Social Health and Behavior

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Introduction: Obesity/overweight (hereafter, overweight indicates both obesity and overweight) is an important health issue that is gaining growing interest worldwide. One health issue for children with overweight is stigma. The aims of this study were (1) to detect the impact of stigma on mental health and (2) to probe the effects of positive and negative coping on the mental health of children with overweight. Methods: The author conducted a secondary data analysis using two waves of data from the Taiwan Education Panel Survey (TEPS): the first wave in 2001 and the second wave in 2003. A group of junior high school students (in the 7^th grade in the first wave; n = 2612; n_male = 1171) was used for data analysis. Items in the TEPS were categorized into the following five variables: mental health (nine items), stigma from peers (three items in relationship with peers and four items in bullying experience), stigma from parents (four items), positive coping strategies (six items in increasing social activities and two items in increasing self-study activities), and negative coping strategies (five items). Results: The overweight group experienced more peer stigma than the normal-weight group. Bullying experience, stigma from parents, and self-study activities were significantly correlated to mental health in both groups. The overweight group demonstrated stronger negative relationships between bullying events, negative strategies, and mental health than the normal-weight group; a weaker negative relationship was shown between stigma from parents and mental health. Conclusion: Stigma and negative strategies could endanger mental health among children with overweight.

Introduction: Given the current concerns about population decline and the prevalence of single-child families, as well as risky behaviors which are increasing in the community, there is a need to provide backgrounds for more information regarding the characteristics of single child and factors affecting the risk-taking of adolescents in these families to modify the risk factors of these in adolescents. Methods: This is a descriptive, analytical study. The sample was single-child adolescents and their parents conducted in the census method. The data collection tools were demographics questionnaires, Iranian adolescents risk-taking, and Baumrind parenting style inventory completed by the participants in health centers of Qazvin, Iran, in 2017–2018. The SPSS software version 24 as well as step-wise multiple linear regression model were used to analyze the data. Results: One hundred and seventeen adolescents aged 12–19 years participated in this study. About 79% of mothers and 69.3% of fathers had high education. Most of the mothers were homemakers (62.9%) and fathers were employees (76.9%). The regression model demonstrated that emotional and social supports reduce risk-taking. If a decision-maker or supervisor for a teenager is someone other than parents, moreover, when the number of meals served by parents is less than twice a day and lack of leisure-time increase the risky behaviors (adjusted R² = 0.66, P = 0.003). Conclusion: Although many factors affect the risk-taking of adolescents in single-child families, parents can reduce their adolescents' risk-taking by increasing their social and emotional supports, planning for spending more time, and allowing them to participate in family decision-making process.

Introduction: Dementia is a common cognitive disorder among elderly people requiring special care. Family carers of people with dementia (PWD) may experience mental health issues. This study examined whether spiritual coping is a mediator between the physical function of the patients and mental health status or caregiving burden in their carers. Methods: The caregivers of the PWD (n = 513) were assessed by the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) and Spiritual Coping Strategies (SCS) questionnaires at baseline and Zarit Burden Interview, Short Form-12 (SF-12), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale questionnaires at 6 months. The proposed model to assess the mediating effect of SCS was: SCS subscales as mediators, PWD's IADL as an independent variable, and mental health components as dependent variables. Using PROCESS SPSS Macro, the indirect effects of patients' IADL score on mental health-related variables in the caregivers were examined. Results: There were significantly negative associations between IADL score and mental health components (r > 0.3). SCS scores were negatively correlated with depression, anxiety, and caregiving burden (P < 0.001). Four models proposed to explain the indirect effects of spiritual coping on mental health variables revealed the spirituality as a significant mediator (0.28 ≤ R² ≤ 0.65; P < 0.001). The mediation effect of religious and nonreligious coping on mental health component in SF-12 was the highest (b = 0.57, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.26, 0.98], b = 1.20, 95% CI [0.63, 1.84], respectively). Conclusion: Spiritual coping may be a mediator between the physical functioning of the patients and carers' mental health status and caregiving burden in Iran. Thus, further investigation is needed to show how these mediators may affect the mental health status of the caregivers.

Introduction: Abundant applications of the Internet in recent years have resulted in emerging of a phenomenon known as “Internet addiction.” The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the prevalence of Internet addiction (IA) and its relationship with emotional intelligence (EI) among students of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was carried out on 325 medical students who were studying at five faculties of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences (School of Medical, School of Paramedical Sciences, School of Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, and School of Dentistry). In order to collect data, three instruments were used including (1) a checklist for demographic characteristics, (2) IA test, and (3) Schutte EI Scale. Descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, and standard deviation), Pearson correlation, and multivariate linear regression were performed to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that the prevalence of moderate and severe levels of IA was reported to be 12% and 0.3%, respectively. Moreover, 31.4% of the students were normal users and 56.3% had a mild addiction to the Internet. The results also showed an inverse and significant relationship between IA and EI (r = −0.163, P = 0.003). Regression model showed that Internet usage time (β = 0.34, P < 0.001), total EI (β = −0.2, P = 0.002), and using social media (β = 0.18, P = 0.007) significantly predicted the prevalence of IA at all levels of the severity of IA. Conclusion: The results of this study showed an inverse and significant relationship between IA and EI among medical students. Therefore, we can take an effective step to increase students' emotion and improve their coping skills by holding special workshops and classes so as to prevent them from IA.

Introduction: Eating disorder (ED) is characterized by a persistent disturbance of eating or eating-related behavior that results in significantly impaired physical health and psychosocial functioning. It has been revealed that ED patients had significantly lower sleep efficiency. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of ED risk and its possible relationship with body mass index (BMI) and sleep status among primary high school girls in Zanjan, Iran. Methods: Teenage girl students (12–15 years old, n = 370) participated in a descriptive study with a cross-sectional design and completed the Eating Attitude Test-26 and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaires. Cluster random sampling method was applied. Disordered eating attitudes, recent sleep quality, and anthropometric measures were extracted. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software version 24.0. Results: A statistically significant relationship was found between sleep quality score and ED risk in this study (P < 0.001). No significant relationship was found between waist circumference, weight, and BMI with the risk of ED (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The high prevalence of ED risk was found among school students in this study. Further studies are needed to evaluate the correlation between ED risks and sleep quality as well as BMI.

Introduction: Health literacy is an essential factor for self-care of chronic conditions and maintenance of health and wellness. This research examines whether or not sociodemographic factors predict health literacy in community-dwelling elderly adults. Methods: The sample of this cross-sectional study consisted of 250 elderly individuals residing in Qazvin, Iran, who were selected by cluster sampling method. Data were collected using the sociodemographic and Health Literacy for Iranian Adults questionnaires. A multivariate regression model was used for analyzing the data. Results: The mean age of 250 elderly people participated in the study was 69.42 ± 6.81 years. Based on the findings of the current study, the majority of the elderly participants had insufficient (n = 79, 31.6%) or not enough (n = 69, 27.6%) health literacy. The results also indicated that good economic status (B = 5.75, standard error (SE) = 2.19, P = 0.009) and living with a spouse (B = −8.75, SE = 3.36, P = 0.010) were associated with higher health literacy. However, having no formal education (B = −26.73, SE = 3.42, P < 0.001) or under diploma education (B = −8.03, SE = 2.53, P = 0.002) and being homemaker (B = −10.58, SE = 3.02, P = 0.001) or unemployed (B = −5.22, SE = 3.13, P = 0.036) were associated with lower health literacy. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the importance of using appropriate strategies for promoting the health literacy of elderly people.

Online since 10^th May 2018