The association between demographic and familial characteristics and psychological properties of adolescents

Background:

We aimed to investigate the association between demographic and familial characteristics and psychological properties of adolescents including identity style, spiritual intelligence (SI), perceived parenting style (PPS), family functioning, and mental health.

Materials and Methods:

In this cross-sectional study, high school students aged 15–18 years were enrolled. Demographic characteristics of each student and their parents were recorded. Psychological properties of the students including PPS questionnaire, family assessment device, identity status, mental health status, and SI were assessed. The association between demographic and familial characteristics and psychological properties of adolescents was determined using Multiple Indicators and Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model.

Results:

In this study, 279 high school students (140 boys and 139 girls) were enrolled. The most common forms of identity style were diffusion and foreclosure with a prevalence rate of 49.1% and 39.5%, respectively. Results of MIMIC model showed acceptable fit with comparative fit index = 0.91, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.87, and root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.05 (0.04–0.06). There was a significant positive association between age and family functioning (P = 0.001). There was a significant positive association between age and mental health (P = 0.003). There was a significant negative association between gender and PPS (P < 0.001). The most common forms of PPS in females and males were authoritative form and uninvolved parenting, respectively. There was a significant positive association between father education and PPS (P = 0.001).

Conclusion:

Our findings indicated that there is an association between families’ demographic characteristics and identity style, perceived parental style, family functioning, and SI of adolescence. The association of some factors with mentioned psychological variables is more prominent such as age, gender, and father age.

Intelligence quotient in children with congenital hypothyroidism: The effect of diagnostic and treatment variables

BACKGROUND

Considering the high prevalence of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) in Isfahan, the intelligence quotient (IQ) of children with CH and the effect of diagnostic and treatment variables on it were investigated during the CH screening program.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 120 children in three studied groups were studied in this comparative study the IQ score, in three subsets of verbal IQ, performance IQ and full scale IQ, of children diagnosed with transient congenital hypothyroidism (TCH) and permanent congenital hypothyroidism (PCH) was measured using revised Wechsler pre-school and primary scale of intelligence and compared with the control group. The relation between IQ score with time of treatment initiation and screening thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level was evaluated in all studied groups.

RESULTS

Mean of verbal IQ, performance IQ, and full scale IQ score was significantly higher in the control group than CH patients (both permanent and transient) In PCH patients though it was not significant, there was a negative relationship between verbal IQ, performance IQ and full scale IQ and screening TSH and age of treatment initiation. In TCH patients, there was negative and significant relationship between verbal IQ (r = -0.40) and full scale IQ (r = -0.38) and age of treatment initiation (r = -0.46).

CONCLUSION

Mean IQ score in both PCH and TCH patients were lower than the control group, which correlates negatively with treatment initiation time. Though CH screening and early treatment has improved the prognosis of patients, but early and high dose of treatment in children with CH is recommended.