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Objective: This research is primarily conducted to determine the psychometric properties of the Beliefs about Emotions Scale (BES) in community and clinical samples. The BES is a scale measure used for evaluating individuals' beliefs in terms of how acceptable it is for them to experience and express their emotions. Method: This study was conducted on two separate samples. In the first part, 300 individuals were selected from a general sample in Tehran using the quota sampling method. For the second part of the study, we used purposive sampling to gather data from 119 patients suffering from Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and 121 patients from Somatic Symptoms Disorder (SSD), whose disorders were diagnosed based on the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. The BES structural validity was examined through Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Additionally, test-retest composite and internal consistency indices were explored to investigate the reliability of the BES score. Finally, the associations of the BES score with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ), Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS), Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) scores were highlighted to investigate the discriminant and convergent validity of the BES score. Results: According to CFAs, the one-factor model for the BES demonstrated a good fit with the data collected from both the clinical and community samples. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was satisfactory in the community sample (α = 0.84) and the clinical samples of SSD (α = 0.86) and MDD (α = 0.83). The community sample demonstrated high overall test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.93, P < 0.001; 95% CI: 0.89 - 0.95). In terms of convergent validity, the findings confirmed that in the MMD sample, there was a significant relationship between the BES and almost all measures (including Depression (r = 0.39, P < 0.01), Anxiety (r = 0.21, P < 0.05), Self-Sacrifice (r = 0.27, P < 0.01), MPS-total score (r = 0.22, P < 0.05), DERS total score (r = 0.50, P < 0.01), and Suppression (r = 0.38, P < 0.01). However, in the SSD group, this finding was not found. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that the Persian BES is a reliable and valid scale of maladaptive beliefs about emotions which could be implemented for both clinical and research aims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) is characterized by somatic symptoms that are very distressing or cause considerable functional disability. SSD is associated with various medical and psychiatric conditions and imposes high costs on the health care system. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of SSD are crucial. The somatic symptom scale-8 (SSS-8) is a valuable and brief self-report questionnaire to assess somatic symptom burden. The current study determined the psychometric properties of the Persian version of SSS-8 in depressed samples. Methods: The study data were collected from a clinical setting with individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD, n=122). The convergent validity of SSS-8 was examined by assessing its correlation with the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), the Whiteley index (WI-14), and somatic symptom disorder-B criteria scale (SSD-12) questionnaires. Results: The Cronbach a results confirmed the reliability of SSS-8. Reliability assessment with test-retest showed excellent reliability for scale. The confirmatory factor analysis also approved the SSS-8 single-factor structure. The results of construct validity analysis of the questionnaire showed that SSS-8 has a positive and significant relationship with depression, anxiety, WI, and SSS-12. Conclusion: The Persian version of the SSS-8 is an 8-item self-report questionnaire that health professionals and researchers can use to assess and screen somatic symptoms in individuals diagnosed with MDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]