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Fulltext The effectiveness of the community reinforcement approach (CRA) in the context of quality of life and happiness among people using drugs

Khalid MT, Khalily MT, Saleem T, Saeed F, Shoib S

Front Public Health, 2024;12:1229262.
PMID: 38504677 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1229262

INTRODUCTION: The Community Reinforcement Approach is an evidence-based treatment modality for alcohol and drug addiction treatment with proven efficacy and cost-effectiveness. The present study investigated the effectiveness of the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) in the context of quality of life among drug addicts.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 60 inpatient substance abusers post detoxification in Fountain House, Lahore, Pakistan, participated in this study. Fountain House was selected as the Minnesota model is primarily used there. Therefore, a new treatment approach was introduced to investigate its effectiveness for individuals with substance abuse. A randomized 12-week trial was conducted as a substance use disorders (SUDs) treatment program. Persons with SUD (i.e., identified patients) enrolled in a residential treatment program were randomized into the integrated model of the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) and traditional Minnesota model treatment (n = 30), and traditional Minnesota model treatment only (TMM; n = 30). All the participants in the experimental group attended the group therapy sessions and other activities in the facility in addition to the treatment conditions. The participants attended the individual therapeutic sessions, which were conducted according to the CRA guidelines used in the experimental group. In this study, each individual in the CRA treatment group received 12 one-to-one sessions ranging from 45 min to 1 h. The WHOQOL-BREF scale and Happiness Scale (1) were used for data collection.
RESULT: The results showed a significant increase in the quality of life of participants in the treatment group with CRA compared with the control group with TMM. The findings also indicated that the individuals in the treatment group with CRA had improved levels of happiness compared with individuals with TMM.
DISCUSSION: The CRA is an effective and adaptable treatment approach that works well in combination with other treatment approaches. The proven efficacy, compatibility, and cost-effectiveness distinguish it from other treatment methods.
IMPLICATIONS: The CRA should be adapted, assessed, and evaluated further, especially in Pakistan, where there is a pressing need to adopt an effective treatment strategy for addiction problems.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Social skills, friendship and happiness: a cross-cultural investigation

Demir M, Jaafar J, Bilyk N, Ariff MR

J Soc Psychol, 2012 May-Jun;152(3):379-85.
PMID: 22558831 DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2011.591451

The present study investigated the associations between social skills, friendship quality, and happiness, and tested a mediational model positing that friendship quality would mediate the relationship between social skills and happiness among American and Malaysian college students. Although American students reported significantly higher levels of psychosocial well-being than Malaysian students, the study variables were positively associated with each other in both cultures. More importantly, findings supported the proposed model in both groups. Results suggest that part of the reason why social skills are associated with positive psychological well-being is because of friendship experiences. Overall, the findings of the present study reinforce, extend and cross-culturally generalize the presumed benefits of social skills in positive well-being elaborated by Segrin and Taylor (2007). The authors also provided suggestions for future research.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness*
Fulltext Rajyoga meditation induces grey matter volume changes in regions that process reward and happiness

Babu MGR, Kadavigere R, Koteshwara P, Sathian B, Rai KS

Sci Rep, 2020 09 30;10(1):16177.
PMID: 32999361 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-73221-x

Studies provide evidence that practicing meditation enhances neural plasticity in reward processing areas of brain. No studies till date, provide evidence of such changes in Rajyoga meditation (RM) practitioners. The present study aimed to identify grey matter volume (GMV) changes in reward processing areas of brain and its association with happiness scores in RM practitioners compared to non-meditators. Structural MRI of selected participants matched for age, gender and handedness (n = 40/group) were analyzed using voxel-based morphometric method and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) scores were correlated. Significant increase in OHQ happiness scores were observed in RM practitioners compared to non-meditators. Whereas, a trend towards significance was observed in more experienced RM practitioners, on correlating OHQ scores with hours of meditation experience. Additionally, in RM practitioners, higher GMV were observed in reward processing centers-right superior frontal gyrus, left inferior orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and bilateral precuneus. Multiple regression analysis showed significant association between OHQ scores of RM practitioners and reward processing regions right superior frontal gyrus, left middle OFC, right insula and left anterior cingulate cortex. Further, with increasing hours of RM practice, a significant positive association was observed in bilateral ventral pallidum. These findings indicate that RM practice enhances GMV in reward processing regions associated with happiness.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness*
Happiness at the end of life: A qualitative study

Beng TS, Ghee WK, Hui NY, Yin OC, Kelvin KWS, Yiling ST, et al.

