Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Abstract BACKGROUND: Traumatic events and psychological damage are common. Identifying different
types of traumatic events contributes to the development of psychopathology and can be very helpful
in macroeducational and treatment planners. The current study extracted the patterns (overlap)
of different traumatic events that Iranian college students commonly experience, with the aim of
understanding their association with posttraumatic growth (PTG) and religiosity.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four hundred and sixty‑six students from Kerman universities
completed a cross‑sectional survey about religion, and questions about PTG and traumatic events
have experienced in the past 5 years. The latent class analysis (LCA) was used for extracting patterns
of traumatic events, and the one‑way ANOVA test was used to compare PTG and religiosity across
these classes in Iranian college students.
RESULTS: The LCA revealed that a three‑class solution had an adequate relative and absolute
fit. The three classes were labeled and characterized as multiple‑traumatic events (2.9%),
intermediate‑traumatic events (31.1%), and low‑traumatic events (66.0%). In ANOVA results for
PTG and Duke University Religion Index (DUREL) domains across classes, individuals in the
multiple‑traumatic classes had the lowest score of PTG and DUREL domains.
CONCLUSION: Although the current study showed the relative frequency of multiple‑traumatic
events in Iranian students is low, individuals categorized in this class had the lowest PTG, and these
findings reveal the necessitation of planning and interventions for PTG.

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Considering the importance of the academic level of university graduates in the
advancement of communities, it is necessary to evaluate factors affecting the academic achievements
of university students. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between religious beliefs and
academic achievements of students in the Dental School in Qazvin University of Medical Sciences.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this correlational study, all the dentistry students in the last 4 years
of education were selected as the study samples. Of 109 students who had the inclusion criteria,
81 (31 males and 50 females) completed the questionnaires. The data collection tools were three
questionnaires, including Gluck–Stark’s questionnaire, two researcher‑made questionnaires on
“sympathy with and responsibility for patients,” and the “self‑satisfaction” questionnaire. Data were
analyzed with descriptive and deductive statistics (t‑test, Friedman test, and Pearson’s correlation
coefficient).
RESULTS: According to the analyses, a significant and positive correlation was found between
religiosity and students’ overall mean grades (r = 0.27, P = 0.016) or “sympathy with and responsibility
for patients” (r = 0.21, P = 0.05). No significant correlation was found between self‑satisfaction and
religious beliefs.
CONCLUSION: Based on the results of the present study, the religious beliefs of the students
were at a moderate level. On the other hand, this variable had a direct relationship with academic
achievement and responsibility. Therefore, attention has to be paid to the promotion of these beliefs
among students in colleges. Reinforcement of religious beliefs will improve the students’ academic
achievement. Based on the findings of this study, it should be considered by university professors
and educational planners that the average score of students with higher religiosity was higher, and
with the increase of religious beliefs, academic achievement is increased.

Abstract BACKGROUND: Although prevention the birth of children with β‑thalassemia major (β‑TM) is an
important health issue, it is rarely explored. With this background, the study was designed to find
family planning practices and related factors of couples with children affected by β‑TM.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross‑sectional, observational study, conducted among
324 parents with children affected by β‑TM attending a tertiary care health facility in Eastern India.
Data were analyzed using univariate and multivariable logistic regression using SPSS.
RESULTS: Of 324 parents, 89.5% were sexually active, 44.8% of which were currently using
family planning method to prevent the birth of another child with the oral contraceptive pill most
preferred (46.9%) followed by tubectomy (33.9%). Those who were sexually active, but not desirous of
a child were 223, of which 41.7% had the unmet need for family planning with religious belief (41.9%)
being the most predominant reason followed by unaware of methods (26.9%). In multivariable
analysis, religion, caste, per capita monthly income, mothers’ education level, and working status
were significant predictors of unmet need for family planning adjusted with others.
CONCLUSIONS: Burden of unmet need for family planning among the study population was
alarmingly high. Parents of the thalassemic children should be counseled in easily comprehensible
local language to increase the rate of contraception among them.

