Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing

Pages: 927-929
Vijaysen Pandey and Deepali Sansi (Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied Sciences, Amity University, Noida Uttar Pradesh )

The present study aimed to examine the family environment as perceived by the parents and its impact on the problem behaviors exhibited by children. It was a comparative study which was done between two groups of parents. The first group included parents of children with mental retardation and the second group had parents with children with no disability. The family environment measured different domains of the family and how the score of each domain in both the groups varied from each other. The problem behavior checklist assessed the behavior and conduct problems shown by children of both the groups. The results indicated a clear difference in the families of both the groups. It was also analyzed that children with Mental Retardation exhibited more behavioral problems.

Pages: 933-935
A.H. Bhat and K.C. Sharma (Department of Environmental Science, Central University of Rajasthan, Kishangarh, Ajmer, Rajasthan)

Salt workers are exposed to the hardship of environmental conditions such as direct sunlight, salt dust and contact with brine, which have an impact on the health of workers. In the process of salt manufacture, brine rich in salt is filled in broad pans exposed to sunlight. To assess their awareness, attitude and practices related to occupational health problems, 250 Salt workers were interviewed about problems and health hazards related to their working conditions, usage of protective measures and suggestions for their improvisation.

Pages: 943-946
Sarah Hussain and Deepshikha Ray (Department of Psychology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata)

The study aimed to explore certain psychosocial variables, namely, self esteem, body image, obedience and piety in Indian Muslim male youths who underwent circumcision between the ages of 1 month to 3 years (early circumcision) and those between the ages of 8 to10 years (late circumcision). A sample of 90 participants (Early circumcised=50 and Late circumcised=40) belonging to the age range of 20 to 28 years with minimum qualification of pursuing under graduation were investigated on the above mentioned variables. The participants completed the following inventories for assessment- Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965); Body Image Concern Inventory (Littletona, Axsom, & Pury, 2005); The Religiosity and Spirituality Scale for Youth (Hernandez, 2011); Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (Altemeyer, 1981). The obtained data revealed that there is no significant difference between the two groups, that is, early circumcised and late circumcised Muslim males with regard to self esteem, body image concern, obedience and piety. The results were interpreted in terms of psychosocial and cultural constructs. The present study contributes by shading light upon the psychological impact of a traditional religious practice involving as sensitive an area as one's genitals. Along with the physiological impact of circumcision, a considerable deepening influence of it on the mental disposition is thought to exist. The results of the study are in stark contradiction to Western literature which highlights the detrimental psychological effects of circumcision. The results have been interpreted in terms of psycho-social and socio-cultural constructs.

Pages: 953-957
Gadiraju Padmaja, Tiamongla, Suvashisa Rana, and Vanlalhruaii, C. (Centre for Health Psychology, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad)
Sunanda Mohapatra (DAV Public School, Unit 8, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha)

Entering into university level education often poses challenges, both academics as well as life, especially when it demands people to leave their houses and stay in hostels. The present study was conceptualised to measure the general self-efficacy and quality of life of students who approached universities for higher study and to examine whether the differences in place of living and gender affect their self-efficacy and quality of life. Two hundred and forty university students were assessed on their self-efficacy and quality of life using General Self-efficacy Scale and World Health Organisation-Quality of Life BREF questionnaire. The data were analysed by means of descriptive statistics, 2 (place of living) X 2 (gender) between-subjects ANOVA, product moment correlation (r), and line graph. Both place of living and gender played significant role in the university students' self-efficacy and quality of life. The students who lived in their home and women were found to have greater self-efficacy as well as better quality of life compared to the students who lived in hostel and men respectively. It was also observed that women who stayed in hostel were more vulnerable to psychological health issues. The results demonstrate a need for designing interventions that target enhancing self-efficacy in hostel boarders as well as men students such that their quality of life be improved.

Pages: 963-967
Ishita Arora (Department of Psychology, Ashoka University, Rai, Sonepat, Haryana)
Peeyush Khare (Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Yale University, New Haven)

In this paper, we examined the relationship between mental health, quality of life and spirituality in an Indian spiritual organization setting. Rapid advances in all spheres of science have led to an unprecedented increase in the physical comforts available to the general population. However, studies have shown an inverse relationship between this tangible progress, and health and happiness of an individual. Stress, anxiety and loneliness have become common mental ailments in today's technology mediated life. There is an urgent need to look for newer ways to treat the various mental and social illnesses being faced by the present generation. Sixty healthy individuals participated in our study. Three-fourth of the respondents self-reported experiencing good quality of life and one-third reported to have a high level of spiritual development. We found a positive relationship between one's spiritual development and the quality of life of the individual. The highest correlation was seen between realistic acceptance of God and socio-environmental quality of life. Psychological quality of life showed a positive relationship with awareness and negative relationship with instability with God. We were unable to establish any cause and effect relationship between the two variables of spirituality and quality of life because of limitations associated with methodology and sample of study. The implications of this study are significant as it tests the findings of previous studies in an Indian setting, and establishes a basis for future studies to be more elaborate and experimental, allowing the determination of a causal relationship between spirituality and quality of life.

Pages: 973-976
Anwaar Mohyuddin and Zainab Suleman (Department of Anthropology, Quaid i Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan)

This particular research aimed to explore the perception and preferences of people regarding indigenous and western health practices. The objectives of the research are to know what health model is preferred by people and what the reasons of preferring certain health model are. Another objective was to know about the link of education and employment with a selection of health model. The research was conducted in village Tiyal, District Haripur. 80 respondents were selected; age, gender, education and employment were inclusive factors. Structured interviews were conducted with the help of a questionnaire. The results of the study indicate that the majority of the people intends to prefer western models of health because of its reliability and quick recovery. It was observed that education and employment does play a role in selecting health models, but even uneducated and poor people also opt for western medicine from a quack even if they cannot afford a general physician. In the light of this study it is recommended that the Government should focus on managing health resources for the people living in rural areas.

