Evaluating the Factor Structure of the Persian Version of Posttraumatic Growth Inventory in Cancer Patients

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the factor structure of the Persian version of posttraumatic growth inventory (P-PTGI). METHODS: Participants included 272 Iranian people of Azari ethnicity (111 women and 161 men), aged between 21 and 91 years (mean 52.65 years), who were diagnosed with cancer and were referred to the oncology department of the university hospital. The P-PTGI was assessed to determine the construct validity, using various indices of confirmatory factor analysis and standardized lambda coefficient, followed by further assessment of the discriminant and convergent validities by using the structural equation model. LISREL 8.8 for Windows and SPSS were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The calculated values of comparative fit index, incremental fit index, normed fit index, and non-normed fit index > .90 and the values of standardized root-mean-square residual < .08 indicate an acceptable fit for the original PTGI. Considering that the values of average variance extracted (.52–.74) were greater than the square of correlation coefficients between the five dimensions of P-PTGI, discriminant validity was approved. Convergent validity was confirmed through a high value of standardized lambda coefficient (.52–.92) between the items and their related factors. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that P-PTGI has an acceptable validity and reliability for posttraumatic growth assessment in Iranian cancer patients and its factor structure is similar to that of the original form developed by Tedeschi and Calhoun.

[Effect of distraction on children's behavioral responses to pain during IV catheter insertion]

Pain is an unpleasant experience related to potential or actual tissue damage. Distraction is an effective technique to control pain. This study aimed to examine the effect of pressing a small soft ball during intravenous catheter insertion on pain related behavioral responses of children. A randomized clinical trial study was conducted in surgical ward of the Qods hospital in Qazvin, Iran in 2010. Sixty children aged 4-6 were selected through a simple randomized sampling method. The children were allocated into two equal intervention and control groups. Data were collected using the FLACC scale. In the intervention group, children were asked to press a soft ball during IV catheter insertion. The researcher marked the FLACC during the procedure. In the control group, no distraction was made during the IV catheter placement. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent-sample t-test, Chi square at P<0.05. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of demographic variables including gender, birth order, race, age and type of disease. In the intervention group, none of the children experienced severe pain during IV catheter insertion; and 63.3% of the children had moderate pain. In the control group, 50.0% of children had moderate pain and 23.3% of them experienced severe pain during IV catheter insertion. There was a significant difference in perceived pain between the children of two groups [P<0.001]. Distraction is an effective, non-expensive, and easy-to access technique to control and reduce pain in children during IV catheter placement. This study showed that distraction through pressing a soft ball was effective in reducing the behavioral responses of pain in children who underwent IV catheter placement