Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing

Pages: 195-197
Radhika Soundararajan (Education Department, Saveetha University, Chennai)

Emotional intelligence (EI) is internal composure, which makes objectivity possible. EI is the answer to most of the painful issues that we are grappling with. This investigation explores the importance of EI, the skills hypothesized to contribute to the general well being of the individual in their social, emotional, and intellectual areas. The objective of the present investigation is to assess the awareness of the concept of EQ among school teachers (N=40), working (N= 34) and non-working (N=31) mothers and their perspectives regarding the need for EI training program as part of the curriculum; the age at which training should begin; and the necessity for specialized personnel to do the job was investigated with the help of a structured interview which allowed clarifications from people who were more eager to respond. Some of the commonalities and differences between the two groups are discussed

Pages: 201-203
Rajesh Kumar Lohchab (Department of Environmental Science & Engineering Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology, Hisar, Haryana)

Untreated or inadequately treated municipal sewage is a major source of groundwater and surface water pollution in the developing countries and lack of sanitary waste disposal and of clean and adequate water for personal hygiene is responsible for water-borne diseases. These diseases are more prevalent in areas with poor sanitary conditions. This study was carried out to assess the condition of water resources and their associated health effects at Bhimtal. The main sources of water contaminations are poor management and disposal of sewage and solid wastes in addition to open defecation which are responsible for health problems mainly water-borne diseases at Bhimtal. Most prominent diseases reported during the survey at Bhimtal are jaundice, dysentery, diarrhea, typhoid, skin disorders, cholera, round worm, scabies, amoebiasis, and stomach problems.

Pages: 207-210
Dharmender Kumar (Department of Computer Science and Engineering, DCRUST, Murthal, Sonipat)

The contribution of information and communication technology in the field of business, health, education, social services and of course banking are growing day by day because of its wide reach and lower cost per transaction. In the present study an attempt has been made to find out the influence of contextual variables on the adoption of electronic banking in India. An empirical survey has been conducted with the help of a structured questionnaire containing a number of close ended questions. Data has been gathered covering places of North India. Further the data was analyzed using statistical methods. It has been observed in the findings that contextual variables i.e., age, gender, locality, and qualification influence in the adoption of new technology in banking sector. Urban consumers are more confident than their rural counterpart in accepting the new technology. Further younger consumers reveal more openness to change and more familiar with the technology. Male consumers use technology more than the female and well educated consumers use technology more easily than those with lower educational status.

Pages: 214-217
Anil Gupta (Department of Gastroenterology, Delhi Heart Institute and Research Centre, Bathinda, Punjab)

Sodium is an essential mineral of human body.It plays an important and diversified role in various physiological and metabolic functions of body. Disturbances in serum sodim level are generally seen in many disorders. Therefore its level would be a valuable aid to the diagnosis, severity and prognosis of the disease. The study was conducted on total 28 patients comprised of 14 patients, all male, mean age (37.36±12.4y), age group (25y-58y), with hepatitis as group-I and another 14 patients, all male, mean age (46.7±12y), age group (28y-76y) with ascitic cirrhosis as group-2 in the department of gastroenterology at Delhi Heart Institute and Research Centre - Bathinda (Pb). Diagnosis was made by case history, physical examination and confirmed by lab. investigations. Two samples independent t- test to compare sample means of group-1 and group-2, pearson's correlation coefficient and probable Error of correlation coefficient & scatter plot utilized to analyse data. group-1 showed 3 out of 14 patients (21.4%) with HCV and remaining 11 out of 14 patients (78.5%) with HAV. Group-2 showed 1 out of 14 patients (7%) with HCV ascites cirrhosis and remaining 13 out of 14 patients (92.8%) with alcoholic ascitic cirrhosis. Further results showed mean serum sodium con. (138 ± 2.36meq/L) of group-1 significantly (p < 002) higher than normal lower most value of serum sodium conc. (135meq/L). Group-2 exhibited a mean serum sodium level (127.79±3.9meq/L) significantly (p<.001) lower then the normal reference value (135meq/L) as well as with group 1. Pearson's inverse correlation coefficient (r = - 0.725) highly significant (p=.003) with probable error of coefficient of correlation (r = 0.085) observed between serum sodium and serum creatinine in ascitic cirrhotic group-2 whereas a highly weak inverse correlation (r=.009) not significant (p=0.97 ) 0btained in group -1hepatitis patients.

