فاطمه ترابی

The quality of governance can influence population dynamics. Using a theoretical framework comprised of demographic transition theory, modernization theory, and institutional theory, this study examined the effect of the quality of governance on transition of the total fertility rate from high to under the replacement level. 

The effect of the global governance indicators on the total fertility rate of 57 countries during 2002 to 2020 was examined applying the event history analysis on the World Bank data. 

The results revealed that more than 40% of countries reached the under-replacement fertility rate. Although all six indicators of the quality of governance had a positive and significant effect on achieving the replace-level fertility, after adjusting various aspects of governance and demographic, economic and geographic factors under study, only two dimensions of expressing opinion and accountability and political stability maintained their initial effect. 

Improving the quality of governance in the two aforementioned dimensions can lead to a decrease in fertility independently of other factors. Considering the decline of both indicators during the period under study, it is of particular importance to take the necessary measures to improve them. 

Marriage patterns occur in various forms across different cultural settings. This study seeks to investigate the role of ethnicity in mate selection in Iran. Data from the "Marriage Survey" of the National Organization for Civil Registration of Iran (2016-2017) was used, which includes 9458 individuals who referred to the pre-marital testing laboratories in all provincial centers (except Tehran). The findings showed that 85% of the marriages were semi-arranged (spouse selected by the individual and approved by the family). The multinomial logistic regression test results showed that after controlling all the covariates, ethnicity retains its association with mate selection of both sexes. This finding emphasizes the importance of the normative-ethnic theoretical approach in explaining mate selection in Iran, contrasting with the theoretical approach of the similarity of characteristics. This study confirms the findings of previous studies on the role of ethnicity in marriage patterns in Iran. It emphasizes the importance of considering it as a cultural factor associated with specific values, norms, and customs in designing policies and programs that facilitate and consolidate marriage.

After approximately three decades of implementing population control and family planning policies, Iran's population policy underwent a significant reversal with the announcement of general population policies in 2014. This shift experienced many fluctuations, ultimately leading to a complete change marked by the enactment and implementation of the “Youthful Population and Family Protection Law” in 2021. This study aims to address the question: "Why and how did the national population policy in Iran change?" The study analyzes the policy change process using the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), adopting a post-positivist philosophical orientation, a qualitative research paradigm, and a case study strategy. Utilizing this framework can help improve, strengthen, and address its shortcomings, contributing to the theoretical development of policy studies. The findings revealed the formation of two advocacy coalitions within Iran's population policy sphere: (a) the coalition of population control and family planning advocates, and (b) the coalition of population growth and childbearing advocates. Additionally, the policy shift from population control and family planning programs to the enactment and implementation of the Youthful Population and Family Protection Law can be attributed to the causal mechanisms of this framework, namely "policy-oriented learning," "external shocks," "internal shocks," and to a lesser extent, "negotiated agreements".  Policymakers should aim to improve their understanding of the policy-making process in Iran, recognizing the role and importance of coalitions, and draw lessons from both successful and un successful experiences in policy-making.

The study of consanguineous marriage  in Iran is of particular importance as one of the prevalent marriage patterns in Iranian society. Therefore, this research tries to identify the factors affecting this marriage pattern. For this purpose, the data from the "Marriage Survey" of the National Organisation for Civil Registration (2017-2018), which includes 9485 individuals who referred to the laboratories in the provincial centers (except Tehran), were examined. The findings showed that 29% of respondents had consanguineous marriages , indicating a decreasing trend in this type of marriage compared to previous studies. The results of the logistic regression analysis for men revealed that the odds of consanguineous marriage decreases with increasing age, education, and mother's education, as well as non-arranged marriage and belonging to the Gilak ethnicity (comparing to Fars ethincity). For women, the odds of consanguineous marriage decreases with increasing age, montely income, and mother's education, as well as non-arranged marriage and belonging to Gilak ethincity but,,increases with higher father's education. In conclusion, consistent with the findings of previous researches, while consanguineous marriage in Iran  alines with the predictions of modernization theory, it is still influenced by ethinic values and norms.

Skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide. In addition to ultraviolet radiation which is a well-known contributing factor, other potential factors have recently been proposed that may contribute to the development of skin cancer. Therefore, the aim of this study is the investigating the role of skin microbiota factors, trace elements and genetic factors in the risk of skin cancer. Scientific articles available in PubMed، Google Scholar, and Web of Science (WOS) databases were utilized for this study. Various studies have shown that microbial dysbiosis in human microbiota is one of the effective factors in the development and treatment of skin cancer. Additionally, research has explored the association between skin cancer and exposure to trace elements such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, selenium, and zinc. While some studies indicate that exposure to arsenic is associated with an increased risk of keratinocyte cancer, contradictory results have been reported regarding the role of other elements. Furthermore, some diseases and genetic disorders such as basal cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma predispose individuals to skin cancers. Given the substantial prevalence of skin cancer and the paucity of existing research, further investigations into risk factors and preventive measures are imperative.

The relationship between housing and fertility has been documented in the global literature and home ownership had been introduced as one of the main effective mechanisms in this area. The research gap in domestic studies prompted the authors to investigate the effects of home ownership on the ideal time for the birth of the first child after marriage (i.e., transition to parenthood) using the information of the National Survey of Marriage in 2016-2017. The results of the event history analysis showed that there was a relationship between home ownership and the ideal time of childbeaqring; in that the ideal time of transition to parenthood was faster among couples living in paternal property than among both homeowners and tenants. This finding together with the fact that higher income of paternal family accelerates the desire to have children emphasizes the importance of paternal family by providing housing or other forms of financial support in attitudes related to having children in Iran. Facilitation of childbearing through intergenerational transfer of wealth (from parents to children) is not far-fetched considering the current economic conditions (including youth unemployment and high inflation). The paper also found a positive relationship between education and the preferred time of transition to parenthood, which can be considered as a reversal in the established relationship between education and childrberinag in Iran. Future studies can help to explain this phenomenon by examining the influencing factors. 

Demographic studies in the field of family and fertility have mainly focused on the two variables of education and employment in the past decades and have paid less attention to the issue of housing. One of the most important mechanisms of how housing affects couples' fertility and childbearing preferences is the homeownership or tenure (Vignoli et al, 2013), because most of couples prefer to provide high-quality and safe housing for life before having children. Nevertheless, the relationship between housing and childbearing in Iran has not been studied much. This is despite the fact that in line with the rapid fertility transition in the last three decades, the housing tenure status of Iranians has moved from being an owner to being a tenant. during which the percentage of people living in private (owner) residential houses has decreased from 73.4% in 1996 to 60.5% in 2016, while the percentage of people living in rented houses has almost doubled and reached from 15.4% to 30.7% in the mentioned period. (Statistical Centre of Iran, 1996-2016).
Therefore, the question arises whether there is a relationship between homeownership and the ideal time to become a parent in the context of Iran or not? This article tries to answer the above question by using the data of the national marriage survey conducted in 2016-2017.

Methods and Data:

This is a quantitative study that was conducted through a secondary analysis. The data used was taken from the National Marriage Survey, which was compiled by the Iranian Civil Registry Organization in 2016 and 2017. The data collection of the survey has been done from all provincial centers (except Tehran province) and the statistical population included couples who went to laboratories for pre-marriage tests.
Multivariate analysis was done using the event history analysis in Stata (version 17), and our statistical model was the proportional hazards or the Cox regressions. Therefore, in this article, the relationship between homeownership and the ideal time for the birth of the first child after marriage has been investigated with Cox regression and by controlling other variables that can be theoretically influential.

The survival function using the Kaplan-Meier estimator shows that the preference for the birth of the first child is significantly more common in the early years of family formation, so that about 68% of the observations tend to have their first child one year after marriage. Also, the output in terms of the type of homeownership shows that there is no significant difference between the time preference of the transition to parenthood among homeowners and renters. On the other hand, the "other" and “paternal” group had a significant difference in this regard, which seems that living in paternal property after marriage is associated with the desire to have children faster.
In the next step, we ran Cox regression models to control and explain the influence of the social, demographic and economic characteristics of the sample in this relationship. Generally, it can be said that the most important finding of the regression models was that no significant difference was found between homeowners and renters in the attitude towards the ideal time for the birth of the first child, and this relationship in Iran's special socio-cultural context can be seen between homeowner couples and those who live in their father's property after marriage. This finding and another one about the desire to have children faster among people whose father's family has a higher income, emphasizes the importance of intergenerational wealth flow in fertility and its difference with the famous theory of John Caldwell (1976 and 2005) in the context of Iran. In this way, the transfer of paternal inheritance to children and economic support from them leads to acceleration of childbearing and increase of fertility among the second generation (children). In other words, people who receive more economic support from the paternal family and more wealth and assets (such as housing and shelter) are transferred to them, will become parent faster.
Another interesting finding of this article was the positive relationship between education and the time preference of the transition to parenthood, which can be considered a sign of the reversal of the negative relationship between education and fertility in Iran. Future studies can help to explain this phenomenon by examining the factors affecting it.

