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Abstract

Objectives: In this project, the mental health status of mothers with children afflicted with psy-chiatric disorders was compared with that of the mothers of children without psychological comp- laints.

Method: 57 mothers of children afflicted with psychiatric disorders and 56 mothers of children without psychological  complaints were selected as the subjects of the study via available sampling. The subjects from  the two groups were matched in terms of some demographic variables. To collect data the 28-question version of General Health Questionnaire was  used. Data were analyzed via multivariate analysis of variance.

Findings: The mean scores of mothers of children with psychiatric disorders were higher than those of the mothers of children with no psychological complaints in the subscales of somatic synd- rome, anxiety syndrome, social functioning, and depressive syndrome the difference was more con- siderable in anxiety syndrome.

Results: The mothers of children afflicted with psychiatric disorders experience more depression and anxiety, lower social functioning and physical health than mothers of children with no psy-chological complaints. 

 

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Objectives: The purpose of this research was to investigate the psychometric characteristics of the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) in a sample of Iranian elderly population. Method: Using convenience sampling, 500 elderly individuals were selected from two senior centers including Kahrizak Geriatric Nursing Home (n=305) and Jahan-Didegan Elderly Charity Foundation (n=195). Then, 61 other individuals were investigated for test–retest reliability evaluation. In addition to the RUDAS, data were collected through Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE), Generic Depressed Scale (GDS), and European Quality of Life 5 Dimensions (EuroQul-5D). Data were analyzed was by Pearson correlation and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis methods. Results: The findings indicates a signification correlation between the RUDAS and other scales (p0.001), and thus its appropriate convergent and discriminate validity. The 2-week test-retest reliability and Cronbach’s alpha for RUDAS were 0.88 and 0.77, respectively. The cut-off point, specificity and sensitivity were 20, 0.79, and 0.86, respectively. On the other hand, RUDAS factor analysis depicted its saturation for one factor. Conclusion: The RUDAS possess suitable psychometric characteristics to be used among Iranian elderly population.

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