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Background: Stress and anger are among the most common mental health problems in adolescents. The skill of coping with stress and controlling emotions is one of the vital skills in adolescence. This study aims to investigate the effect of educational intervention on anger and stress management skills in female adolescents based on social cognitive theory (SCT). Methods: The present pre-test post-test clinical trial was conducted among 12-14-year-old girls in Birjand City, Iran in 2019. One school was randomly selected as intervention and one school as control. The participants included 80 girls randomly selected and assigned to the intervention and control groups. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire investigating the effective factors on anger and stress control skills based on the SCT. The validity and reliability of this scale were confirmed by a panel of experts and Cronbach’s α was above 0.7. Questionnaires and informed consent forms were completed by participants in the pre-test stage and two months after the educational intervention. Seven training sessions were held in two months. The implementation of the project lasted for four months. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 22 and t-test. Results: The results showed that the mean scores of perceived social support (P=0.003), perceived reinforcement (P=0.03), and self-control (P

Abstract Introduction Work-life conflict (WLC) is important in organizational behavior research and human resource management. The present research aimed to investigate the underlying causes, consequences, and solutions to WLC in Iranian working women. Materials and methods The present qualitative study was conducted through a content analysis method among 19 working married women in Birjand, a city in the east of Iran, from December 2021 to February 2022. To collect the data, semi-structured interviews were held. The average interview time was 45 minutes, and all interviews were recorded upon the participants’ consent. Finally, after coding, the information was analyzed with MAXQDA software. Findings The causes of conflict included 4 main categories of individual, interpersonal, organizational, and cultural factors, with seven subcategories: the pressure of the mother’s role at home, personality traits, lack of individual skills, insufficient support, work characteristics, organizational policies, and the traditional role of women in society. The consequences of conflict included 2 main categories, Decreasing quality of life and work problems with 4 subcategories: physical and mental illnesses, forgetting one’s role towards others, limiting social communication, and reducing productivity. Conflict resolution methods included 3 main classes of individual-oriented, other-oriented, and organization-oriented with 8 subclasses: program-oriented, meaning-oriented, emotion-oriented, avoidance, emotional support, instrumental and work support, support work policies, and correct management views. Conclusion To solve the problem of conflict, different aspects should be considered and help to solve this challenge by influencing each dimension.

Background and Aims: Congenital hypothyroidism is the most common and preventable cause of mental retardation in children. This study aimed to investigate mental development in healthy children and children with hypothyroidism treated in South Khorasan in 2020. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 64 children aged five to seven years in South Khorasan, divided into two groups (n=32): the control group and the group with congenital hypothyroidism. Data were collected using checklist demographic data, including gender, age, treatment, socioeconomic status, place of residence, and parents’ level of education, as well as children’s intellectual quotient (IQ) based on the Raven’s Progressive Matrices test of intelligence. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software (version 24) at a significant level of less than 0.05 Results: The mean age of children was 6.22±0.79 years, and there was no significant difference between the two groups concerning their age (P=0.78). The results also showed no significant difference between the groups for their gender (P>0.05). The average IQ score was 125.50±8.00 in the population with hypothyroidism and 127.14±5.41 in healthy children; however, the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.50). Additionally, there was no significant relationship between the IQ scores and case groups (P=0.40). Finally, the comparison of IQ classes was not significant between the two groups regarding their age (P>0.05) and gender (P> 0.05). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that the screening program for congenital hypothyroidism can positively affect children’s mental development or IQ.

