[Effects of personal growth group on self-esteem of nursing students in Shaheed Beheshti Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery in Tehran]

Self-esteem is considered as an important and integral factors in the growthand actualization of human beings. Since the level of self-esteem is very critical in mental health, clinical and social psychologists focus considerably on it. This quasi-experimental study was conducted to determine the effects of personal growth group on self-esteem of nursing students in Shaheed Beheshti Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery. 10 students between 18 - 25 were selected based on individual interview and their self-esteem grades. The Cooper Smith Self-esteem Questionnaire was used for data collection. The program consisted of 8 sessions, each lasted 2 hours two times a week. At the beginning and at the end of the 8 sessions, student group was asked to complete the questionnaire. A 2 - month follow - up evaluation was performed using the same tool. Mean self-esteem grade was at the beginning 30.62 [SD = 4.38] and 44.5 [SD = 3.16] at the end, and after follow-up, was 42.25 [SD = 5.58]. Descriptive and analytical statistics [Sign Test] was used. Results indicated that there was a significant increase in self - esteem grades before and after the program [P= 0.008], as well as before and after follow-up [P= 0.016]. There was no significant difference between the grades after and at follow- up. The findings revealed that Personal growth group had positive effects on self-esteem of nursing students

Epidemiology of mental disorders in high- school students in Rafsanjan

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of mental disorders among high school students in the city of Rafsanjan in the academic year 2001-2002, and to assess the related demographic factors. 830 students were selected through multistage cluster sampling and their mental health status was assessed by SCL-90-R and for suspicious cases of psychiatric disorders, the symptoms were recorded by a psychiatrist in a questionnaire according to DSM-IV. To determine the cut off point, 120 students [3 clusters, 40 students each] were evaluated and interviewed by a psychiatrist. Regarding the cut off point of 63, 176 students scored above the cut off point; 17 were healthy according to clinical interview and 21 students dropped out regardless of several follow-ups. Thus, finally 138 students were interviewed and diagnosed by a psychiatrist. The overall prevalence of mental disorders was 16.6% [females 21.6%, males 10.6%]. The most common mental disorders were anxiety and mood disorders [8.4% and 4.1%, respectively]. Mental disorders were common among high school students in Rafsanjan and there was a significant correlation between the prevalence of mental disorders and some demographic variables such as gender, family history of mental disorders, family history of divorce and drug abuse and type of residence