Abstract BACKGROUND: Teaching religious principles can inevitably strengthen the mothers’ motivation
and may improve the infant’s growth indices. This study aimed to investigate the effect of teaching
religious principles on the infants’ growth and development from birth up to the age of 3 months.
METHODS: In a randomized controlled tria1, 84 primiparous women who had average or weak
religious attitude were randomly divided into intervention and control groups in 2013. The intervention
group attended six 90‑min sessions of religious education held once a week. The control group
received the routine pregnancy care. Data were collected through physical growth indices and
Denver’s questionnaire.
RESULTS: A significant difference was found between the intervention and control groups regarding
the head circumference at birth (34.61 ± 1.51 vs. 32.97 ± 6.98). Besides, a significant relationship
was observed between religious knowledge before delivery and infants’ development in gross motor
skills (P = 0.047, r = 0.114) and major motor skills (P = 0.019, r = 0.359) at 1 month of age, and
also language skills (P = 0.015, r = 0.119), major motor skills (P = 0.008, r = 0.404), and fine motor
skills (P = 0.035, r = 0.425) at the age of 3 months in the intervention group.
CONCLUSION: Training the pregnant mothers regarding religious principles was effective in some
indices of infants’ physical growth and development.

Abstract Introduction: Birth can cause and post‑traumatic stresses in many women even when the
occasion of birth results in alive baby. Fetal death can challenge her understanding of justice
and God’s love toward his creatures. Religious beliefs have a considerable effect on decreasing
individuals’ tendency toward bereavement; thus, it is expected to have a relationship with sorrow
and mental distress ensuing fetal death. The present research has been conducted to review the
existing literature on religion and fetal death and then study Iranian women and their families’
response to such a tragedy. Materials and Methods: This is a unsystematic (narrative) review.
Research was conducted to study the role of mothers’ religious belief in their encounter with
pregnancy loss in cases belonging to a 23‑year period from 1990 to 2013. PubMed and Ovid
databases and Iranian religious resources such as Tebyan were utilized for these studies. Of
course, several articles were also derived by means of manual search. Results: Nine out of
31 papers had the searched keywords in common in the preliminary search. A review of the
existing papers indicated that only 4 out of 22 papers dealt exactly with the role of religion on
reaction of parents to fetal death. The four papers belonged to the years 2008, 2010, 2011, and
2012 indicating the new approach to religion in pregnancy loss cases. Conclusion: Religion
has a significant effect on parents’ acceptance of such mishaps and it may have a considerable
effect on their recovery from such tragic events.

Abstract Introduction: Due to the impacts of spirituality and its dimensions on psychological structures in the
workplace and their ability to influence organizational performances have received a great attention
in recent years. Thus, this study investigated the relationship between dimensions of spirituality
with mental health and hope for future. Materials and Methods: This is a correlational study with
a statistical population, including public Hospital’s personnel of Shiraz done in autumn 1389. To
collect the research data, three different types of questionnaires were used: (1) Hope for the future
(4 items), (2) mental health (12 items), and (3) components of religiosity/spirituality at (31 items and
based on 5 components). Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation and Hierarchical regression
analysis. Findings: Research findings show that there are significant correlations between existential
well-being and hope for the future, motivation, devotion and coping and hope for the future, and
mental health and hope for the future. Furthermore, all components of religiosity/spirituality have
had significant correlations with mental health. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that in the
first step motivation, devotion and coping with a variance of 5%, in the second step motivation,
devotion and coping with mental health with a variance of 6.4%, in the third step motivation, devotion
and coping with mental health and existential well-being with a variance of 9.1% and in the fourth
step, the combining of motivation, devotion and coping and existential well-being with a variance
of 8.9% with hope for the future have meaningful multiple relationships. Conclusion: Findings
indicated that motivation, devotion and coping with existential well-being, respectively, were the
most important dimensions of religiosity-spirituality that together with mental health affect hope for
future. It is necessary that the dimension of motivation, devotion and coping, existential well-being
and personnel mental health should be strengthened to increase the staff’s hope for future.