Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing

Pages: 1150-1152
Virendra Byadwal, Sudha Jaiswal and Sandeep Kumar (Department of Psychology, Banaras Hindu University, Varaansi, Uttar Pradesh)

The life satisfaction and mental health are vital factors that affect the individual's adjustment with life, motivation, perception, health, personality and so many sphere of life. This paper explores the life satisfaction and mental health among migrated and non-migratedlabours in carpet industry of Varanasi, India. To achieve the objectives of the study 100 labours were randomly selected, out of which 50 were migrated (25 female and 25 male) and 50 were non migrated (25 female and 25 male). Alam & Srivastava's Life Satisfaction Scale (1971) and Jagdish and Srivastava's Mental Health Inventory (1996) were used to measure the variables under study. The analysis of data reveals that there is significant difference in life satisfaction and mental health among migrated and non-migratedlabours. The gender is also found to be significantly affecting the life satisfaction and mental health of labours.

Pages: 1161-1164
Yamunadevi A. and S. Sulaja (Department of Demography, University of Kerala, Kariavattom Campus, Trivandrum)

One of the markers of quality of life is life expectancy. Kerala was found to have high life expectancy among the states in India. However, life expectancy alone cannot be measure the quality of life because it does not consider the physical , social and emotional factors that impact their health for its estimation. So the present study estimated the health expectancy based on self rated health for assessing the quality of life of elderly in Kerala .Self-rated health status are taken from BKPAI survey and mortality data taken from SRS. The overall result shows that about one third of the elderly are living in poor health status. Females were more prone to perceive their health status as poor. Health expectancy shows a considerable reduction in all ages among both sexes. Females live relatively low quality of life than males, even though they have longer life expectancy. So the rapid growing elderly populations in the State need special attention in terms of health as well as social and economic security for achieving better quality of life.

Pages: 1169-1173
M. Vinothk Kumar (Department of Psychology, St. Agnes Centre for Post Graduate Studies & Research, Mangalore)

Older age is normally associated with losses in physical, cognitive, and social domains. Despite these losses, older adults often report higher levels of well-being than do younger adults. A paucity of research in understanding the level of well-being and strategies to facilitate it. Hence, the present study is to identify the potential predictors of well-being among the elderly peoples. Therefore, this study examines the roles of emotional expressivity, loneliness, happiness, and psychological well-being. For this purpose 60 participants (Males and Females) aged 60 years and above living at home with family were were asked to provide an assessment onEmotional Expressivity Scale, Loneliness Scale Subjective Happiness Scale and Psychological Well-being.Results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between subjective happiness and psychological well-being; and loneliness and psychological well-being. From the regression analysis result reveals that Loneliness and happiness significantly predict psychological well-being. Further, findings from this study will improve the understanding of the migratory role of expressivity, happiness and well-being among elderly. We also discussed the results in detailed and suggest an appropriate intervention framework and directions for future research.

Pages: 1177-1182
Priyanka Podder (Clinical Psychologist, University of Calcutta, Kolkata)
Souvik Raychaudhuri (Department of Psychology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata)

This qualitative study seeks to uncover and understand the life-term prisoners' perspectives of living as inmates in Correctional homes. It attempts to explore the experiences of sufferings and coping of prisoners in the light of threat to self being incarcerated, adjusting to challenges, interpersonal relationships, outlook towards future and death. Structured interviews were conducted with ten life-term prisoners, five male and five female, of two Correctional homes in Kolkata, having age range of 35-45 years. This was followed by a feedback session. Data analysis was done following Grounded Theory methodology. The findings reflected predominant helplessness, loss of dignity, suicidal ideation, feelings of shame and dejection on the one hand, while on the other maintaining faith in the Supreme power and hope, an urge to revenge, aggression towards others, high self-esteem and a will to fight back. An empty space created by separation from family is balanced by need for belongingness in prison-groups for support. Interpersonal relationships are mostly characterized by deception, exploitation and violence. Ambivalence towards future is revealed. Fear of death and relating it to divinity has been mostly noticed. The study shows that mental health problems posed by challenges of prison life need to be addressed adequately by building up forensic mental health support systems.

