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Background and Objective: Anxiety disorders are one of the most common psychiatric disorders in childhood. Some studies have identified the household dimension as an important factor in causing these disorders. However, no convincing results have been achieved. The aim of this study was done to determine the frequency of anxiety disorders among of 8-12 years old children in families with single and multiple children.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 732 children (343 boys and 389 girl) referred to Taleghani hospital (except than psychiatric clinic) and offices of pediatricians in Gorgan, north of Iran during 2017. Subjects were recruited using available sampling method. Demographic questionnaire and Spence Anxiety Scale (SCAS) were completed. Variables including separation anxiety, social anxiety, general anxiety, panic attack, agoraphobia, obsession and compulsion, fear of physical damage were evaluated.
Results: In all anxiety subgroups except general anxiety, mean scores were significantly higher in children with multiple children than single children (P<0.05).
Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of anxiety disorders in multi-child families compared to single-child families.

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Background and Objective: Writing about emotions and emotional disturbances, improve the performance of an autonomous system, immune system and physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of narrative writing on stress intensity of attendants’ patients hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs).
Methods: This single blind clinical study was done on 106 attendants’ of adult patients hospitalized in ICUs of Babol city in northern Iran. The patients' attendants were divided into two groups of 53 controls and intervention. Data were collected using stress (DASS21) questionnaire. Intervention was writing narration about feelings, thoughts and experiences related to the hospitalized patient and ICU in a notebook as daily for seven days in the intervention group.
Results: The mean and standard deviation of overall stress intensity following intervention were significantly reduced in the intervention group in comparison with controls (P<0.05) (22.64±7.89 versus 17.15± 8.2). There was significant relationship between intervention and control groups in three areas of stress, anxiety and depression (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Narrative writing reduces the severity of stress in attendants’ patients in ICUs.

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Background and Objective: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a common gastrointestinal disease which is associated with psychosocial factors. IBD is a gastrointestinal disease with chronic recurrence and with an uncontrolled immune response. There is no definitive treatment for IBD and treatment is based on management of inflammatory response during relapse and maintain of recovery. This study was conducted for evaluation of anxiety and depression disorders in patients with IBD in Golestan province, north of Iran during 2017.
Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 117 patients (67 women and 50 men) aged 17-75 years with IBD registered in IBD bank in Golestan Research Center of Gastroenterology& Hepatology (GRCGH), north of Iran during 2017. Diagnosis was made by conventional endoscopy, radiology and histological criteria. Demographic information including age, sex, race and marital status, time of diagnosis until now and duration of treatment are recorded. Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) were used for determine depression and anxiety in these patients.
Results: 80.3% ulcerative colitis and 19.7% Crohn's disease was observed in patients. The mean of total anxiety score in the group with Crohn's disease was higher than ulcerative colitis but there was no significant difference. Total score of depression was similar and not significant in both groups. There was a significant statistical relationship between marital status and anxiety in patients with ulcerative colitis only (P<0.05). As borderline and suspicious status of the patient in married patients is 42.4% and in single patients is 33.3%. Abnormal anxiety state was 31.8% in married patients and not seen in single patients. A positive and significant correlation was seen between total anxiety scale and total depression scale in patients with ulcerative colitis (correlation index: 0.657, P<0.0001) and in patients with Crohn's disease (correlation index: 0.644, P<0.001). Therefore in these patients, if depression increases, anxiety was also increasd. Anxiety observed in 29.8% and 26.1% of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, respectively. Depression disorders observed in 18.1% and 8.7% of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, respectively.
Conclusion: This study showed that the level of anxiety and depression in patients with inflammatory disease is very high.

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Background and Objective: Near to 30% of women experience some type of anxiety disorder in their life, which this anxiety occurs more often in pregnancy and after delivery. Maternal anxiety reduces secretion of oxytocin and lactation. On the other side, the level of maternal stress and anxiety increasingly increases the incidence of postpartum. This study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of postpartum anxiety in Gorgan north of Iran during 2018.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 154 women between 15-45 years old and it has passed at least one week to maximum six weeks since their delivery whom referred to obstetrics clinic of Shahid Sayyad Shirazi hospital in Gorgan, North of Iran during 2018. Demographic check list was used to collect the demographic. Data and Spielberg anxiety scale was used to measure anxiety.
Results: Anxiety disorders after childbirth was 41.99%. The overt anxiety score of postpartum women in severe, moderate, mild and little or none level was 8.4%, 44.2%, 27.9%, 19.5%, respectively. The hidden anxiety score of postpartum women in severe, moderate, mild and little or none level was 9.7%, 48.1%, 24.7%, 17.5%, respectively. The overt anxiety score in employee mothers was significantly higher than housewive mothers (P<0.05). The overt anxiety score in women with marital discord was significantly higher than in women without marital discord (P<0.05). Ther was not significant relationship beween overt and hidden anxiety score with the type of delivery, mother's education, mother's residency and familial income.
Conclusion: The prevalency of postpartum anxiety disorders was high in this region and it was related to job and marital discord.

