Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing

Pages: 530-533
Anjana Bhattacharjee and Amrita Banerjee (Department of Psychology, Tripura University, Tripura)

The present paper was an attempt to ascertain the impact of caregivers' stress on the level of anxiety and depression of cancer patients. For the said purpose the study was conducted on 200 cancer patients and 200 caregivers (family members) of cancer patients. All of them were selected purposively from the Regional Cancer Hospital, Agartala, Tripura. Kingston Caregiver Stress Scale (KCSS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Beck's Depression Inventory were used for the data collection. The findings revealed that majority of the family caregivers of cancer patients had high level of stress followed by moderate level of stress. The results also showed that stress of caregivers of cancer patients had significant impact on anxiety and depression feeling of the cancer patients.

Pages: 542-545
Arati Jakkaraddi, V.S.Yadav, and P. B. Khadi (Department of Human Development and Family Studies, College of Community Science, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka)

The study aims to assess the level of stress among dual-earner couples. The sample was selected from both public and private sectors using the snow-ball technique from Dharwad city. The sample comprised of 155 dual-earner couples. An ex-post- facto exploratory research design. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, College of Rural Home Science, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, India, between 2007 to 2008. Personal information schedule and Stress questionnaire developed by Bhagwatvar (2000) was used for data collection. The data was subjected to frequency, percentage and correlation analysis. The results revealed that dual-earner couples were having high stress per se, husbands were experiencing high stress and wives were experiencing low and medium stress. Correlation analysis between the type of occupation, number of working hours and dual-earner couples revealed a significant negative relationship with stress levels.

Pages: 555-561
Vivek Tiwari and Deepa Punetha (Department of Psychology, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh)

An exploratory study was conducted to understand the meaning, causes and consequences of repeated failure from the perspective of civil services aspirants. An open ended questionnaire with interview schedule was distributed among 94 participants with the age range between 25 to 35 years who were giving civil services examination from at least ten times and were residing in different hostels and lodges of Allahabad. Out of 94 civil services aspirants, only 72 responded and returned the questionnaire. Content analysis of the data revealed that civil services aspirants were facing lot of difficulties in their personal and social life. Most of the civil services aspirants' responses were exam centric and repeated failures were influencing each and every aspect of their life. Some of the civil services aspirants were hopeful while responding the meaning and consequences of failure while most of them were hopeless and were experiencing tremendous mental pressure. The responses also indicated that they were having distorted relationship with their closed ones and they were feeling alienated. Most of them reported that there was shrinkage in the friend circle after facing so much failure. They demonstrated the fear of negative results, feedback avoidance and loss of respect in their life after facing so many failures. They were coping with these challenges by motivating themselves, pursuing hobbies and so on. On the whole this study was an attempt to understand the phenomenology of the civil services aspirants who were failing repeatedly.

Pages: 566-568
Shweta Sanjeev Kumar (Junior Research Fellow, D.O.S in Social Work, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka)
S. Y. Swadi (D.O.S in Social Work, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka)

This study of health seeking behavior outlines the main approaches within the field, and summarizes some of the key findings from recent work around the probes. Health seeking behavior is a somewhat over-utilized and under-theorized tool. Although it remains a valid tool for rapid appraisal of a particular issue at a particular time, it is of little use as it stands to explore the wider relationship between populations and health systems development. If we move the debate into new and more fruitful arenas, this study reaches the conclusion that we need to develop an understanding how populations engage with health systems, beyond health seeking behavior as a tool for describing the determinants of health. This study uses secondary sources and descriptive methodology.

Pages: 574-579
Soneymol George Palamattathil and Rosalito De Guzman (The Graduate School, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines)

The present study examined the efficacy of “Holistic Quality of Life Intervention” for alleviating depression and enhancing quality of life among female bipolar patients. It used a 'two-group randomized controlled trial' with 32 female bipolar patients in moderate depression who reside at long term residential care homes in Kerala, India. Beck's Depression Inventory and WHO's Quality of Life- Bref scale were used to measure the level of depression and quality of life. The intervention was implemented for 8 weeks and the results displayed substantial effects on the participants. The results were analyzed using Paired Sample t test and MANOVA and the Partial Eta Squared value indicated the extent of its effect. The study proved that the 'Holistic Quality of Life Intervention (HQLI)' is an effective tool for alleviating depression and enhancing quality of life among women having bipolar disorder.