Pages: 1189-1193
E. T. T. M Pasipanodya, Yogesh K. Arya, and Tushar Singh (Department of Psychology, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh)
Sheppard K. M Pasipanodya (Chairperson, Catholic University of Zimbabwe 18443 Cranborne Avenue, Harare, Zimbabwe)
Mona Srivastava (Department of Psychiatry, Sir Sundarlal Hospital, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, UP)

Depression is a severe psychopathological disorder that is marked by a constellation of affective, cognitive and memory deficits. These deficits have been observed as being responsible for the onset, maintenance, and recurrence of depressive episodes among individuals diagnosed with depression. However, the nature and course of these cognitive and affective deficits in undiagnosed samples are relatively less explored. The present study examined the nature of autobiographical memory recall and emotion regulation in 38 (19 male and 19 female) depressed participants screened on the basis of their scores on Beck Depression Inventory-II. All the selected participants responded on self-report measure of Emotion Regulation Questionnaire and Autobiographical Memory Test. The results showed that both the dimensions of emotion regulation (emotion suppression and cognitive reappraisal) correlated positively and significantly with depression. However, the emotion suppression dimension emerged as best predictor of depression. Results also showed a significant and negative correlation between depression and specificity of positive autobiographical memory recall. Overall, the findings of the present study suggest that the overgeneral autobiographical memory recall, use of inappropriate emotion regulation strategy and lack of motivation to repair negative mood are associated with depression.

Pages: 1199-1202
Satyananda Panda and Tika Maya Chettri (Department of Psychology, Sikkim University, Gangtok, Sikkim)

The aim of the present study was to see the existence of anxiety and compare anxiety level among working and non-working mothers. In the present context, there is an ample need to study anxiety in traditional socio-cultural Sikkim's family context, the effect of working condition of mothers in comparison with non-working condition. The employment typically has positive psychological consequences for mothers either as a primary source of well-being or as a buffer against stress. Purposive sampling method was used for this study. Sample consisted of 50 graduate nurses (Working mothers) and 50 graduate housewives (non-working mothers). State-Trait Anxiety Test (STAT) developed by Vohra was used to assess the level of state and trait anxiety among working and non-working mothers. Participants' scores were evaluated and analyzed and it was found that there is high level of anxiety (both state and trait) among working and non-working mothers. However, there exists no significant differences in anxiety level between working and non-working mothers (P < 0·05). It is high time that we realize that there is necessity of making work environment less stressful and more comfortable.

Pages: 1207-1210
M. Anbarasu and V. Chandramohan (Department of Psychology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu )

Anxiety is a feeling of uneasiness characterized by irritability, palpitation, dry mouth, tension and a feeling of impending doom. A large population of number of people suffering from high anxiety is school students. Yoga helps students directly to hold his / her physical fitness, forces in balance and indirectly to develop his / her mental powers. The aim of the present study was to find out the effectiveness of Yogic Exercise Therapy (Yoga) in the management of anxiety among students. Three hundred healthy and well motivated school students, 150 Boys and 150 Girls, studying Higher Secondary Course (+2), age ranging from 15 to 18 years, constituted as a sample for the present study. School students were administered with State Trait Anxiety Index (STAI) to find out the level of anxiety. Out of 300, 40 school students, suffering from anxiety, willing to participate in the study, were divided into two groups such as Control and Experimental groups (Yoga). Out of 40, 20 students: 10 Boys and 10 Girls each were allotted to Control and Experimental groups. Experimental group was exposed to certain selected yogic exercises, twice a day, morning and evening, for duration of thirty minutes, for one month whereas Control group was not exposed to any therapeutic intervention. Students were practicing Yoga in their respective school premises. Yoga Classes were organised separately for the boys and girls. Comparison ofMean Pre and Posttest State and Trait Anxiety Percentile Rank (PR) between Control and Yoga Groups showed that there is an extremely significant difference (P < 0.0001) existing in the performance. Yoga group was better (P < 0.0001) than the Control group in the management of anxiety. Girls were better (P < 0.0001) than the Boys in overcoming the ill-effects of anxiety through Yogic Exercise Therapy. It was evident from the Follow up that students, who were practicing yoga regularly, could sustain the psychological wellbeing even after three months of therapeutic intervention. Regular practice of yoga helped to overcome anxiety and enhanced attention and concentration in their studies. Of all the techniques, Yoga is one of the most economical, less time consuming and the most effective method of management of anxiety among school students.

Pages: 1215-1219
Rashi Jain and Neelam Pandey (Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied Sciences, AUUP, Noida, U.P.)

