Journal of Education and Community Health
Year:2017 | Volume:4 | Issue:2 |Papers Count:8

Background and Objective: Commitment to spouse, marriage, and family is one of the most important factors ensuring the continuity of marriage and strength of family bonds that has attracted considerable attention in the contemporary family and marriage studies. In this study, we sought to determine the effect of couple therapy based on the choice theory on the social commitment of couples.Materials and Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design and a control group that was performed among volunteer couples visiting Isfahan Counseling and Psychology Centers in Isfahan, Iran, during 2015. The subjects consisted of 32 incompatible couples who were selected through convenience sampling and were randomly assigned into experimental (16 couples) and control (16 couples) groups. Then, the experimental group received nine sessions of group couple therapy during three months on family life skills based on choice theory. It is worth mentioning that the dependent variable was the social commitment of couples evaluated by the dimensions of commitment inventory of Adams and Jones (1997). The collected data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance in SPSS, version 20.Results: At the post-test stage, couple therapy based on choice theory significantly enhanced social commitment in the experimental group compared to the control group (P<0.001).Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, couple therapy based on the choice theory is an effective strategy in promoting commitment and loyalty to spouse, marriage, and family and can decrease and prevent family-related problems and threats such as divorce and marital infidelity.

Background and Objective: Health literacy has a potential impact on people's health and quality of life and reduces the cost of health care. Therefore, considering the importance of health literacy and its role in individuals' health, the present study aimed to determine the level of health literacy and its related factors among the students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 386 students studying at Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in 2016. The study population was selected through multistage sampling method. The data were collected using the questionnaire of Health Literacy for Iranian Adults (HELIA) through self-report design. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software, version 21, using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, and Chi-square test.Results: According to the results, 50.5% and 3.9% of the subjects had adequate and inadequate health literacy, respectively. Internet was found to be the main modality through which the students obtained most of their information about health. In addition, health literacy was significantly associated with age, gender, marital status, faculty, and source of information (P<0.05).Conclusion: Regarding the level of health literacy in the students and the effective demographic variables, it is necessary to design and implement some interventions targeted toward the empowerment of students in the field of health literacy. Furthemore, it seems essential to provide the students with newer ways, such as web-based education, to improve their health information.

Background and Objective: Risk behaviors are more common in the HIV-positive patients than that in the general population. These behaviors are affected by various factors, such as biological, familial, and social determinants, peer group, media, and lifestyle. Low family functioning is one of the important factors predicting risk behaviors. Regarding this, the present study aimed to investigate the role of family functioning in predicting risk behaviors in the HIV-infected patients based on the mediating roles of risky decision making and lifestyle.Materials and Methods: This descriptive correlational study was conducted on 147 HIV-positive patients selected through convenience sampling technique. The data were collected using the health promoting lifestyle profile-2 (HPLP-2), family adaptability and cohesion scale IV (FACES-IV), balloon analogue risk task (BART), and risk behavior assessment in social situation. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling method in LISREL 8.8 software.Results: According to the results, there was an indirect relationship between family functioning and risk behaviors. Furthermore, family functioning both directly and indirectly affected the risk behaviors through two mediators of lifestyle and risky decision making.Conclusion: As the findings indicated, family functioning directly contributed to risk behaviors. Moreover, this variable indirectly affected risk behaviors through the mediating roles of risky decision making and lifestyle. Consequently, the future studies should focus more deeply on family functioning role in the risk behaviors of the HIV-infected patients.

Background and Objective: Anxiety, stress, and depression can cause chest pain. On the other hand, spiritual health plays an important role in acceptance of disease. In this study, we attempted to investigate the relationship of stress, anxiety, and depression with spiritual health in patients with acute coronary syndrome.Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 294 patients with acute coronary syndrome during 10 months in teaching hospitals affiliated to Qom University of Medical Sciences. Data collection was performed by using demographic and clinical data, depression, anxiety, stress, and spiritual health questionnaires. To analyze the data, indices of the central tendency, independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient were used in SPSS, version 13.Results: There were significant correlations between anxiety and stress and existential health (r=-0.196, P=0.001 and r=-0.171, P=0.003, respectively) and between depression and both existential and religious health dimensions (r=-0.294, P=0.001 and r=-0.244, P=0.001, respectively). In addition, the depression and stress levels were higher in more advanced ages, while existential health was lower. Depression, stress, and existential and religious health were higher in patients with a history of chronic diseases. In those with a history of taking cardiac medications, the levels of stress, anxiety, and existential and religious health were higher.Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, in patients with acute coronary syndrome, those who obtained higher spiritual health scores experienced less anxiety and depression. Thus, nurses are recommended to implement self-care training programs with the presence of religious counselors in hospitals and even after discharge to increase patients’ spiritual health and diminish their anxiety, stress, and depression. In this case, special attention must be paid to patients aged more than 50 years, with a history of chronic diseases and taking cardiac medications.

