Iranian Journal of Health Education and Health Promotion
Year:2015 | Volume:3 | Issue:3|Papers Count:10

Background and objective: Pregnancy anxiety in a common problem during pregnancy period that is associated with negative consequences. The current study was conducted in order to determine the role of health beliefs and health promoting behaviors in predicting pregnancy anxiety among pregnant women. Methods: This research was a descriptive- analytical and correlational study. Pregnant women referred to health centers of the Ardabil city for medical cares from the first to ninth month of pregnancy in the second half of 2014 were the population of this study. One hundred and ten women were randomly selected via clustering sampling method from this population; they were asked to fill in the questionnaires- demographic data, Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Questionnaire- Revised (PRAQ-R), health belief model questionnaire and Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP). The data were analyzed by tests of Pearson correlation and multivariate regression.Results: Pregnancy anxiety had negative relationship with perceived susceptibility (r=-0.41; p<0.001), severity of perceived consequences (r=-0.56; p<0.001), benefits of medical treatment (r=-0.35; p<0.001), total score of health promoting lifestyle (r=-0.67; p<0.001), its components, namely health responsibility (r=-0.54; p<0.001), physical activity (r=-0.42; p<0.001), nutrition (r=-0.42; p<0.001), spiritual growth (r=-0.55; p<0.001), interpersonal relationships (r=-0.57; p<0.001), and stress management (r=-0.64; p<0.001). Regression analyses also revealed that 44% of variance of pregnancy anxiety of women was explained by health beliefs and 50% of it was explained by health promoting lifestyle.Conclusion: Positive beliefs about health and health promoting lifestyle play role in reducing pregnancy anxiety. The results of this research propose the necessary of training health beliefs and health promoting life style during pregnancy period for improving psychological health and coping with pregnancy anxiety.

Background and objective: Due to the necessity of oral health in the preschool children and incorrect beliefs of mothers and more perceived barriers to perform it, this research was performed to study the effect of education intervention in changing mothers’ attitudes, perceived self-efficacy and perceived barriers regarding oral health of preschool children. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study 120 female preschool children from district 7 of Tehran city were selected by one stage cluster sampling from each school and then their mothers were included in the study. A researcher-made questionnaire was designed and validated by researchers for assessing mothers’ self-efficacy, perceived barriers and attitudes regarding oral health among preschool children. Two test (intervention) and control groups completed the questionnaire before educational intervention. Based on the pre-test results the educational intervention was designed and implemented in 4 sessions (each 45 minutes) for mothers in test group. Both groups were followed up one month after the intervention and then completed questionnaires. Data was analyzed by independent sample t-tests and student’s t test for paired sample through SPSS16.Results: Significant differences were observed in the mean score of attitude (p=0.001), perceived self-efficacy (p=0.011) and perceived barriers (p<0.0001) in the intervention group as compared to the control group. Conclusion: Educational intervention may reduce perceived barriers to oral health among mothers having pre-school children regarding oral health and increase their perceived self-efficacy and positive attitude.

Background and objective: Work settings provide a unique opportunity for health promotion interventions. Considering the issue of obesity among employees, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the intervention based on new communication technologies and the social cognitive theory on weight control in the governmental employees of the city of Hamadan in 2014.Methods: This clinical trial study was conducted among “telephone-assisted intervention”, “web-assisted intervention”, and “control” groups comprising 435 employees with excess weight or obesity. The educational intervention was performed for 6 months under the title of “lifestyle program.” Then, the participants were evaluated in terms of weight and changes in the constructs of the social-cognitive theory 6 and 9 months after the intervention. A researcher made questionnaire based on the Dishman and Dewar questionnaires was used to evaluate the constructs of social-cognitive theory. The data were collected and analyzed using one-way ANOVA, two-way analysis of variance, and linear Regression test through SPSS 20.Results: The lifestyle intervention resulted in a weight loss of 1.92 and 1.08 kg among the telephone-assisted and web-assisted intervention groups, respectively. The intervention in the mobile telephone-assisted group increased the mean scores of the participants in the constructs of self-efficacy, environment, outcome expectations, and outcome expectancies. In the web-assisted intervention group, the mean scores of the constructs of self-efficacy and outcome expectancies increased.Conclusion: The results of the present study showed the effectiveness of the intervention based on new communication technologies and the social-cognitive theory (SCT). We recommend conducting studies to evaluate other health challenges based on the Social-Cognitive Theory in work settings.

