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Achievement of a positive identity and its transition to adulthood is the most important task of the adolescent era. This cross-sectional explanatory mixed-method study sought to better understand barriers to identity development in female adolescents in Iran by explaining their own experiences and using a Positive Youth Development model as a framework. A total of 573 female secondary-school students were recruited through multistage sampling and were asked to complete the questionnaire of Developmental Assets Profile (DAP). Positive identity in DAP consists of four assets (personal power, self-esteem, a positive view of the personal future, and sense of purpose). Quantitative data analysis showed that among above mentioned four assets, personal power and self-esteem gained lower scores. A qualitative study held six individual interviews and two focused-group discussions were conducted to explain the barriers to personal power and self-esteem. Results showed that considering personal power, there were two categories as follows: (1) barriers to a sense of control over life and future (subcategories: being limited by failures, deprivation of liberty, and dissatisfaction from being excessively controlled by parents). (2) Barriers to adequately dealing with the challenges and problems (subcategories: expressing feelings inappropriately, isolation, and blaming). Barriers to self-esteem included categories of negative emotions due to weak academic performance, weak religious performance, weak communication with parents, and previous mistakes. The results of the present study highlighted the areas that need intervention in the field of promoting positive identity in adolescent girls and their parents.

Achievement of a positive identity and its transition to adulthood is the most important task of the adolescent era. This cross‐sectional explanatory mixed‐method study sought to better understand barriers to identity development in female adolescents in Iran by explaining their own experiences and using a Positive Youth Development model as a framework. A total of 573 female secondary‐school students were recruited through multistage sampling and were asked to complete the questionnaire of Developmental Assets Profile (DAP). Positive identity in DAP consists of four assets (personal power, self‐esteem, a positive view of the personal future, and sense of purpose). Quantitative data analysis showed that among above mentioned four assets, personal power and self‐esteem gained lower scores. A qualitative study held six individual interviews and two focused‐group discussions were conducted to explain the barriers to personal power and self‐esteem. Results showed that considering personal power, there were two categories as follows: (1) barriers to a sense of control over life and future (subcategories: being limited by failures, deprivation of liberty, and dissatisfaction from being excessively controlled by parents). (2) Barriers to adequately dealing with the challenges and problems (subcategories: expressing feelings inappropriately, isolation, and blaming). Barriers to self‐esteem included categories of negative emotions due to weak academic performance, weak religious performance, weak communication with parents, and previous mistakes. The results of the present study highlighted the areas that need intervention in the field of promoting positive identity in adolescent girls and their parents. Practitioner points: A majority of the participating adolescent girls stated that their parents use humiliating behaviors or false disciplinary strategies such as threatening, neglecting, blaming, depriving from desires, comparing, unreasonable admiring, labeling, and expressing negative statements about their daughters or excluding them.A high percentage of teenagers participating in the study were weak in assertiveness and negotiation skills, and needed to strengthen their skills in communication.Most of the adolescents participating in the study suffered from excessive parental control and a lack of freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: One of the main problems facing different societies in the world, including Iran, is population aging and its consequences. With individuals entering old age, the possibility of being afflicted with one or more chronic diseases increases, which in turn results in more use of medications and medication adherence. This study has examined medication adherence status and its related factors among older adults in Yazd, Iran. Methods: Totally 196 individuals aged 60 years old and higher in Yazd were entered randomly in this cross-sectional study. The data were collected using Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Chi-square and Gamma tests were used for data analysis. Results: The medication adherence was weak in 79.1%, average in 19.9%, and high in only 1% of the participants. There was not a significant relationship between demographic variables and medication adherence. Conclusion: As most of the participants were weak in medication adherence, the necessary actions for the identification of other factors that lead to the reduction of medication adherence can pave the way for providing solutions for increasing medication adherence in this age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cognitive impairment rate such as memory loss increases because of aging as a natural process. Based on the evidence, physical activity can lead to improved mental and cognitive function and also plays a preventive role against reducing cognitive function. the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of yoga exercises on memory of elderly women. Methods: This experimental study was a randomized, controlled clinical trial that was conducted in 2018. Two elderly day care centers in Yazd city ,in central Iran were selected and randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. Then, according to the inclusion criteria, eligible people were selected from the centers and enrolled in the study. Participants were 58 elderly women who were assigned to control (n: 29) and intervention (n: 29) groups. Yoga exercises were held for 2 months (three 1-h sessions a week) for intervention group. The Wechsler Memory Scale was completed for both groups before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed by SPSS using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: The mean score of memory in the intervention group before intervention was 77.7 ± 17.8 and after the intervention reached 86.4 ± 17.3, with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05), but in control group, no significant difference was observed. In the intervention group, mental control, logical and visual memory subscales increased significantly (p < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in other subscales. There was no significant difference in any of the subscales in control group (p > 0.05). Conclusion: To improve the memory of the elderly, physical activity such as yoga exercise can be helpful. The elderly can routinely practice these exercises in elderly care centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Correct triage is one of the most important issues in delivering proper healthcare in the emergency department. Despite the availability of various triage guidelines, triage is not still appropriately implemented. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the role of different underlying factors in triaging emergency patients through a qualitative approach. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted by conventional content analysis. For this purpose, 30 interviews were conducted with 25 participants. The participants included triage nurses, emergency general physicians, emergency medicine specialists, and expert managers at different position rankings in hospitals and educational and administrative centers in Yazd, selected by purposeful sampling. Data were collected through in-depth and unstructured interviews from April 2017 to January 2018, and then analyzed by inductive content analysis. Results: Four categories of profit triage, exhibitive triage, enigmatic, and tentative performance triage were drawn from the data, collectively comprising the main theme of responsibility-evading performance. Conclusions: The dominant approach to the triage in the emergency departments in a central city of Iran is responsibility evasion; however, the triage is performed tentatively, especially in critical cases. To achieve a better implementation of triage, consideration of the underlying factors and prevention of their involvement in triage decision-making is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]