Articles
Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (21906491)14(2)pp. 372-383
Climate change awareness and support for decarbonization among different parts of society are crucial to any initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Iran is one of the top CO2-emitting countries. However, there have been limited efforts in studying the Iranian population’s knowledge of global warming, their concerns about its consequences, and their support for a decarbonized economy. In this work, we study climate change awareness and the support for decarbonization among university students in Isfahan Province. Isfahan is one of the most populated and developed provinces in Iran. Therefore, understanding the awareness and willingness to act among the educated young generation adults in this province is critical in assessing plans to mitigate climate change in Iran. We present a correlation analysis between students’ backgrounds (age, gender, economic background, and level of education) and their concerns about climate change consequences and their support for a transition toward a decarbonized economy. The results show that most surveyed students (N = 388) agree that global warming is a concerning issue. Moreover, most students have taken some actions in their personal lives to reduce their carbon footprint. However, the support for policies to prevent climate change was not as strong among the students. Our analysis shows younger students have higher support for climate actions. Moreover, female students are more aware of the climate crisis and its consequences. © AESS 2024.
Scientific Reports (20452322)14(1)
Alpha oscillations have been implicated in time perception, yet a consensus on their precise role remains elusive. This study directly investigates this relationship by examining the impact of alpha oscillations on time perception. Resting-state EEG recordings were used to extract peak alpha frequency (PAF) and peak alpha power (PAP) characteristics. Participants then performed a time generalization task under transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) at frequencies of PAF−2, PAF, and PAF+2, as well as a sham condition. Results revealed a significant correlation between PAP and accuracy, and between PAF and precision of one-second time perception in the sham condition. This suggests that alpha oscillations may influence one-second time perception by modulating their frequency and power. Interestingly, these correlations weakened with real tACS stimulations, particularly at higher frequencies. A second analysis aimed to establish a causal relationship between alpha peak modulation by tACS and time perception using repeated measures ANOVAs, but no significant effect was observed. Results were interpreted according to the state-dependent networks and internal clock model. © The Author(s) 2024.
International Journal of Cognitive Therapy (19371209)15(4)pp. 465-478
The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention on cognitive emotion regulation and cognitive reactivity in patients suffering from epilepsy. The study employed a quasi-experimental design in which 24 epilepsy patients, administered by the Isfahan Epilepsy Society in Iran, were recruited through the convenient sampling method in 2015. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups of experimental (N = 12) and control (N = 12). The control group was as waitlist. In addition to the demographic information, Garnefski’s Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (2001), Beck’s Depression (1979), Dysfunctional Attitudes (1978), and Automatic Thoughts (1980) were administered to the patients in three stages encompassing pretest, posttest, and the follow-up period (75 days). The collected data were then analyzed with repeated measurement of variance ANOVA. Results showed that MBSR intervention significantly increased the use of positive strategies and decreased the implementation of negative strategies in cognitive emotional regulation (p < 0.05). Moreover, the intervention led to a significant decline in depression, dysfunctional attitudes, and negative automatic thoughts. The results support the idea that mindfulness could positively affect the patient’s cognitive emotion regulation and cognitive responsiveness. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Background: Depression has a profound effect on quality of life (QoL) and is associated with rumination, hopelessness and social difficulties. It is important to explore novel intervention techniques that may reduce depression, and also improve rumination, hope and QoL. Aims: In this brief clinical report, we report the findings of two pilot randomized controlled trials examining the feasibility of a potentially important novel clinical technique (MEmory Specificity Training, MEST) on depression, social problem-solving (Study 1), rumination, hope and QoL (Study 2). Method: In Study 1, Iranian women with depression (n = 24) completed the Beck Depression Inventory-II and Means-Ends Problem-Solving test at baseline, post-training and 2-month follow-up. In Study 2, female students with moderate depression (n = 24) completed the Ruminative Response Scale, Adult Hope Scale and Short-Form Health Survey at baseline and post-training. Assessors were blind to group allocation. In both studies participants were randomly assigned to MEST or a non-active control group. Results: In both studies, MEST was found to be feasible and associated with low drop-out rates and high rates of self-reported patient and group facilitator satisfaction. There was preliminary evidence that MEST may bring about clinical benefit in terms of depression, social problem-solving (Study 1), QoL, rumination and hope (Study 2). Conclusions: MEST is a promising technique in the treatment of depression. © 2020 British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies.