Although our findings were not in line with some past studies in other countries, the way some variables such as ethnicity and income of the father's family influence in this analysis showed that the mechanism of influencing homeownership on childbearing in Iran can be related to cultural roots and intergenerational transfers, and this was actually the most important finding of the paper.
The results of this article can be an incentive to conduct other studies on how housing affects fertility in Iran. The interaction between childbearing and housing cannot be limited only to the issue of access to housing or the type of tenure; Therefore, future studies should be able to answer questions about access to suitable housing or access to housing that meets the current norms and desires of couples. Considering the economic conditions prevailing in Iran and the stunning growth of housing prices in recent years, the need to include the housing issue in Iranian fertility studies is felt more than ever as one of the possible obstacles to realizing the economic security of couples.

The great interest in cosmetic surgeries and the possible risks of these types of surgeries make it necessary to pay attention to health literacy for the applicants of these types of surgeries in order to evaluate and make correct decisions. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the level of health literacy of cosmetic surgery applicants The research method is cross-sectional. The research sample includes 189 applicants for cosmetic surgery referring to Hazrat Fatemeh Teaching Hospital in Tehran, and the Iranian Adult Health Literacy Questionnaire (HELIA) was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics and U-Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests were used for data analysis. The average health literacy of the participants was higher than the average of the questionnaire. The highest average is related to the understanding component (85.65) and the lowest average is related to access (76.60). There is a significant relationship between the average level of health literacy of women and men in the dimension of understanding and the average of health literacy. Also, there is a significant relationship between the level of health literacy and the level of education. Applicants with a higher education degree also have a higher level of health literacy. Also, the most sources of obtaining health information for applicants is the Internet (40.74 percent). Although according to the results of the research, the health literacy level of the cosmetic surgery applicants was above average, but it is necessary to provide the necessary training on promoting health literacy among different groups, especially people with low literacy levels. Also, it is necessary to provide valid educational and advertising brochures in health and treatment centers for applicants

In this regard and considering the importance of the issue as well as the social and cultural conditions of women, this article examines the social welfare of women in Ilam city. Also, the effectiveness of this situation from the pressures caused by caring for elderly parents at home has been investigated in detail. Method This research has been done by survey method, based on a cross-sectional plan and the required information has been collected by distributing a questionnaire in a cluster manner among 593 women aged 30-49 in Ilam. The results indicate moderate social well-being and low caregiving among women. Findings showed that the average of women's social well-being in terms of age, occupation, level of education and class mental belonging has a significant difference and the hypotheses about the difference in the average of social well-being in terms of these variables were confirmed. Also, the study of the relationship between the variable of caregiving and social well-being indicates Inverse correlation and confirmation of the relevant hypothesis.The results of this research show that the greater the care pressure caused by home care of elderly parents, the lower the social well-being of adult women that can increase the sensitivity and concern of the officials regarding the social well-being of women and home care of the elderly. Related organizations can take effective steps in order to maintain and promote individual health and social well-being, which ultimately leads to better performance of women in society, and cultural, social and economic interventions.

Population youth is one of the most important issues in many developing countries. The purpose of this study is to investigate demographic, economic and social factors affecting transition from young age structure in Asian and African countries between 1990 and 2020. United Nations population data for 107 countries were modeled using the event history analysis. The results of the Cox regression model showed that after adjusting for the covariates of total fertility rate, crude death rate and net migration rate as well as control variables (gross domestic product, inflation rate and urban population), the variable of total fertility rate affects transition from population youth; so that for one unit increase in the total fertility rate, the hazard of transition decreases by 58%. The role of this variable was estimated to be more significant in the African continent. The net migration rate variable is significant only in the African continent, showing a positive effect on transition from the young age structure. Considering the high fertility of African countries, the transition of age structure in these countries will not happen in the near future, and this is an important issue in macro-level policy in sectors of employment, housing, education, etc.

