Background:Procrastination is a common behavior which affects different aspects of life. The procrastination assessment scale-student (PASS) evaluates academic procrastination apropos its frequency and reasons.Objectives:The aims of the present study were to translate, culturally adapt, and validate the Farsi version of the PASS in a sample of Iranian medical students.Patients and Methods:In this cross-sectional study, the PASS was translated into Farsi through the forward-backward method, and its content validity was thereafter assessed by a panel of 10 experts. The Farsi version of the PASS was subsequently distributed among 423 medical students. The internal reliability of the PASS was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on 18 items and then 28 items of the scale to find new models. The construct validity of the scale was assessed using both EFA and confirmatory factor analysis. The predictive validity of the scale was evaluated by calculating the correlation between the academic procrastination scores and the students’ average scores in the previous semester.Results:The corresponding reliability of the first and second parts of the scale was 0.781 and 0.861. An EFA on 18 items of the scale found 4 factors which jointly explained 53.2% of variances: The model was marginally acceptable (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] =0.098, standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] =0.076, χ2 /df =4.8, comparative fit index [CFI] =0.83). An EFA on 28 items of the scale found 4 factors which altogether explained 42.62% of variances: The model was acceptable (RMSEA =0.07, SRMR =0.07, χ2/df =2.8, incremental fit index =0.90, CFI =0.90). There was a negative correlation between the procrastination scores and the students’ average scores (r = -0.131, P =0.02).Conclusions:The Farsi version of the PASS is a valid and reliable tool to measure academic procrastination in Iranian undergraduate medical students.

Purpose: Research shows an atypical cognitive process in children with nonverbal learning disorder (NLD) compared to typically developing children, but a wealth of information indicates that physical activity can influence cognitive processes. However, little is known about the effects of perceptual-motor training and its impact on the cognitive process of children with NLD. Thus, the major goals of this study are to compare the executive functions (EFs) in children with NLD with typically developing children and then to investigate the effect of perceptual-motor training on EFs of children with NLD. Methods: To achieve the first goal, 400 typically developing (IQ >80) and NLD children (7-13 years old) were randomly selected in the city of Mashhad, Iran, during the period 2017-2018. As for the second goal, 50 children with NLD were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. To evaluate executive functions, Delis-Kaplan executive function system test was used at the pretest, posttest, and 3-month follow-up. The experimental group received the Werner and Reini's perceptual-motor training program in sixteen 45-min sessions (three sessions per week), but the control group did not receive any intervention. Results: The results showed that children with NLD were significantly weaker than typically developing children in London Tower Test (t (38) = −4.662, p <0.01), Trail Making Test (t (33.926) = −3.11, p <0.01), Card Sorting Test (t (38) = −3.427, p <0.01), and Stroop Color Test (t (30.035) = −5.876, p <0.01). The Pilates training had an obvious effect on enhancing the performance of participants in the experimental group (p<0.001), but similar results were not observed in the control group. Conclusion: Children with NLD have problems in EFs, but perceptual-motor training can be used as an effective intervention for these children.

No abstract

Background and Aims COVID‐19 pandemic has generated a rise in psychological distress, such as illness anxiety disorder, apart from its negative physical effects. This study intends to the evaluation of illness anxiety disorder rate following the prevalence of COVID‐19 in Iran and its associated factors. Methods In this study, 634 people were studied. The data collection method was performed via the virtual networks using a questionnaire, with the sampling method being convenient and nonprobable with the method of snowball. Evans illness anxiety disorder questionnaire was utilized in this investigation. The logistic regression model and the χ2 were used to evaluate the data. Results The prevalence of illness anxiety disorder was 12.1%. The chance to have an illness anxiety disorder in the people whose relatives had a history of COVID‐19 was 5.32 times, and in those who had a relative with a history of COVID‐19 had higher (odds ratio = 1.27). But, this connection in people who worked or studied in nonmedical fields, is several times more than those who are busy in the medical fields. In individuals of 30 years and older, the chance of patients in single people compared to married people was 5.20 times higher, but under the age of 30 years, the chance of illness anxiety disorder in single people was 0.91. Conclusion COVID‐19 pandemic, also to the physical effects, may have psychological implications for people. Therefore, reducing the individual and social activities in terms of this disease, along with measures related to physical problems, diagnosis, timely treatment and proper psychological consequences, including illness anxiety disorder can be very fruitful.