Analyzing the concept of sexual self-care in preschool children: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Child sexual abuse is a global concern for families and societies. Therefore, child protection from sexual harassment is of particular importance. The present study aimed to investigate the concept of sexual self-care in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present research is a qualitative study conducted with a content analysis approach. The study participants include 39 child sex education specialists, parents of children aged 4-7 years, adolescents who were sexually abused in childhood, and those with no experience of sexual abuse in childhood. The participants were selected through purposive sampling method. Different people's interpretations of the concept of sexual self-care in children were explored using semi-structured and face-to-face interviews, which continued until the saturation of concepts. Data were analyzed using the Graneheim and Lundman method. Guba and Lincoln's criteria were used to strengthen the validity and transferability of the data. RESULTS: Sexual self-care in children was identified from participants' viewpoints in the study. This self-care includes three main components and six subcomponents of (1) knowledge about privacy, risk situation, and trustworthy people, (2) attitude and perception of risk, and (3) behavioral skills in self-protection (i.e., post-injury reaction). CONCLUSION: Further injuries can be prevented by improving the level of awareness, forming the right attitude, and strengthening children's behavioral skills toward sexual self-care. Such issues, which are representatives of privacy, risk situations, and self-protection ability, can improve children's sexual self-care skills.

Significance of Knowledge in Children on Self-Protection of Sexual Abuse: A Systematic Review.

Background: Sexual child abuse is a form of anti-social behavior with the children that cause potential harm to the health, development and dignity of the child. Knowledge of children about these issues can help to protect themselves against sexual abuse. This study aimed to review systematically available documents about the importance of knowledge on self-protection of sexual abuse in children. Methods: In this systematic review, "sexual abuse", "self-protection" and "knowledge" were searched in Scopus, Google Scholar, Ovid, PubMed, and Science Direct as the search words, and after considering the inclusion criteria and excluding irrelevant articles, the relevant articles were included for data extraction. In the included studies, children were educated about sexual abuse, and questionnaires were designed to compare the impact of education and the level of knowledge in children before and after education. Results: Overall, 19 articles with overall 6582 children were found that were published from 1987-2020. The main awareness of children was from parents, educators and then the media. Age of the child, education level of family, good relationship between family members, adequate education by school teachers in the form of educational programs and even media play an important role in increasing knowledge of children about sexual abuse. Education to children, on average, led to 77.43% more awareness and as a results self-protection against sexual abuse and rape. Conclusion: Insufficient education or lack of knowledge about sexual abuse is a critical issue in children. Therefore, it is necessary to design educational programs to increase their knowledge about sexual abuse and strategies for self-protection in this age group.

Survey of happiness in students of Iran University of Medical Sciences and its relationship with students' attitudes toward the field of education and the future of career.

BACKGROUND: Happiness is one of the main components of mental health that plays an important role in promoting people's health. This study aimed to investigate the status of happiness in students of Iran University of Medical Sciences and its relationship with students' attitudes toward the field of education and the future of career in 2017. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 500 students of Iran University of Medical Sciences The data collection tool was a questionnaire consisting of three parts: demographic information, Oxford Happiness Inventory; A questionnaire was used to measure students' attitudes about their career future, which was completed by students of Iran University of Medical Sciences. In order to analyze the data, SPSS software version 24 and descriptive and analytical statistics were used. RESULTS: Findings showed that 72% of students had a good level of happiness. There is also a significant relationship between happiness and attitude toward the field of study. According to the results, there is a significant relationship between the career future and the amount of happiness. There was a significant relationship between gender and happiness. CONCLUSION: The study findings show that, by planning correctly in determining the fields of education and ensuring the future of the job, happiness can be improved among students. Therefore, it is recommended that the authorities take the students with the correct needs assessment in the field of business education in the field of study.

An Analytical Comparison of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding HIV/AIDS Among Medical and Non-Medical Students in Iran.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Young people are the main group at risk of HIV/AIDS due to factors such as curiosity, peer pressure, lack of knowledge and skills, unsafe sexual behaviors, and drug abuse. The present study was conducted to compare the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding HIV/AIDS among medical and non-medical students in Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted on a population consisting of the students of Shahid Beheshti University (SBU) and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU). A total of 303 students were randomly selected from the two universities. Data were collected using a researcher-made HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitude, and practice questionnaire. Data were then analyzed using the independent t-test, Mann-Whitney's U-test, the ANOVA, and the Kruskal-Wallis test in SPSS-18. P<0.05 was set as the level of significance for all the tests. FINDINGS: The frequencies of marital status, education, smoking, alcohol and psychotropic substance use, employment status, and source of information differed significantly between the medical and non-medical students. There was a significant difference between the two groups regarding knowledge (P<0.001) and practice (P=0.019) regarding HIV/AIDS. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of their attitude toward HIV/AIDS (P=0.503). The results of the ANOVA revealed a significant correlation between marital status and practice (P=0.022), education and attitude (P=0.004), and smoking and knowledge (P=0.008) among the medical students. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference between the demographic variables and knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding HIV/AIDS among the non-medical students (P>0.005). CONCLUSION: The present findings showed that designing and developing appropriate educational programs, offered through group media, scientific seminars, courses, lectures, and group discussions, can be effective in enhancing the students' knowledge and changing their attitudes and should be incorporated into healthcare programs.

Predictors of Health-Promoting Lifestyle in Pregnant Women Based on Pender's Health Promotion Model.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pregnancy causes changes in women's lifestyle; therefore, their health-promoting behaviors should be improved in order to avoid problems during this critical period, which requires knowledge of the factors affecting these behaviors. This study was conducted to determine the predictors of health-promoting lifestyles in pregnant women based on Pender's health promotion model constructs. METHODS: This descriptive study was carried out on 300 pregnant women in their second and third trimesters of pregnancy and sought to determine the correlation between lifestyle and the constructs of Pender's health promotion model. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II) and a questionnaire based on Pender's model constructs. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. FINDINGS: A health-promoting lifestyle had a significant positive correlation with the constructs of social support and perceived benefits and a significant negative correlation with the construct of perceived barriers (P<0.05). A health-promoting lifestyle also had a significant relationship with the constructs of perceived barriers, social support and perceived benefits in pregnant women (P<0.05) based on the results of the regression analysis. The regression coefficients showed that all the three variables can significantly explain the variance in health promoting lifestyles in pregnant women (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: According to the results of the present study and based on the constructs of Pender's health promotion model, social support, perceived benefits and perceived barriers were the most important predictors of health-promoting lifestyles in pregnant women. These predictor constructs are recommended to be further considered in designing and implementing training packages and interventions for promoting pregnant women's lifestyle.