Background: Identity formation is regarded as the most important issue during adolescence. The present study aimed to assess the role of academic identity status in psychological well-being.Method: This descriptive correlation study was conducted on medical sciences students admitted to Birjand University of Medical Sciences in 2017. The statistical population included 600 cases out of whom 240 subjects were selected via the simple random sampling method. Two questionnaires were employed for data collection: Isaacson's academic identity, and Ryff's scale of psychological well-being. The data were analyzed in SPSS (version 19) using descriptive statistics and stepwise regression.Results: The achieved identity was positively and significantly correlated with the variables of relationships with others, self-acceptance, and independence (P

Background and Objectives: A human is a social being and needs social cohesion, support, and understanding. The relationship between the dentist and patient is a specific example of social support and empathy. The patient is also an example of social support. An empathetic dentistpatient relationship can effectively improve the physical, psychological, and social wellbeing of the patient. In this relationship, a physician can make a better diagnosis and deliver a more satisfactory treatment outcome. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate empathy and its related factors in dental students of Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand City, Iran, in 2020. Methods: The study population consisted of all students of clinical dentistry. After obtaining informed consent from the students, Jefferson’s questionnaire was distributed among them. Students’ demographic information was asked in the questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed by ANOVA and the independent t test at the significant level of 0.05. Results: A total of 78 (42.3% male and 57.7% female) dental students participated in this study. Their Mean±SD score of empathy was 57±5.57. The mean empathy score was significantly higher in females than males (P=0.04). The mean score of empathy was significantly higher in students who were more interested in their field (P=0.03). The mean score of empathy for students was not significantly different in terms of study semester (P=0.06), marital status (P=0.95), communication skills (P=0.16), and mother’s (P=0.11), and father’s (P=0.92) education. Conclusion: The mean score of empathy was significantly higher in females and students who

Abstract Background: Spiritual competence means understanding the difference between spirituality and religion; and between spirituality, religion, and culture. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of spiritual competence training on the psychological well-being of preschool teachers. Methods: This is a quantitative, semi-experimental, pre-test-post-test study with a control group. The statistical population included all preschool teachers in Birjand city in the academic year 2019 - 2020. Using the purposeful sampling method and following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 40 participants were randomly selected and divided into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received the educational package of spiritual competence in 12 sessions, and the control group did not receive any intervention. In order to analyze the data, the analysis of variance test was used with repeated measures after observing the statistical assumption. Results: The mean age of the participants was 37.38 ± 7.39 years. All of the participants were female (100%). The results of the present study showed that the educational package of spiritual competence was effective for the psychological well-being of preschool teachers. The results of the test of simple effects between groups in three stages of measurement showed that there is no significant difference between the two experimental and control groups in the pre-test. Post-test and follow-up, there is a significant difference between the two experimental and control groups, and the average of the experimental group is higher in the two stages of post-test and follow-up. Conclusions: According to the findings, it can be said that the educational package of spiritual competence evaluated in the present study can help in increasing the mental health and psychological well-being of preschool teachers.

Background: Marital disturbance widely impact the quality of marriage in couples. Besides, the lack of communication skills among couples is considered as one of the most significant personal factors influencing marriage distress. Therefore, this research aimed to determine the impact of communication skills training on marital disturbance. Methods: In this interventional study, the target population was all couples residing in the marginal regions of Birjand City, in 2016. Sixty couples (N=120) were randomly selected and assigned into two groups of intervention (30 couples) and control (30 couples). The data collection instrument consisted of two sections of private information and the Pines couple burnout measure. Results: Educational intervention was conducted for the intervention group in six sessions of 120 minutes. The questionnaire was completed before and three months after the intervention, in both groups. Then, the obtained data were analyzed using the chi-squared test, independent t-test, and paired t-test, considering the significant level of 0.05, in SPSS V. 18. The Mean±SD age was 32.27±6.24 years and 34.85±5.74 years in the intervention and control groups, respectively. Also, the Mean±SD marriage life of couples was 7.33±5.29 years and 9.57±5.73 years in the intervention and control groups, respectively. Conclusion: The mean of marital disturbance modifications, marital distress, and physical and emotional loss significantly differed between the intervention and control groups (P