In rec​ent years, there has been a notable increase in the number of divorces, with a considerable proportion of these occurring within the term of a few years of marriage. Diverse socioeconomic, demographic, and psychological elements can impact the duration between an individual's marriage and divorce.This study aims to examine the potential impact of reproduction, a demographic variable, on the length of matrimonial unions. Given the normative and institutional emphasis on the family-oriented model of child-rearing in Iran, it is anticipated that the presence of children will have a significant impact on the longevity of matrimonial unions.To study this issue, a statistical analysis was conducted on 2139 women who were referred for divorce to official offices in centers of provinces of Iran (excluding Tehran) between the years of marriage and the number of children. The analysis was based on secondary data from the marriage and divorce survey (2017-2018) and utilized statistical methods including multivariate linear regression and comparison of means.The statistical analysis in this article incorporated control variables such as marriage and divorce, which pertained to individual characteristics. The findings from the multiple linear regression analysis indicate that there is a positive correlation between the number of offspring and the duration of marriage. 54% of the variance in the dependent variable can be accounted for by this unique variable.The offspring, regarded as unique assets of the marriage, appear to contribute positively to its longevity. Subsequent research endeavors may enhance our understanding of the significance of children as a cornerstone of the family unit in strengthening matrimony through an investigation into the prevalence of divorce among children in Iran.

Attachment is a stable emotional connection between mother and fetus, which is a unique phenomenon. The purpose of this research was to determine the relationship between mother-fetus attachment and parenting stress.

In this descriptive-analytical study, 250 pregnant women, referred to comprehensive health centers of Borujen University of Medical Sciences, were studied. Data were collected using fertility demographic questionnaires, standard Cranley questionnaire and standard parenting stress questionnaire; data using descriptive statistics, calculating Pearson's correlation coefficient and Spearman's correlation coefficient, independent t test, multivariate regression and analysis of variance test were analyzed.

There was a significant inverse relationship between the total score of parental stress and the total score of mother-fetal attachment and its dimensions (P<0.001). Multivariate regression indicated that the two dimensions of self-sacrifice and mother-fetus differentiation were the most predictors of parental stress. In addition, Pearson's correlation coefficient suggested that the total parental stress score had no significant relationship with demographic and fertility variables (P>0.05). The total mother-fetus attachment score had no significant relationship with demographic and fertility variables (P>0.05) and only had an inverse relationship with the number of pregnancies (P<0.05).

The findings of the research show that by increasing attachment and reducing parental stress, we can witness more parental responsibility towards the infant, thus we can expect to be accompanied by better emotional, care and health support.

The experience of population aging in Japan and the effectiveness of various policies implemented in this country have important lessons for population aging in the next two decades in Iran. This experience shows that firstly, the implementation of the policy of increasing the fertility rate after reaching a minimum level is more complicated than expected and probably ineffective. Such an issue led to the reform of Japan's policy and the adoption of approaches for a society independent of people's age. This means that people of any age can play an active role in society with their maximum ability. The second lesson is the influence of the nation's historical memory on their future policies and how governments deal with past experiences in making future decisions. Applying mixed and multifaceted policies is also one of the lessons that can be learned from Japan's experience. The last lesson is how Japan approaches in identifying cultural barriers and using social programs along with financial and economic incentives. Numerous examples and experiences have been discussed in detail in this research.Using the demographic data available in the United Nations data banks, Statistical Center of Iran and the first-hand documents published by the Japanese government in the databases of the relevant institutions, the demographic indicators of Iran and Japan, a country which turned into a super-aged society at the fastest speed, and according to many analysts in this field, it has used a variety of effective policies to deal with this phenomenon were compare.