Pages: 584-589
Ezaz A. Shaikh (Department of Psychology, Yashwantrao Chavan Mahavidyalaya, Pachwad, Maharashtra)
Vishavnath R. Shinde (Department of Psychology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, Maharashtra)

Problem behaviour is a form of deviant behaviour which deteriorates the mental health of school children. Some behavioral problems are transitory in nature or expected of children of a certain age whereas few other problem behaviours are severe and require more complex multi-level interventions. The purpose of the research was to study gender differences among school children on internalized and externalized behaviour problems. The sample of this study consists of 120 school children aged 11 to 14 years. Both boys and girls were selected in euqal numbers from nuclear families with middle socio-economical status. The behaviour problems were assessed using Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) developed by Achenbach and Rescoria (2001). The analysis of One-way ANOVA revealed significant gender differences on both internalized and externalized behaviour problems. The results showed significant gender differences for all behavioural problems namely, withdrawn/depressed, anxiety/depressed, somatic complaints, social problem, attention problem, aggressive behaviour, rule-breaking behaviour and thought problem. It was noted that the internalized behaviour problems such as withdrawn/depressed, anxiety/depressed, somatic complaints, and social problem were higher among female children than male children. In contrast, externalized behaviour problems such as attention problem, aggressive behaviour, rule-breaking behaviour and thought problem were higher among male children than female children.

Pages: 599-608
Sangeeta Bhatia (Department of Psychology, Gargi College, University of Delhi, Delhi)

A severe disease or the birth of a disabled child may lead the family into the unexpected 'career' of 'caregiving that causes the whole family to re-evaluate its ways of functioning. The situation may affect the parents' marital relationship, their work and leisure-time activities, siblings and economy. A child's disability brings the parents face to face with tasks such as helping the child to live with his or her illness or disability and to deal with problems brought along with the disability. At the same time, they have to encourage him/her in developing as normally as possible, and they have to achieve all this in such a manner that the family can function normally as an entity. One factor that will most likely contribute to whether or not this can be done is how the parents can cope with the stress caused by the situation. Research shows that some families manage well but others do not; therefore, it is important to understand what factors contribute to differences between families who seem to manage well from those who seem to encounter large number of problems. The present study focuses on understanding how parents experience their child's disability and how, in their opinion, it has affected both themselves and the functioning of the family. One of the major reasons for undertaking this research is the desire to examine the factors that help families cope well with disabled children, as well as to identify those factors which differentiate between parents who seem to manage well from those who seem to encounter large number of problems. Previous studies have also emphasized that this research area is highly significant one because it is important to find risk factors so as to be able to help families in time. Parents need information, advice and support in order to face up to their child's disability, and to address the problems of their children's upbringing. Families in the present study have expressed strongly the emotional, social and economic cost in caring for a child with a disability. The distress could be alleviated by more aware and responsive support from informal and culturally sensitive formal sources. The goals of a responsive community should be to enhance coping resources that maximize the daily achievement of personal and family goals. Therefore, there should be a focus on community-based strategies that facilitate the inclusion of children with disabilities, as well as direct family support strategies to facilitate positive attitudes to inclusion of children with disabilities to contribute to family coping.

Pages: 616-619
Pawan Kumar and Asha Kinra (Department of Psychology, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan)

The aim of this study was to find out role of parental involvement in personality traits of adolescents. For this 80 male students were taken as sample. Out of which 40 students are selected where parents are more involved and 40 students were selected where parents are less involved. The age group of the sample was 16 to 20 years. A self-administered questionnaire was used to find out the level of involvement of parents and The Hindi adaptation of high school personality questionnaire prepared by Kapoor and Mehrotra was used to measure the personality traits of the adolescents. For statistic analysis Mean, SD and 't' was calculated. Result revealed there is significance difference between personality traits of adolescents when their parents are more or less involved in their parenting. In other word parents involvement play a important role in their children's personality development.

623-629
Shilpa Jasubhai (Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Ahmedabad, Gujarat)
Ritu Sharma (Department of Psychology, School of Liberal Studies, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University Raisan, Gandhinagar, Gujarat)
C. R. Mukundan (Axxonet Brain Research Laboratory, Axxonet System Technology, Bangalore, Karnataka)

Encoding strategies are significant in determining individual's emotional control and mapping personality traits. The purpose of the present study is to investing association between encoding strategies, personality and emotional factors. This study documents result of responses from 50 students from undergraduate and post graduate program using psychological tests namely Neo Five Factor Inventory-3 (NEO-FFI-3), Emotional Intelligence Scale, Verbal Encoding Test and Visual Memory Test. Extroversion and introversion, Self-control (SE) and managing emotions (ME), simultaneous or sequential processing style, verbal encoding and verbal memory were measured. Inferences are drawn on student's preferences to attend to external stimulations versus preference to introspect along with preference to simultaneous visual processing or sequential visual processing. The presence of self-control of emotional responses is an important factor that controls the occurrences of several responses, which possibly will contribute to understanding of conflicts and personality problems. Absence or reduction in sequential processing of signals in verbal and visual modes could weaken rational processing abilities and strengthen holistic processing of relevant and irrelevant issues, which could again pose decision making difficulties. Development of emotional control must occur during the developmental stages and social conditioning plays very important role in deciding the development of such self-control. Present research work can facilitate ground across several domains for further investigations and tries to highlight that there is an acute need to address these problems from neuroscience and social psychology point of view, especially when developments of such controls are minimally present within the social network.

