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Introdution: Incidence of childhood asthma and diabetes type 1 is being increased in children. Considering evidences which indicate a probable correlation between maternal depression and childhood chronic physical illness, this study aimed to compare relative frequency of depression in mothers with asthmatic, diabetic and normal children and to assess the time priority between maternal depression and the onset of the child’s illness. Methods and  Materials: In a cross-sectional study, mothers of diabetic children, asthmatic children & normal children were enrolled in 3 groups of participants, each consisting of 100 mothers. Using the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II), depression was assessed in all participants & mothers of ill children who were detected to be depressed according to the inventory, were referred to a psychiatrist for a DSM.IV clinical interview for approving the diagnosis, assessing co morbidities & evaluating the onset-time of the first depression episode. Relative frequency of depression was compared in the three groups & the time priority between onset of maternal depression and onset of child illness were compared between the two groups of mothers with chronically ill children. Data were analysed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA), Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests, running the SPSS-11 software. Findings: Relative frequency of depression in mothers of normal children, diabetic children & asthmatic children was reported to be 16%, 30% and 27% respectively. Mothers with ill children had a significantly higher rate of depression compared to mothers of normal children (P Discussion: The higher rate of depression among mothers with chronically ill children & the higher rate of time priority of maternal depression relative to the child’s disease onset in mothers of asthmatic children indicate the necessity of preventive mental health programming for mothers with chronically ill children. It also sets a probable causal link between maternal depression & childhood asthma forth for discussion & further investigation. 

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Background & Aims: Psychological interventions may improve the quality of life in asthmatic patients through affecting the bio-psycho-social dimensions. This study is aimed to assess the efficacy of cognitive behavioral stress management (CBSM) group education on improvement of quality of life in asthmatic patients. Method& Materials: This was an experimental study using randomized pre-, post- and follow-up tests. Twenty-four patients already diagnosed with asthma were randomly selected and assigned to two groups. They were all administered the Quality Of Life questionnaire for Asthmatic patients (Asthma-QOL) before and after the intervention and again after the follow-up period. CBSM group education was directed for the experimental group in eight sessions. Meanwhile both groups were kept under their routine medical treatments and the control group was registered in the waiting list for the CBSM education group. Data was analyzed using ANCOVA. Results: After the intervention, the mean QOL-Asthma score in the experimental group showed a significantly higher increase when compared with that of the control group(P < 0.05). Conclusion:The results demonstrated the effectiveness of CBSM group education on the improvement of quality of life in female asthmatic patients. 

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Aim and Background: Asthma is a chronic illness that can severely affect people&#039;s lives. The aim of this study was to compare anxiety, depression, brain Behavioural systems (BIS-BAS), coping styles, anger and hostility among people with and without asthma. Methods and Materials: Fifty women with asthma attending Shahid Motahhari specialized clinic in Shiraz and 50 normal women were selected using purposive sampling method and were asked to fill these questionnaires: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), behavioural inhibition/activation system (Carver and White), coping styles (Lazarus and Folkman), and the Multidimensional Anger Inventory (Siegel). All participants ranged in age from 16 to 27 years. Data analysis was done by SPSS 11.5 and LISREL 8.54 using Multi-way analysis of variance test (MANOVA), and path analysis. Findings: Data analysis showed that the two groups had significant differences in anxiety- depression, behavioural inhibition / activation system and BAS subscales (response to drives, fun seeking, reward responsiveness), coping style, anger-arousal, range of anger-eliciting situations, hostile outlook and anger-in (all P<0.05). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that in comparison with normal people without asthma, people with asthma show more anxiety, depression, BIS activity and less BAS activity. Also People with asthma use more emotion oriented coping styles and experience more anger-arousal, anger, range of anger-eliciting situations, hostile outlook and anger-in. Also by path analysis, carefull examination of the relationships between variables showed that coping style has a mediational role in personality traits and clinical symptoms in patients with asthma.