In Iran, a number of studies have been conducted on population policies in recent years. By examining these studies, it is evident that no review study has examined these studies and provided a clearer picture of the state of population policy studies. Most of the articles were written in documentary and descriptive form and in some periods (2010 and 2015) were more published, which can be caused by the persuasion of researchers through some factors such as the desire of politicians to change the population policy and also communicating the general policies of the population. The conflict of opinions in population policy approaches in Iran is evident, most of the studies have agreed to increase the population policy in the target period. Analyzing the reason for this difference of opinion, the discourse of each of these approaches, and conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses about population policies as well as designing the optimal model of population policy-making in can be suggested

Being engaged in multiple roles can affect a person’s health and well-being and the middle-aged people are usually exposed to this situation more than other age groups. Most of the western studies that have looked at this issue with a demographic lens have introduced middle age as a situation of being caught or sandwiched between the needs of two generations (children and parents). On the other hand, increasing women's participation in paid work means that more middle-aged women are faced with a conflict between their work and family responsibilities, a phenomenon often characterized by the term "double burden" or "second shift" (Bratberg et al., 2002; Hochschild & Machung, 2012). According to the demographic changes of the family in recent years, living arrangements in mid-life have become more complex and heterogeneous (Demey et al., 2011) so that some researchers have used the term "cluttered nest" to describe this period of life, which is in contrast to the “empty nest” stage, that is, when all children leave the parental home (Lingren & Decker, 1992). The available data in Iran showed that the age transition of population has entered the middle-age phase since 2015 (the population aged 30-64) and will remain in this phase for several decades. It is predicted that the share of middle-aged people in Iran will reach more than 50% between 2026 and 2031 (Abassi Shavazi and Sadeghi, 2017: 46). This research aimed to expand the information about the role behaviors of this group by exploring the pattern of multiplicity of roles and its relationship with some of their social and demographic characteristics in the context of the urban society of Iran. The paper tried to answer the following questions: 1) What proportion of middle-aged women and men participate in multiple roles? 2) How does the pattern of mid-life multiple roles change based on people’s socio-demographic characteristics?

Using the data from the latest Time Use Survey of Iran, this article examined the prevalence of occupancy and intensity of multiple roles, namely paid work, domestic work, and parenting, as well as the socio-demographic characteristics related to it. The statistical population of this survey included all people aged 15 and older living in urban households across the country and the data included all the daily activities of individuals, as well as demographic, economic and social variables, at the individual and household levels.The impacts of socio-demographic variables on people’s intersectionality of roles were assessed using the Poisson regression in the STATA statistical package (version 17). The dependent variable was defined as the number of intense roles, which ranged from zero to threeroles. The independent variables included gender, age group, marital status, education, and household size.

The findings showed that (1) multiple roles were more common in the middle age than in other age periods; (2) multiple roles were more prevalnent in men due to the low employment of women; (3) women were more involved in intense multiple roles than men and this pattern was due to the large amount of time that women spent on domestic activities.The results of Poisson regression analysis revealed that the household size reduced the number of intense roles for men and women. This situation indicated a wider division of labor in large households, which alleviated participation in intense multiple roles, especially for women. On the flip side of the coin, the findings showed that middle-aged people in smaller households faced more intense roles and therefore needed interventions to reduce this potentially traumatic experience. With increasing age, the number of women’s intense roles increased. This is in line with the hypothesis of role density in late mid-life and near retirement age (Patterson & Margolis, 2019). Married women were more likely to be engaged in intense roles than their widowed or divorced counterparts and college education reduced the number of intense roles for men, but a similar effect was associated with a lower confidence interval for women. Thus, midlife could be a difficult time for married women, who had multiple responsibilities, while being a wife and a housewife. Meanwhile, their physical abilities decreased with age, making this period stressful and unfavorable. In fact, the important finding of this article was the noticeable difference in the pattern of experiencing intense roles between men and women, which showed that the tasks related to the domestic role alone put a heavy burden on the shoulders of middle-aged women living in the urban areas of Iran so that its prevalence was more than 4 times that of the men’s heavy occupational role.Our results highlighted the need for investigating the impact of multiple-role occupancy on the health and well-being of middle-aged people at the national level and designing

The epidemic of COVID19 in Iran has wide-ranging effects. The impact of the disease on medical education led to the closure of universities and the restriction of treatment to emergency interventions. With the closure of university classes, online and distance education became more widespread. This study examines the quantity and quality and effectiveness of online training in the postgraduate course of plastic surgery.

The present study is a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study that was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee. In this study, the satisfaction of residents and professors of the Department of Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery in terms of quantity and quality of virtual education classes was examined. For this purpose, a questionnaire and quantitative information about class time and participation rate based on available documents and class videos were used.Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 22. The frequency of qualitative variables was measured as percentage and ratio and the frequency of quantitative variables was measured by calculating the mean and standard deviation.

