Video observations of maternal sensitivity in urban and Rural Iran: an exploratory study.

Aiming to contribute to the cross-cultural understanding of the nature and meaning of the sensitivity construct, this exploratory study observed 26 mothers and their 18-60-month-old children in rural (15) and urban Iran (11) for 30 minutes of free interaction in the home context. This first study to use video observations of parenting in Iran showed that mothers were generally comfortable with being filmed, intercoder reliability could be established for the Ainsworth sensitivity scale, and the full range of sensitivity scores was observed. Qualitative descriptions of representative interactions are provided to illustrate stylistic differences between rural and urban mothers. Urban mothers tended to engage in verbal interactions centered around toys, whereas rural mothers and children often engaged in chores related to the family's livelihoods such as tending animals, and generally talked less. Both sensitivity and insensitivity were observed in playful and chore-based activities.

Video observations of maternal sensitivity in urban and rural Iran.

There is evidence that rural versus urban residence is a salient factor in predicting parenting practices. In what is most likely the very first video-observation study of parenting ever to come out of Iran, mothers and their 18-60-month-old children were observed for 30 min of free interaction at their homes in urban (n = 11) and rural (n = 15) Iran. None of the mothers made any comments about being filmed, none expressed insecurities about what to do, and only four mothers looked at the camera more than once or twice. Compared to rural mothers, urban mothers showed significantly higher levels of verbal expression, warmth, and doing chores as an activity during the observations. However, this did not translate to significant group differences mothers in sensitivity, non-interference, and general involvement with the child. The discussion focuses on different modalities of expressing sensitivity in urban versus rural mothers in Iran.

Burnout Mediates the Association between Workplace Bullying and Mental Health Problems of Health Practitioners in Cancer Units.

Background: Medical health practitioners, particularly those working in cancer units, are vulnerable to poor psychological outcomes. The present study was designed to examine the influence of workplace bullying on the mental health of medical and paramedical staff by testing workplace burnout as a mediating factor. Methods: Utilizing a cross-sectional survey, 220 Muslim medical staff officers from the cancer units of three hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan, were assessed for workplace bullying, mental health, and workplace burnout using the standardized psychometric measures (i.e., Negative Act Questionnaire; Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale; and Maslach Burnout Inventory). Data were collected from 2019-2020. Results: Workplace bullying and workplace burnout were directly related to mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Moreover, workplace burnout significantly mediated the paths between workplace bullying and mental health (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms), suggesting that workplace burnout increases vulnerability to other mental health issues. Conclusion: A need for counseling and suitable management strategies to support medical staff working in cancer units is required.

Student Subjective Wellbeing amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic in Iran: Role of Loneliness, Resilience and Parental Involvement.

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns potentially severely impact adolescents' mental well-being. This research aims to study students' subjective well-being during the covid-19 pandemic in Iran and investigate the role of loneliness, resilience, and parental involvement. For this study, 629 students (female = 345) were recruited by purposive sampling. Students were assessed on the Student's Subjective Well-Being, Loneliness Scale, Resilience Scale, and Parental Involvement. The results confirm our hypothesis that the relationship between parental involvement and students' subjective well-being is mediated by loneliness. Furthermore, the results indicated a partial mediation of resilience in the relationship between parental involvement and students' subjective well-being. This study theoretically contributes to a better understanding of the factors determining the impact of traumatic events such as a pandemic on adolescents' mental health. The implications of this study indicate interventions that can be carried out to minimize the negative psychological consequences of the pandemic.

The Persian Language Version of the Obsession With the COVID-19 Scale for Adolescents.