Background and objective: Many parents face challenges to respond to child sexual questions. These questions are generally non-projected, but appropriate and proportionate response to such questions is the most challenging for parenting issues. So, identifying sexual questions that are frequently asked by children, and on the other hand, through proper education to parents, response to curious questions of children can be tailored to age and gender correctly. Therefore, this study was designed to explore children’s sexual questions.Methods: This research was a qualitative content analysis study. The samples were selected on the basis of objective and purposive sampling. Samples consisted of 20 parents living in the city of Ahvaz. Data were gathered through semi-structured and unstructured interviews. The collected data were analyzed qualitatively through content analysis simultaneously and using the software MAXQDA 10.Results: Children sexual curious questions suggested 3 main themes: 1) changes in sexual characteristics, 2) gender differences and relations between the sexes, & 3) pregnancy, child birth and pregnancy prevention- which consisted of 9 sub-classes.Conclusion: The reason and process of pregnancy, how baby is born and sex differences were the most questions that children had asked. In order to answer the sexual questions properly in regard to age and gender, it is recommended that an educational package be designed to answer children questions.

Background and objective: It is necessary to identify factors influencing smoking in order to design effective interventions to reduce this behavior. This study aimed to determine the predictive factors of smoking among adults of Arak city based on Transtheoretical model (TTM).Methods: This analytical- cross sectional study was carried out on 328 smokers 30 years of age and older in the city of Arak in 2014. Samples were selected randomly from family file numbers of Arak. Data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire including demographic information and questions related to Transtheoretical structure Model (stages of change, processes of change, temptation, Pros and Cons of smoking) and were analyzed using oneway ANOVA, Pearson correlation and linear regression. Results: Most of the subjects (52.7%) were in the precontemplation stage of smoking cessation. Linear regression revealed that variables of change stages (R2=-0.46, p > 0.001), temptation (R2=-0.18, p>0.001), hazards of smoking (R2=-0.12, p>0.001), early age of smoking (R2=-0.14, p>0.006), dramatic relief process of change (R2=-0.12, p>0.015) and the number of friends who smoke (R2=-0.12, p>0.048) were the predictor of daily smoking rates. The model was able to predict 37% of smoking rate variance.Conclusion: Most subjects were in the precontemplation stage of quitting smoking and according to predictive factors of smoking it is necessary to plan an effective educational program for quitting smoking.

Background & objective: In order to have effective parenting, which, in turn, results in children being happy, healthy and productive, it is necessary to design an effective indigenous pattern based on the Iranian culture. The aim of this study was to explore indicators of successful parenting of adolescents among Iranian families. Methods: This applied study used qualitative grounded theory to gather its data. 13 cases of successful parents were selected using theoretical sampling. They were studied using in-depth interviews over a period of 6 months. After collecting the data, they were recorded and coded in terms of categories, and then they were classified. In analyzing the data, the original codes were identified and based on axial coding, categories of parental role were identified. Results: In the context of the role of parents, appreciation, encouraging, sincerity, positive communication, navigation, responsibility, fairness, monitoring, control and modeling role of parents were identified as parenting indicators.Conclusion: The findings of this study can be helpful for parents in the upbringing of healthy young adults. Family counselors and psychologists could also apply the results of this study for educating families for successful parenting.

Background and objective: The risk of coronary heart diseases is highly associated with our lifestyle. To reduce or prevent diseases including coronary, diabetes and many types of cancers we need to adhere to proper lifestyle which seems not to be easily achievable. The aim of this study was to measure adherence to healthy lifestyle among hypertensive patients and its association with anthropometric measures.Methods: Patients with high blood pressure, but no history of cardiovascular diseases (n=140) were participating in this correlation study. An interviewer administered questionnaire was used to collect required information. Data was analyzed using STATA12. Descriptive statistics (medium & SD) for qualitative variables and frequency, per cent for qualitative variables were used. Results: Despite the fact that more than 86% of the participants reported adhering to suggested healthy habits, data on their current lifestyle suggested less than 12% of the participants were adhering at least one significant healthy change in their diet or physical activity. However, among those who were smokers before being aware of their problem, 60% successfully stopped smoking. Higher BMI was related to non-adherence to healthy lifestyle (p<0.05).Conclusion: Even after being informed of the higher risk of coronary diseases, patients with hypertension were not able to fully adhere to healthy habits and quit smoking.