The results of the study in ten domains include: the use of teaching aids in the virtual education process, the possibility of participants&#039; access to educational resources, review of interaction and mutual participation, satisfaction with class time, access to the class for participants, evaluation methods and tests Virtual access to out-of-class teachers, satisfaction with the teaching method, satisfaction with the content presented in the class and general satisfaction with the virtual education course were evaluated and showed that in all cases virtual education with a statistically significant difference accepted by group members Is located.

Given corona disease persists and similar diseases may occur in the future, and given that our study recommends the appropriateness of e-learning, it is better to have this method taught and used on a larger scale.

With the reduction of fertility to below-replacement level and increasing the challenges and conflicts between the interests and attitudes of individuals and families, the informal support has significant impact in removing childbearing barriers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of informal support on desire to have children using social support theory. The statistical population of the study is women with a wife and at least one child aged under five years in Nowshahr and Chalous cities. Data were collected by conducting a survey among 362 women. The findings show that 47% of mothers desire to have another child. The findings of our multivariate analysis indicate that such supportive variables as the amount of assistance received by the spouse in housework, receiving assistance in housework from the parent-in-law and frequency of face-to-face communication with parents -in-law have increased the desire of mothers to have another child . In addition, the results in relation to supportive indicators indicate that the potential support index did not have a significant relationship with the desire to have more children, but receiving high levels of instrumental support had an impact on increasing the desire to have another child. In general, the relationship between social support theory and childbearing can be partially confirmed. The results of supportive variables affecting the desire to have another child.

Although Iran has achieved stillbirth target of Every Newborn Action Plan (≤12 stillbirths per 1000 total births by 2030) at national level, there are still notable contextual inequalities (spatial and socioeconomic) in stillbirth. The purpose of this study is to explain the inequality in stillbirth, using the intersectionality approach that McGibbon proposes in the field of the right to access health care. We used the Iranian Maternal and Neonatal Network (IMAN) for the period of 2013-2020. The indicators extracted from this study showed that mothers who experience several disadvantages at the same time (like non-Iranian mothers who gave birth in the fifth geographic region of Iran (the east), or uninsured mothers over 45 years), experience stillbirth more frequently compared to their counterparts. We came to this conclusion that the intersection of three areas of social determinants of health (maternal education level, type of hospital, type of insurance), the isms (nationality and maternal age) and geographic or spatial contexts (urban-rural residency, the geographical area of birthplace) can create synergy with each other and cause some groups of mothers who belong to the most vulnerable strata of the society to be oppressed more. The main policy suggestion of this research is to reduce stillbirth by considering the intersection of inequalities instead of individual axes of inequality.

Over the past decade, various and heterogeneous types of households have emerged in Iran, resulting from economic, social, and demographic changes. One of the most significant demographic changes in the country is the increase in the frequency of female-headed households. Comparing the establishment of female-headed families in developed and developing countries indicates that social, economic, and demographic factors have different effects on these types of households. Therefore, through a Critical study of all existing research, which has focused on central averages and disregards micro-level changes, it is possible to establish a clear foundation for policies affecting female-headed families. Focusing on female-headed families, as a distinct group, this study examined their similarities and differences in social, economic, and demographic aspects at the county level, and studied their distribution within the theoretical frameworks of second demographic transition and inequalities concerning drive and pressure mechanisms. Based on the current theoretical and experimental literature, this study classifies the existing components in terms of their role in the formation of female-headed families as "driver" and "pressure." Voluntary drivers of the feminization of household headship were analyzed using the second demographic transition theory and the forced pressures of feminization of household headship were investigated in the context of inequality theory.This paper examines the role of driver and pressure mechanisms on the distribution of female-headed households in 429 Iranian counties in 2016 using data from the Statistical Center of Iran and spatial autocorrelation (Moran’s I and Getis index), K-mean clustering and ordinary least squares regression methods. The results of spatial autocorrelation revealed that southeast counties have the highest concentration of female-headed households, while the lowest concentration is observed in northwest counties extending in a line to the center. According to the spatial clustering model and the hierarchical exploratory analysis method on the variables of the percentage of female-headed households, economic, demographic, and social status, the counties are divided into five clusters with the smallest difference from the central average in each cluster and the greatest difference with the next cluster in the best case: cluster 1 includes only three counties and is considered an outlier;  cluster 2 contains the north-west, south, and north-east counties and affected by economic drivers; cluster 3 contains central and northern counties and affected by social and demographic drivers; cluster 4 contains western and southwestern counties and affected by demographic and economic pressures; and cluster 5 contains southeastern and eastern counties and affected by social and economic pressures.Furthermore, the results of ordinary least squares regression revealed that the covariates explain 75% of fluctuations in the frequency of female-headed families. The three economic components of the percentage of jobless families, employment rate of urban women, and economic participation rate had a positive and significant impact (at an error level of less than 0.001) on the development of female-headed households. The socio-demographic components of the percentage of widowed women, early marriage, percentage of divorced women, and the literacy rate of women had a positive and significant effect, and the two components of the percentage of the ever-married population and the percentage of the urban population had a negative and significant effect (at an error level of 0.001) on the formation of female-headed households in counties of Iran.Generally, Social, economic, and demographic changes have a relatively strong impact on the formation of female-headed households via two driving and pressuring mechanisms. As a result, empowering women in the context of the second demographic transition can increase these households in districts (central and north counties) influenced by the driving mechanism.  Continued social, economic, and demographic pressures can increase these households in districted (southeast counties) affected by the pressuring mechanisms. Thus, policymaking based on the role of these mechanisms may help the state to empower and support these families.

