Maral Forghanifar, Omid Omid Garkaz, Sahar Paryab, Maryam Farjamfar, Solmaz Talebi, Mahboobeh Pourheidari,
Volume 20, Issue 4 (Vol.20, No.4, Winter 2025)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Pregnancy is considered a pleasurable event in women's lives, which is accompanied by numerous biological, psychological, and social changes. Among the common consequences of these changes is increased depression. Sexual counseling with pregnant mothers has been suggested as one of the interventions to improve the quality of sexual life and depression by several studies, and this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of sexual counseling based on the BETTER model on depression scores during pregnancy.
Methods: This randomized clinical trial involved 144 participants who referred to the health centers of Bahmai, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, Iran. Participants were randomly assigned to two equal groups of 72, including intervention and control. The intervention group participated in two sessions of 45-60 minutes of sexual counseling based on the BETTER model, and the control group received usual prenatal care. Depression scores were measured using the Edinburgh Depression Questionnaire before, after, and one month after the last counseling session. After collection, the data were entered into SPSS-18 and analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics.
Results: The results showed no significant difference between depression scores in the control and intervention groups before the test. In contrast, a significant difference was observed in pregnancy depression scores between the intervention and control groups immediately after the intervention and one month later. In the intervention group, the mean depression decreased after counseling (6.54±1.32) and maintained the same effect at a later time (5.59±1.47).
Conclusion: Considering the effectiveness of the BETTER model, it is recommended that training in this model and using it to reduce depression during pregnancy be planned.
Zainab Al-Sadat Alavizadeh, Maryam Farjamfar, Shahrabano Goli, Omid Garkaz, Sahar Paryab, Mahbobeh Pourheidari, Mehdi Fathi,
Volume 21, Issue 1 (Vol.21, No.1, Spring 2025)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Healthy sexual relations, as one of the basic components of human life, are one of the signs of physical and mental health that have a significant impact on the quality of individual and marital life.
The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral sleep therapy on the sexual function of married women of reproductive age in Sabzevar city in 2021-2022.
Methods: This study was conducted as a simple randomized clinical trial before and after intervention and one-month follow-up with intervention and control groups. The sample included 70 eligible women. The intervention group (N = 35) received four individual counseling sessions of cognitive-behavioral hypnotherapy, while the control group (N = 35) received no intervention. The research tool included a demographic questionnaire, Hypnotic Induced Profile (HIP), and Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22 software.
Results: Based on the results of sexual function, there was a significant difference between the intervention and control groups after cognitive behavioral hypnotherapy intervention (p<0.001) and one month after the intervention (p<0.001). The analysis of the components of sexual function (sexual desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain) indicated that all components except for pain and satisfaction had significant differences between the intervention and control groups after the intervention and follow-up. The satisfaction component had a significant difference just one month after the intervention (p=0.010).
Conclusion: Cognitive behavioral sleep therapy counseling is efficacious in improving women's sexual function and most of its components. This approach is recommended to be used to enhance women's sexual function. Additionally, conducting more comprehensive studies can be beneficial.
