Cronbach's a reliability, concurrent validity, and factorial structure of the Death Depression Scale in an Iranian hospital staff sample

Objective: Death depression is an important component in the process of death and dying. Death depression is the second element of death. Depression is one of the important features in death distress. The aim of this study was to explore the performance of the Farsi version of the Death Depression Scale with an Iranian convenience sample of nurses (n =106).Methods: Nurses were selected using a convenience sampling method, and completed the Death Depression Scale (DDS), Death Concern Scale (DCS), Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale (CLFDS), Reasons for Death Fear Scale (RDFS), Templer's Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), and Death Obsession Scale (DOS). Results: The results of exploratory factor analysis on DDS identified 4 factors (56.16%of variance). Factor 1 labeled"Death sadness", Factor 2 labeled"Death finality/end and Death dread/fear", Factor 3 labeled"Death despair and Death depression", and Factor 4 labeled"Death loneliness". Cronbach's a coefficient was 0.84, Spearman-Brown coefficient 0.85, and Guttman Split-Half coefficient 0.81 The DDS correlated 0.40 with the DCS, 0.39 with the CLFDS, 0.50 with the DAS, 0.35 with the RDFS, and 0.44 with the DOS, indicating good construct and criterion-related validity. Concurrent validity for the DDS with the other scales were significant. Conclusions: The DDS has good validity and reliability, and it can use in clinical and research settings.

Validation of the Farsi version of the Death Obsession Scale among nurses

Objectives:Obsession is one of the important aspects in death distress.The objective of this study was to estimate the reliability,validity,and factorial structure of the Farsi version of the Death Obsession Scale(DOS).Methods:A convenience sample of 106 Iranian nurses from two hospitals at Tehran city,Iran was recruited.They completed the DOS,Death Concern Scale,Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale,Death Anxiety Scale,Reasons for Death Fear Scale,and Death Depression Scale.Results:Cronbach's a for the DOS was 0.95,and 2-week test-retest reliability was 0.74.The DOS correlated 0.48,0.46,0.47,0.39 and 0.44 with the last mentioned scales,respectively(P<0.01),indicating good construct and criterion-related validity.Principle components analysis of the DOS identified three factors accounted for 74.82%of the variance.Factor 1 labeled“Death rumination”(34.78%of the variance),Factor 2 labeled“Death dominance”(29.65%of the variance),and Factor 3 labeled“Death idea repetition”(10.38%of the variance).Conclusions:The DOS has good validity and reliability,and it could be recommended for use in clinical and research settings to assess the death obsession in Iranian nurses.

Population Levels of Climate Change Fear in the United States

There is increasing evidence that climate change, like other natural disasters has the potential for significant human health impacts, including mental health. Fear as a psychological construct concerning climate change is not well understood. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted, targeting a demographically representative sample of Americans (n = 546) in terms of ethnicity, age, and gender. Survey questions included demographic information and global questions regarding self-rated anxiety and fear of climate change. Ordinal logistic models were created to determine which demographic factors were most predictive of climate change fear in the US population. Over half of the study sample (50.9%) indicated being moderately or very afraid of climate change. In the end, only three factors remained significant (p < 0.001) in the model;self-reported level of anxiety, political affiliation, and identifying and Hispanic/Latino. Climate change fear is still not understood, especially in terms of its impact on the mental health of the population in general, though prolonged fear can be an antecedent to other mental health disorders. This study had demonstrated that fear of climate change impacts over half of the U.S population. Level of fear differs significantly by demographic. This study has provided evidence that climate change fear impacts a significant proportion of the US population, prompting a need to investigate the potential acute and long-term impacts of this fear on the human psyche. The harms and benefits of the fear response to climate change should be explored as well as potential responses to fear due to climate change.

Development and Validation of Supervision Scale in Phone Consultation in Iran

The purpose of the present research is to develop and validate an instrument for supervision in phone consultation. Literature review and focus group discussion in the first stage led to the extraction of twenty items for the supervision scale. After the initial administration and the group work of the specialized team and upon receiving the feedback, the repetitive and overlapping items were deleted and ten important items were selected. Finally, the instrument was administered on 499 consolers of phone consultation in 19 provinces of Iran, consisted of male and female individuals cooperating in the counselor’s voice. The consolers were trained and assessed by 96 supervisors. The supervisors consisted of male and female supervisors introduced as supervisors by the State Welfare Organization of Iran in different provinces all over the country. This study was conducted in State Welfare Organization of Iran. The exploratory factor analysis on the supervision scale revealed two dimensions: therapeutic alliance and intervention. The result showed the supervision scale was a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the consultation process in the semi-structured model of phone consultation. The finding is in line with previous studies in terms of therapeutic alliance, intervention in the semi-structured model of phone consultation.