COVID-19 is one of the crises that seriously threatens the individuals’ mental health, especially pregnant women. On the other hand, the COVID-19 quarantine can affect the occurrence of domestic violence in pregnant women. The aim of the current study was to investigate the prevalence of domestic violence in pregnancy and the factors affecting it during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods & Materials: 

This was a descriptive-correlational study conducted on 308 primiparous mothers referred to health centers in Isfahan in 2021. The participants were selected using the multi-stage sampling method. Data was collected using a demographic characteristics form and the domestic violence questionnaire. Data analysis was done through the SPSS software version 22 using the Spearman's correlation coefficient, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests.

A total of 59 mothers (19.2%) experienced domestic violence during their pregnancy (a score of 60 and above from the domestic violence questionnaire). The most prevalent type of violence (including perceived) was psychological violence with 74.4% (229 people), followed by economic, sexual, and physical violence with 35.1% (108 people), 17.2% (53 people), and 14.9% (46 people) respectively. A significant relationship was found between domestic violence during pregnancy and the number of siblings, birth order, the educational level of mother and her husband, and husband’s occupation (P<0.05).

The COVID-19 pandemic has made pregnant women more vulnerable to domestic violence. There are many individual and cultural factors contributing to domestic violence. Some factors were identified as the predictors of violent behavior such as the educational level of woman and her husband, and occupation. Identifying these factors and screening of domestic violence during pregnancy can prevent the occurrence of violent behavior by the spouse and the negative consequences of domestic violence on the mother and her fetus.

The issue of family care or unpaid care has been investigated in internal studies primarily from the perspective of care received by the elderly, and no attempt has been made to identify the factors affecting the provision of this type of care and the characteristics of caregivers on a national level.This is a secondary analysis based on data from the 2019-2020 Iran’s Time Use Survey. The statistical population of the time-use survey includes all people aged 15 and older residing in urban households, and the data encompasses all daily activities as well as economic and social variables at the individual and household levels.The most prevalent type of care in the sample, according to the findings, was unpaid child care (73%), followed by adult care (18%) and sandwiched care (5%). Gender was the most influential factor on the quantity of time allocated to daily care; even after adjusting for other independent variables, women still spent more time than men caring for family members. However, this disparity is reduced in geriatric care. Child care provision peaks during childbearing years for both men and women and declines with age, so that adult care (most likely spouses) becomes the predominant form of care in old age.The low prevalence of sandwiched care and the pattern of inter-spouse adult care in the sample can be attributed to the relatively youthful population structure and the lack of intergenerational living arrangements in Iran’s urban areas. However, the significant gender disparity in child care appears to be one of the potential obstacles to the realization of the gender dividend in Iran. Given the economic significance of providing unpaid activities at the household level and the impact of socio-demographic dynamics on such activities, the findings of the present study can be utilized to enhance the existing body of knowledge and future policy formulation in this area.

