The Covid-19 pandemic forced people across the nations to change their social life. Social distancing is the single most effective measure to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The characteristics of the society in which it is practiced can have a differential impact on the intention to perform social distancing. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the characteristics of Thai culture, this study attempted to investigate the effect of subjective norm on social distancing intention, being mediated by the attitude towards social distancing and perceived behavioral control among Thai university students, while controlling for the perceived barriers and perceived external control. The sample consisted of university students from 5 universities in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 176 university students, 87 females and 86 males participated in the study. The variables were measured by questionnaires constructed based on the TPB research framework and were found to be reliable indicated by the Cronbach's Alpha that ranged from .83 to .88. The results of the path analysis supported the proposed extended TPB framework. Attitude towards social distancing was found to mediate the relationship between subjective norm and social distancing intention, while perceived behavioral control did not mediate the relationship. A culturally-informed comprehensive framework of TPB was found to be useful in predicting social distancing intention. The results are discussed in connection with the TPB and cultural aspects.
The present study is performed to examine and understand the impact of internet usage has on adolescents and how they can self-regulate it. In this work, we have highlighted the impact of demographic variables like age, gender, place of living, and parental education. For the study, 200 students were chosen as sample subjects; with their age ranging from 15 to 17 years. Internet Addiction test (IAT) developed by Young (1996) and self-regulation questionnaire (SRQ) devised by Brown, Miller and Lawendowski (1999) were used for data collection. In this study, a statistical analysis such as mean(M), standard deviation (SD), t-test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is applied by using Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) 20 version. We have found in our study that the age of the subject has a determining factor in self-regulation towards internet addiction. It is also found that the self-regulation regarding internet usage among students differ based on their place of livelihood. It is observed that the father’s educational qualification impacts the self-regulation ability to the internet usage among the sampled students. Whereas the mother’s educational qualification has an impact on the students problematic internet usage. The results have shown that the self-regulation and internet addiction to be negatively correlated.
The study examined non-adherence to psychotropic medications among persons living with mental disorders at the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital, Ghana. The descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted for the study. The convenience sampling technique was used to select 100 participants for the study. The Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) by Morisky was adopted for this study. The Cronbach's alpha for the scale was 0.83. Pretest with Crobach's alpha was 0.8. Frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations and Pearson's correlations were used to analyzethe data. The findings of the study showed that non-adherence to psychotropic medications is relatively prevalent among psychiatric patients at the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital and that educational level of participants could be used to predict nonadherence to psychotropic medication. Age and marital status were not positively correlated with nonadherence to psychotropic medication. Patients reported that the items outlined on the instrument were not the causative factors for non-adherence to medication. It is recommended that the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ghana Health Services (GHSs) and Mental Health Authorities (MHAs) should sensitize individuals in the community especially mentally ill patients on the need to adhere to the medications.
Family caregivers have played an important role in our society for granting care to the aged. They are playing crucial role in our care system by providing a significant quantity of health and long-term care for the aged person, chronically ill and disabled. The act of care-giving is not an easy task and can become more tedious when one is caring for a family member who is solely depending on the primary caregiver for everything. This situation could be the reason for many challenges which can affect the quality of life of the primary caregivers. The present research has made an attempt to assess the burden of stress among the family caregivers across varying stages of adulthood who were primarily responsible for care of dependent elderly. The sample included 60 families of primary caregivers who were taking care of the dependent elderly in their family from the Ludhiana city. The Zarit Burden Interview developed by Zarit et al. (1980) was used to measure the burden of stress on caregivers. The results reflected a major proportion of primary caregivers experiencing severe level of stress along with statistically significant differences between primary caregivers of young and middle adulthood stage.
Nature has showered its blessings equally to all the human beings but still of these equal opportunities, equal capabilities provided to us some of us lead in life with pleasure, happiness, contentment and well being. The reason for these individual differences might be of our passion and perseverance known as grit. The present study is an attempt to find the level of grit and its effect on mental well being of 200 students appearing in different competitive exams. The findings of the study revealed that there was a high level of grit and moderate level of mental well being. Grit has moderately affected the mental well being of the students. Age and time spent on for study have no significant association with the grit. There were no gender differences for the scores of grit and mental well being. To being perseverant in sustaining interest and effort, and pursuing well-being through engagement seems to increase subjective well-being. To achieve the higher levels of grit individuals should pursue hedonia as their approach towards well-being.