Background and Objective: Puberty and adolescence is an important phase of human growth. Puberty leads to a set of physiological, social, and psychological changes in adolescents, which affect different dimensions of their life including parent-child relationship and the control of adolescents’ emotions. This study aimed to determine the impact of group training of personal hygiene during puberty to mothers on parent-child conflicts and controlling over the emotions of the first high school course female students.Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The study population included 30 mothers of female students of the seventh grade in Tehran, Iran in 2016. The participants were selected through cluster sampling method and randomly assigned to two groups of control and intervention. The subjects in the intervention group were trained about personal hygine during pubety during 12 90-minute sessions. Data were collected using demographic form, conflict to parents’ questionnaire, and Emotional Control Scale that were completed by mothers and daughters at pre- and post-intervention phases. Data analysis was performed using analysis of variance by the help of the SPSS software, version 16.Results: According to the results, there was a significant difference between two groups in terms of the mean score of child-parent conflicts and all of their subscales at the post intervention phase (P<0.05). In addition, after the intervention, there was a significant difference between two groups considering the mean score of emotional control and this subscales (P<0.05).Conclusion: Regarding the results, appropraite knowledge and awareness about puberty can be helpful for mothers to prevent child-parent conflicts and control their adolescents' emotions.

Background and Objective: Premenstrual syndrome reduces the quality of life as well as social and academic performance in adolecents and young women. Given the importance of the preservation of the female adolecents' health status, this study aimed to determine the effect of education, which is based on health belief model, on the promotion of preventive behaviors for premenstrual syndrome among the female adolecents.Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 120 female adolecents assigned into the experimental and control groups (n=60 in each group). The study population was selected through multistage sampling method. Data collection was performed using a demographic form and a researcher-made questionnaire, enquiring the knowledge, behavior, and health belief model components. The educational intervention consisted of four lecture sessions of 45-60 min. The data were analyzed using the independent t-test, paired t-test, Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, and Chi-square tests in SPSS software, version16.Results: Prior to the intervention, there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of demographic and underlying characteristics, knowledge, preventive behaviors, and all components of the health belief model (P>0.05). However, a significant difference was observed between the two groups following the intervention regarding the mean score of knowledge, all components of health belief model, and preventive behaviors (P<0.001).Conclusion: The implementation of education based on the health belief model was effective in the adoption of preventive behaviors for premenstrual behavior. Given the importance of the female adolecents' health as future mothers and the low cost of health education activities, it seems necessary to develop these programs.

Background and Objective: Breastfeeding is a matter of significant importance. Given the role of such factors as attitude and subjective norms on the behavior of mothers and the low level of exclusive breastfeeding, the present study aimed to determine the effect of educational program based on the theory of planned behavior on breastfeeding behavior among the pregnant women in Fasa, Iran.Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 100 pregnant women with the gestational age of 30-35 weeks who referred to the health care centers of Fasa, Iran, in 2017. The study population was selected using random sampling technique, and then assigned into two groups of control (n=50) and intervention (n=50). The data were collected using a demographic form, components of the theory of planned behavior questionnaire, and a breastfeeding checklist. The intervention group received three 55-to-60-minute training sessions. The mothers' breastfeeding behavior was evaluated before the training sessions and 40 days post-delivery in both groups. The data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 22, using Chi-square test, independent t-test, and paired sample t-test.Results: According to the results, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the components of the theory of planned behavior before the educational intervention (P=0.208). However, after the training sessions, the intervention group showed a significant improvement in all components of the theory of planned behavior, including intention and breastfeeding behavior, compared to the control group (P=0.001).Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, appropriate training programs, social network support, and suitable conditions for breastfeeding in the community are among the effective factors that can change the mothers’ attitudes towards lactation and result in successful breastfeeding in the first three months after childbirth.