Palliat Support Care, 2021 Mar 15.
PMID: 33715663 DOI: 10.1017/S1478951521000262

OBJECTIVE: Dying is mostly seen as a dreadful event, never a happy experience. Yet, as palliative care physicians, we have seen so many patients who remained happy despite facing death. Hence, we conducted this qualitative study to explore happiness in palliative care patients at the University of Malaya Medical Centre.
METHOD: Twenty terminally ill patients were interviewed with semi-structured questions. The results were thematically analyzed.
RESULTS: Eight themes were generated: the meaning of happiness, connections, mindset, pleasure, health, faith, wealth, and work. Our results showed that happiness is possible at the end of life. Happiness can coexist with pain and suffering. Social connections were the most important element of happiness at the end of life. Wealth and work were given the least emphasis. From the descriptions of our patients, we recognized a tendency for the degree of importance to shift from the hedonic happiness to eudaimonic happiness as patients experienced a terminal illness.
SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: To increase the happiness of palliative care patients, it is crucial to assess the meaning of happiness for each patient and the degree of importance for each happiness domain to allow targeted interventions.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Fulltext Understanding of peace and peace building among young children, parents and teachers in several pre-schools in Malaysia

Ng, Soo Boon, Siew, Siew Kim, Regina Joseph Cyril

Malaysian Journal of Qualitative Research, 2019;5(2):47-58.
MyJurnal

Starting peace-building in early childhood is crucial as this is the best time to model a harmonious personality as well as exposure to value-based curriculum. Peace-building helps in preventing conflict and violence among peers, at home and in the community. In Malaysia, the elements of moral values such as tolerance, respect and unity are integrated across the National Preschool Curriculum in order to instill the awareness of maintaining peace and unity. This qualitative study aimed to explore the perspectives of the children, parents and teachers regarding peace and peace-building. Instruments in the form of questions were sent to various kindergarten teachers from public and private setting including those from urban and rural areas. Seven preschools responded. Interview of children, parents and teachers were conducted and transcribed through a focal point from each school and sent back to the researchers for analysis. Constant comparative method analysis was used where categories were created. Based on the analysis, children’s perception of peace is predominantly linked to love and orderliness and is within the environment they live in; whereas parents and teachers have more comprehensive and complicated views of peace which is related to harmony and tolerance in a bigger perspective. Children perceived peace-building pragmatically, to them peace-building just happened in everyday living. They perceived cleaning up, helping each other, sharing happiness, listening and cooperating as actions for peace-building. Parents and teachers understood their roles in creating peace for the young children; and unanimously agreed that they must be the role model for the children in creating peace. Parents and teachers believed that the immediate environment children live in must be harmonious, caring, and loving so that they can build up the character of their children who will love and practice peace in their own life. Methodology of peace building adopted by parents and children were mainly dialogue, negotiation and situational learning.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Fulltext Emotion Recognition Using Smart Watch Sensor Data: Mixed-Design Study

Quiroz JC, Geangu E, Yong MH

JMIR Ment Health, 2018 Aug 08;5(3):e10153.
PMID: 30089610 DOI: 10.2196/10153

BACKGROUND: Research in psychology has shown that the way a person walks reflects that person's current mood (or emotional state). Recent studies have used mobile phones to detect emotional states from movement data.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to investigate the use of movement sensor data from a smart watch to infer an individual's emotional state. We present our findings of a user study with 50 participants.
METHODS: The experimental design is a mixed-design study: within-subjects (emotions: happy, sad, and neutral) and between-subjects (stimulus type: audiovisual "movie clips" and audio "music clips"). Each participant experienced both emotions in a single stimulus type. All participants walked 250 m while wearing a smart watch on one wrist and a heart rate monitor strap on the chest. They also had to answer a short questionnaire (20 items; Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule, PANAS) before and after experiencing each emotion. The data obtained from the heart rate monitor served as supplementary information to our data. We performed time series analysis on data from the smart watch and a t test on questionnaire items to measure the change in emotional state. Heart rate data was analyzed using one-way analysis of variance. We extracted features from the time series using sliding windows and used features to train and validate classifiers that determined an individual's emotion.
RESULTS: Overall, 50 young adults participated in our study; of them, 49 were included for the affective PANAS questionnaire and 44 for the feature extraction and building of personal models. Participants reported feeling less negative affect after watching sad videos or after listening to sad music, P

