Nonlinear Effect of Financial Development on Income Inequality in Iran; Comparison of Banking Sector and Stock Market

Income inequality has received much attention from economists and policymakers as one of the components of economic development. On the other hand, the difference between developed and developing economies can be checked in the efficiency of their financial systems. This study investigates the effect of financial development on income inequality in Iran using the threshold regression method during 2020-1967. The results show that the effect of financial development of the banking sector and the stock market on income inequality has a threshold limit. in model one, the financial development of the banking sector before and after the threshold has a significant and negative effect on inequality. In model two, stock market financial development has significant and negative effect on income inequality before the threshold but not significant effect after the threshold.  However, there is insufficient evidence to support the effect of financial development on income inequality in the form of Greenwood and Jovanovic's inverse U hypothesis

Are older people more vulnerable to long term impacts of disaster?

Background: Despite the growing interest in the study of disasters, there is limited research addressing the elderly population that lead to prejudiced beliefs that older adults are more vulnerable to disasters than younger adults. This study aimed to compare positive mental health between elderly and young earthquake survivors. Method: Data for this study, consisting of 324 earthquake survivors, were obtained from a population-based cross-sectional survey conducted in Iran, 2015. The long-term effect of earthquake was assessed using the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form questionnaire. A one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) using SPSS (version 22) was used in data analysis. Results: Older adults scored significantly a higher level of overall positive mental health (mean [M]=34.31, standard deviation [SD]=10.52) than younger age group (M=27.48, SD=10.56, t=-4.41; P<0.001). Results of MANCOVA revealed a statistically significant difference between older and young adults on the combined positive mental health subscales (F(3,317)=6.95; P<0.001), after controlling for marital status, sex, and employment status. Conclusion: The present findings showing a higher level of positive mental health among elderly earthquake survivors compared with their younger counterparts in the wake of natural disasters suggest that advancing age per se does not contribute to increasing vulnerability

A Study of Acid Attacks Based on Victim's Experiences: Causes and Strategies

Introduction: Acid attacks are undertaken with the intent to harm, disfigure, or kill another individual. In recent years, these attacks have had an increasing trend. Scientific research can provide a more in-depth understanding of this phenomenon. Thus, the present study investigated the nature and dimensions of acid throwing based on victim's experiences. Method: This qualitative study used the grounded theory method according to the approach of Strauss and Corbin. It was initiated by purposeful sampling and continued by applying theoretical sampling. Data saturation was achieved through semi-structured interviews with 12 victims. Data analysis was performed using the method recommended by Strauss and Corbin and was coded in 3 phases of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. Results: The main theme of “physical and psychological wounds” emerged as a result of data analysis. The themes of self-recovery, active personal strategies and avoidance at a personal level, family and friends and social support at a medium level, and not accepting structural support also emerged. Living with substance-abusers with behavioral disorders, and lack of problem-solving skills in the face of interpersonal conflicts were shown to be causal conditions of acid attacks. Conclusion: Acid attacks result in physical and psychological wounds in victims. Due to being a multi-dimensional (illness, disability, and victimization) phenomena, it requires a wide range of strategies at different levels Keywords: acid splashing, grounded theory, physical and psychic wound

A Pathology of Economic Support with Focus On Financial Assistance for Social Workers in Medical Centers

One of the most important responsibilities of social workers is economic support of the needy patients based on professional evaluation and diagnosis. The present research is a qualitative contractual content analysis. Data was collected from 18 social workers of the headquarters, universities of medical sciences, and medical centers, following focused group discussion (FGD) method with multiple-question design. The findings obtained from analyzing the codes, subcategories, and themes/category were grouped as poor intra-organizational cooperation and collaboration and irresponsible inter-organizational challenges influential on the discount topic. The inter-organizational dimension involved topics such as the weakness of hospital HIS system, interference of others in recording the discounts, poor instructions, occupation of social work posts by graduates of other majors, poor documentation, lack of personnel and facilities, lack balance between the authorities and responsibilities, and the unfamiliarity of health workers with the nature of social work. The inter-organizational dimension included the poor performance of other supporting organizations, growing social paths and undocumented immigrants, insurance role, lack of attention to some of the vulnerable groups, imposed expenses, growing visits to public hospitals, and the culture of using public resources. According to the findings of the study, different factors influence the amount and type of the economic support that the social workers provide for the needy patients and this fact imposes a great expense into the healthcare system of the country. On the other hand, it has deprofessionalized the social work profession and created a negative and low level perception towards it in the society