Objective: The worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused significant public health burdens and psychological dysfunctions. In this challenging time, adolescents require special care. The Persian version of the Obsession with COVID-19 Scale (OCS) for adolescents was developed to screen for dysfunctional obsession associated with the coronavirus during the global pandemic. The structure and internal consistency of the OCS were established. Design and Measures: Although there are different language versions of the OCS, this is the first study to validate the psychometric properties of the OCS in Iranian adolescents. Seven hundred and nine students (369 girls) participated in the study. Demographic questions and the OCS were administered. Results: The findings provided support for the existence of a unidimensional structure that met the criteria for configural, metric, and full scalar invariance across gender (girls and boys), inhabitancy (urban and rural), and infection experience (infected and non-infected). The OCS is short and highly reliable measurement. However, further research is necessary to establish the validity of the scale in Iranian population. Conclusions: The development of such valid scales is an essential part of both research and practice during times of crisis, like a global pandemic. Diagnosis of pandemic related to obsessive thoughts in adolescents is needed as the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing and as experts point out, it can be expected that the effects of the pandemic will be observed in the coming years. The Persian version makes it possible to conduct international comparative research on the anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Structural Equation Modeling of the Relationships Between Parenting Styles, Students' Personality Traits, and Students' Achievement Goal Orientation.

Recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in achievement goal orientation correlates. What is not yet clear is the detailed relationships among students' goal orientation, students' personality traits, and parenting style. In so doing, this research responds to the need to analyze the importance of parenting styles (permissive, authoritative, and authoritarian) and students' traits (psychoticism, neuroticism, and extraversion) in explaining the achievement goal orientations (mastery approach, mastery avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance). In the exploratory correlational study, 586 Iranian students along with their parents were selected as the sample so as to evaluate the structure of the relationships between these variables. The results indicate that students' psychoticism and neuroticism predict students' goal orientations (positively: performance and mastery avoidance and negatively: mastery and performance approach) while extraversion did not. Only the authoritative style predicts mastery approach (positively) and psychoticism trait (negatively). Permissive and authoritarian styles do not directly or indirectly predict students' goal orientations.

Dataset on maternal attitudes about child maltreatment in nine countries using a Q-sort methodology.

Analyses of the present data are reported in the article "Crossing Boundaries: A Pilot Study of Maternal Attitudes about Child Maltreatment in Nine Countries" [8]. Data were collected during home visits using the Maltreatment Q-Sort (MQS). A total of 466 mothers from nine different countries gave their opinion about child maltreatment by sorting 90 cards with parenting behaviors taken from the literature that reflect four types of child maltreatment, into 9 evenly distributed stacks (with 10 cards each) from least to most harmful for the child. This data article provides an overview of the content of the 90 items, which type of maltreatment they reflect, and the source of the items. The percentage of mothers labelling each of the MQS items as maltreatment is also presented. In addition, instructions are included about the administration of the MQS as well as data-entry and analyses of Q-sort data, accompanied by example datasets and syntaxes. This can serve as a manual for researchers interested in using Q-sort data.

Crossing boundaries: A pilot study of maternal attitudes about child maltreatment in nine countries.

BACKGROUND: Definitions of child maltreatment vary widely between studies, and even more so between different cultural contexts. OBJECTIVE: In this pilot study, we examine between-country variations in maternal notions about what constitutes child maltreatment. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: The sample consisted of 466 mothers recruited in Chile, China, Greece, Iran, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey, and Uruguay. METHODS: All mothers completed a new Q-sort measure, ranking 90 parenting behaviors linked to subtypes of maltreatment (emotional neglect, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and physical abuse) from least to most detrimental to child development. RESULTS: Between-country agreement regarding the harmfulness of the parenting behaviors was high (r = .45), but there were different patterns of reported harmfulness of subtypes of maltreatment (although driven mostly by deviating patterns in the South African sample). Further, there were significant country effects on the number and type of behaviors labeled as maltreatment (pƞ2 = .15), and the number of items labeled as requiring intervention (pƞ2 = .19). CONCLUSIONS: Variations in conceptions of maltreatment need to be studied in larger more representative samples and taken into account in the assessment and treatment of child maltreatment across cultures.