Background: The process of becoming a mother is one of the most satisfying and fulfilling events in women's lives. Maternity for the first time can be stressful and also can increase anxiety in women. Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the effect of an empowerment training program on the difficulty of transitioning to parenting as well as parenting stress of primiparous mothers. Methods: The sample of this quasi-experimental study consisted of 78 primiparous women who were selected due to convenient sampling. Participants completed the demographic, difficulty in transition to parenting, and parenting stress questionnaires before and after the study. The participants received four training sessions (the first session was face to face at 3-5 days after childbirth and subsequent training sessions were conducted by telephone at 2, 4, and 6 weeks postpartum) based on the self-efficacy model. Results: The mean age of the participants in the study was 27.012 ± 4.99 years. The results of the Wilcoxon test showed that training significantly reduced parenting difficulty (P value = 0.0001, z = -7.626) and parental stress (P value = 0.0001, z = -7.50). The mean score of parenting difficulty decreased from 97.02 ± 17.34 to 81.65 ± 15.45, and the mean parental stress score decreased from 80.08 ± 22.53 to 61.13 ± 12.20. The results also indicated that education in all four domains (responsibility and commitment, satisfaction, self-esteem, and personal commitment) significantly reduced the difficulty of the transition to parenting (P value = 0.0001). According to the results, training has also been effective in reducing the difficulty of transitioning to parenting in terms of maternal concerns, enjoyment, change in life, new challenges of mother’s postpartum feeling. Conclusions: The outcomes of the present study highlight the effectiveness of empowerment training on the difficulty of the transition to parenting as well as parenting stress in primiparous mothers.

Background: Nurses' job stress can affect their physical and mental health. If sexual health is endangered, the sexual health of the sexual partner might be in trouble. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate sexual dysfunction and related factors in hospital emergency male nurses and its relationship with their spouses' sexual function. Methods: This study was a descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study. Data collection tools were the International Men's Erectile Performance Questionnaire and Women's Sexual Performance Index Questionnaire. Male nurses and their spouses completed the questionnaires separately and mailed them. Results: One hundred and ten people participated in this study. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction in emergency male nurses and their spouses was 40% and 92.7%, respectively. There was no significant relationship between the sexual dysfunction of male nurses and the sexual dysfunction of their spouses (P = 0.324). There was a statistically significant relationship between the mean score of male nurses' sexual dysfunction and the number of children (P = 0.002) and between the spouses of emergency male nurses' mean scores of sexual dysfunction and their employment (P = 0.032). Conclusions: Being a male emergency nurse could not play a role in developing sexual dysfunction in their spouses. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction in male nurses is almost equivalent in other men and their spouses higher than in other women in the community. While sexual dysfunction in the male emergency nurses was related to the number of children, their spouses' sexual dysfunction was related to their jobs.

Siblings are often the main social partners in people’s lives and thus play important roles. In comparison with other family members, siblings are likely to remain in our lives for longer and play more roles. Previous studies suggest that gender can influence these roles. We conducted a qualitative study using semistructured interviews to examine individuals’ perceptions of gender-based sibling roles, with a maximum variation sample of 21 Iranian adults. Interview transcriptions were analyzed by dividing them into two content areas: sisters’ roles and brothers’ roles. Six main role categories emerged for sisters’ roles, whereas four emerged for brothers. “Support,” “Service,” and “Dominance” were three common categories between genders. “Consideration,” “Mediation,” and “Counseling and Guidance” categories emerged for sisters, and “Control” emerged for brothers. These findings suggest that Iranian society presents some unique domains of gender-based sibling roles. We discussed implications for research and practice and the limitations of our study.