Mahsa Yarelahi; Nasim Pirzadeh; Mahin Nazari; Abdolrahim Asadollahi
Abstract
Background: Widowhood is an unwonted stage after married life accompanied by emotional and physical stress. Resilience plays an important role in coping with widowhood, but there is no appropriate instrument to help measure resilience among the Iranian population. Hence, the objective of the present ...
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Background: Widowhood is an unwonted stage after married life accompanied by emotional and physical stress. Resilience plays an important role in coping with widowhood, but there is no appropriate instrument to help measure resilience among the Iranian population. Hence, the objective of the present study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the widowhood resilience scale (WRS, 25-Items).Methods: In a psychometric study, 352 Iranian widows were randomly selected; then, the WRS, Loneliness, general resilience, and demographic questionnaire were used to gather data. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to extract the factors using IBM-SPSS version 24 and AMOS version 24.Results: The mean ages of 352 participants were 65.7±9.8, and the highest frequency of education level was no formal schooling (42.6%). The construct validity of WRS based on Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed that the six subscales explained a total of 85.35 % of the variance. The convergent validity of the WRS 25-items was compared to Iranian versions of UCLA-Loneliness (0.71) and CD‐RISC (0.78) as well (P<0.01). The WRS scale demonstrated excellent reliability and Cronbach’s alpha obtained 0.94 for the entire scale (P<0.001). The optimal cut-off point that best differentiates between resilient and non-resilient widows was 55, with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 74.4%.Conclusion: Based on the results, the Persian version of the WRS is a valid and reliable tool that can be utilized to measure widows’ resilience. However, further investigations are suggested.
Monireh Alipoor; Jeyran Ostovarfar; Mahin Nazari; Ahmad Maghsoudi
Abstract
Background: Adolescence is a period of important emotional, physical, and mental changes characterized by significant adjustment problems. Adjustment with others is the most essential aspect of personal development. On the other hand, the inability to adjust with others may disrupt the normal flow ...
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Background: Adolescence is a period of important emotional, physical, and mental changes characterized by significant adjustment problems. Adjustment with others is the most essential aspect of personal development. On the other hand, the inability to adjust with others may disrupt the normal flow of everyday life and emotional, social, and cognitive aspects. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between adjustment and individual and family characteristics in secondary school female students in Mahshahr city.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 194 students. The participants were selected through multi-stage sampling. First, the data were collected using two questionnaires, including demographic and Adjustment Inventory for School Students (AISS). Then, the data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, chi-square, correlation coefficient, and one-way ANOVA.
Results: The results showed a significant relationship between the mother’s educational level, the families’ economic conditions , and leisure time management with total and emotional adjustment in students(P<0.05). There was a significant relationship between the number of brothers and the educational level of the mother, with educational adjustment in students. (P <0.05). The correlation coefficient results showed a positive and significant correlation (P <0.05) between emotional, social, and educational adjustment,
Conclusion: According to the research findings, family factors need special attention to increase student adjustment.
Mehdi Kargar; Leila Ghahremani; Mohammad Hosein Kaveh; Mahin Nazari
Abstract
Background: Nurses have insufficient physical activity due to occupational conditions. This study investigated occupational factors affecting their physical activity based on PRECEDE-PROCEED Model. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among 161 nurses working at Shiraz University of Medical ...
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Background: Nurses have insufficient physical activity due to occupational conditions. This study investigated occupational factors affecting their physical activity based on PRECEDE-PROCEED Model. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted among 161 nurses working at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The data were collected by simple randomization. Researcher-made tools included demographic, attitude, and PRECEDE-PROCEED constructs questionnaires. Self-Efficacy for Exercise (SEE) Scale, General Health Questionnaire(GHQ), and Beck Physical Activity questionnaire were standard tools used in the present investigation. Data were analyzed by Linear Regression and descriptive analysis. Results: The findings showed that attitude score of 96.4% of the studied nurses and self-efficacy scores of 50.9% of these nurses were higher than the overall mean scores. But they achieved scores lower than the overall mean scores in Enabling (44.1%), Reinforcing (44.7%) and Management-Organizational (29.2%) factors.Less than half of the nurses could attain scores higher than the overall mean scores of physical activity (49.1%) and general health (48.4%) .There were no any significant correlations between attitude(.922), self-efficacy(.134), Enabling factors (.224), Reinforcing factors (.950), and Management-Organizational factor (.627) with their physical activity level. But direct correlations were found among Enabling, Reinforcing, and Management-organizational factors. Conclusion: Although nurses owned enough Predisposing factors, insufficient Enabling, Reinforcing and Management-Organizational factors led them to do insufficient physical activity. Consequently, occupational factors should be provided in the workplace for nurses.
