Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing

Pages: 448-451
Anila, M.M and Dhanalakshmi D. (Department of Applied Psychology, Pondicherry University, Rv Nagar, Kalapet, Puducherry)

The objective of this investigation was to analyze the relationship between hope, happiness, general health and well-being among the elderly. The sample consisted of 100 elderly people and that sampling technique used for the present study was convenience sampling. The age of the participants ranged between 60-80 years. The tools used for the study were General Health Questionnaire by Goldberg & Williams, oxford Happiness Questionnaire by Hills & Argyle, Well-Being Index by World Health organization (WHo), and Adult Dispositional Hope Scale by Synder. Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated and a significant positive correlation was found between happiness and well-being (r= 0.215: p<0.05, n=100). Independent samples ‘t’ test was done in order to find out whether gender differences existed in hope, happiness, general health and well-being of elderly. The result clearly indicates that there is no significant difference between elderly men and women on hope, happiness, general health and well-being. In addition, regression analysis indicates that happiness significantly predicts wellbeing (β=.206, p=.039) among elderly. Perceived happiness helps to improve the mental and physical well-being of the individual and it also influences their interpersonal relationships. Positive activity interventions (PAI) which includes regular practice of gratitude, optimism, kindness and meditation may increase their happiness and therefore well-being.

Pages: 457-460
J. Parameswari and S. Kadhiravan (Department of Psychology, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu)

Quality is an important aspect which determines the growth of an organization. Quality in work life is an essen- tial construct for the development of both employee and organization. Quality of work life refers to an extent to which the employees can enhance their personal life through their work environment and experiences. Hardiness is a personality trait which comprises the commitment, control and challenge of an individual. The present study explored the relationship between quality of work life and hardiness of school teachers. 141 teachers from different schools in Niligiri District were selected through stratified random sampling. Quality of work life and hardiness of teachers were assessed using appropriate tools. The result showed that there is a significant gender difference in two important aspects of quality of work life namely, control at work and working conditions. There is a significant gender difference in all the dispositions of hardiness that is, control, commitment and challenge. Also, it is found that certain factors of quality of work life and hardiness dispositions are significantly related to each other. The findings and implications are discussed in this article.

Pages: 465-467
Deepika vig, and I. J. S. Jaswal (Department of Human Development, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)

Present study was an attempt to understand the role of social maturity of parents in determining quality of parent- child relationships. The total sample comprised of 400 respondents (100 of each mothers, fathers sons and daughters) selected purposively from four zones of Ludhiana city. Parent-Child Relationship scale by Sharma and Chauhan (2002) was used to assess the quality of parent-teen relationship as perceived by mothers and fathers. Social Adjustment Inventory by Deva (1990) was administered to assess social maturity of the parents. The results of the study revealed that majority of mothers and fathers were socially mature. Both socially mature mothers and fathers were having good marital relations had less conflicts in their lives. Socially mature mothers and fathers showed better emotional stability and consistency in their thoughts and actions and had significantly more realistic expectations from their sons and daughters.

Pages: 472-475
Navaneetha R, Roopa. K S. (Department of Home Science, Smt. v.H.D. Central Institute of Home Science, Seshadri Road, Bangalore)
Natarajan A.M. (Research and Development Centre , K.C Das Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore)

The study was undertaken with an objective to develop diabetic friendly rasogolla using a suitable fat and sugar replacer. Experiments were carried out in developing and standardising a proper combination of various low calorie sugar substitutes from the available array of artificial sweeteners, intense sweeteners and sugar replacers (namely polyols) to reduce the calories. Diabetic friendly rasogolla was developed and standardised using chhana made from skim milk supplemented with a fat replacer in the form of creamex (0.6 %); boiled in sorbitol syrup; washed in water; suspended in a combination of sugar replacers (isomalt & sorbitol at 15 per cent and 25 per cent proportion respectively) which compared very well with control on sensory evaluation by a panel of judges. The combination of sugar replacers (isomalt & sorbitol) proved to be ideal in providing viscosity, texture, colour and taste almost similar to control prepared with sucrose. Creamex used as a fat replacer with skim milk, provided good texture, taste and above all sponginess to low calorie rasogolla. Chemical and microbiological quality of the standardised low calorie rasogolla was assessed and is within the standard limits. Use of other sugar substitutes such as fructose (natural sugar) and artificial sweeteners (aspartame, saccharine or a combination) proved to be unsatisfactory in rasogolla making due to the presence of browning and white cloudiness in the syrup besides poor viscosity. The other major advantages of using sugar replacers (polyols/sugar alcohols) in the traditional sweets was enhancement of shelf-life at room temperature due to restricted growth of residual micro-organisms in the presence of unfermentable low calorie sugar replacers during storage. Polyols are non-cariogenic (sugar-free, tooth-friendly), low glycemic (potentially helpful in diabetes and cardiovascular disease), low-energy and low insulinaemic (helpful in obesity), low digestible (helpful in the colon), prebiotic effect (growth promoter of lactic acid bacteria in the gut). only 50 per cent of energy of polyols are available to the human body when compared to sucrose. Isomalt requires 5 hours for hydrolysis and the absorption rate has been reported to be very low.

