Exploring the needs and perceptions of Iranian families faced with brain death news and request to donate organ: a qualitative study

Learning that one of your beloved ones is passing away and you have to decide on organ donation is a very stressful experience. To explore the specific needs of families with a brain-dead patient during organ donation process. A qualitative research using content analysis was used to obtain data from 26 purposely selected families in a transplantation center in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, regarding how they would face organ donation decisions. Data saturation was reached after 38 unstructured in-depth interviews and field notes, once data was transcribed and tabulated. Four major themes emerged as 1] family needs for emotional support, 2] empathy and compassion, 3] team efforts to assure family, and 4] shouldering grief. Study results highlighted the essential need for an expert team with specialized training to help families in despair deciding in favor or against organ donation. Moreover, discovering and explaining these specific needs help policy makers and administrators to plan interventions in relation to conditionbuilding to facilitate safe passing of the families through this difficult situation

Evaluation of validity and reliability of the quality of school life questionnaire in Mashhad schools

The Quality of School Life [QSL] is an issue that in the recent decade has got special attention for its influential role in student's life and it is defined as the level of quality of different aspects related to the student's life in school. Since students are future managers of the society, and spend most of their life time at school, identifying the factors that can threaten their life quality is very important and this requires an efficient instrument for precise evaluation. The aim of this study was to investigate psychometric characteristics of the Quality of School Life Questionnaire [Anderson and Brouck, 2000] in Iranian population. In this study, 331 students aged 11-16 years [115 girls/ 216 boys] were selected through multistage cluster sampling and Morgan table for sampling. Anderson and Brouck Quality of School life questionnaire was evaluated in regard to its construct validity [explanatory factor analysis and internal consistency], convergent validity, reliability [internal consistency] and Pearson correlation index in the studied group. Data were analyzed through SPSS. 18 software. In explanatory factor analysis, 5 factors [Opportunity, Adventure and Achievement, General Satisfaction, Negative Affect, Social integration and Quality of school life were extracted. The reliability of the mentioned factors was respectively 0.70,0.76,0.70,0.71,0.72 and 0.85 by calculating Cronbach's alpha. Considering the results of this study, the Quality of School Life Questionnaire has good validity and reliability, and can be used for evaluating Quality of School Life in Iranian Secondary school students

comparison between the mental health of mothers of exceptional children and mothers of normal children

The birth of a child is a pleasant process for parents, although it is associated with a lot of trouble and discomforties. Despite the difficulties, the hope of the child being normal and healthy usually creates a sense of confidence in them and they accept their child. However, as soon as they become aware of their child's disability, all their wishes and hopes turn into disappointment and then problems begin. The purpose of the present study was to find an answer the question of whether there is a difference between the mental health of mothers with exception to children and those with normal children. The sample of this study was selected randomly and consisted of 90 mothers of exceptional children [30 mentally disabled educable children, 30 blind and 30 deaf children], and 30 mothers of normal children, attending elementary schools in Ardebil. The instrument utilized was the 90-item SCL-90R and a causal comparative design was employed. Obtained revealed that on the whole, there is a significant difference between mothers of exceptional children and those of normal children [p<.05]. In addition, in terms of mental health, that is, depression, anxiety and psychoticism [p < .05], aggression [p<.001] and pathological fear [p < .001] significant differences exist. But in terms of somatizations, compulsions, reciprocal relationship sensitivity and paranoid ideation, no significant differences were obtained. Pair-wise comparisons showed that having a mentally disabled child affects the mental health of a mother more adversely than having a blind or a deaf child. The study revealed that the psychological well being of mothers of exceptional children is not as good as that of mothers of mentally normal but physically disabled children. Among the three groups of mothers studied, mothers of mentally disabled children enjoyed the lowest level of mental health

[ study of the extent of men's violence against women and its related variables among families inhabited in Ardabil city]

Violence in family is one of the family phenomena, which is considered by researchers. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is achieving the extent of men's violence against women and its related variables among families of Ardabil city. Achieving the aims of the study 400 families [including husbands and wives] were selected by double cluster sampling method. Correlation and survey research method have been used due to the research nature; and instruments of collecting data consisted Zigmond and Snit Tests for testing anxiety and depression, Kambril and Riji Assertiveness Test, Izing 57-question, and researcher own made questionnaire. The results showed psychological violence, social violence, and physical violence respectively in%55.5,%30,%28.5 of families. In addition, men's violence against women is related with some demography variables such as women's education, social class of family, income and literacy of men as well as psychological variables such as anxiety, depression, and assertiveness of men and women. Considering the results it is necessary that the families take cognizance of coping styles with life challenges so can replace quiescence with violence and other emotional conditions in families by control of violence, anxiety, and depression as well as obviate of other problems of life