Iranian Journal of Psychiatry

Embodied Self and Metaphor Comprehension Predict Comprehension of Boundary Concept in Patients with Schizophrenia

Sun, 14 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0430

Objective: The embodied self refers to the sense of self intertwined with the physical body and its experiences, which is impaired in schizophrenia. Comprehension of metaphors that are cognitive tools to help the comprehension of abstract ideas is also impaired in patients with schizophrenia. The Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) links embodied experiences and metaphors to boundaries, indicating that these disruptions may lead to difficulties in understanding boundaries in schizophrenia. This study explores the role of embodied self and metaphor comprehension in predicting boundary concept comprehension in patients with schizophrenia.

Method: This study employed a cross-sectional correlational design to examine the relationships among variables. The current study recruited 85 Male patients who were diagnosed with schizophrenia (mean age = 47.84 years, SD = 7.58) through a convenience sampling method. All participants completed the Embodied Sense of Self scale, the Montreal Evaluation of Communication (MEC) Metaphor subtest, and a researcher-developed questionnaire assessing comprehension of the boundary concept. Multiple linear regression analyses were applied to assess the associations between the embodied self, metaphor comprehension, and understanding of the boundary concept.

Results: The suggested Model predicts 50% of the total variance (P < 0.01, R2 = 0.50). Metaphor comprehension predicts boundary concept understanding (β = 0.67, P ≤ 0.01, R2 = 0.50), while the embodied self (β = -0.13, P = 0.1, R2 = 0.50) does not.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that impairments in metaphor comprehension are significantly related to the understanding of boundary concepts in schizophrenia, while no such relationship was observed with the embodied self. These results highlight the role of metaphorical cognitions in boundary perception, potentially extending to issues with the self-other boundary and representing relations of self-other boundary disturbances and Metaphorical cognition.

Climate Change Awareness, Eco-Anxiety, and Anger among Yemeni Medical Students.

Sun, 14 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0430

Objective: Climate change is increasingly recognized as a global health threat. However, awareness and psychological responses to climate risks may vary across populations, particularly in conflict-affected regions. This study aimed to assess the levels of climate change awareness, climate anxiety, and aggression among Yemeni medical students.

Method: A descriptive cross-sectional design was utilized for this study. The sample included 212 final-year students from all departments within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Taiz University. Data were collected using validated scales for climate change awareness, the Climate Anxiety Scale, and the Buss–Perry Aggression Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, group comparisons (t-tests and ANOVA), correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression were applied to identify significant relationships and predictors.

Results: More than 60% of the participants demonstrated poor awareness of climate change, and over 50% reported low levels of climate anxiety. Moderate aggression scores were observed in more than half of the respondents. While aggression showed significant associations with sex and climate anxiety, no statistically significant relationship was found between climate change awareness and anxiety.

Conclusion: Despite the environmental vulnerability of Yemen, medical students show limited awareness and low psychological response to climate change. This may reflect a focus on immediate survival needs in conflict-affected settings. Integrating climate-health education and psychological preparedness into medical curricula is essential to empower future healthcare providers in addressing climate-related health challenges.

Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Comprehensive Autism Trait Inventory (CATI)

Karim Abdolmohammadi, Asgar Alimohamadi, Jafar Samari Safa — Sun, 14 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0430

Objective: The present study aimed to culturally adapt and psychometrically evaluate the Comprehensive Autism Trait Inventory (CATI) for use within the Iranian society, thereby facilitating cross-cultural research on autistic traits.

Method: This cross-sectional survey included 1,013 Iranian adults (70.1% female), aged 15 to 50 years (M = 24.91, SD = 5.47), recruited through convenience sampling. The translation of the CATI into Persian was developed based on a carefully implemented forward and backward translation procedure through bilingual experts. Discrepancies were resolved by a panel of psychologists and psychometricians to ensure semantic and conceptual equivalence. The broad autism phenotype questionnaire (BAPQ), a tool designed to measure traits associated with the broad autism phenotype, was also administered to measure convergent validity. In order to assess internal consistency, Cronbach’s alpha was calculated, while construct validity was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Pearson correlations with BAPQ scores.

Results: CFA confirmed that all items aligned meaningfully with their intended factors, supporting the persian CATI’s six-factor structure and indicating a good model fit (CFI = 0.93; RMSEA = 0.047; χ² / df = 3.25; GFI = 0.90; SRMR = 0.059). The average variance extracted (AVE) was 0.45 for both the components and the overall scale. Correlations between CATI subscales and the BAPQ ranged from 0.03 to 0.40, demonstrating acceptable convergent and divergent validity. The reliability of the six-factor model was verified by Cronbach’s alpha (0.84) and McDonald’s omega (0.82).

Conclusion: The Persian version of the CATI shows sound psychometric properties for evaluating autistic traits in the Iranian population. These findings support utility of CATI in research settings and highlight the importance of culturally adapted assessment tools for improving diagnosis and intervention across diverse contexts.

Environmental Risk Factors of Conduct Disorder: An Overview of Meta-Analyses

Sun, 14 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0430

Background: Conduct disorder is one of the most common disorders of childhood and adolescence. This disorder imposes high costs for the individual, family and community. Understanding the risk factors associated with conduct disorder can portray a comprehensive picture of it. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the risk factors related with conduct disorder.

Methods: We included meta-analyses that reported one or more risk factors of conduct disorder. We searched PubMed and Scopus until June 25, 2024. Two authors assessed the quality of the included studies independently using the ROBIS. Two authors also extracted relevant data independently.

Results: We found 9 articles that met the inclusion criteria, from which information of 13 meta-analyses was extracted. The risk factors identified by the meta-analyses were as follows: severe psychiatric disorders in parents, postnatal exposure to second-hand smoke, atopic dermatitis , being children of alcoholics, prenatal alcohol exposure, maternal smoking during pregnancy, maternal alcohol use during pregnancy, and overweight/obesity.

Conclusions: Drawing on 13 meta-analyses, this study provides a comprehensive synthesis of the risk factors associated with conduct disorder. The findings can inform policymakers and healthcare professionals for developing targeted interventions, such as public health campaigns and support programs for at-risk families, in order to mitigate these risks. Furthermore, this study highlights the gaps in the existing literature, including the reliance on older studies and methodological limitations, paving the way for future research to address these shortcomings and strengthen the evidence base.

Mental Health Consequences of War: Lessons from Recent Conflicts and Implications for All, Specifically Iranians

Mohammad Reze Mohammadi, Ali Khaleghi — Sun, 14 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0430

War represents one of the most catastrophic human experiences, leaving indelible marks not only on the physical landscape but on the psychological well-being of entire populations. War and armed conflict have profound and lasting impacts on mental health, affecting combatants and civilians alike. The recent 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel, which saw aerial bombardments of some Iranian cities resulting in over 1,070 fatalities—70% of whom were civilians—has brought into sharp focus the urgent need to address the mental health consequences of modern warfare. While the immediate physical destruction is visible and quantifiable, the psychological trauma inflicted on survivors often remains hidden, yet its effects can persist for decades, even across generations.