Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing

Pages: 114-116
Priyanka and S. Thenmozhi (Department of Psychology, IDE, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)

The aim of this study was to examine the knowledge and perception of menopause among middle age women aged 45-55 years. A focus group discussion (qualitative study), where information about individual experiences, subjective description of the severity of the symptoms and other relevant socio economic data was gathered. The participants were asked questions regarding the basic knowledge about menopause and the problems associated with it. After the analysis the result shows that women are unaware of symptoms during middle age and this effect can be due to lack of knowledge about the menopausal symptoms and hence they were struggling to cope with the bio-psychosocial changes and problems.

Pages: 120-126
Naved Iqbal, Mehfooz Ahmad, Sumaira Rafiq Zargar, and Sheema Aleem (Department of Psychology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India)

Heart, cancer and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are very serious diseases rising in the world. These diseases not only create distress in the patient’s life but also influence negatively caregivers’ life. Factors, such as physical, and psychological health, financial burden, limitation on freedom and social interactions (that accompany the care recipient’s need for supervision), and the additional roles assumed by the most caregivers including those of wife, parent, spouse and employee, all contribute to caregivers distress. This distress thus, affects the quality of life (QOL) of caregivers. Many researches have been carried on the various aspects of heart, cancer and AIDS patients. The present research was planned and carried out with the objectives of measuring and comparing the QOL of caregivers of heart, cancer, and AIDS patients. Total sample of the study comprised 120 subjects, 40 in each three groups, i.e. caregivers of heart, cancer and AIDS patients. Data were collected from various hospitals of Delhi. The WHOQOL-BRIEF questionnaire (1996) was used to collect the data. ANOVA and post-hoc test were used to analyze the data. Results showed a significant difference among the three groups of caregivers of heart, cancer and AIDS patients on overall QOL and its domains, i.e., physical health, psychological, social relationship and environment. Caregivers of heart and cancer patients have better QOL than the caregivers of AIDS patients.

Pages: 133-137
Aanchal Ahuja and Waheeda Khan (Department of Psychology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India)

The article provides the research conducted on the mothers of dyslexic children. Aim of the research is to assess the social support and well-being of mothers. Sample of 50 mothers of dyslexic children were selected for the study. (25 were working and 25 were non-working). They were administered the perceived social support scale and adult well-being scale. Mean, standard division and t value were calculated for the data. Results show that there is a lack of social support to the working mothers, which is clearly identified in the study. The scores clearly show that there is a significant difference in the social support of the working and non-working mothers having dyslexic children. Level of well-being of working mothers is lower than the level of well-being of non-working mothers. Increase in social support of working mothers will increase the well-being, for non-working it is not positively correlated.

Pages: 143-147
Divya Goel (Department of Psychology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India)
Mitushi Singh (AIPS, Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India)

Work is an integral part of everyday life, on an average we spend around 10 h daily in the workplace, i.e., around one-third of our entire life. It should yield satisfaction and happiness as it gives hope for the next day to start at a promising note. This study explored the relationship of the big five personality factors and the perceived employee happiness among the working women of Delhi/NCR region. The psychosocial variables included in the study were personality and Perceived Happiness of working women. The variables were assessed through the following Questionnaires: (i) NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992) (ii) Subjective Happiness scale (Lyubomirsky & Leeper, 1997). Purposive sampling was used in the study and the sample consisted of 136 working women of Delhi NCR region. The sample is drawn from a diverse range of organizations from different sectors. The findings were encouraging as personality is found to bear significant relationships with the perceived happiness among the working women. The implications of the study are far-reaching, as it proposes an important instrument to human resource (HR) professionals to deal with one of the very important variable affecting employee performance i.e., their perceived happiness. It is a well-known fact that in the times of crisis the companies with the best people survive. HR are the only resources with the privilege of giving cumulative and continuous returns to the business organizations. Hence, this study will help in understanding the linkage between personality and happiness which can be used by the HR professions to formulate strategies for ensuring a happy talent base for the organizations.