Mahin Nazari; Fatemeh Jokar; Mohammad Fararooei; Mohammad Hossein Kaveh
Abstract
Background: Decreasing and preventing isolation and social loneliness among the elderly are important fields for policymaking and action commitment in social health. Evidence shows that the nature and spectrum of an individual’s social network including the quality and quantity of social relations ...
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Background: Decreasing and preventing isolation and social loneliness among the elderly are important fields for policymaking and action commitment in social health. Evidence shows that the nature and spectrum of an individual’s social network including the quality and quantity of social relations and contact frequency can affect the old people’s health considerably. Social participation leads to a decrease in mortality and depression and improves people’s cognitive function. Since few interventions on assessment of the effect of social participation on old people’s loneliness have been done, this study was conducted to determine the impact of the educational program of social participation on the feeling of loneliness. Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study based on convenience sampling method, on 239 elderly people aged ≥60 years living in rural regions of Baiza. The intervention was held for the intervention group during five weeks through five 60-80 minute educational sessions. The data were collected by CCHS-SP and UCLA Loneliness Feeling Questionnaires before and after the intervention in the experiment and control groups. The data were analyzed usingSPSS (version19). Results: The significance level was assumed 0.05 in statistical analysis. After one month of educational intervention program, the mean score of social participation increased in the intervention group from 6.17±3.86 to 17.98±3.84 after the intervention. The findings showed a remarkable improvement in loneliness feeling scores of the mentioned group form 62.24±.7.53 to 28.86±6.88 after the intervention (p <.001). The studied cases in the control group experienced no significant changes in the two mentioned variables. Conclusion: This study revealed a reduction in the feeling of the elderly in rural areas by predicting, improving, and modifying behaviors related to social participation and forming self-help groups in rural communities.
Introduction:
In recent decades, prevention from loneliness and social isolation among the elderly has been an important issue in social health promotion (1). While there is no experience that loneliness is unique to old age, it is common among older adults, with 12% to 46% reporting at least some level of loneliness (2). About one third or even half of the elderly suffer from loneliness and social isolation (3). An investigation in Spain indicated that 23.1 percent of the elderly often suffered loneliness. (4) However, Khichadi reported that this amount was between 16 and 35 in this country (5). In Iran, the rate of loneliness has been reported between 11% and 70% in various studies. (6, 7) Loneliness and social isolation affect the quality of life remarkably, so that it is comparable with the impacts of cigarette, obesity, inactivity, and hypertension. (8) Immune deficiency, infections, cognitive disorders, mental problems such as depression and dementia, high levels of disabling chronic diseases, lack of physical activity, and the possibility of death are more probable to happen among those people feeling lonely remarkably (9.10.11). These consequences are clearly so important in making economic problems. Recently, numerous investigations have been done with different plans among the elderly to reduce loneliness and social isolation. However, the low quality of most of these studies and the high variety of the studied population in the mentioned studies make the generalization of their findings difficult since they are conducted in communities with different social, cultural and economic contexts (12, 13). One way to improve the health of people, especially to reduce the loneliness in the elderly, is social participation. Social participation in itself is both a theoretical and a practical concept that has been shown to be related to health in many studies. Many people over the age of 65 are in a state of social isolation and this does not allow them to have a close and intimate relationship with others. This may be due to the negative view of society and the belief in the imminent death of the elderly, which hinders planning to improve their quality of life, while various studies indicate that having social contact and public personality with is related to life satisfaction in old age. (14). Nevertheless, recent findings emphasize the importance of social interactions and relations for improving and promoting mental health and also preventing social isolation and their consequences among the elderly. (13). Loneliness and social isolation among the elderly in rural regions is so important. The offspring leave home or move due to marriage or for occupational reasons, low economic status and literacy in these regions, limited access to health services, and social welfare, which makes the issue of elderly Loneliness and social isolation so critical (15.16). Lack of enough experimental evidence and the limitations of the conducted studies highlight the necessity of conducting more research regarding the programs which help decrease social loneliness isolation among the elderly in rural regions. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to determine the impact of Social Participation Educational Program on the loneliness of in old people in rural areas.
