Introduction:Final examinations are important stressors in schools and universities that result i... more Introduction:Final examinations are important stressors in schools and universities that result in different psychoneuroimmunological outcomes but the study of these effects on children has not been paid enough attention to. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of final examinations on salivary immunoglubulin A in children.

Kaums Journal, May 15, 2015

Audiology, Apr 15, 2014

Background and Aim: Discourse-based interventions were studied less in speech therapy. This study... more Background and Aim: Discourse-based interventions were studied less in speech therapy. This study aimed to investigate the effects of discourse-based intervention on language disabilities in school-aged children with borderline intelligence quotient (IQ). Methods: In an experimental study, 33 students at the age of 6-13 years with borderline intelligence quotient (17 students for intervention and 16 students for control group) were selected with available sampling. The intervention lasted 14 sessions (every session: 45 minutes) that focused on the structure and content of discourse. Personal narrative was elicited with explanation of the same topic (go to a trip) for pre-and post-test. Results: Mean scores of intelligence quotient, age and education had no difference between the two groups. The intervention caused the increase of compound sentences (p=0.038), types of cohesive conjunctions (p=0.003), and related information (p=0.008) and decrease of ungrammatical sentences (p=0.031). Conclusion: Our findings indicate that participation in the intervention program has a clinically significant effect on the participants' abilities to produce personal narrative. Please cite this paper as: Rovshan B, Masoud Karimlo M, Alipour A, Khoddam A. The effectiveness of discourse-based intervention on personal narrative of school-aged children with borderline intelligence quotient. Audiol. 2014;23(1):87-95. Persian.

تحقیقات علوم رفتاری, Feb 28, 2013

The prevalence of sleep disturbance is high among cancer patients, and the sleep problems tend to... more The prevalence of sleep disturbance is high among cancer patients, and the sleep problems tend to last for years after the end of treatment. As part of a large randomized controlled clinical trial (the MICA trial, NCT00990977) of the effect of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on psychological and somatic symptoms among breast cancer patients, the aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of MBSR on the secondary outcome, ' sleep quality ' . Material and methods. A total of 336 women operated on for breast cancer stage I -III 3 -18 months previously were randomized to MBSR (n ϭ 168) or treatment as usual (n ϭ 168); both groups received standard clinical care. The intervention consisted of an eight-week MBSR program (psycho-education, meditation and gentle yoga). Sleep quality was assessed on the Medical Outcome Study sleep scale at baseline, after the intervention and at six-and 12-months ' follow-up. Results. The mean sleep problem scores were signifi cantly lower in the MBSR group than in controls immediately after the intervention. Quantile regression analyses showed that the effect was statistically signifi cant only for the participants represented by the lower percentile of change between baseline and post-intervention, i.e. those who had more sleep problems; the MBSR group had a signifi cantly smaller increase in sleep problems than the control group. After the 12-month follow-up, there was no signifi cant between-group effect of MBSR on sleep quality in intention-to-treat analyses. Conclusion. MBSR had a statistically signifi cant effect on sleep quality just after the intervention but no long-term effect among breast cancer patients. Future trials in which participation is restricted to patients with signifi cant sleep problems are recommended for evaluating the effect of MBSR on sleep quality.

Objective: Emotional intelligence (EI) is a set of competencies that enable us to engage in sophi... more Objective: Emotional intelligence (EI) is a set of competencies that enable us to engage in sophisticated information processing of emotions and emotion-relevant stimuli and to use this information as a guide for thinking and behavior. Prefrontal cortexes (PFC) of brain and related regions have an important role in emotion and emotional regulation. Accordingly, we conducted a study to investigate the relation between EI and performance in Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) (a neuropsychological test, used to evaluate some of the frontal lobe functions).

Background and purpose: Psychiatric disorders as a chronic illness lead to the exacerbation of ph... more Background and purpose: Psychiatric disorders as a chronic illness lead to the exacerbation of physical symptoms and controlling them is very difficult. Respiratory chemical damaged veterans have many different psychiatric problems and low health-related quality of life. In this study, we evaluated the relations of spirometry parameters and health-related quality of life with mental health.