Pages: 481-484
Naveen Ganer, Jaspreet Kaur, Gayatri Kankerwal, Manoj Malik, varun Singh and Sujata Sharma (Department of Physiotherapy, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology, Hisar, Haryana)

Randomized control trial with experimental design. To find out the effect of static stretching on hamstring flex- ibility, to find out the prevalence of limited hamstring flexibility. 140 (70 males and 70 females) school going children were selected from government school who met the selection criteria were equally divided into control and experimental groups. The control group received no intervention while the experimental group received static stretching session for hamstrings. Hamstrings flexibility was measured using Sit and Reach Test (SRT) and Inclinometer measuring Hip Joint Angle (HJA). Significance of difference between control group and experimental group were measured using t-test using SPSS (21st version). Significance level was set at p ≤ 0.01. Experimental group showed significant improvements in term of SRT (t = 25.219, p ≤ 0.0001) and HJA for both right leg (t = 13.405, p ≤ 0.0001) & left leg (t = 10.070, p ≤ 0.0001). Results of present study indicate that static stretching is effective in improving hamstring flexibility in school children.

Pages: 489-492
Afsaneh Sobhi and Masoud Hejazi, (Department of Psychology, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, Iran)
Zohre BanaPour (Azad University of Zanjan, Science and Research Branch, Psychology Department, Zanjan,Iran.)

Diabetes is a common disease, and one of the biggest health problems in the world, the importance of diabetes, this study examined the relationship between attachment style and social support and mental health in patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2. In this study 49 patients with type 1 diabetes and 91 patients with type 2 diabetes over a period of 3 months and convenience were sampled. In this study, a mental health questionnaire (GHQ) of Goldberg, attachment style (RAAS) Collins and Reid and social support (MoS) and data from Stuart was used as a measurement tool. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 16. The results of the analysis of variance and regression parameters indicated between attachment style and social support, mental health, there is a significant relationship. Matrix correlation coefficient showed a significant correlation between scores on the mental health and attachment anxiety exists between scores on the psychological and social support, social support subscale somatic symptoms, anxiety and depression, and mental health aspects of emotional support, affection and interaction there is a significant negative relationship between social support and social dysfunction subscale there was a significant positive relationship. The t-test showed that the scores of attachment styles are different between patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2, for example, after the close score type 2 diabetes than type1, and these differences were statistically significant. In total, 7/9% of the variance in mental health is explained by social support and attachment style. According to the t-statistic, respectively 1/79 and 3 will be shown with 99 percent confidence that these variables predicted changes related to mental health. Due to physical illness, psychological problems, an approach in the field of health psychology that can have many benefits for the community of psychologists and medical community.

Pages: 496-499
Pallavi Raj (Department of Psychiatry, B. D. Sharma PGIMS Rohtak, Haryana)

The therapeutic alliance is an important factor in psychotherapy that is associated with the treatment outcomes for clients receiving mental health services. out of the Babel of psychotherapy models, concepts, and techniques, the therapeutic alliance stands out as a measurable phenomenon that has been shown to have a robust effect on treatment outcome. The therapeutic alliance may be a “holy grail” of psychotherapy competency because it is a validated concept that is predictive of outcome, more powerfully predictive than alternative indices, clearly defined, easily measured, and may have educational and training value. In the present review the concept and component of therapeutic alliance, researches, the methods for measuring it, and its relationship with outcome has been discussed.

