ARTICLE INFO

Article Type

Descriptive & Survey Study

Authors

Hasani Tabatabai   L. (1)
Shaker Dioulagh   A. (*)






(*) Psychology Department, Humanities Faculty, Urmia Branch, Islamic Azad University, Urmia, Iran
(1) Psychology Department, Humanities Faculty, Urmia Branch, Islamic Azad University, Urmia, Iran

Correspondence

Address: Psychology Department, 3rd Floor, Faculty of Humanities, Urmia Branch, Islamic Azad University, Basij Boulevard, Urmia, Iran
Phone: +98 (44) 33688119
Fax: +98 (44) 33688119
ali.shaker2000@gmail.com

Article History

Received:  January  29, 2017
Accepted:  April 18, 2017
ePublished:  July 27, 2017

BRIEF TEXT


War is one of the influencing factors on prevalence, onset and duration of mental and behavioral disorders [1].

… [2-13]. Social stress refers to stress or panic that occurs in interpersonal or functional situations. People with high social stress are afraid of negative evaluation of others toward themselves or doing something that makes them embarrassed. Research suggest that stress is associated with feelings and behaviors and signs of dissatisfaction with others. Cognitive theories on stress indicate that selective attention to threats exacerbates stress and deviates judgment in social events [14]. … [15].

The purpose of this study was to compare the protection and social stress among injured spinal cord veterans, chemical veterans and ordinary people.

The present study is causal-comparative.

This study was conducted in 2016 from July to October, among spinal cord and chemical veterans and normal people in Urmia.

Sample size was 130 (30 spinal cord veterans, 50 chemical veterans, and 50 normal people) according to Morgan table.

The research tool was Duke Social Protection and Social Stress Scale. This scale is a 24-phrase test that is designed to evaluate social support and social stress simultaneously. This questionnaire has been designed for growing evidence of a link between family/social support, stress, and health. In this test, social support is assessed by 12 questions (questions 1 to 12, section 1) and social stress is also evaluated by 12 questions (questions 1 to 12, section 2). Duke Social Support and Social Stress Scale has four subscales: family support, non-family support, family stress and non-family stress. By aggregating the scores of two subscales of family and non-family supports, the total score of social support section, and by aggregating the scores of the two subscales of family and non-family stress, the total score of social stress are achieved. The results of the researches have shown that this scale has good reliability. Cronbach's alpha coefficients have been reported 0.71, 0.70, 0.69, and 0.53 for the subscales of family support, non-family support, family stress, and non-family stress respectively. The results of several studies have indicated that the Duke's Social Protection and Social Stress Scale has good concurrent and differential validities. This test had a significant correlation with many other social support and social stress scales, which indicates its concurrent validity. Statistical analysis: Data analysis was performed by SPSS 22 using multivariate analysis of variance. Then, with respect to the significant difference between the groups in the studied variables, Scheffe post hoc test was used to compare the bifurcation of the groups. It should be noted that, in addition to examining the assumption about the normalization of data distribution of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, in order to check the equality of variance-covariance matrix, the Box`s M, and to check the homogeneity of variables in the three groups, Levene test was used.

All the studied participants were male and their mean age was 51.00±7.40. The three groups were different in terms of the mean scores of non-family support and total social support. In study of the bifurcation of the groups, there was significant difference between the two groups of chemical veterans and normal people in terms of the non-family social support component (p<0.05). Also, there was a significant difference in the social support variable between chemical veterans group and normal people and between the chemical veterans group and spinal cord veterans groups (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the groups of normal people and spinal cord veterans group in this component (p>0.05). In the component of family stress and social stress, also, the three groups were different. In bifurcation of the groups, there was a significant difference between the two groups of chemical veterans and normal people in terms of social stress (p<0.05). however, no significant difference was observed between the normal people and spinal cord veterans, as well as between spinal cord veterans and chemical veterans in this variable (p>0.05). There was as significant difference in the three groups i.e. chemical veterans with normal people, chemical veterans with spinal cord veterans, and normal people with spinal cord veterans in terms of family stress (p<0.05; Table 1).

… [16-19]. The findings of this study are inconsistent with the results of some studies [20-22], and they are in line with the results of some other studies [23-25].

It is suggested that instead of using the questionnaire tool, more innovate research methods be used and it is suggested that more studies be carried out in both sexes (male and female). Relevant to the results and importance of the component of social protection in veterans, it is suggestion to respectful health authorities, especially the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, to pay attention to improving the social protection of veterans and their families in their plans and to provide educational classes to promote these behaviors though supporting resources from their peers who have the common condition and more favorable situation. Given the importance of the component of received social stress, it is suggested to relevant authorities to do their best to reduce social stress by providing effective strategies and planning for easier access of veterans to counselling.

The first limitation of this study was related to the questionnaire which was self-report. Therefore, bias may be created in the information, and the participants were encouraged to use methods based on social confirmation and to avoid bad reputation of social and personal disabilities. The other limitation was the gender of veterans. All the participants were male in terms of sex. Therefore, we were unable to examine the role of gender on the variables.

Social support and social stress are different among spinal cord veterans, chemical veterans, and normal people.

We are very thankful to all the employees of Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs of the West Azerbaijan Province and dear veterans who helped us at all stages of the study.

Non-declared

Before completing the questionnaire, the consent of the participants for participating in the study was obtained.

The source of this research was provided personally.

TABLES and CHARTS

Show attach file


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