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Effect of adding olfactory training to davanloo’s dynamic psychotherapy on cognitive flexibility and working memory in adolescents with aggressive behaviors
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Masoud Rayatdoust1    , Mahboobe Taher *2 , Abbas Ali Hosseinkhanzadeh3 , Seyed Mosa Tabatabaee4 |
1- Sha.C, Islamic Azad University, Shahrood, Iran
2- Sha.C. Islamic Azad University, Shahrood, Iran
3- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan. Rast, Iran
4- Department of Cognitive Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Semnan University, Iran |
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Abstract: (23 Views) |
Background and Purpose: Adolescent aggression is linked to deficits in executive functions, which can result in behavioral issues. This study aimed to investigate the impact of incorporating olfactory training into Davanloo’s dynamic psychotherapy on cognitive flexibility and working memory in adolescents displaying aggressive behaviors.
Method: This study employed a comparative single-case experimental design with a parallel treatment design. The participants consisted of adolescent boys showing aggressive behaviors from first-grade secondary schools in Juybar County during the 2024-2025 academic year. Eight participants were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to two intervention groups. Both groups underwent 13 sessions of Davanloo’s dynamic psychotherapy; however, the second group also received olfactory training. The research instruments included the latest validated edition of the Aggression Questionnaire (Buss & Perry, 1992), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) (Grant & Berg, 1948), and the N-back task (Kirchner, 1958). Data analysis was conducted using visual analysis indices.
Results: The results showed that the combined intervention, compared with the first intervention, was associated with clinically and statistically significant (RCI ≥ 1.96) changes in cognitive flexibility, specifically in the number of completed categories and perseverative errors, with overall improvement percentages of (35 vs. 25) and (35 vs. 12), respectively. For working memory, although statistically significant changes were seen in overall accuracy and mean reaction time, the percentage of improvement did not support their clinical significance (overall improvement percentage range: 3.25–12).
Conclusion: Based on the findings, adding olfactory training to Davanloo’s dynamic psychotherapy as a sensory facilitator, by strengthening the activity of shared olfactory and prefrontal circuits, significantly improves cognitive flexibility in adolescents with aggressive behaviors. Therefore, the use of this combined intervention can be recommended. |
Article number: 8 |
| Keywords: Aggression, cognitive flexibility, executive function, intensive short term dynamic psychotherapy, working memory |
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2026/05/7 | Accepted: 2026/05/30 | Published: 2026/05/30
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