Effects of home confinement on mental health and lifestyle behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak:insights from the ECLB-COVID19 multicentre study

Although recognised as effective measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, social distancing and self-isolation have been suggested to generate a burden throughout the population. To provide scientific data to help identify risk factors for the psychosocial strain during the COVID-19 outbreak, an international cross-disciplinary online survey was circulated in April 2020. This report outlines the mental, emotional and behavioural consequences of COVID-19 home confinement. The ECLB-COVID19 electronic survey was designed by a steering group of multidisciplinary scientists, following a structured review of the literature. The survey was uploaded and shared on the Google online survey platform and was promoted by thirty-five research organizations from Europe, North Africa, Western Asia and the Americas. Questions were presented in a differential format with questions related to responses “before” and “during” the confinement period. 1047 replies (54% women) from Western Asia (36%), North Africa (40%), Europe (21%) and other continents (3%) were analysed. The COVID-19 home confinement evoked a negative effect on mental wellbeing and emotional status (P < 0.001; 0.43 ≤ d ≤ 0.65) with a greater proportion of individuals experiencing psychosocial and emotional disorders (+10% to +16.5%). These psychosocial tolls were associated with unhealthy lifestyle behaviours with a greater proportion of individuals experiencing (i) physical (+15.2%) and social (+71.2%) inactivity, (ii) poor sleep quality (+12.8%), (iii) unhealthy diet behaviours (+10%), and (iv) unemployment (6%). Conversely, participants demonstrated a greater use (+15%) of technology during the confinement period. These findings elucidate the risk of psychosocial strain during the COVID-19 home confinement period and provide a clear remit for the urgent implementation of technology-based intervention to foster an Active and Healthy Confinement Lifestyle AHCL)

Globally altered sleep patterns and physical activity levels by confinement in 5056 individuals:ECLB COVID-19 international online survey

Symptoms of psychological distress and disorder have been widely reported in people under quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic; in addition to severe disruption of peoples' daily activity and sleep patterns. This study investigates the association between physical-activity levels and sleep patterns in quarantined individuals. An international Google online survey was launched in April 6th, 2020 for 12-weeks. Forty-one research organizations from Europe, North-Africa, Western-Asia, and the Americas promoted the survey through their networks to the general society, which was made available in 14 languages. The survey was presented in a differential format with questions related to responses "before" and "during" the confinement period. Participants responded to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire and the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. 5056 replies (59.4% female), from Europe (46.4%), Western-Asia (25.4%), America (14.8%) and North-Africa (13.3%) were analysed. The COVID-19 home confinement led to impaired sleep quality, as evidenced by the increase in the global PSQI score (4.37 +/- 2.71 before home confinement vs. 5.32 +/- 3.23 during home confinement) (p &lt; 0.001). The frequency of individuals experiencing a good sleep decreased from 61% (n = 3063) before home confinement to 48% (n = 2405) during home confinement with highly active individuals experienced better sleep quality (p &lt; 0.001) in both conditions. Time spent engaged in all physical-activity and the metabolic equivalent of task in each physical-activity category (i.e., vigorous, moderate, walking) decreased significantly during COVID-19 home confinement (p &lt; 0.001). The number of hours of daily-sitting increased by similar to 2 hours/days during home confinement (p &lt; 0.001). COVID-19 home confinement resulted in significantly negative alterations in sleep patterns and physical-activity levels. To maintain health during home confinement, physical-activity promotion and sleep hygiene education and support are strongly warranted.</p

Sleep Quality and Physical Activity as Predictors of Mental Wellbeing Variance in Older Adults during COVID-19 Lockdown:ECLB COVID-19 International Online Survey