Mahin Nazari; mostafa taheri; Sareh Keshavarzi; Ali Javadpour
Volume 2, Issue 2 , April 2014, , Pages 72-77
Abstract
Background: Although sleeping problems are common among all age groups, the elderly suffer a higher prevalence of sleep disorders. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep quality, self-efficacy, and stages of change among the elderly. Methods: This descriptive-analytical ...
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Background: Although sleeping problems are common among all age groups, the elderly suffer a higher prevalence of sleep disorders. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep quality, self-efficacy, and stages of change among the elderly. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 36 individuals aged 60-75 years selected through simple random sampling in 2013. The data were collected using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and self-made structured questionnaires, including sleep self efficacy scale and stages of sleep behavior change scale. SPSS statistical software, version 19 was used to analyze the data and descriptive and inferential statistics such as independent samples t-test were used. Results: The results of the present study revealed that the mean of sleep quality was 7.91 (SD=4.99). In addition, most of the subjects (69%) had poor sleep quality. Considering the stages of change, the participants were in different stages of sleep behavior change. Moreover, a significant relationship was found between self-efficacy and PSQI total score (P<0.001). Also, significant relationships were observed between self-efficacy and the variables of stages of change (P<0.05), except for the average night sleep. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that most of the elderly had poor sleep quality. Besides, they were in different stages of change in sleep problems. The results also indicated that self-efficacy affected the sleep quality in the elderly. Therefore, measures should be taken based on stages of change and increased self-efficacy to improve sleep quality among the elderly.
Mahin Nazari; Mohammad Reza Hosseini; Mohammad Hossein Kaveh
Volume 1, Issue 2 , October 2013, , Pages 83-88
Abstract
Background: Smoking is one of the preventable causes of diseases as well as early deaths all around the world. In addition, conducting educational interventions plays a major role in preventing adolescents from smoking. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of educational intervention ...
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Background: Smoking is one of the preventable causes of diseases as well as early deaths all around the world. In addition, conducting educational interventions plays a major role in preventing adolescents from smoking. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior on preventing Shirazi students from smoking.Methods: In the present quasi-experimental study, 154 male students of the 2nd grade of high school from Shiraz were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling and randomly assigned to a control and an experimental group. The study data were collected through a questionnaire including the demographic information, questions on knowledge, and questions based on the components of the theory of planned behavior. After the pre-test, the intervention group underwent the educational intervention and after 2 months, both groups took part in the post-test. Then, the data were entered into the SPSS statistical software (v.11.5) and analyzed through the non-parametric tests of Mann-Whitney, Fisher, and Chi- square as well as Linear Multiple Logistic Regression.Results: No significant difference was observed between the two groups’ mean scores before the intervention. After the intervention, the intervention group’s scores of knowledge, attitude, intention, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly increased.Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior was highly effective in reducing Shirazi high school students’ intention to smoke.
Mohammad Hossein Kaveh; Fatemeh Darabi; Mahin Nazari; Hamidreza Tabatabaee
Volume 1, Issue 1 , July 2013, , Pages 6-13
Abstract
Background/Objective: This study aimed to address the knowledge gap in citizenship education. In other words, there was an attempt to investigate the effect of a citizenship education program on knowledge, attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral intention of high schools girls. Methods: 228 female ...
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Background/Objective: This study aimed to address the knowledge gap in citizenship education. In other words, there was an attempt to investigate the effect of a citizenship education program on knowledge, attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral intention of high schools girls. Methods: 228 female students, 91 in the experimental and 137 in the control groups participated in this study. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. The educational program was run in the experimental group using interactive teaching-learning techniques. The research data were, then, analyzed in SPSS, using inferential statistics. Results: The mean score of the students’ knowledge in the experimental group increased from 7.35±1.93 in the pretest to 11.14±1.78 in the posttest, while in the control group this score remained approximately the same in the pre- and post-tests. The pre- and post-test means of attitude scores were statistically different, but not in the control group. The pretest mean scores of the subjective norm in the experimental and control groups were relatively similar, but in the posttest it became significantly different (experimental: 25.78±3.77, control: 23.40±4.62). The students’ behavioral intention score increased from 18.51±2.71 to 20.87±3.04 in the experimental group. The mean scores of intention in the pretest and posttest were not statistically different in the control group. In the second posttests, the levels of these constructs remained unchanged in the control group, but they were significantly higher than pretest scores in the experimental group. Conclusion: This study revealed the adolescents’ need for as well as the efficacy of a citizenship education program.