Preventive Care in Nursing & Midwifery Journal
Volume:11 Issue: 2, Summer 2021

The quality of marital relationship and family function is a major global concern, especially in Iran. Indigenous contexts should be considered for identifying problems and effective measures.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an indigenous intervention program for strengthening happiness experiences on marital satisfaction, marital intimacy, and coupleschr('39') happiness experiences.

This was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest, follow-up design and a control group. The study population included all couples living in Zanjan, from whom a sample of 30 couples was selected. The participants were divided into the intervention and control groups (n=15 per group). The intervention program was designed based on local capacities and qualitative study of happy couples. In the experimental group, the indigenous intervention of strengthening happiness experiences was performed. ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (short form), Thompson and Walker Intimacy Scale, and Yousefi Afrashteh Happiness Experience Questionnaire were used to collect data. Univariate analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data.

The results showed that the designed indigenous intervention program had a positive effect on the three dependent variables of marital satisfaction (F=128 and size P<0.001), marital intimacy (F=57.43 and P=0.68), and happiness experiences (F=64.46 and P=0.70). This effect was also confirmed in the two-month follow-up (P<0.05).

Based on the results, family counselors and planners need to consider an intervention program to enhance coupleschr('39') happiness experiences in conflict resolution and family strengthening and enrichment programs.

Childhood cancer is a grueling event that can affect the lives of patients and their parents both psychologically and physically. Playing is a way to reduce this problem in children with cancer.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of individual play therapy on hope, adjustment and pain response of hospitalized children with cancer.

This quasi-experimental study was performed among 30 children with cancer aged 8 to 12 years. Subjects were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. In the experimental group, individual play therapy intervention was performed for two months (10 sessions). The study instruments included: Snyder’s Hope Scale, Pediatric Pain Response Questionnaire (Walker et al.), and Dokhanchi’s Adjustment Questionnaire (1998). In order to analyze the data, repeated measures analysis and Bonferroni post hoc test were performed in SPSS, version 16.

 In this study, the mean age of participants in the experimental and control groups was 9.36±1.68 and 10.1±1.98 years, respectively. The results of this study showed that the difference between the three evaluation stages in all variables, except the post-test with the follow-up of hope variable, was significant in the experimental group (p≥0.001). But no significant difference was observed between the three evaluation stages in the control group (p≤0.001).

It seems that play therapy intervention has an effect on the research variables. Given that the research was conducted on a small sample in a hospital, it is suggested that similar research be conducted to increase the external validity of the present study.

Pay for performance (P4P) is one of the most important issues in the health systems that promotes clinical quality, productivity, and patient satisfaction.

The current study aimed to identify and explain factors affecting the relative value of services and applying them in P4P in Iranian teaching-therapeutic centers.

The current study was performed following a thematic analysis framework with an interview technique. The study population consisted of P4P experts in the six national-wide region of the country. Participants were selected using the purposeful and gradual sampling technique. Sampling was stopped upon reaching data saturation (i.e. 11 participants). Lincoln and Gubachr('39')s evaluation method was used to determine reliability and validity. Qualitative data were analyzed using Nvivo version 12.

 In total 13 basic themes and two organizer themes (i.e. technical and professional components) were identified regarding the factors affecting the relative value of health care services. Seven important elements in determining the professional component of the relative value of services included required time to perform the service, stress, knowledge, skill, experience, risk, as well as difficulty and complexity of the service.

The model developed in the present study can be used to determine the total relative value of each service and setting tariff of medical services provided by health staff, including nurses.

Critical thinking is a purposeful and self-directed judgment that is achieved through interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and inference. It makes nurses able to reason correctly about patient problems and issues and make the right decisions.

The aim of this study was to investigate the status of critical thinking and clinical decision-making and determine their relationship with emergency department nurses.

This descriptive correlational study was performed among 320 nurses in the emergency department of hospitals affiliated to Zanjan University of Medical Sciences selected by available census method. The research instruments included the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and the 2014 Clinical Decision Making Scale (CDMS) by Lauri et al. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 19 software and descriptive and analytical statistics.

The mean scores of clinical decision-making and critical thinking were 81.5±1.35 and 10.05±3.13, respectively. There was a weak and significant positive correlation between clinical decision-making and critical thinking (r=0.133, P=0.001). Clinical decision-making was significantly associated with age, gender, and work experience, and critical thinking was significantly associated with age, education, and work experience (P<0.05).

Due to the poor critical thinking skill and the weak relationship between critical thinking and clinical decision-making observed, it is recommended to hold training and empowerment courses to strengthen critical thinking skills in nurses. On the other hand, strengthening critical thinking can improve nurseschr('39') clinical decision-making skills.

Psychological problems such as borderline personality traits can negatively affect studentschr('39') behaviors, cognition, interpersonal communication and academic achievement. It is important to identify factors such as mindfulness, self-differentiation, and alexithymia and determine their relationship these traits.

This study was performed to investigate the relationship of mindfulness, self-differentiation and alexithymia with borderline personality traits.

