Quality of Life among Caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders,Intellectual Disability,and Typical Development

Applied Research in Quality of Life - The quality of life (QoL) of the caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities has received limited attention in emerging...     

“My Family Would Crucify Me!”: The Perceived Influence of Social Pressure on Cross-Cultural and Interfaith Dating and Marriage

The present study examined the perceived influence of parental and social pressure on individuals’ perceptions regarding cross-cultural and interfaith dating and marriage. The questions of interest were: (1) What is the influence of parental attitudes towards interfaith and cross-cultural relationships? (2) How do the participants feel it impacts upon them? And lastly, (3) How do the participants predict they will respond to their children’s choice of such relationships? Fifty-five university students with diverse backgrounds participated in this study. The findings indicate that the majority of the participants were influenced by the social pressure put upon them. Moreover, the participants perceived the previous generation as “racist”. However, interestingly there are signs of a generational attitude shift. Finally, the findings show that over 80 % of the participants did not want to interfere in their children’s partner selection. The remaining 20 % were against interfaith and cross-cultural dating and marriages.     

Behavioral sequelae of exposure to high power microwave fields

Behavioral sequelae of exposure to high peak power microwave pulses, similar to those produced by operational radar systems and experimental, directed energy weapons systems, were studied using rats trained on fixed-ratio, variable-interval, and differential reinforcement-of-low rate schedules. Ten minute exposures to 240, 720, 2160, and 6480 pulses at a 1 Megawatt peak power level caused a rectal temperature rise of 0.7 to 2.5°C in the animals. Regardless of their schedule of reinforcement, animals exposed to the highest dose level failed to respond, on the average, for 13 minutes after the exposure when they were placed in operant conditioning chambers. However, as soon as their rectal temperatures decreased, responding resumed and no further changes in response pattern were exhibited. No long-term effects were observed in exposed animals. Thus, the behavioral effects that were seen were thermal in nature and independent of the pulsed nature of the fields. This research was supported by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command under the contract # DAMD 17-85-C-5083 awarded to ERC BioServices Corporation and was conducted at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Department of Microwave Research. The research was conducted in compliance with the Animal Welfare Act and other Federal statutes and regulations relating to animals and experiments involving animals. This study adheres to the principles stated in theGuide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, NIH publication 85-23. The views of the author do not purport to reflect the position of the Department of Defense of the Department of the Army (Para 4-3, AR 360-5).     

Multidimensional Inventory for Religious Spiritual Well-Being (MI RSWB 48): Validation with Iranian psychiatric outpatients

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to investigate the validation of the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious Spiritual Well-Being (MI RSWB 48) in a convenience sample of 250 Iranian psychiatric outpatients. In addition to the MI RSWB 48, the patients completed the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWS), the WHO-5, the PHQ-9, and the PHQ-15. Cronbach’s α for the MI RSWB 48 was .84, and for its subscales ranged from .33 (Hope Transcendent [HT] Subscale) to .89 (General Religiosity [GR] Subscale). The SWS score had the highest positive correlation with the MI RSWB 48 score. Two factors identified for the scale. The religiosity spirituality score of female patients was significantly higher than the score of the male patients. The MI RSWB 48 can be considered as a suitable tool for evaluating different aspects of religiosity and spirituality in Iranian society. The HT Subscale may need modification to improve its internal consistency.     

Evaluating the Persian Translation of the National Stressful Events Survey PTSD Short Scale in a Sample of Iranian Earthquake Survivors

In DSM-5, the APA recommended the use of the National Stressful Events Survey PTSD Short Scale, a new self-report scale for PTSD that is brief, consistent with the revised DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, and free of copyright restrictions. The present study examines the psychometric properties of the Persian translation of the scale in a sample of Iranian adults who survived an earthquake. A sample of 600 people was selected through multistage sampling and subsequently completed the scale. Results indicated that the good reliability, one-factor structure, and convergent validity of the scale observed for the original English language scale were replicated. The Persian version of the NSESSS appears to be a valid and reliable measure to assess the symptoms of DSM-5 PTSD and may contribute to increasing efforts to identify and treat PTSD in Iran.     

A critique of causality in Islamic philosophy

After the problems of epistemology, the most fundamental problem of Islamic philosophy is that of causality. Causality has been studied from various perspectives. This paper endeavors first to analyze the issues of causality in Islamic philosophy and then to critique them. A sketch is provided of the history of the development of theories of causality in Islamic philosophy, with particular attention to how religious considerations came to determine the shape of the philosophical theories that were accepted. It is suggested that outstanding philosophical and theological problems that have plagued the tradition of Islamic philosophy require a new approach to the issue of causality.

Commanding good and prohibiting evil in contemporary Islam: cases from Britain, Nigeria, and Southeast Asia

This paper examines the concept of (public) sin as well as efforts to counteract sin from the perspective of Islam. The understanding that hisba, the prohibition of vice and enjoining of virtues, are a responsibility of both the state and the community is common in historical and contemporary Muslim societies. Where the state cannot or does not provide means for countering (public) sin, the perception for some Muslims is that the responsibility on the community and individuals to do so increases. Based on ethnographic research in Britain, Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, the paper highlights examples of how sin has been defined amongst Muslim communities as well as the methods and rationales given to justify the forbidding of sin as a collective and communal public obligation. As the world becomes more integrated, there is growing concern amongst Muslim communities that sin is becoming the norm, leading society to degeneracy, that people who would not have otherwise sinned are influenced to do so. Common features in forbidding sin across Muslim communities have appeared, often focusing on what are seen as moral issues such as dress codes, music, gambling, alcohol, smoking, and the mixing of men and women in public. The forbidding of sin has resulted in attempts to introduce “Shari’a Zones” in some predominantly Muslim areas of London, whilst in Indonesia, this has given rise to the Islamic Defenders Front and in some Northern Nigerian states to the reintroduction of the criminal codes of the Shari’a.     

Validation of the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious Spiritual Well-being with Iranian samples

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to investigate the validation of a Farsi version of the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious Spiritual Well-being (MI RSWB 48) in a convenience sample of 442 Iranian people. Respondents completed a series of demographic questions and the MI RSWB 48. The Cronbach's α coefficient was .82. The MI RSWB 48 items identified two factors, but these factors did not match the two dimensions for which the scale was devised. The Hope Immanent (HI), and Experiences of Sense and Meaning (SM) subscales loaded on Factor 1, but General Religiosity (GR) was loaded on this factor rather than Forgiveness (FO). The Factor 2 had loadings from the FO and Hope Transcendent (HT) subscales. Furthermore, the FO subscale scores had weak associations with the scores for Transcendent dimension. This study suggests that the subscale scores on the MI RSWB 48 may have different implications for Christian and Muslim respondents.