Pages: 634-637
Udai Prakash Verma and Arun Kumar (Department of Psychology, Gurukula Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar, Uttrakhand)

In the present research an attempt was made to study the relationship between loneliness and quality of life among old aged people. In this study purposive sampling technique was used to collect the sample of 80 old aged people in the age group of 65 to 75 years old (40 were old age home people & 40 were living with family) from Haridwar. Data is collected by using UCLA Loneliness Scale and WHO-quality of life scale. Mean and standard deviation of loneliness of people living in old age home (42.33, 8.51) and people living with their family is (34.10, 6.81) and t-value is 4.78. This shows significant difference in the level of loneliness of old age people living with their family and old age home. Mean and standard deviation of quality of life of people living in old age home (58.33, 8.62) and people living with their family is (92.88, 13.24) and t-value is 13.83. This shows significant difference in the level of quality of life of old age people living with their family and old age home. The level of loneliness is high in the old age people living in old age home. The level of quality of life is low in the old age people living in old age home.

Pages: 642-647
Neha Sharma (Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Galgotias University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh)

The country is flooded with substances that lift you up, cool you down and turn you upside down. The cost of money and emotional turmoil has made the issue of substance abuse a major concern worldwide. This research was also an attempt to assess and manage such emotional turmoils (negative mood states) among males with substance dependence. Objectives were to develop an assessment tool, to develop an intervention program and to study its effect on negative mood states. Here negative mood states were anxiety, depression, guilt and anger while intervention program included yoga therapy, relaxation therapy, adaptive skills training and psycho education. Four directional hypotheses were formulated to analyze the effect of intervention program on negative mood states. Negative mood states were assessed by mood states questionnaire developed by the researcher. 100 male subjects from 16 to 60 years of age having multiple substance dependence were selected through purposive sampling. Pre- post control group design was used to collect data and the data for four hypotheses was analyzed by using t- test. Results showed that three hypotheses were accepted at 0.01 level of significance except one related to guilt. This research is significant in providing a new negative mood states assessment tool, a new intervention program for managing negative mood states and preparing subjects for relapse prevention after treatment.

Pages: 653-658
Dhami P., Pandey P., Kaur, A., and Kaur K. (Department of Food and Nutrition, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)
Kavitha C. (Department of Food Processing Technology, College of Community Science, UAS Dharwad, Karnataka)

Depression has become a global problem seeking immediate attention from health practitioners and nutritionists. It is a mental disorder caused by a wide array of modifiable and non modifiable factors. People with depression exhibit mood swings, loss of interest or pleasure, disturbed sleep, feelings of guilt and poor concentration. Evidences have found a causal relationship between certain foods, physical inactivity, genetic factors and the development, progression and treatment of depression. In the past, most studies have only focused on the association of depression with specific nutrients or foods. But, the recent studies showcases that nutrition in synergy with exercise and adequate sleep can be far more effective in treating depression compared to when involved alone. This review summarizes the role of various macronutrients and micronutrients and influence of consistent exercise regimen in the neurotransmitter's synthesis and their regulation in influencing the mood and depressive symptoms of patients with depression. Although the efficacy of antidepressant drugs has also been well recognized but as prevention is better than cure, so is the role of these duo factors as a protective shield to pave away depression.

Pages: 662-665
Mahima Sahi (Department of Psychology, MCM DAV, Chandigarh)

During the past few decades academic performance has emerged as a significant indicator of student credibility. Academic efforts of an individual therefore impact parental-social attitudes towards them to a large extent. This perception not only impacts the psycho-social well-being of the individual but also their ideology towards life. It further also influences an individual's belief system, self-concept, resilience pattern and perception towards various situations in life. Thus, the current investigation aims to examine whether academic performance plays a role in Happiness of college graduate students. The sample comprised of 100 female graduates in the age range of 18-22 years. For this purpose, Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (Hills & Argyle, 2002) was administered and the last academic score of the students was noted down. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques and Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Results depicted significant positive associations between Happiness and Academic Performance (p>.01). The average happiness of students came out to be 4.11 that falls between the ranges of 'pretty happy' while the average academic percentage came out to be '73%'. This indicates a linear relationship between the level of happiness and academic performance. This knowledge can be therefore used heuristically to formulate intervention strategies aimed at enhancing happiness amongst college students and further to reduce its dependency on academic endeavors so as to ensure sustainability.