Pages: 982-985
Abdul-Kareem M. Jaradat (Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, Yarmouk University, Jordan)

The purpose of this study was to explore the differences in boredom proneness by gender and academic achievement among a sample of 612 (185 male, 427 female) Jordanian undergraduate students. Boredom proneness was measured using the short form of the boredom proneness scale (Vodanovich, Wallace, & Kass, 2005). Results showed that females scored significantly higher on the external stimulation subscale than males, and low achieving students scored significantly higher on the subscales of internal and external stimulation, compared with their peers who were high achievers. Based on these results, implications for counselors and future research were presented.

Pages: 990-993
Poonam Mukherjee (Department of Psychology, Tripura University, Tirpura)
Hillol Mukherjee (Institute of Advanced Studies in Education, Govt. of Tripura, Tirpura)

A group of 30 children from single parent families were compared to 30 children from intact families to see whether the former would show any difference with the later in terms of General Well being, and Level of Aggression particularly taking the tribal population of Tripura state into consideration. The present study attempts to synthesize and evaluate the mere presence of both the parents which might play an effective role in the development of General Well Being. Standardized Psychological Tests (Questionnaires) were administered following standard procedures given by the respective test devices. Results showed that as expected the children belonging to single parent families differ significantly in terms of their General Well being, and Level of Aggression when compared to the children from the intact families. And the children from the single parent families are having a very higher level of aggression which may contribute to their poor level of general wellbeing.

Pages: 999-1002
Ayesha Zafar (Department of Clinical Psychology Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore, Pakistan) Saira Majid (Applied Psychologist, Pakistan)

The aim of the study was to determine the role of coping strategies in mental health and quality of life of Caregivers of Chronically ill Patients. The two chronic illnesses selected for the present study were Liver Cirrhosis and Ischemic Heart Disease. The sample consisted of N=202 primary caregivers (Men =117; Women =85). Data for caregivers of Liver Cirrhosis patients was collected from Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore and for Ischemic Heart Disease from The Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore. Age range of caregivers was from 15-60 years. Purposive sampling was used. To fulfill the objectives of the study Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Chi-square and Multiple Regression were used. Three scales other than demographic sheet namely Urdu version by Akhtar (2005) of Brief Cope developed by Carver (1989) and Urdu version by Khan, Akhtar, Ayub, Alam, and Laghari (2003) of WHO-Quality of Life Questionnaire developed by Power, (2003) and Urdu version of General Health Questionnaire-28 by (Sanam,2001) developed by Goldenberg (1978) were used. Results indicated mental health and positive coping had inverse significant relationship. Multiple regression analysis showed impact of coping styles on quality of life among caregivers of chronically ill. Cross tabulation revealed an association between coping styles and demographic variables such as education, marital status, parent's education, disease and birth order.

Pages: 1007-1009
Jyoti (KVM Nursing College, Rohtak, Haryana)

Sample characteristics revealed that majority of the subjects were 13-15 years old (72.5%).In the pre-test 37.5% of the samples had average knowledge and 62.5% had poor knowledge regarding menstruation and menstrual hygiene where as in post-test 65% of samples had good knowledge and 35% of the samples had average knowledge regarding menstruation and menstrual hygiene. On comparison of the mean post-test knowledge score in all areas were higher than the mean pre-test knowledge score. This shows that self instructional module was effective in increasing the knowledge score among adolescent girls.

Pages: 1016-1018
Shabahat Bano (Department of Psychology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh)

This study was designed to examine the level of adjustment pattern amongst adolescents as a result of different parenting practices. A sample of 300 subjects, 150 male and 150 female between 11 to 20 years of age were taken. The tools used were Family relationship inventory, prepared by Brunken and Crites (1964)and Bell adjustment rating inventory (Hindi form) developed by Hussain, S. (1969).results showed that when mean comparisions were carried out among early, mid and late adolescents, the affect can be seen highest among late adolescents with m=48.10 on parental acceptance , and early adolescents' parental acceptance m=30.93,while mid adolescent's parental acceptance m=48.07, respectively. The late adolescents group showed highest adjustment level as it scored lowest on adjustment and its sub dimensions ( as a reverse relationship is existing between adjustment and the independent variables - parenting , by the use of adjustment inventory). Moreover, mid adolescents group have also been reported to score higher than the early adolescents group on adjustment and its sub-dimensions. This indicates that with each succession in age the capacity to adjust improves among adolescents. Thus,Parental availability has been hypothesized to influence human beings' adjustment from early to late adolescence

Pages: 1022-1024
Pramod Kumar Saharan (College of Nursing, Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak)
Ujjawal Dahiya (College of Nursing AIIMS, New Delhi)
Sat Pal (Department of Physiology, Pt.B.D. Sharma PGIMS, Rohtak )

“A study to assess the knowledge and attitude of rickshaw driver's regarding tobacco and its harmful effects at Mohindergarh (Haryna) in a view to develop and distribute study material on hazards of tobacco.” sample size consists of 100 Auto Rickshaw, with the objective of knowledge and attitude of rickshaw driverss regarding tobacco and its harmful effect .the descriptive research designwas used, the sampling technique was convenient sampling technique, The study results on knowledge level showed that 78 (78%) had inadequate knowledge, 15 (15%) had moderate knowledge and 7 (7%) had adequate knowledge and conclude that rickshaw drivers having less knowledge on tobacco and its harmful effects. that (70%) samples are having favorable attitude, (25%) samples are having moderate favorable attitude and (5%) having unfavorable attitude regarding tobacco and its harmful effects.