Background: Adolescence is a critical period of life for all people. Self-esteem is also a basic human need that affects one’s growth, development, and identity. This study aimed to explain 12-14 year-old female adolescents’ experiences regarding selfesteem. Methods: In this qualitative content-analysis study, adolescent girls aged 12-14 years were selected by the purposeful sampling method. The data were gleaned using individual interviews and focus group discussions. The recorded audio files were transcribed and the information was compared and merged with available related literature. The derived ideas were compared and the codes were integrated to form categories. Ultimately, we extracted more abstract categories and sub-categories. Results: The concept of self-esteem in adolescents is defined as an intellectual approach to oneself. Adolescents considered perceived benefits and good feelings as the outcomes of high self-esteem. From their perspective, interpersonal and intrapersonal influencers contribute to self-esteem. Conclusions: Attention should be paid to adolescents’ self-esteem and its effective factors, including interpersonal and intrapersonal influencers. Therefore, appropriate conditions should be provided for adolescents to promote their self-esteem.

Background: Infertility is an individual and social problem that affects people’s life quality and has been addressed in several scientific fields. Nevertheless, the psychosocial needs of infertile couples during the medical treatment process are discussed to a lesser degree. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy on depression in infertile women referring to the infertility clinic of Birjand University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This quasi-experimental study with a equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was conducted to evaluate the effects of a CBT for 50 women with infertility. The sample consisted of infertile women referring to the university clinic in 2019. The subjects were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Beck Depression Inventory was used for data collection. The cognitive-behavioral intervention was conducted during 10 sessions. Data were analyzed in SPSS -19 using statistical tests such as t-test and repeated measures ANOVA. Results: In this study, the mean age of women in the experimental group was 28±4.1 years and 28.04±3.64 years in the control group. There was a significant difference between experimental and control groups in the mean score of depression (P

BACKGROUND: Today, one problem facing working women is the conflict between work and life, and the resultant stress has a great impact on their mental health. A well-known model for stress management is Lazarus and Folkman's model. The primary goal of the present study is to improve working women's mental health through stress management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study employs a mixed approach and is conducted in 4 phases. The target population is women working in Birjand University (South Khorasan province/Eastern Iran). The first step is to describe the research population of a cross-sectional study. The measurement instrument used is Carlson's standard work-life conflict measurement questionnaire. The sample size in this step is 319. The second step is to conduct a qualitative study by interviewing working women with work and life conflict. The sampling will continue until data saturation and then the data will be analyzed through a content analysis. The third step will be the development of a questionnaire based on Lazarus and Folkman's model using the information obtained from the qualitative step. This questionnaire will be then validated in the target research population. Moreover, an exploratory factor analysis, a confirmatory factor analysis and a reliability test will be run. The last step is to carry out an educational intervention to measure the effect of the intervention on stress management and general health in working women with work and life conflict. The measurement instruments used in this step are Cohen's Perceived Stress Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire, and a researcher-made stress management questionnaire. CONCLUSION: It seems that the educational intervention of stress management with educational content designed based on the needs of the audience, can be effective in controlling and managing the stress caused by women's work-life conflict. TRIAL REGISTRATION: IRCT (IRCT20210918052508N1) from the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials in 2021-09-21.

Introduction: Spiritual competence in personal and work life increases compatibility, adaptation, problem solving skills, finding meaning in life events, inner and outer peace, dynamism and vitality and can have positive effects on other aspects of life. The first step to improve the status of spiritual competence in society is to evaluate it, which currently has few tools in Persian to measure it, so the purpose of this study is to translate and validate the Spiritual Competence Questionnaire. Methods: After Persian translation, the formal validity of this questionnaire was inference using the opinions of nine experts based on Waltz and Basel and Lawshe's theory. Also, 179 people completed the research questionnaire to inference the reliability and perform exploratory factor analysis. Excel and SPSS24 software were used for statistical analysis. Results: The validity of this questionnaire in two dimensions was 90% CVI = (simplicity of questions = 88%, relevance of questions = 96%, clarity of questions = 87%) and 97% CVR = standard. The reliability of this tool, which was calculated based on Cronbach's alpha test, was 89%. The KMO index in exploratory factor analysis was 88% and the mean-variance for seven factors was 67%. Conclusion: In addition to proper reliability and validity, this tool; is quite simple and fluent. Also, with the ability to complete in 15 to 20 minutes, it has the necessary features to assess the spiritual worthiness of people in different age groups.