Pages: 158-164
Gowranga Kumar Paul (Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University (MBSTU), Tangail, Bangladesh)
Sabina Islam (Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Sylhet, Bangladesh)

Bangladesh has achieved a remarkable success in controlling population growth without much change in socio- economic conditions but yet to reach at the replacement level fertility. In this study an attempt has been made to examine the effects of selected socio-cultural characteristics on desire for additional children among couples in Bangladesh using the data of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2007. Descriptive statistics has been used to describe the distribution for background characteristics of the couples. Multiple logistic regression model has been employed to study the impact of several covariates on desire for additional children. The findings reveal that gender composition of existing children; number of living children, religion, place of residence, working status has significant effect to determine the fertility intention of the couples. The desire for additional children is highest when respondents have only one child may be because of the encouragement of two-child family norm in Bangladesh. Women who have two or more daughters but no son desire more additional children than women who have two or more sons but no daughter indicating strong son preference still exists among couples in Bangladesh. The findings also reveal that the desire for additional children is greater among Muslim women, women who live in rural area and who are not currently working.

Pages: 165-171
Akehsan Dahlan and Syamsul Anwar Sultan Ibrahim (Universiti Teknologi Mara, Selangor, Malaysia)

The objective of this study is to investigate pattern of engagement in activity of interest amongst elderly people in institution and its contributions towards quality of life (Qol). In this concurrent embedded mixed methodology, a survey using WHO QoL-Bref and interest checklist was conducted to 82 elderly people and focus groups was conducted to 20 participants to investigate the ideographic experience relating to QoL. Occupational deprivation exists in the institution; however, the scores in WHO QoL-Bref are considerably high. This indicates that disability paradox exist in the institutions. The high scores in WHO QoL-Brefcan be explains as a result of meaningful social relationship and personal attributes of the participants’ such as the demographic characteristics, experience in life, cultural values, personal belief and reason for relocation Health professionals should consider these factors when designing a programme to facilitate QoL

Pages: 171-173
Rupan Dhillon and Palak Kanwar (Department of Psychology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India)

Parent adolescent attachment is considered as a significant aspect for adjustment during the stressful transitional period of adolescence. Attachments formed with parents during the childhood provide an important foundation for psychological development later in life. During adolescent years, the increased conflict arises due to number of factors like puberty, cognitive changes, identity, etc. This conflict, if is present in moderation, can serve as a positive function, but if the attachments weaken and the conflict is prolonged as well as is intense, then a number of internalizing and externalizing problems emerge within the adolescents making their adjustment difficult. Keeping in mind the relevant literature this study is an attempt to understand the relationship between perceived parental attachment and the internalizing problems such as depression and anxiety. For this purpose, a sample of 100 female and 100 male adolescents from the age group 13-15 years is taken and incidental sampling technique is applied. The psychological tools used are, inventory of parent and peer attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987), The center of epidemiological studies depression scale for children (Weissman et al., 1980) and revised children’s manifest anxiety scale (Reynolds & Richmond, 1978). Correlational analysis is applied to study the relationship between the various variables. The correlation coefficients suggest significant negative relationships between perceived parental attachment and internalizing variables of depression and anxiety. The implications of the study are elucidated.

Pages: 174-176
Deeoti B. Duggi, and Shanmukh V. Kamble (Department of Psychology, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka, India)

Marriages in India even today are arranged by the parents and extended family members one of the most salient challenges that Indian families are experiencing today is that many modern youth want to break away from the custom of having their marriages arranged. The present study examined the significant difference between couples in arranged marriage and love marriage on relationship satisfaction and attachment among a sample of 50 couples in arranged marriage and 50 couples in love marriage from Hubli-Dharwad region. Baseline survey for couples (Butler, 2008) and experience in close relationship developed by Wei (2007) were employed. The findings of the results through t’ test analysis revealed the existence of significant difference between the couples in arranged marriage and love marriage on relationship satisfaction and attachment. The implications for further studies on relationship satisfaction and attachment are discussed.

Pages: 177-180
Veena Easvaradoss and Vinitha Cabral (Department of Psychology, Women’s Christian College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India)

The number of dual-earner families in India has increased. Census reports state that 26% of urban families have double income families. It can be assumed that the increase in parents’ employment (and the resultant decline in time spent with children) would lower the levels of parental monitoring and thereby pose a risk to the child’s development. The objective was to study the impact of cognitive behavior group therapy (CBGT) on the emotional maturity, frustration tolerance, study involvement and parental and peer attachment in adolescents from dual- earner families. One group pre- and post-test research design were used. The sample consisted of 50 adolescents from the eighth and ninth grades who received six sessions of CBGT for a period of 1 month. Both genders were equally represented. Pre- and post-intervention assessments of the dependent variables were carried out. Paired t tests were used to find out the significant differences in emotional maturity, frustration tolerance, study involvement and parent and peer attachment scores before and after the intervention. Significant improvement was seen on all four variables. Cognitive behavior group intervention has improved the psychological functioning of adolescents of dual-earner families. The impact of the intervention on the dependent variables will be discussed.