Pages: 221-224
Abdolmajid Bahreinian (Department of Psychology Beheshti Uneversity, Tehran, Iran)
Maryam Yavari Kermani (Department of Psychology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India)
Hakimeh Aghaei (Department of Psychology, Jamia Millia Islamia University, India)

This study investigates correlation between sports and self-esteem, control source and academic progress of sportsperson and non- sportsperson school girls in groups of 35, 1. Individual sports person 2. Team member sportsperson 3. Non-sportsperson. The instrument for assessment of self-esteem was Cooper Smiths' statement of self-esteem and for assessment of internal and external control source, Rater's statement of control source was used. The research is of causative comparative type. For data analysis, descriptive statistics including mean, standard deviation, and inferential statistics including t-test for comparing the mean score of the two groups and correlation coefficient of Pearson was used for determining the correlation of the variables, and X2 Test was used to investigate the correlation between parents' level of education and employment status, and tendency of children to sport. It showed that sportsperson had a better self-esteem, control source, and academic progress as compared to non-sportsperson.

Pages: 227-229
Ashima Soni (Department of Psychology, Panjab University, Chandigarh)

Organizational commitment has been extensively attracting the attention of organizational behavior researchers in the recent years. In the context of organizations, commitment is normally understood as different ways to commit oneself to an organization of which one is a member. Commitment is also considered as willingness to exert high levels of efforts on behalf of the organization and have a definite belief in, and acceptance of, the values and goals of the organization. The present study examined organizational commitment of employees in relation to intelligence, self esteem and locus of control. A sample of 50 employees was randomly drawn from a government bank in Chandigarh, India. The sample consisted of persons working at different levels of hierarchy within the organization, with the senior most respondent being a regional manager. The tools comprised of Organizational Commitment Questionnaire developed by Mowday, Steers and Porter (1982), Jalota's General Mental Ability Test (1964), Self Esteem Inventory by Coopersmith (1981) and Rotter's Locus of Control Scale (1966).The results, analyzed using product moment correlation revealed that there was a significant and positive relationship between organizational commitment and intelligence of bank employees. In other words, higher the intelligence more was the individual's identification and involvement with the organization. However, no significant differences were reported with regards to self esteem and locus of control scale .Implications are related to the latest research findings on the plasticity of human intelligence in adulthood and thereby the need to provide continual enriching and stimulating training programs for employees in order to reinforce their productivity and commitment levels.

Pages: 234-236
Nanika Singh (Reiki Grandmaster, Mohali, Punjab)

In today's fast paced world, on the one hand children are being constantly bombarded with new and dynamic opportunities and on the other hand they are being subjugated and victimized by high risk factors such as poverty, drug abuse, sexual activity, disrupted home environment, being left alone at home for hours, which are posing serious questions as to whether, how much and to what degree will children be able to remain resilient students. Researches document that educational resilience can be promoted by establishing protective factors both in their home and school environment. This can be done through School- Family- Community Partnership Programs and Educational Enrichment Programs, contributing towards their holistic growth and development. This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of the same.

Pages: 269-272
Kassim Kimo Kebelo (Adama University, Ethiopia, Africa)

Risk is the uncertain degree to which one might be exposed to an undesirable consequence. Associated with risk are several paradoxes. It is part of human nature to be attracted to risk. At the same time, there is evidence that human beings try to avoid risk in many situations. Some individuals take more risk than others. Risk perception and taking are affected by the way choices are framed. Individuals may be risk seeking in some situations and risk averse in others. Individuals may feel more pain from losses than from equivalent gains. Hence, the study was aimed to examine the cultural differences of risk perception and risk taking behaviors between Indian and Ethiopian students. The main objective of the study was to explore the risk behaviors among students from Indian and Ethiopian nationalities. The risk-taking scale of the 30-item version of the revised DOSPERT Scale was used, consisting five domains of life, viz., ethical, financial, health/safety, social, and recreational risks. Subjects of the study were drawn randomly from research scholars and post graduate students who have been pursuing their study at Andhra University, India. The samples of the study consist of 32 (41%) subjects from Indian culture and 46 (59%) subjects from Ethiopian culture. The obtained data from the samples were analyzed using univariate to examine the effects of personal factors, viz., age and level of education, on risk behavior dimensions for two nationalities. Hence, mean scores on health, social, financial and recreation risk taking tend to increase with age for India nationality while decreases as age increases for Ethiopian nationality. However, the effects of personal factors on financial, recreational and social risk perception behaviors did not reach at statistical significant levels for Ethiopian and Indian nationality