Learning Disability happens to be a chronic condition of a presumed neurological origin which selectively interferes with the development, integration, and demonstration of verbal and nonverbal abilities. Past experiences reveal that Learning Disability is something that can't be outgrown nor 'cured' by medication, therapy, or expert tutoring. Thus, an individual with Learning Disability gets to face multiple hurdles in day to day life. In order to make like a bit easier for such individuals, this study tries to connect the dots between an individual with LD and the prenatal factors, the delivery conditions, the early schooling environment of his mother. The current study aims at investigating some specific factors common in the history of children with learning disability. The objective of the present research is to understand the causes of learning disability in children and to find out the most dominant factors. This study started with the hypothesis that there would be a positive relationship between mother's bed rest and medication during pregnancy & learning disability. Also early school difficulties of the child and learning disability were expected to be significantly correlated. The study concluded on a positive relationship among mother's bed rest, mother taking medication during pregnancy, early school difficulties of the child and learning disability.

Pages: 1229-1231
C. R. Darolia and Nidhi Varshney (Department of Psychology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana)

The present study was conducted to understand the nature of relationship between working memory and fluid-crystallized intelligence. A sample of 250 (135 male and 115 female) students of 11th and 12th grade was tested on Operation Span and Reading Span tasks of working, Culture Fair Intelligence Test, and Hundal General Mental Ability Test. Results of correlational analysis indicated that all the measures of fluid and crystallized intelligence correlated significantly with Operation Span and Reading Span measures of working memory. The overall score of Culture Fair Intelligence Test correlated .43 and .35 with Operation Span and Reading Span, respectively. Scores on all the seven subtests of HGMAT have also shown significant positive correlation with the measures of working memory. Total HGMAT score correlated .40 and .44 with Operation Span and Reading Span, respectively. Structural analysis provided three distinct factors which were interpreted as crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence, and working memory.

Pages: 1235-1237
Ajay Kumar Maurya and Ashok Parasar (Ankur Rehab Center, Dharmpuri, Indore)
Ajay Sharma (Shri Arvindo Institute of Medical Sciences, Indore, M.P.)

This study was two group comparative designs on a sample of 60 children in age group of 6-18 years hailing from an equal number of single and both parent family homes to examine their reported prevalence of problem and to see whether students (males & females) and intact and non-intact families has difference in their Emotional and Behavioural Problems. For assessment of problem behaviors in children, the Emotional and Behavior Problem Scale (EBPS-2) was used in this study. Taking consent for the study, the detail about the study was explained to the students. The socio demographic details were filled by participants and proper instruction was given to the participants. The Emotional and Behaviour Problem Scale (EBPS-2) on 30 both parents and 30 single parent's student were administered. Results show that, on the whole, children from intact parent family homes have fewer behaviour problems than those from single parent households. In relation to associated variables, more boys than girls are reported as having additional problem behaviours within the studied sample in the present study. The results are discussed along with its implications planning parent training and home to deal with Emotional and Behaviour problems and also enrichment training programs especially for the single parent families in our country.

Pages: 1241-1243
N.D.S. Naga Seema, Sangeetha Thomas and Ruopfuvinuo Pienyu (Centre for Health Psychology, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad)
B. Srinadh (Fetal Medicine Specialist, Asian Institute of Fetal Medicine and Reproductive Genetics, Hyderabad)

Religion and spirituality contribute significantly in the life of a pregnant woman towards her physical and psychological well-being. Hence this study was designed to explore the relationship between spirituality and well-being among antenatal women. Thirty women in the age group of 18 to 31 years were selected as participants from the outpatient departments of the antenatal clinics of two leading hospitals in Hyderabad. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and Daily Spiritual Experience Scale were used. Spearman rs showed significant positive correlation between overall well-being and spirituality scores of the participants. The results also indicated that an increase in personal meaning, religiosity, and spirituality scores of the participants resulted in a significant increase in their well-being scores. Implications and shortcomings were also discussed.

Pages: 1248-1251
Sonu Bansal and Hardeep Lal Joshi (Department of Psychology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra)

The main aim of the present investigation is to study Temperament and Forgiveness as predictor of Mental Health among adults. For achieving the objectives of present investigation, a representative sample of 300 adults has taken from different background. The selected subjects received The Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Thompson, 2005), The Forgiving Personality Scale (Kamat et al., 2006), Symptoms Check List-90-R (Dragotis et al., 1973) and Formal Characteristic of Behaviour-Temperament Inventory (Darolia & Kumar, 2003). The results of stepwise regression analysis shows that four predictor of forgiveness and temperament predict mental health among adults. These predictor are Endurance, Sensory Sensitivity, Forgiving Personality and Situational Forgiveness.