Background and objective: Mental health is one of the key variables in the field of Psychology and Educational Sciences that several factors have been studied in relation to it. The aim of this study is to predict students’ mental health using the variables of self-esteem, life satisfaction was hope.Methods: This study was of the correlation among non-experimental studies. The population were included all students in shahrood University (9,000 student) and for the sample size used krejcie and Morgan table and 368 were selected. A booklet that participants were asked to respond to questions, including: 1- demographic Questionnaire 2- General Health Goldberg and Hiller Questionnaire 3- Snyder Hope questionnaire 4- Rosenberg self esteem questionnaire. 5- Diner satisfaction with life Questionnaire. To analyze the data descriptive statistics (Charts, measure of central tendency and dispersion measures) and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test and stepwise regression analysis) were used.Results: The results show that between self-esteem, satisfaction with life, hope and mental health (r=0.76 0.70 and 0.76) There is a significant correlation. Students mental health can be predicted based on variables self-esteem and (b=0.42), satisfaction with life (b=0.21) and hope (b=0.52). The proportion of self-esteem variable (0.42) was more. there was no difference Between selfesteem, hope and mental health, but between life satisfaction boys scores were more than girls.Conclusion: This study showed that, in general, students with good mental health, and results showed that with increasing self-esteem, hope and life satisfaction of students can improve their mental health.

Background and objective: Despite the many benefits of physical activity, sedentary lifestyle is still a public health problem among women. This study was conducted to identify factors associated with physical activity based on Stages of Change Model as one of the most effective models of behavior study among health volunteers in Rasht in 2014.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, all of the active health volunteers in Rasht (N=176) completed the self-administered questionnaire consisting of 3 parts: demographic information, validated questionnaire of stages of change model constructs, and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQlong form). Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, Correlation and regression through SPSS 18.Results: Intensity of physical activity among health volunteers was respectively 10.2%, 61.4% and 28.4% in low, moderate and severe level. Among the structures of Stages of Change Model, self-efficacy (b=0.2) and Cons (b=0.17), had predictive power on the promotion of physical activity (p<0.05). 17% were in the pre-contemplation stage, 10.3% were in the contemplation stage, 17.6% in the preparation stage, 12.5% were in the action stage, and 42.6% were in the maintenance stage of regular physical activity.Conclusion: Since most of the health volunteers were in the middle-ages, and also the majority of them had moderate physical activity, appropriate for their age, therefore, due to the effective constructs (self-efficacy and Cons), it is necessary that these constructs to be strengthened in order to maintain the moderate level of physical activity in this group.

Background and objective: The social development is a key factor in the treatment of mentally retarded children. One of the proposed methods for the social development of these children are play therapy. This paper aimed at determining the impact of primary school games on the social development of mentally retarded children.Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted among 8-11 years old mentally retarded pupils in Tehran province. Two schools were selected from Exceptional schools of different districts of Tehran province through cluster sampling. Then, from the pupils of the two selected schools, 30 male students were randomly selected and assigned to an experimental group (n=15, mean age: 10.7±0.3) and control group (n=15, mean age: 10.5±0.4). After informing the parents of the pupils and having them fill out the consent forms, experimental group carried out the school games. Vineland Social Maturity Scale was used to measure pupils’ social development. Intervention was carried out among the experimental group in 12 sessions for one month. Then, a posttest was carried out on both experimental and control group. Data was analyzed by covariance analysis using SPSS 19.Results: There was a significant difference (p=0.001) between the pretest and posttest mean scores of the total score of their social development and social development components among the experimental group when compared with the control group.Conclusion: These findings emphasized the impact of school games on the social development of educable mentally retarded children. It is proposed that through creating appropriate environments for their physical activity and involving them in social activities, help these children give up their isolation and solitude.