Pages: 277-283
Sibnath Deb (Department of Applied Psychology Pondicherry University, Pondicherry)
Chirasree Mitra and Bishakha Majumdar (Department of Applied Psychology University of Calcutta, Kolkata)
Jiandong Sun (School of Public Health University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia)

The broad objective of the '12 Day Induction Training for antiretroviral therapy and community care centre (ART/CCC) Counsellors' was to impart knowledge and skills among ART/CCC counsellors with special reference to adherence, the medical aspects of intervention and the role of CCC and to study the impact of the training. The training programme was designed following the training schedule suggested by National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). A group of 15 ART/CCC Counsellors from the North East States of India participated in the training. Out of the 15 participant counsellors, 10 were females while 5 were males. The training methods included interactive classroom lectures, group activities, role play and field visit. The resource persons for the training programme were the Master Trainers as well as qualified and experienced professionals. For evaluation of the training programme, pre-test and post-test design was followed and data were collected before and after the training using a Pre and Post Training Knowledge Questionnaire. A comparative analysis of pre and post training data demonstrates a clear trend of overall significant knowledge increase and skill development in all the 30 parameters, with small variations (p<0.01). Average score of the participant counsellors in the pre-training assessment was 19.0 while in the post-training assessment it was 38.5. The difference was found to be statistically significant at the 0.05 level. However, out of 21 knowledge areas there was no significant knowledge gain in about half of the areas while there was significant skill development in seven areas out of nine. Scores of pre and post training knowledge questionnaire were categorized into three grades i.e., 'Grade A' (score range: 41 60); 'Grade B' (score range: 21 40) and 'Grade C' (score range: '0 20'. Analysis of the pre training data demonstrates that out of the 15 counsellors, 9 and 6 were in 'Grade-C' and 'Grade-B' respectively. After attending the 12 day training, 7 counsellors had been promoted to 'Grade A' while 8 were found to be in 'Grade-B'. The feedback about the various aspects of the training clearly indicates that the training was highly beneficial and useful. In fine, it might be stated that the 12 day induction training for ART/CCC counsellors using the NACO modules benefitted the target audience to gain more knowledge, skill and confidence in delivering professional services to the beneficiary.

Pages: 290-295
N. V. V. S. Narayana (Department of Psychology and Parapsychology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh)

Health consciousness (HC) is the tendency to focus attention on one's health, where individual lives with more health conscious have better quality of life. People are giving importance to maintain good health for better life style. The present study was aimed to examine the influence of personal correlates among exercise and non-exercise performing groups on health consciousness. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the extent of Health Consciousness present in the members of exercise performing groups. Health Consciousness Scale (Narayana , 2009) was adopted to measure health consciousness for this study. The sample was drawn from the North costal Andhra Pradesh. The data were collected randomly from the general population (Adults). The total sample of the study is 242 population (male=153 and female= 89). The obtained data from the sample were analyzed using the statistical techniques to examine the influence of Age, Gender, education and BMI on Health Consciousness Dimensions. The results indicated that exercise practicing individuals have more health conscious than non- exercise practicing individuals. The practice of regular exercise will increase energy levels, physical fitness and health conditions, decreased anxiety levels and likes to live in stress free atmosphere. The exercise group is maintaining good social relations, taking nutritious food, having regular health checkups and they feel responsibility for their health conditions.

Pages: 299-306
Sandhya Ojha (Department of Psychology, S A K P G College, Parmanandpur, Varanasi)

The present study aimed at studying parent and peer attachment and psychological well-being of rural and urban adolescents (age range: 16-20) of Varanasi District. The sample comprised of 200 adolescents, 100 rural and 100 urban of both sex (boys and girls). For the purpose of data collection Inventory of parent and peer attachment (IPPA) developed by Armsden and Greenberg (1987) and scale of psychological well-being constructed by Ryff (1989) were used. Result reveals that locale play an Important role in parent and peer attachment and psychological well-being. COM and ALdimension of peer attachment was found to be significant among rural and urban adolescents whereas all dimension of parental attachment viz COM, TR, and over all parental attachment were found to be significant in rural and urban adolescents except AL dimension of parental attachment. Further research is required to determine whether parenting and the quality of parent peer relationship play a role in determining how other factor such as peer influences and family environment contribute to determining adolescents psychological well being.