Objective: Considering the impact of rapid sociocultural, political, and economical changes on societies and families, population-based surveys of mental disorders in different communities are needed to describe the magnitude of mental health problems and their disabling effects at the individual, familial, and societal levels. Method: A population-based cross sectional survey (IRCAP project) of 30 532 children and adolescents between 6 and 18 years was conducted in all provinces of Iran using a multistage cluster sampling method. Data were collected by 250 clinical psychologists trained to use the validated Persian version of the semi-structured diagnostic interview Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-PL (K-SADS-PL). Results: In this national epidemiological survey, 6209 out of 30 532 (22.31%) were diagnosed with at least one psychiatric disorder. The anxiety disorders (14.13%) and behavioral disorders (8.3%) had the highest prevalence, while eating disorders (0.13%) and psychotic symptoms (0.26%) had the lowest. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders was significantly lower in girls (OR = 0.85; 95% CI: 0.80-0.90), in those living in the rural area (OR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.73-0.87), in those aged 15-18 years (OR = 0.92; 95% CI: 0.86-0.99), as well as that was significantly higher in those who had a parent suffering from mental disorders (OR = 1.96; 95% CI: 1.63-2.36 for mother and OR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.07-1.66 for father) or physical illness (OR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.17-1.35 for mother and OR = 1.19; 95% CI: 1.10-1.28 for father). Conclusion: About one fifth of Iranian children and adolescents suffer from at least one psychiatric disorder. Therefore, we should give a greater priority to promoting mental health and public health, provide more accessible services and trainings, and reduce barriers to accessing existing services.

Introduction: Regular assessment of academic textbooks and revision of teaching methods are critical for making such textbooks more efficient in meeting the needs of the new generation and conveying values to them. Therefore, in line with the necessity of textbook evaluation, this research examined the extent to which the Medical Ethics book named “physicians and ethical considerations” observed Allport’s value components. Methods: The research was carried out by means of content analysis with a quantitative approach and was categorical in type. The Medical Ethics Book (physician and ethical considerations) published in 2004 by deputy of education and university affairs, Ministry of Health and Medical Education was subject to analysis. Analyses were based on Allport’s value system. Units of content analysis were sentences which directly or indirectly (their concepts) referred to one of Allport’s value components. Scott’s formula was used to determine the reliability. In order to check the reliability, ten percent of the total content of the book along with definitions associated with value components and related indicators were recoded by a second rater and the agreement was found at 0.90 as the reliability index. Results: The mean of value orientation in a total of 879 sentences referring to values was 146.5±1 with the standard deviation of 2.766. Findings showed, were ranked as social values (30.83% with 271 sentences), religious values (23.43% with 206 sentences), political values (23.09% with 203 sentences), theoretical values (10.35% with 91 sentences), economic values (9.55% with 84 sentences) and aesthetic values (2.73% with 24 sentences). Conclusion: Social values were highly expressed in the book and aesthetic values were dealt with to a lesser degree. Therefore, considering the importance of the matter, it is suggested that the content of this book be revised and take theoretical, economic and aesthetic aspects into account in order to bring balance to even content distribution.

​Background and objectives : Quality of worklife is expected to have a major effect on the job burnout among all affecting factors. This study aimed to assess the relation between the quality of worklife with job burnout in consultants of south khorasan province. Material and Methods : This is a descriptive-analytical study (regression) among schools’ consultants of south Khorasan province in school year 91-92. Data were analyzed by SPSS 17 software, using linear regressions and Spearman correlation coefficient (α=0.05). Results : Findings of this study showed that in overall, there is an inverse significant relationship between quality of worklife and job burnout in south Khorasan province consultants. Conclusion : Consultants who have a higher quality of worklife, suffer less job burnout; this shows that more attention must be paid by top managers to promote levels of quality of work life in schools’ consultants.

