Background: Regarding increasing and concerning worldwide trends of doping and lack of definite information about contributing factors in this era, this study was performed to determine the emotional intelligence in athletes with doping history in comparison with general population. Methods and materials: In this case-control study 30 subjects were enrolled including two groups of professional athletes with doping history and general population. In each group 15 subjects were present. The emotional intelligence was assessed by Bar-On Emotional Questionnaire. Results: The highest and lowest total scores in athletes group were 401 and 197 and in normal population group 410 and 243 were highest and lowest obtained scores and there was significant difference between total scores of two groups (P=0.001), and also in some subscale items including stress tolerance, optimism, self-regard, impulse control, and assertiveness (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Totally, according to the obtained results in this study, it may be concluded that there is significantly lower emotional intelligence in athletes with doping history in comparison with general population. Keywords: Athletes, Doping, Emotional intelligence

Background: Regarding increasing and concerning worldwide trends of doping and lack of definite information about contributing factors in this era, this study was performed to determine the frequency of social phobia in athletes with doping history in comparison with general population. Methods and materials: In this case-control study 30 subjects were enrolled including two groups of professional athletes with doping history and general population. In each group 15 subjects were present. All subjects were interviewed according to DSM-IV criteria. The social phobia was assessed by social phobia inventory (SPIN). Results: Ten subjects (including 7 men and 3 women) in athletes group and 6 subjects (including 4 men and 2 women) in normal population group had social phobia showing no significant difference between groups (P=0.143). The gender had no effect on having social phobia in none of the groups (P=1.000). Conclusions: Totally, according to the obtained results in this study, it may be concluded that there is no significant difference between presence of social phobia in athletes with doping history and general population. Keywords: Athletes, Doping, Social phobia

Background: Assertiveness is one of the most important skills needed by nurses to reduce interpersonal conflict and build an effective teamwork in complex hospital environments. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an assertiveness training program on nurses’ aggressive and adaptive assertiveness. Methods: In this interventional study, participants were 64 nurses working in hospitals of Abhar city in Iran, randomly divided into two groups of intervention (n=32) and control (n=32). Assertive training program was presented as a two-day training workshop (10 hours) to the intervention group, while the control group received no training. Thompson and Burnham’s Adaptive and Aggressive Assertiveness Scale were completed by the participants in both groups at baseline, immediately, one and three months after the intervention. After collecting the data, Friedman, Mann–Whitney, Chi-squared, and Fisher tests were used for their analysis. Findings: The mean of adaptive assertiveness score was significantly different between the the two groups immediately (P=0.002) and 1 month after the intervention (P=0.025). The aggressive assertiveness scores were not significantly different immediately, 1 and 3 months after the intervention (P>0.05), but the results of Friedman test showed a statistically significant decrease in the aggressive assertiveness scores compared to its baseline score (P=0.002). Conclusion: The assertiveness training program increased adaptive assertiveness and decreased aggressive assertiveness in nurses. Relevant authorities can design continuous and useful assertiveness training programs to promot this valuable skill in nurses.

AimThe purpose of this study was to investigate relationship between personality traits and mental health in athlete students. This study was a descriptive and correlation design.MethodSixty athletes students were randomly selected and responded to NEO-PIR inventory and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ 28). NEO assesses five personality traits: Neuroticism (N), Extroversion (E), Agreeableness (A), Openness to new experience (O) and Conscientiousness (C), and GHQ assesses four dimensions: Somatic symptoms (A), Anxiety (B), Social withdrawal (C) and Depression (D). NEO assesses five personality traits: Neuroticism, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness to experience. The data were analyzed with Pearson correlation test.ResultsThe findings showed that there was positive significant correlation between neuroticism with somatic symptoms and depression, and negative significant correlation between extroversion, agreeableness, openness to new experience and conscientiousness with depression.ConclusionBased on findings, it is concluded that physical exercises and sport plans have positive effects on mood and affect of students, and decrease physical and mental diseases in athletes students.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.