Pages: 503-506
Rajesh Kumar (District Child Protection Officer, Jhajjar, Haryana)
Neha Jain and Harish (Department of Psychology, M. D. University, Rohtak, Haryana)

The son has become the preference of the family even in the present modern society advanced technology. The present study was aimed to compare the attitude of the males and females towards gender difference. The study was based on the sample of 200 males and females selected on the basis of availability from urban areas of Rohtak. A self structured interview schedule was employed to conduct the survey for empirical data collection. The find- ings of the study are clearly indicating that the son is being more preferred by the females as compared to males. The preference for male child has been traditionally strong in India since historical time. However, India which is characterized by variations in its economic, social and cultural environment of sub-continental, proportions depicts substantial variations in the degree of son preference in different parts of the country. Son preference is quite strong in the northern plains as well as in central upland regions and it diminishes gradually as one moves towards South of the Satpura hill range and attains the low levels in Tamil Nadu. In the East, West Bengal, Assam and North-eastern states is seen a relatively moderate degree of son preference. There is also a pocket around Himachal Pradesh where the son preference is of moderate intensity (Bhat & Zavier, 1999).

Pages: 510-512
Malvika Parakh, Debashruti Ghosh, and varun S Mehta (Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke, Ranchi, Jharkhand)

The internet has become a part of everyday life. This growing technology has a vast impact on the life of many people. In the field of mental health, the electronic services are rapidly gaining acceptance. The psychometric tests are an important tool in the field of psychology. The use of internet as one of the modes of delivery of psychologi- cal tests has been discussed.

Pages: 517-519
Nidhi verma (Department of Psychology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana)
Ajay Singh (Western Colorado University, USA)

People are living stress ridden lives, be it stress arising from occupations, career, relationships or finance. Thus they are suffering from various psychosomatic problems because of increasing stressors in life. With the advance- ment of psychological treatment and planning, we have many kinds of therapies available such as psychotherapy, behavior therapy, cognitive behavior therapy etc. But, our ancient scriptures like the Bhagwad Gita have already described our human day to day worries and how a man should tackle day to day problems. The Bhagwad Gita is a key to all worries and anxieties which was spoken by Lord Krishna in the battle of Kuruksehtra- Mahabharata. Bhagwad Gita shows practical and real life applications of ways to cope with day to day stressors humans face in their day to day life. This paper emphasizes basic understanding of the principles of the Bhagwad Gita and its application in day to day life as an effective tool for management and coping of stress.

Pages: 524-532
Navjot Kukreja, Sarita Saini and Deepika vig (Department of Human Development, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)

The present study was undertaken to analyse the relationship between intellectual abilities, metacognitive skills and academic performance of rural adolescents (13-16 years). The study was conducted in Government schools in villages of Ludhiana-I Block. The final sample comprised 240 rural school-going adolescents (N=240) studying in grade 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th. The subjects were equally distributed across both the genders (Males=120 and Females=120) and all the grades. To assess the metacognitive skills of the adolescents, a Self-Structured Metacognitive Questionnaire adapted from Metacognition Inventory (Govil 2003) and Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (Schraw & Dennison 1994) was used. Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (Raven 1960) was used to assess the intellectual abilities of the selected subjects, whereas the academic performance was assessed through aggregate percentage of marks/ grades obtained by the subject in the last school examination substantiated by teacher ratings. It was found that majority of the adolescents had an ‘Average’ level of metacognition. ‘Above Average’ and ‘Average’ level of Intellectual Abilities and Grade A’ and ‘Grade B’ level of Academic Performance. However, gender differentials were found to be non-significant in distribution across the various levels of Intellectual Abilities, Metacognition as well as Academic Performance. Further, the subjects were found to be reasonably well in their Procedural skills, Declarative Knowledge, Evaluation, Comprehension, Monitoring and Planning aspects, but were quite weak in some of the learning strategies like Conditional Knowledge, Debugging and Information Management Strategies.

Pages: 539-544
Janet J. and Velayudhan (Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)

The main objectives of the study are to explore the experiential aspect of Occupational stress Burn out among female and male professional managers in private health service institution, to assess the effect of burn out in the process of management and to intervene psychotherapy for enhancement of the professional management. Quantitative research approach was used in this study. The research design was Pre, Post and follow up experimental research design. The female and male professional managers in the private health service institution were samples of this study. The sample size was 50. Non probability purposive sampling technique used. The instruments used for this study were Maslach burnout inventory (MBI). The intervention therapy used for this study were Jacobson progres- sive muscle relaxation, systematic desensitization and Counseling. The data was collected by interview method and questionnaires. Statistical analysis was done by repeated measures of ANOVA; post hoc comparison Duncan multiple range test and descriptive statistics. The results of Occupational stress burn out showed a significant dif- ference between the three time periods namely Pre, Post and follow-up among the male and female professional managers in private hospitals.