In a world where stress has dominion over human life and has become an obstacle to development, the importance of happiness is emphasized. Happiness is a crucial ingredient of well-being and the most valuable goal of human life. Regardless of individual differences, the desire for happiness is widespread. Happy people are more productive, efficient, and healthy. Due to the increasing competition, pressures of society, workload, and expectations, college students are increasingly susceptible to mental health issues and it has become a serious concern. It is believed that extracurricular activities influence the happiness and well-being of students, however, little research has been done on this in Kerala. Information from 180 participants, 60 from each category of the athlete, artiste, and nonathlete/non-artiste students from various colleges of Kerala was collected using a convenient sampling method with the objective being to find whether there is a significant difference in happiness between athlete, artiste, and nonathlete/non-artiste college students and also whether there is a gender difference in happiness within each of the three groups in the study. The survey method, employing The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire by Argyle and Hills (2002) was used to collect data. Analysis of data was done using t-test and ANOVA. The results revealed that all three groups have an average level of happiness and there is no significant difference in happiness between athlete, artiste, and non-athlete/non-artiste college students. No significant difference in happiness among athletes or nonathletes/non-artistes based on gender was found. However, there is a significant difference in happiness among artiste college students based on gender.
The present study entitled “Knowledge about indoor plants by homemakers in Hisar city”. Air quality “refers to the condition of the air within surrounding. Air quality is one of the major environmental health concerns for India. Nowadays our lifestyle and work culture are also forcing us to be in the contact of the indoor environment for the long number of hours leading to coverage of various indoor pollutants. The study was undertaken to know the existing knowledge regarding the indoor plants adopted by homemakers in the house of Hisar city . The study was carried out in one phase, survey work. Survey work was carried out in five randomly selected locality of Hisar city . From each selected locality 30 homemakers were randomly selected from each thus making total sample 150 homemakers. The study revealed that level of knowledge regarding indoor plants was medium (68.6%). The maximum homemaker used seasonal plants (60.0%) and 94% use indoor plants for aesthetic purpose and the knowledge level of respondents about of indoor plant and it was found that two third of respondents had medium level of knowledge (68.6%) followed by high level (18.0%) and only 14.0% had low level of knowledge about the indoor plants.
The present study was conducted to assess the association of aggression and family environment among rural and urban adolescents. A total sample of 240 adolescents (120 rural & 120 urban) in the age range of 16-18 years was randomly drawn from four Government Senior Secondary Schools of rural and urban area of Ludhiana district. Aggression Scale by Mathur and Bhatnagar (1995) and Family Environment Scale by Bhatia and Chadha (1993) were used to measure the aggression and family environment of the adolescents. The results revealed that both rural and urban adolescents had average level of aggression. Urban adolescents showed high level of aggression as compared to rural adolescents. The results also demonstrated that family environment affected aggressive behaviour of adolescents. Perception levels for various dimensions of family environment were different in urban and rural respondents. Significant locale differences in mean scores were found in expressiveness, conflict, independence, active-recreational orientation and control dimension of family environment. Aggression had negative but significant correlation with cohesion and acceptance and caring in urban adolescents.
Culture plays an important role in child rearing and caring practices of the mothers. It always interesting to observe the role of host culture on people who stays in other culture for more than a year. This study has been undertaken to assess and associate the cultural practices of newborn and infant care practices of French women in Puducherry, an old French territory of India. Descriptive research design by survey was used to assess the existing cultural practices among the French women residing in Puducherry, South India regarding new born and infant care practices. French mothers had their baby with them immediately after the delivery. Having the delivery in swimming pool (15%) was a cultural different phenomenon preferred by the French women. Women usually prepare a cotton belt to wrap around the waist and over the cord of the new born infant to prevent potential umbilical hernia. It was evident that the acculturation might have an influence on the newborn and infant care practices of French women who were residing in Puducherry.