Background and Aim: Diabetes mellitus is a prevalent chronic disease in the world, which threatens mental health. Various factors, including improvement of religious faith and increasing self-care efficacy, are effective in the treatment and control of the complications of the disease. The present study aimed at studying of the role of trust in God and self– efficacy in the mental health of type П diabetics. Materials and Methods: The present descriptive– analytical and correlational study was done on 204 type П diabetics selected through systematic randomized method. The patients' trust in God, self– efficacy, and mental health were assessed by means of "trust in God" questionnaires DMSES and GHQ-28. The obtained data was analysed by means of SPSS software (version 13), Pearson's correlation coefficient, t-test, and multiple regression analysis at the significant level α=0.05. Results: It was found that there was no significant difference between the two genders regarding trust in God, self-efficacy, and mental health at the level P

Background and Aim: Prevalence of mental disorders is growing worldwide so that, according to WHO's statistics, more than 0.5 million of the world population suffer from mild or acute mental diseases. Regarding the increasing feature of such diseases, it is obviously necessary to carry out a new study aiming at determining the prevalence of mental disorders in Birjand. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study, which employed multiple randomized cluster sampling, was conducted on 582 over 15 year olds in Birjand. For data collection, SCL-90-R questionnaire was used. The questionnaire was filled out two experts of the Health Center of the province, in addition to a researcher. The questioners/interviewers completed the questionnaires by referring to the residences of the individuals after obtaining their conscious written consents and justifying the aims of the project. The obtained data was fed into SPSS software (version 15) and analysed. Results: 7.1% of the studied individuals had serious mental disorders and 47.9% had significant mental problems. Prevalence of various mental disorders was as follows: obsessive– compulsive disorders 5.5%, paranoid disorders 5.5%, depression disorders 6%, somatoform disorders 3.7%, inter-personal sensitivity disorders 1.7%, psychotics disorders 1.2%, anxiety disorders 2.6% and phobic disorders 1.3%.M ental disorders were significantly higher in women compared to men. Conclusion: Considering the above results it is concluded that mental disorders have a relatively high prevalence in Birjand.

Introduction. Different factors can make students interested in studying medicine and cause a positive attitude towards their course of study, or in contrast, lead to their boredom, distraction, and disappointment to continue their education. Thus, this study aims to assess influential factors in the attitude of medical students towards their own discipline. Methods. A survey study was performed on 227 medical students who were chosen by stratified random sampling. The data was gathered by a self-administered questionnaire covering different factors affecting medical students’ attitude towards studying medicine. The data was analyzed by SPSS software using mean, frequency and chi-square tests. Results. Personal interests, serving society, social status of medicine, and society's belief on the importance of medicine were the most important factors in choosing medicine as a discipline. Teachers’ evaluation method, shortage of research facilities, lack of job security, and educational regulations were among the most important factors causing a negative attitude in medical students towards studying medicine. The feelings to help patients and satisfy others were the most important factors causing a positive attitude in students. Although the interest in medicine had decreased during different years of study, no significant difference was observed. There was a significant relationship between students’ attitude and some of their demographic characteristics. Conclusion. The problems resulting from evaluation methods, research facilities and future job security were the most important factors causing a negative attitude towards medicine. Therefore, accurate educational planning, having standard examinations and planning to achieve professional security can improve these attitudes.

Objective: This was the first national epidemiological study on oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in Iran, which provided new information about the prevalence, comorbidities, and sociodemographic predictors of ODD. Methods: Data from a face-to-face household survey of 30,532 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years were collected from across all 31 provinces of Iran using a multistage cluster sampling design. The Persian version of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children – Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) was used in this study. Results: The lifetime prevalence of ODD was found to be 3.9%. ODD was significantly more common in boys than girls and appeared in late adolescence more frequently than in childhood. A lower prevalence of ODD was found among participants who lived in rural areas. ODD is highly likely to co-occur with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, separation anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and depressive disorders. Conclusions: The findings of this national population-based study confirm and extend previous findings on the prevalence, comorbidities, and sociodemographic predictors of ODD.