International journal of hematology-oncology and stem cell research, 2014

Despite achievements in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children, its burden on th... more Despite achievements in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children, its burden on the psychosocial status of patients is not well defined yet. This study aims to determine the impact of childhood ALL on emotional and behavioral pattern of the patients compared to healthy peers as assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). We studied 100 children with ALL (aged 6-12 years) and 100 healthy sex/age peers as control group. All ALL cases were treated by chemotherapy alone. After being informed by a psychologist, parents in both groups were asked to complete the CBCL form. Final results were then compared between the two study groups. There were no significant differences between the groups regarding the general characteristics. Failure in school performance, restricted group activity and less social relations were significantly higher in the ALL cases. Total competence was also significantly disturbed for the ALL cases. Social problems, attention problems, aggressive b...

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012

Relationship between handedness and thinking styles in female and male students was evaluated. Tw... more Relationship between handedness and thinking styles in female and male students was evaluated. Two hundred university students were selected. The Edinburgh handedness inventory and Sternberg-Wagner thinking styles inventory were used. Significant relationship was found between handedness and legislative, judicial, executive, hierarchical, monarchic, oligarchic, global, local, liberal, and conservative thinking styles. Left-handed participants used legislative, judicial, and hierarchical thinking styles more frequently. Right-handed individuals used executive and local thinking styles more. There is a relationship between handedness and thinking styles. The differences can be attributed to genetic characteristics, family, culture, and gender.

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012

In this research the effects of handedness and depth of processing on the explicit and implicit m... more In this research the effects of handedness and depth of processing on the explicit and implicit memory was evaluated. An experimental research was carried out individually on 80 students using computerized measurement tools and Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. The data were analyzed through Variance Analysis Method. Results showed that the difference between examinees under different depths of processing is significant in explicit memory. Moreover, there was also a significant difference in explicit memory between the three groups. Mixed-handed and left-handed participants had better recall performance but there was no significant difference in implicit memory. Better performance of the mixed-handed in explicit memory recall test indicates that explicit memory function is dependent on the interrelation between the two hemispheres.

Recently the researchers attend to positive psychology instead of attention to negative problems ... more Recently the researchers attend to positive psychology instead of attention to negative problems as disorders and disturbances. Happiness and happy person has spicily characteristics and benefits that the person how is depressed or unhappy hasn't it. In this ...

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 2011

The current study documents the presence of cultural differences in the development of finger cou... more The current study documents the presence of cultural differences in the development of finger counting strategies. About 900 Middle-Eastern (i.e., Iranian) and Western (i.e., European and American) individuals reported in an online survey how they map numbers onto their fingers when counting from 1 to 10. The analysis of these bimanual counting patterns revealed clear cross-cultural differences in the hand and finger starting preferences: While most Western individuals started counting with the left hand and associated the number 1 with their thumb, most Middle-Eastern respondents preferred to start counting with the right hand and preferred to map the number 1 onto their little finger. The transition between the two hands during counting showed equal proportions of symmetry-based and spatial continuity-based patterns in the two cultures. Implications of these findings for numerical cognition and for the origin of the wellknown association between numbers and space are discussed.

International Journal of Psychology, 2006

... Ahmad Alipour a * pages 35-41. ... Notes. My special thanks go to Dr Maryam Vafaie, professor... more ... Ahmad Alipour a * pages 35-41. ... Notes. My special thanks go to Dr Maryam Vafaie, professor of psychology in Tarbiat Modarres University, for carefully reading and revising this article. REFERENCES. 1. Arani, T. 1927. Psychology, the science of psyche., Tehran: Heydari. ...