Personality and politics are at the nexus of research trends in India and abroad. Personality of voters and political leader has an influence on the voting behavior during elections. Behavioral scientist focusses on “why” of the behavior, i.e. why people vote the way they vote. Voters, during elections get influenced by various factors depending upon heir own personality type. Under the IMPRESS, ICSSR (MHRD) funded project “Psychological Correlates of Political Behavior”, this study was done on a sample of 900 respondents from the various constituencies of Haryana. There are two aspects that needs to be assessed between the personality and political behavior in terms of voting i.e. relationship and causation. A study focused on finding the personality correlates of political behavior is oriented more towards the causation. Harnessing the data from Neo-Five questionnaire and survey form, the causative relationship between the personality dimensions and voting behavior was analyzed. Binomial Regression results indicate that openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness added significantly with values p = .049, p = .0001 and p = .001 respectively. Whereas extraversion (p = .281), neuroticism (p = .289) did not add significantly. Results indicate that openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness significantly contributed towards voting behavior.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disturbed adolescents' mental health adversely than any other age group because of the quarantine and lockdown measures imposed. This study used a cross-sectional design to investigate adolescents' mental health from 9 schools in Kochi city and urban areas, Ernakulam, Kerala, in March 2021. The total number of respondents were 715. Among them 375 (52.44%) girls and 340 (47.55%) were boys, and 263 (36.78%) participants were from rural area and 452 (63.21%) were from urban areas. DASS-21 was used as a mental health indicator. The demographic data of the respondents were also considered. The result of the present study reveals the general occurrence of depression, anxiety, and stress among adolescents at 64.19%, 75.24%, and 69.45%.
“The destiny of games is to become boring…Fun is a process and routine is its destination (Koster, 2013).” This paper reviews the role of experiencing flow in videogames and identifies the precursors, properties, and probable outcomes. The potential importance of games has not been adequately studied in terms of the benefits for young individuals who are at risk (Kutner & Olson, 2008). The aim of this review is to increase the awareness about association between games and flow and to provide a model of flow in gaming that can be applied to improve wellbeing. This paper distinguishes the strengths of current games that generate positive affect, better functioning and scopes of socializing that promotes and supports player's mental health and collective well-being of the gaming community.
Non-communicable diseases (NCD) include diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, asthma and various form of cancer. It is considered that NCD is due to unhealthy lifestyle practices, but psychological factors also lead to develop NCD. Such factor consist cognitive appraisal, coping strategies and personal sense of control. In this article, it was examined the relationship between cognitive appraisal and NCD. It was considered that an individual's appraisal of a stressful situation, whether the individuals were internally or externally focused and their way of coping would develop NCD. The study was cross-sectional and a total no. of 30 individuals was selected as samples, who were suffering with NCD. Purposive sample technique was used and sample was taken from a government hospital of Bihar. A product moment correlation statistics was performed and result indicated that cognitive appraisal (when situation perceived as threat or harmful) and emotional focused coping strategies and event perceived as beyond their control i.e. external locus of control, were significant predictors of NCD.
At the time of ending days of the year 2019, the news regarding outbreak of virus which was later on known as came from Chinese City Wuhan. Initially, the people were not aware of the nature and impact of the virus but when the news of people dying in Wuhan due to this virus started spreading across the world, then the whole world felt itself in a fix. The European Countries which were having a very good medical infrastructure have drastically failed in preventing the infection of the virus Corona and innumerable people have lost their lives in many countries such as Italy, France, America and many more. Although, initially the people of India were not taking this as so seriously, yet after recording a 1st case in in January 2020 in the State of Kerla, the Government of India took the necessary preventive measures and started awaking its citizens regarding the virus. In spite of taking all preventive measures whole country had to undergo a long lockdown in order to prevent the further spreading of the disease and save lives and by taking such preventive measures, India could minimise the loss, which could have been higher than in which it has occurred. At the same time the people as well as Government of United States of America did not take it seriously and not adopted the preventive measures, consequently despite having a latest rich technology and best medical infrastructure, the United States of America has to suffer from irreparable losses of lives as well as wealth. The author has intended to carry out a comparative study in respect of both countries India and USA in order to highlight the biological impacts and social responses of the people of both countries. The report of the study will be based upon the primary and secondary data as well as empirical study carried out by the author.