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Background and Objective: Elimination disorders such as nocturnal enuresis, urinary incontinence during the day, and fecal incontinence are common problems in childhood. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of training mothers with the Adler-Dreikurs approach for reducing anxiety in children with elimination disorders.
Methods: This field trial was done in 2021 on the mothers of 20 children with elimination disorders who had been referred to the Pediatric Gastroenterology Clinic in Gorgan with a pretest, posttest, and follow-up approach. At the physician's discretion, the children's problem had no anatomical origin. Urinary incontinence and fecal incontinence in children were identified only by psychological symptoms and functional elimination disorders. The mothers were divided into an experimental group (n=10) and a control group (n=10). The experimental group received the Adler-Dreikurs training program in 12 sessions of 90 minutes. The research instrument was the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale – Parent (SCAS-P) (2001), which was completed by the mothers in three stages: pretest, posttest, and 2-month follow-up. Sub-components of anxiety including generalized anxiety, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive, specific phobia, and separation anxiety were also measured.
Results: Mean general anxiety scores in the pretest, posttest, and follow-up stages were 69.1±4.04, 45.8±6.1, and 47.8±5.94 in the experimental group and 69±6.58, 67.8±4.89, and 67.6±5.59 in the control group, respectively. There was a significant difference in all subcomponents of child anxiety in the posttest and follow-up stages between the experimental group and the control group (P<0.05). This difference was also present during the follow-up period except for the obsessive-compulsive subcomponent.
Conclusion: Training mothers through the Adler-Dreikurs approach can reduce anxiety in children with elimination disorders.
 

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Background and Objective: School-age children often experience separation anxiety due to being away from their families. A therapeutic approach to address this issue is Theraplay-based play therapy. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of Theraplay-based play therapy on separation anxiety in elementary school girls.
Methods: This randomized controlled trial involved 60 elementary school girls from Aliabad-e-Katoul County, Iran, divided into two groups of 30: A control group (mean age: 8.69±0.71 years) and an intervention group (mean age: 8.9±0.85 years) in 2023. Hahn et al.’s Separation Anxiety Assessment Scale (SAAS) (parental version, 2003) was administered as a pre-test and post-test to assess separation anxiety. The control group received no intervention. The intervention group participated in ten 45-minute Theraplay-based play therapy sessions with their mothers for 10 days.
Results: The mean total separation anxiety score in the pre-test was 82.2±9.27 in the intervention group and 83.53±8.8 in the control group, showing no statistically significant differences. Similarly, there were no significant differences between the two groups in pre-test scores for separation anxiety dimensions. However, the mean total separation anxiety score in the post-test was 78.36±7.87 in the intervention group and 84.03±9.01 in the control group. This difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Furthermore, significant differences were observed in all dimensions of separation anxiety (P<0.05) except for the frequency of events in the intervention group before and after the intervention.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the Theraply-based play therapy effectively reduces separation anxiety in elementary school girls.
 

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Background and Objective: Stroke is considered one of the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide. Excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation, and oxidative/nitrosative stress resulting from cerebral ischemia/reperfusion lead to cell death, cerebral edema, and cognitive-behavioral impairments, such as deficits in short-term and long-term memory. This study was conducted to determine the effect of minocycline on behavioral-cognitive impairments induced by global cerebral ischemia.
Methods: This experimental study was conducted on 56 male Wistar rats (weighing 220–280 g) at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran. The animals were randomly assigned to the following groups: Control, solvent, surgery, surgery + solvent + ischemia/reperfusion, surgery + ischemia/reperfusion, and minocycline-treated groups (administered intraperitoneally at doses of 11.25, 22.50, and 45 mg/kg/bw). At specified intervals following the surgical induction of global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, a surgery procedure and a carotid artery occlusion method were employed for 20 minutes. Following a 30-minute interval post-procedure, the drug or solvent was injected intraperitoneally on day 0. These injections continued for seven consecutive days at a fixed time each day. On day 7, anxiety-like behavior was assessed using the open-field test. Subsequently, the Y-maze test was utilized to evaluate short-term memory, while the Morris water maze (MWM) test was employed to assess spatial long-term memory and reversal memory in the following days.
Results: In the Y-maze test, ischemia culminated in a 33% decrease in short-term memory performance (P<0.05). Minocycline at doses of 22.50 and 45 mg/kg/bw improved short-term memory by 20% and 25% compared to the ischemia group, respectively (P<0.05). In the open-field test, ischemia caused a 66% decrease in time spent in the center of the field, indicating increased anxiety (P<0.05). Minocycline at a dose of 45 mg/kg/bw reduced anxiety by 32% compared to the ischemia group (P<0.05). In the MWM test, ischemia significantly increased the time to find the platform on days 2 and 4 (P<0.05). Minocycline at doses of 22.50 and 45 mg/kg/bw significantly decreased the time to find the platform (P<0.05). In the reversal phase of the MWM test, ischemia led to a decline in long-term memory performance (P<0.05), while minocycline at doses of 11.25, 22.50, and 45 mg/kg/bw significantly improved performance (P<0.05). In the probe trials, ischemia reduced the time spent in the target quadrant by 54% in probe 1 and 47% in probe 2 (P<0.05). Minocycline at 45 mg/kg/bw increased the time spent in the target quadrant by 45% in probe 1 and 34% in probe 2 (P<0.05). No statistically significant changes in motor activity were observed between the groups.
Conclusion: Minocycline, particularly at doses of 22.50 and 45 mg/kg, significantly improves cognitive function, memory, and anxiety without inducing motor activity impairments following cerebral ischemia.