 Despite numerous studies in the field of home care, the role of unmarried girls in caring for their parents and the problems caused by this care for them, is still neglected or lost due to the study of other caregivers. In this regard, the present study aimed to investigate the care pressure resulting from the care of elderly parents among single girls in Ilam, Iran.

 This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019. The statistical population included all single girls over 30 years old in Ilam (n=5134 cases), and the sample size was determined at 370 people. The data were collected using a 24-item Novak & Guest Care Burden Questionnaire by cluster sampling. The obtained data were entered into SPSS statistical software (version 20) and analyzed at two levels of descriptive (median, mean, standard deviation, and frequency percentage distribution) and inferential statistics (analysis of variance).

 The findings indicated the existence of weak care pressure (26.91±21.13) among respondents. In comparison to the dimensions of care pressure, the time dimension (8.8±5.68) was more intense than other dimensions. Moreover, the girls who were government employees and had university degrees, in all respects, tolerated lower care pressures than their peers. The analysis of variance of the dependent variable considering the independent variables showed a significant difference in the care pressure of girls regarding age, employment status, education level, and mental class affiliation (P<0.001).

 Based on the results of the study, it is inferred that the low care pressure of the studied girls is due to the low pressure of care.

The research aimed to explore the active ingredients of rue extract and essential oil as an ornamental and medicinal plant species and to assess their antimicrobial activity. So, rue shoots were collected from the natural habitat of this species in the elevations of Chaboksar, Guilan province in October and November 2019. The leaves and stems were oven-dried at 75 °C for 24 hours, and their extracts and essential oils were extracted with a Clevenger. The active ingredients of the extracts and essential oils were detected with GC-MS. The most abundant compounds in the leaf essential oil, stem essential oil, leaf extract, and stem extract were found to be hexadecanoic acid, isomaturnin, 2-ethyl-1,3,4,5,6,7,8-heptamethy, and 12-methoxy-19-norpodocarpa, respectively. The microbial assay by the disk diffusion method on the strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Escherichia coli showed that the leaf and stem extracts were most influential in inhibiting A. baumannii. The assessment of MIC and MBC revealed that S. aureus was the most sensitive bacterium to the leaf and stem essential oils with the lowest MIC and MBC and A. baumannii was the most sensitive bacterium to the leaf extract with the lowest MBC. So, rue extract and essential oil can be used as an antimicrobial compound against human pathogenic bacteria.

Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is calculated based on 22 environmental indicators such as water resources, air pollution, biodiversity and climate change. The index quantitatively measures and evaluates the performance of policies and programs of countries aimed at reducing environmental issues as well as protecting and managing the environment and natural resources. This paper aims at examining the status of the EPI’s dimensions, exploring the causes of its fluctuations and identifying the determinants of its sustainability. The paper uses secondary data. The EPI has been derived from the Yale University’s website and the macro-economic and demographic variables have been extracted from the World Bank’s website for the period 2010 to 2018. The data have been analyzed using the event history analysis. The findings suggest that the probability of the sustainability of the EPI is o.45 in the countries under study. Further, after adjusting for other variables, the EPI has a positive relationship with life expectancy at birth and a negative relationship with variables such as urbanization and population growth rates. Moreover, the impact of demographic variables is greater than economic variables in Middle East and North Africa, which highlights the need for policymakers to focus on demographic factors when designing and implementing polices aimed at the sustainability of the EPI.

Marriage of young people has been delayed in recent decades, following the alterations resulting from modernization, industrialization and major changes in economic, social and cultural structures. Its social harms and impact on fertility decline have made marriage delay as one of the most important issues in macro-level policies in Iran. Several studies have examined the factors associated with delayed marriage so far. This paper explains and categorizes the results of these studies by conducting a systematic review of papers that have been published on this subject during the last 10 years (1390 to 1400 SH and 2010 to 2021 AD) in Iran and the world. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the factors related to delayed marriage were examined in 30 studies and 10 categories were identified, including economic factors, social factors, place of residence, race, demographic factors, lifestyle, psychological factors, family background, religion and ethnicity. The most common determinants of delayed marriage are increased education and economic factors. The results of this study can provide appropriate solutions for families, officials and statemen to design appropriate plans for building a society with the right age at marriage by identifying effective factors. This will help to maintain family and increase fertility.