The objective of the current study was to compare the levels of gratitude, hope and optimism in both the situations, that is, pre-lockdown and during lockdown. This study was conducted on participants presently living in Delhi-NCR. It was hypothesized that (1) there will be a relationship between change in optimism and change in gratitude score; (2) there will be a relationship between change in optimism and change in hope; and (3) there will be a relationship between change in hope and change in gratitude. For the purpose of this research, a sample of hundred and twelve participants was chosen using convenience sampling. There were three scales used for the purpose of data collection. For assessing gratitude, the Gratitude Questionnaire-Six Item Form (GQ-6) was used. Adult hope scale was used for assessing hope and Life orientation test was used to assess optimism. Results showed that gratitude and hope were positively related, whereas, optimism and hope and, optimism and gratitude were inversely related to each other. This can be attributed to various factors which have been discussed in detail in our study .
The current Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way of teaching in medical institutes. Now online classes are common method of teaching by using virtual platforms like Zoom, google classrooms, google meet, etc. We conducted this study to know the experience of students about online classes. This is an observational, questionnaire-based study conducted in PGIMS Rohtak for the duration of 2 weeks. Study subjects were first year MBBS, BDS and Nursing students of PGIMS Rohtak. Total 25 questions were asked and responses were recorded in the form of yes or no. The questionnaire was prepared as google form and sent to students as electronic format on Facebook/WhatsApp of different streams for voluntarily participation. On the basis of feedback received from students it was observed that classroom classes are better than virtual classes. Approximately 60% of the students face difficulty with technology needed to attend online classes and 30% of the students didn't have required gadgets and internet connection for virtual classes. Around 60% of the students find it difficult to concentrate and staying on tract during online teaching thus less attentive and 15% of the students face fatigue and pain in eyes. Classroom teaching is more effective in terms of providing more understanding, more convenient to attend and give more opportunity to ask queries.
The coronavirus crisis and the restrictive measures that many countries are taking to contain the outbreak can have a negative impact on people's mental health and well-being. Isolation, physical distancing, the closure of schools and workplaces are some of the challenges which affected almost everyone causing trauma, stress, anxiety, fear, uncertainty, depression, grief and loneliness during lockdown period. The consequence on mental health seems to be instant that would carry on for a longer period of time. It becomes imperative to make an attempt in analyzing the well-being of general population. The aim of this study was to assess the psychological well-being of general population during covid-19 lockdown period. This study included 60 healthy individuals (30 male and 30 female) within the age group 20 to 50 years who were assessed through online survey from Mid-April to Mid-June. Psychological General Well-being Index was administered to assess the psychological well-being. Results were analyzed by using descriptive methods which indicated anxiety, depressed mood and psychological well-being to be moderately high in participants but on self-control, vitality and general health they were found to be average. Further significant gender differences were also evident on various dimensions of psychological well-being. The implications are discussed.
The nationwide lockdown to control Covid-19 spread has rendered millions of female domestic workers in India jobless, and exposed this already vulnerable category to hunger, starvation and even death. The 250-300 odd female domestic workers dependent on residents of Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur campus also found themselves in this financial predicament owning to the complete lockdown for three months. The purpose of this study is to assess mental well-being level of female domestic workers serving residents within IIT Kharagpur campus during three months of complete lockdown. This study also examines if their resilience had any impact on their well-being, and finally investigates factors that helped them stay positive and contributed to their well-being during the lockdown. This study employed a mixed methodology drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from 45 female domestic workers, aged 21-61 years. Data were collected using WHO-5, BRS and participant survey including an open-ended question. Descriptive statistics, correlation, multiple regression and thematic content analysis were used for data analysis. Wellbeing among domestic workers was found to be moderate. Quantitative and quantitative analysis suggested that 'spending time with family during lockdown,' 'getting sound sleep,' 'receiving help from employers' and 'personally helping someone in need' predicted well-being of domestic workers during lockdown. Age and domestic violence were negative predictors of well-being. Other determinants of wellbeing during the lockdown according to qualitative analysis included 'safety of family members,' 'relief,' 'social support,' 'social engagement,' 'generosity of employers,' 'forced abstinence from alcohol and gambling by spouses', 'rest' and 'care from family members'. While resilience correlated with well-being, it was not found to predict well-being. The mean well-being level of domestic workers at IIT Kharagpur, contrary to expectations, -was found to be above the critical 13 point, and they seemed to be better off than those reported in various media, owing to sustained financial support by their employers at IIT Kharagpur and relief material provided by IIT Kharagpur. This suggests the importance of supportive contexts which can significantly affect the well-being of vulnerable communities and people working in informal sector, even during lockdown.
