BackgroundSleep patterns and habits in high school students in Iran have not been well studied to date. This paper aims to re-address this balance and analyse sleep patterns and habits in Iranian children of high school age.MethodsThe subjects were 1,420 high school students randomly selected by stratified cluster sampling. This was a self-report study using a questionnaire which included items about usual sleep/wake behaviours over the previous month, such as sleep schedule, falling asleep in class, difficulty falling asleep, tiredness or sleepiness during the day, difficulty getting up in the morning, nightmares, and taking sleeping pills.ResultsThe mean duration of night sleep was 7.7 h, with no difference between girls, boys, and school year (grade). The mean time of waking in the morning was not different between genders. About 9.9% of the girls and 4.6% of the boys perceived their quality of sleep as being bad, and 58% of them reported sleepiness during the day. About 4.2% of the subjects had used medication to enhance sleep. The time of going to bed was associated with grade level and gender. Sleep latency was not associated with gender and grade leve, l and 1.4% experienced bruxism more than four times a week.ConclusionOur results are in contrast with that of previous studies that concluded sleep duration is shorter in Asia than in Europe, that boys woke-up significantly later than girls, and that the frequency of sleep latency category was associated with gender and grade level. The magnitude of the daytime sleepiness, daytime sleepiness during classes, sleep latency, and incidences of waking up at night represent major public health concerns for Iran.

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Implementing effective strategies to prevent high risk behaviors among at risk populations. Epidemiological studies and clinical findings have shown an association between trauma and dissociation; dissociative experiences are also more prevalent among select populations such as substance dependent individuals and criminal offenders. In the present non-systematic review, we explored the association between trauma, dissociation, and high-risk behaviors. We aimed to find if the presence of dissociative symptoms could lead us to better understand and recognize those who are prone to high-risk behaviors, among individuals exposed to psychological trauma. The present overview indicated a substantial relationship between dissociation and high-risk behaviors. We concluded that designing and establishing appropriate studies regarding the relationship between trauma, dissociation, and high-risk behaviors would enable health professionals to have a better understanding and recognition of people prone to high-risk behaviors, as well as implement more effective strategies to prevent high-risk behaviors among at-risk populations.

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