Background. The COVID-19 lockdown could engender disruption to lifestyle behaviors, thus impairing mental wellbeing in the general population. This study investigated whether sociodemographic variables, changes in physical activity, and sleep quality from pre- to during lockdown were predictors of change in mental wellbeing in quarantined older adults. Methods. A 12-week international online survey was launched in 14 languages on 6 April 2020. Forty-one research institutions from Europe, Western-Asia, North-Africa, and the Americas, promoted the survey. The survey was presented in a differential format with questions related to responses "pre" and "during" the lockdown period. Participants responded to the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire, and the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Results. Replies from older adults (aged &gt;55 years, n = 517), mainly from Europe (50.1%), Western-Asia (6.8%), America (30%), and North-Africa (9.3%) were analyzed. The COVID-19 lockdown led to significantly decreased mental wellbeing, sleep quality, and total physical activity energy expenditure levels (all p &lt; 0.001). Regression analysis showed that the change in total PSQI score and total physical activity energy expenditure (F-(2,F- 514) = 66.41 p &lt; 0.001) were significant predictors of the decrease in mental wellbeing from pre- to during lockdown (p &lt; 0.001, R-2: 0.20). Conclusion. COVID-19 lockdown deleteriously affected physical activity and sleep patterns. Furthermore, change in the total PSQI score and total physical activity energy expenditure were significant predictors for the decrease in mental wellbeing.</p

Understanding Effects of the Plan for Organizing Stree Children by Considering its Challenges

The plan for organizing street children as a part of Welfare organization efforts has been in progress for more than a decade. Understanding the effects of this plan with a comprehensive look at its challenges is the goal of this study.This qualitative research was conducted in 2016. The study population was managers, experts, educators, children and caregivers in 4 provinces of Tehran, Semnan, Kurdistan and Sistan and Baluchestan. Through purposive sampling, a sample of 124 people was interviewed and data were analyzed by thematic analysis method. A total of 11 main themes, 28 sub themes and 79 concepts were extracted. Two main themes including deficiencies of the plan and complicated charactersitics of the street children problem exceeding the possibilities of the plan were the intrinsic challenges of the plan and main concepts of irresponsible organizational and infrastructural views, shortage of budget, techniques and skills, problems of workforce and synergy of problems and insufficient services were plan’s operational challenges. Under the effects of these challenges, the plan had different outcomes. The main themes about effects were continuity of working as a response to problems of family ,education and environment, better parents-child relations because of fear of center, difficulties of parenting and intertwinded feeling of imprisonment and happiness.overall the plan faced many intrinsic and operational challenges that lead to inadequate implementation of it. It has been successful in chaging the custody of some children, but it is not good enough at reducing working rate and increasing school attandence of street children

Are older people more vulnerable to long-term impacts of disasters?

Hassan Rafiey,1 Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz,2,3 Fardin Alipour,1 Hamidreza Khankeh,4 Shokoufeh Ahmadi,4 Mohammad Sabzi Khoshnami,1 Sharifah Azizah Haron3 1Research Center of Social Welfare Management, Department of Social Work, 2Iranian Research Center on Aging, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing (MyAgeing), Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; 4Department of Health in Emergency and Disaster, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran Background: Despite the growing interest in the study of disasters, there is limited research addressing the elderly population that lead to prejudiced beliefs that older adults are more vulnerable to disasters than younger adults. This study aimed to compare positive mental health between elderly and young earthquake survivors.Method: Data for this study, consisting of 324&nbsp;earthquake survivors, were obtained from a population-based cross-sectional survey conducted in Iran, 2015. The long-term effect of earthquake was assessed using the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form questionnaire. A one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) using SPSS (version 22) was used in data analysis.Results: Older adults scored significantly a higher level of overall positive mental health (mean [M]=34.31, standard deviation [SD]=10.52) than younger age group (M=27.48, SD=10.56, t=-4.41; P&lt;0.001). Results of MANCOVA revealed a statistically significant difference between older and young adults on the combined positive mental health subscales (F(3,317)=6.95;&nbsp;P&lt;0.001), after controlling for marital status, sex, and employment status.Conclusion: The present findings showing a higher level of positive mental health among elderly earthquake survivors compared with their younger counterparts in the wake of natural disasters suggest that advancing age per se does not contribute to increasing vulnerability. Keywords: aged, earthquakes, mental health, post-disaster, resiliency, vulnerabilit