In this descriptive correlational study, 309 students from Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman (217 female and 92 male) were selected using the random cluster sampling method. They completed the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire, the Self-Differentiation Scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale and the Borderline Personality Scale. After collecting the questionnaires, the data were analyzed using SPSS-24 and AMOS-24 software programs and path analysis method.

 The analyses showed that the direct effect of mindfulness was significant only on fear of intimacy (p <0.05). Self-differentiation predicted three sub-scales of borderline personality including defense mechanisms, fear of intimacy (p <0.001) and reality testing (p <0.05) in a significant and negative manner. Alexithymia had a significant positive impact on all subscales of borderline personality including identity disturbance, primary defense mechanisms, fear of intimacy (p <0.001) and damaged reality testing (p <0.05).

Alexithymia, self-differentiation and mindfulness were the most powerful predictors of studentschr('39') borderline personality traits, respectively.

One of the factors leading to anxiety in children with cancer is child hospitalization. This anxiety can be due to separation, sadness, as well as fear of a new environment, disability, and continuation of life.

The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of group play therapy on anxiety in children with leukemia.

The current research had an applied and quasi-experimental approach, with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population of this study included all 8-12-year-old children with leukemia hospitalized in Dr. Afzalipour Hospital in Kerman in 2018. Among them, 30 children were selected by a convenient sampling method and were randomly assigned to the two experimental and control groups equally. The research tool was the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC). Concerning the inferential analysis, the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) method was used to compare quantitative variables between the three groups. Also, the ANCOVA model was used for modeling the difference between pretest and posttest measurements and adjusting for the effect of confounding variables such as gender and age. The analyses were performed using SPSS.22 software.

The results showed a significant reduction in anxiety scores between children who received group play therapy (mean anxiety=59.60) and those who did not receive any intervention (mean anxiety=60.60) (p>0.001). Based on the findings, the group play therapy intervention is effective in anxiety in children with leukemia.

According to the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that group play therapy is effective in reducing anxiety in children with leukemia.

Adolescence is a very important and sensitive period of life and paying attention to the health of this period is of particular importance. Therefore, paying attention to the health of female adolescents, as future mothers, is doubly important.

This study was performed aiming to determine the physical health needs of female adolescents and related factors in the city of Tabriz, Iran.

This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 435 high school female adolescents in the city of Tabriz using two-stage sampling method, in 2020. A demographic information form and the Female Adolescents Health Needs Questionnaire (FAHNQ; Shah Hosseini et al.) as a native questionnaire (validity=0.92, reliability=0.90) were used to collect data. Data analysis was performed by one-sample t-test, independent t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Duncan’s post hoc test using SPSS software version 16.

According to the findings, 90.34% and 9.66% of the samples attended public and non-public schools, respectively. The field of study of 53.79% of the participants was experimental sciences and 43.45% were studying in tenth grade. The level of physical health needs of female adolescents in Tabriz was high. The physical health needs of the study samples in public schools were higher than non-public schools, with twelfth-grade students more than other grades (P<0.05). By increasing grade point average (GPA), family income, and consequently more access to the Internet and cell phones, adolescents’ physical health needs decreased (P<0.05).

According to the results, the physical health needs of female adolescents were high and one of the most relevant factors was the economic status. Therefore, it is recommended to plan and take measures to meet adolescents’ health needs through the participation of parents, education officials, and other institutions.

Substance abuse and addiction have created numerous social and psychological problems around the world, encouraging researchers to employ different psychological approaches.

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of acceptance-commitment therapy and emotion regulation training on impulsivity and distress tolerance in people with a history of drug addiction.

This was a multi-group experimental research with a pre-test/post-test design, conducted in a two-month follow-up period. The statistical population included men with substance abuse, who referred to private addiction rehabilitation clinics in Tehran in 2019. Two centers were selected by accessible sampling, and 63 people were purposefully chosen and randomly divided into two experimental groups and one control group after obtaining informed consent. Addiction drugs included opium, heroin, and tramadol. During the study period, all subjects were on methadone therapy. Assessment tools included Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS) and Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS). Data were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance in SPSS software version 22.

The results showed that there was no significant difference between the two experimental groups comparing post-test and follow-up impulsivity and distress tolerance (P≥0.05). There was a significant difference in impulsivity comparing pre-test vs. post-test and post-test vs. follow-up in the two experimental groups (P≤0.05). There was no significant difference comparing post-test and follow-up impulsivity in the two experimental groups (P≥0.05). There was a significant difference among the three stages of the study comparing distress tolerance in the acceptance-commitment therapy group (P≤0.05). There was a significant difference in distress tolerance comparing pretest vs. post-test and post-test vs. follow-up in the emotion regulation training group (P≤0.05). There was no significant difference comparing distress tolerance between post-test and follow-up in the emotion regulation training group (P≥0.05).

According to these results, addiction therapists can use acceptance-commitment therapy to control impulsivity and employ emotion regulation training to control distress tolerance in people with a history of addiction.