European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 2008

Women with fertility problems experience a higher prevalence of negative emotions than women with... more Women with fertility problems experience a higher prevalence of negative emotions than women without fertility problems. The goal of this study was to compare the effects of psychological intervention with psychotropic medication on the mental health improvement of depressed infertile women. In a randomized controlled clinical trial, 89 depressed infertile women that they were recruited and divided into three groups in three groups: cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), antidepressant therapy, and a control group. Twenty-nine participants in the CBT method received 10 sessions on relaxation training, restructuring, and eliminating negative automatic thoughts and dysfunctional attitudes to infertility. Thirty participants in the pharmacotherapic group took 20mg fluoxetine daily for 90 days. Thirty control subjects did not receive any intervention. All participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) at the beginning and end of the study. Paired t-test, ANOVA, chi(2), and McNemar tests were used to analyze the data. Fluoxetine significantly reduced the mean of three subscale scores of the GHQ anxiety (7.3+/-4.1 vs. 5.1+/-3.2), social function (7+/-2.8 vs. 4.3+/-2), and depression (7.8+/-5.2 vs. 4.4+/-2.2) but could not significantly change the mean score of psychosomatic signs. The CBT method effectively reduced the mean of all four GHQ subscales: anxiety (8+/-4 vs. 3.2+/-2), social function (7.2+/-2.6 vs. 4.7+/-2.5), depression (7.7+/-4.2 vs. 3.6+/-2.7), and psychosomatic signs (7.5+/-3.2 vs. 5.5+/-3.2). Also, both methods significantly reduced the total GHQ scores. Successful treatment of depression in three groups was fluoxetine group 50%, CBT 79.3%, and control 10%. The mean Beck scores among the groups at the beginning and end of study were, respectively: fluoxetine 23.2+/-8.6 versus 14.3+/-8.5 (p<0.001), CBT 20+/-7.9 versus 7.7+/-4.8 (p<0.001), and control 19.8+/-8.5 versus 19.7+/-8.4 (p=0.9). Although both fluoxetine and CBT significantly decreased the mean BDI scores more than the control group, the decrease in the CBT group was significantly greater than the fluoxetine group. Psychotherapy, such as group CBT, was superior to or at least as effective as pharmacotherapy to promote the well being of depressed infertile women.

تحقیقات علوم رفتاری, Dec 1, 2015

Arak Medical University Journal, Dec 15, 2006

Introduction:Final examinations are important stressors in schools and universities that result i... more Introduction:Final examinations are important stressors in schools and universities that result in different psychoneuroimmunological outcomes but the study of these effects on children has not been paid enough attention to. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of final examinations on salivary immunoglubulin A in children.

Kaums Journal, May 15, 2015

Audiology, Apr 15, 2014

Background and Aim: Discourse-based interventions were studied less in speech therapy. This study... more Background and Aim: Discourse-based interventions were studied less in speech therapy. This study aimed to investigate the effects of discourse-based intervention on language disabilities in school-aged children with borderline intelligence quotient (IQ). Methods: In an experimental study, 33 students at the age of 6-13 years with borderline intelligence quotient (17 students for intervention and 16 students for control group) were selected with available sampling. The intervention lasted 14 sessions (every session: 45 minutes) that focused on the structure and content of discourse. Personal narrative was elicited with explanation of the same topic (go to a trip) for pre-and post-test. Results: Mean scores of intelligence quotient, age and education had no difference between the two groups. The intervention caused the increase of compound sentences (p=0.038), types of cohesive conjunctions (p=0.003), and related information (p=0.008) and decrease of ungrammatical sentences (p=0.031). Conclusion: Our findings indicate that participation in the intervention program has a clinically significant effect on the participants' abilities to produce personal narrative. Please cite this paper as: Rovshan B, Masoud Karimlo M, Alipour A, Khoddam A. The effectiveness of discourse-based intervention on personal narrative of school-aged children with borderline intelligence quotient. Audiol. 2014;23(1):87-95. Persian.

تحقیقات علوم رفتاری, Feb 28, 2013