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Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2022

Open Access 01-12-2022 | Research

Status of Iranian schools’ psycho-social environment: cultural adaptation and validation of the Persian version of the W.H.O profile to create Child-Friendly Schools

Authors: Amin Ahrari, Fatemeh Salmani, Tayebeh Zeinali, Kimia Izadi, Azam Yousefi, Fatemeh Rahimi, Ensiyeh Norozi

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2022

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Abstract

Background

Creating an environment for emotional and social well-being is an important responsibility of Health-Promoting and Child-Friendly Schools. Thus, the present study aimed to assess cultural adaptation and validation of the Persian version of the Psycho-Social Environment (PSE) Profile. The second purpose of this study was to survey the psycho-social environment of schools among a local sample of Iranian school staff.

Methods

This study was conducted in two phases, including cultural adaptation and validation of a culturally adapted scale. The cultural adaptation process followed the procedure suggested by Beaton et al. Then, the culturally adapted scale was administered to a local sample of Iranian school staff including managers (21.9%), teachers (57.4%), support staff (4%), and other school staff (16.7%) in a cross-sectional study. The participants’ mean age was 39.98 ± 8.11 years and they were mostly female (62.8%). The psychometric properties of the culturally adapted version of the questionnaire were tested using a confirmatory factor analysis (n = 265), and a test of internal consistency. Finally, the status of schools’ psycho-social environment was assessed using descriptive and analytical statistics.

Results

Confirmatory factor analysis indicated an overall good fit for the 7-factor profile (χ2/df: 1.906, PNFI: 0.62, TLI: 0.78, CFI: 0.79, RMSE: 0.059). The test of internal consistency showed an acceptable reliability (α = 0. 98).

Conclusions

The Persian version of the PSE profile was culturally adapted for use in Iranian schools. Certainly, this culturally adapted version of PSE profile could be useful to determine the school psycho-social environment and to make any changes that can promote a friendly school climate for all participants, and to enhance learning and development.
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Metadata
Title
Status of Iranian schools’ psycho-social environment: cultural adaptation and validation of the Persian version of the W.H.O profile to create Child-Friendly Schools
Authors
Amin Ahrari
Fatemeh Salmani
Tayebeh Zeinali
Kimia Izadi
Azam Yousefi
Fatemeh Rahimi
Ensiyeh Norozi
Publication date
01-12-2022
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2022
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14260-z

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