Pages: 182-187
Choudhary, S. (Department of Psychology, Singhania University, Rajasthan)
Madnawat, A.V.S. (Department of Psychology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, Rajasthan)

The present study aspired to investigate whether Emotional Intelligence, Personality, Presumptive Life Stress and Coping Skills are significant predictors of Positive Self-evaluation and Perception of Reality dimensions of Mental Health in Government and Private School Teachers. It was hypothesized that Emotional Intelligence, Personality, Presumptive Life Stress and Coping Skills will be significant predictors of Positive Self-evaluation and Perception of Reality dimensions of Mental Health in Government and Private School Teachers. A purposive sample of 400 3rd Grade School Teachers 200 from Government Schools and 200 from Private Schools from Rajasthan State was selected. The Predictor Variables were measured by Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) (Hyde, Pethe, & Dhar, 2001), NEO-PI (R) (McCrae & Costa, 2003), Presumptive Stressful Life Events Scale (Singh et al., 1981) and Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) (Folkman & Lazarus, 1986) whereas the Criterion/Outcome Variables were measured by Mental Health Inventory (MHI) (Singh & Srivastava, 1983). The Correlational Research Design along with Regression Model was employed. The Multiple Regression Analysis was computed to investigate whether Emotional Intelligence, Personality, Presumptive Life Stress and Coping Skills are significant predictors of Positive Self-evaluation and Perception of Reality dimensions of Mental Health in Government and Private School Teachers. It was empirically provide that Emotional Intelligence was a significant positive predictor whereas Presumptive Life Stress was a significant negative predictor of Positive Self-evaluation and Perception of Reality dimensions of Mental Health in Government and Private School Teachers. The results are interpreted in the light of existing researches.

Pages: 188-191
Nisha Gupta and Sanjay Kumar (Department of Education, S. S. V. Degree College, Hapur, Uttar Pradesh, India)

Acceptance, forgiveness and gratitude are three protective factors and appear to be as three personal characteristics that have been found to be closely related to psychological well-being. Greater acceptances show better psychological functioning in life. Forgiveness fosters people’s ability to deal with psychological stressors higher level of gratitude demonstrated higher level of perceived social support, lower level of stress and depression. The personal qualities that allow one to thrive in the face of adversity, is termed as resilience. This study aimed to examine whether acceptance, forgiveness, and gratitude are significant predictors for resilience among undergraduate students. 150 students are selected for study in one of the college in Hapur. Schedules are used as a research tool, which includes demographic information, acceptance and action Questionnaire-II, Heartland Forgiveness Scale, The Gratitude Questionnaire and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Results supported the hypothesis and revealed that, acceptance, forgiveness, and gratitude appear to be significant predictors for resilience among undergraduate students. The three predictors contributed 66% of the total variance of student’s resilience model, whereby gratitude illustrates the highest predictive value for resilience, followed by forgiveness and acceptance. The result implies that forgiveness is the key factor to resilience in which forgiveness is essential in order for acceptance to be statistically correlated to resilience.

Pages: 192-195
Mahadevi Wadde (Department of Psychology, Parvatibai Chougle College, Margoa, Goa, India)
Irranna Amashi and Sanmukh Vasant Kamble (Department of Psychology, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka, India)

This study examined relationships between coping strategies, trait well-being and stress-related growth among people living with HIV/AIDS (N=200). Participants completed measure, which included a demographic survey, the ways of coping (Folkman & Lazarus, 1985), the trait well-being (mood level scale by Dalbert, 1992 and general life satisfaction scale by Dalbert et al., 1984), and stress-related growth Park et al. (1996). Pearson’s product-moment correlation analyses indicated that ways of coping significantly increases trait well-being as defined by mood level and satisfaction with life. Self-blame coping and tension reduction coping strategy lowers stress-related growth. Future research must use methodological designs that can evaluate the influence of coping on stress-related growth over time.