The Impact of Pre-Marital Counseling and Psychological Variables on Marital Satisfaction Among Married Couples in Laterbiokoshie, Accra, Ghana

The study examined the effect of pre-marital counseling on marital satisfaction and the relationship of three psychological variables,intimacy,self-esteem and locus of control among married couples who received marital counseling and married couples who did not receive marital counseling.The study employed a cross-sectional survey.Standardized questionnaires were used to assess all variables of interest.Data entry,validation and analysis was done using the Statistical Product and Services Solution software(SPSS version 25).The total number of study participants were 720.The sample was predominantly female,430(60%)and Christian,675(94%).Study participants who were married by ordinance comprised 400(56%)and most of them attended pre-marital counseling 470(65%)for at least five months(Mean,S.D.=5.54±3.44).The results showed that couples who attended pre-marital counseling before marriage were more significantly satisfied with their marriages than those who did not attend pre-marital counseling before marrying[t(718)=2.050,p<.05].Intimacy and self-esteem significantly influenced marital satisfaction among married couples who received pre-marital counseling,whereas only intimacy had a significant influence among couples who did not receive pre-marital counseling.Pre-marital counseling should be encouraged in all counseling centers and churches.

死亡恐惧原因量表的心理测量学评价

目的死亡恐惧是死亡学的主要科目,有些研究人员已经定义了对死亡的恐惧原因。本研究以106名伊朗护士作为研究样本,目的是探索波斯语版死亡恐惧量表的信效度。方法采用方便抽样方法选取研究对象,并采用死亡恐惧量表(the Reasons for Death Fear Scale,RDFS)、死亡担忧量表(Death Concern Scale,DCS)、Collett-Lester死亡恐惧量表(Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale,CLFDS)、死亡焦虑量表(Death Anxiety Scale,DAS)、死亡抑郁量表(Death Depression Scale,DDS)和死亡困扰量表(Death Obsession Scale,DOS)进行调查。结果量表的Cronbach’sα系数为0.90,重复测量信度为0.64。RDFS与5个量表的相关系数分别为0.34,0.39,0.50,0.35和0.39,显示较好的结构效度和效标关联效度。经过探索性因子分析,确定RDFS包括“疼痛和惩罚的恐惧”“离开人世的恐惧”“宗教的罪过及失败”“与亲人分离”4个因子,可解释66.20%的变异。结论RDFS具有良好的效度和可靠性,且可以应用于临床和研究工作。

A COVID-19 mathematical model of at-risk populations with non-pharmaceutical preventive measures:The case of Brazil and South Africa

This work examines a mathematical model of COVID-19 among two subgroups:low-risk and high-risk populations with two preventive measures;non-pharmaceutical interventions including wearing masks,maintaining social distance,and washing hands regularly by the low-risk group.In addition to the interventions mentioned above,highrisk individuals must take extra precaution measures,including telework,avoiding social gathering or public places,etc.to reduce the transmission.Those with underlying chronic diseases and the elderly(ages 60 and above)were classified as high-risk individuals and the rest as low-risk individuals.The parameter values used in this study were estimated using the available data from the Johns Hopkins University on COVID-19 for Brazil and South Africa.We evaluated the effective reproduction number for the two countries and observed how the various parameters affected the effective reproduction number.We also performed numerical simulations and analysis of the model.Susceptible and infectious populations for both low-risk and high-risk individuals were studied in detail.Results were displayed in both graphical and table forms to show the dynamics of each country being studied.We observed that non-pharmaceutical interventions by highrisk individuals significantly reduce infections among only high-risk individuals.In contrast,non-pharmaceutical interventions by low-risk individuals have a significant reduction in infections in both subgroups.Therefore,low-risk individuals’preventive actions have a considerable effect on reducing infections,even among high-risk individuals.