Predicting the theory of mind precursors based on parenting styles and language skills in preschool children.

OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to investigate the association between language skills and parenting styles and three levels of theory of mind (including emotion recognition, false belief understanding, and second-order belief) among Iranian preschool children. MATERIALS & METHODS: A total of 98 preschool Iranian children (aged 5-6 years) living in the Karaj province, Iran were recruited. While the theory of mind test and test of language development (Told-p: 4) were administrated on children, their mothers were asked to answer a parenting style questionnaire. RESULTS: Multivariate regression analysis showed a differential association between three levels of theory of mind, language skills, and parenting styles. Most language skills and permissiveness parenting styles could predict the emotion recognition ability (P<0.01). Morphological completion predicted false belief understanding (p<0.01). Also, word articulation and authoritative parenting style could predict the ability to understand second-order belief (R2=28%). CONCLUSION: The pattern of associations between language and theory of mind in the Persian language seems similar to previous studies in other languages. Language may play a dual role in the theory of mind. Whereas for the first (basic) and the third (advanced) level of theory of mind, language skills, like relational vocabulary, morphological completion, and word articulation, are general and nonspecific predictors, but syntactical skills are a specific casual predictor for the false belief understanding. Also, it seems that an authoritative parenting style could facilitate the development of higher-order abilities related to the theory of mind.

Integration of Spiritual Care in Hospital Care System in Iran.

There is a growing body of evidence on the positive effects of religion and spirituality on recovery from cancer and the ability to cope with it. Most spiritual interventions carried out in Iranian research are based on care and support models that have been developed in the West. With the unique cultural and religious features of the Iranian context, a more refined look at spiritual care in the hospital care system of Iran is called for. This paper examines how to implement the spiritual care of cancer patients in hospitals and oncology wards in Iran. A consensus panel of experts was used to develop guidelines for spiritually integrated care consisting of 18 primary areas, which are described in detail in this report. Health care policy makers and managers of health care in Iran and possibly other areas of the Middle East should consider implementing these guidelines. Using indigenous models and programs specific to the religion and the cultural of a region should be considered when providing spiritual care for cancer patients.

Patience and Mental Health in Iranian Students.

BACKGROUND: While the role of some personality traits has been comprehensively explored, scientific study of others, such as patience has been neglected. Psychologists have paid scant attention to patience as a personality trait, character strength or virtue. OBJECTIVES: The current study examined the relationship between patience and life satisfaction, mental health, and personality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of 252 Iranian college students (129 females and 123 males) completed the 3-factor patience scale, satisfaction with life scale, general health questionnaire, anxiety and depression scales and mini international personality item pool-big five. RESULTS: The three types of patience (interpersonal, life hardship, and daily hassles) were associated with higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of depression, anxiety and psychological dysfunction. Patience also showed moderate relationship with the Big-Five factors of personality. After controlling the personality factors, patience managed to explain additional unique variance in life satisfaction and mental health indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Patience is a unique predictor of mental well-being. It is suggested that long-term patience is more important for depression and general health, whereas short-term patience is more beneficial for hedonic well-being.

Personality factors and attitudes toward euthanasia in Iran: implications for end-of-life research and practice.

This article reports on the relationship of personality and euthanasia attitudes. Results from a survey of 165 Iranian students showed that religiosity, honesty-humility, agreeableness, and extraversion were related to negative attitudes toward euthanasia, whereas openness was related to acceptance of euthanasia, with the unconventionality facet driving this relationship. Moreover, openness explained additional variance when added to a multivariate model containing religiosity and HEXACO factors. This study illustrates the possibility of accounting for variation beyond the traditional group level predictors of attitudes toward euthanasia and promoting future cross-cultural studies into personality and end-of-life issues and informing end-of-life conversations at the bedside.

Attitudes towards euthanasia in Iran: the role of altruism.

OBJECTIVE: Altruism is arguably the quintessential moral trait, involving willingness to benefit others and unwillingness to harm them. In this study, I explored how altruism and other personality variables relate to acceptance of euthanasia. In addition, I investigated the role of culture in attitudes to subcategorical distinctions of euthanasia. METHODS: 190 Iranian students completed the Attitude Towards Euthanasia scale, the HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised, and an interest in religion measure. RESULTS: Higher scores on altruism, Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and religiousness were associated with viewing euthanasia as unacceptable. As expected, altruism explained unique variance in euthanasia attitude beyond gender, religiosity and broad personality factors. CONCLUSIONS: Cultural and individual differences should be taken into consideration in moral psychology research and end-of-life decision-making.

Attitude toward euthanasia scale: psychometric properties and relations with religious orientation, personality, and life satisfaction.

End-of-life decisions (ELDs) represent a controversial subject, with ethical dilemmas and empirical ambiguities that stand at the intersection of ethics and medicine. In a non-Western population, we examined individual differences in perceiving ELDs that end the life of a patient as acceptable and found that an attitude toward euthanasia (ATE) scale consists of 2 factors representing voluntary and nonvoluntary euthanasia. Also, acceptance of ELDs that end the life of a patient negatively correlated with life satisfaction, honesty-humility, conscientiousness, and intrinsic and extrinsic personal motivation toward religion. These findings provided additional construct validity of the ATE scale.

The euthanasia-religion nexus: exploring religious orientation and euthanasia attitude measures in a Muslim context.

Using religious orientation paradigm, this twofold study examined the relationship between euthanasia attitude and religiosity, and compared single-item and multi-item scales of euthanasia attitude. Three hundred students were asked whether they view euthanasia as moral. In addition, participants completed the Euthanasia Attitude Scale (EAS) and Religious Orientation Scale-Revised. Results indicated that intrinsic religiosity was the strongest correlate of negative attitudes toward euthanasia. This type of religiosity explained additional variance when added to the two types of extrinsic religiosity (social, personal), but the reverse was not the case. The fairly strong correlation of intrinsic religiosity with the EAS provides evidence of construct validity for the EAS and proved it to be a better measure for assessing euthanasia attitude, rather than the single-item scale.

Euthanasia attitude; A comparison of two scales.

The main purposes of the present study were to see how the term "euthanasia" influences people's support for or opposition to euthanasia; and to see how euthanasia attitude relates to religious orientation and personality factors. In this study two different euthanasia attitude scales were compared. 197 students were selected to fill out either the Euthanasia Attitude Scale (EAS) or Wasserman's Attitude Towards Euthanasia scale (ATE scale). The former scale includes the term "euthanasia", the latter does not. All participants filled out 50 items of International Personality Item Pool, 16 items of the the HEXACO openness, and 14 items of Religious Orientation Scale-Revised. Results indicated that even though the two groups were not different in terms of gender, age, education, religiosity and personality, mean score on the ATE scale was significantly higher than that of the EAS. Euthanasia attitude was negatively correlated with religiosity and conscientiousness and it was positively correlated with psychoticism and openness. It can be concluded that analyzing the attitude towards euthanasia with the use of EAS rather than the ATE scale results in lower levels of opposition against euthanasia. This study raises the question of whether euthanasia attitude scales should contain definitions and concepts of euthanasia or they should describe cases of it.