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Fulltext The influence of organizational climate towards the teachers' job satisfaction in form six centre

Windy Anjilus, Roslee Talip

Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2018;3(4):35-49.
MyJurnal

Workers who experience job dissatisfaction tend to lose their joy and happiness in their work that leads to low motivation, performance, commitment and eventually results in leaving their job. This brings long term negative effects to the organization and provides opportunity for rivalry. Hence, a study on the practice of healthy and positive organizational climate need to be carried out to increase the level of the teachers' job satisfaction to enhance the performance of the organization. Recent studies in organizational climate which involve four dimensions namely collegial leadership, professional teacher behaviour, achievement press and institutional vulnerability portrays the potential in influencing the teachers' job satisfaction. This study delves into the influence of these four dimensions in organizational climate towards the teachers' job satisfaction in the aspects of promotion, pay, supervision, working procedures and co-workers. This study is based on the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire (OCDQ) by Hoy, Smith and Sweetland (2002) to measure the organization climate and the combination of two instruments of questionnaire to measure job satisfaction which are Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS) by Spector (1985) and Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) by Weiss, Dais, England and Lofquist (1967). Quantitative analysis is done using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 24 towards 50 academic teachers in the Form Six centres. The findings show that organization climate in particular has a significant influence towards job satisfaction among the academic teachers in the Form Six Centres. The mean scores of job satisfaction and the organizational climate were at a moderate level, but job satisfaction based on teaching experience is at a high level, and there was no significant differences between gender.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Fulltext Social support as a mediator of the influence of optimism towards happiness among adolescents in higher education. [Sokongan sosial sebagai pengantara pengaruh optimistik ke atas kebahagiaan remaja di pengajian tinggi]

Mahirah M, Balan R

Jurnal Psikologi Malaysia, 2018;32(1):82-96.

Happiness is the natural goal of life for every human being. Every indivdual is trying to find happiness because it describes a good life. Therefore, this study aims to examine an influence on happiness, which is optimistic, using a positive psychological strength,. Social support is utilized as an external quality as it supports the optimistic influence towards happiness. The study was conducted on 436 adolescents in higher education, aged between 18 and 25 years old. The quantitative study uses a set of questionnaires to obtain the data, Extended Life Orientation Test for optimistic measurements, Inventory of Socially Supportive Behavior Short Form measures social support, and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire measures adolescents happiness. Descriptively, adolescents in higher education showed high optimism (Min = 3.77, SP = .62), while moderate social support for the three forms of support, namely guidance support (Min = 3.07, SP = .81), emotional support (Min = 3.17, SP = .99) and tangible support (Min = 2.82, SP = .95). Adolescents in higher education reported having a moderate level of happiness (Min = 3.39, S.P = .92). The findings show that guidance and emotion support mediating the influence of optimistic towards happiness among adolescents in higher education. Tangible support does not play any role. The implication of the study is to adolescents that even the positive attitudes of optimistic can enhance their happiness, but the guidance and emotional support from significant people can further reinforce those influences.
Study site: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Fulltext Face-to-face or not-to-face: A technology preference for communication

Jaafar NI, Darmawan B, Mohamed Ariffin MY

Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw, 2014 Nov;17(11):702-8.
PMID: 25405782 DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2014.0098

This study employed the Model of Technology Preference (MTP) to explain the relationship of the variables as the antecedents of behavioral intention to adopt a social networking site (SNS) for communication. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to SNS account users using paper-based and web-based surveys that led to 514 valid responses. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results show that two out of three attributes of the attribute-based preference (ATRP) affect attitude-based preference (ATTP). The data support the hypotheses that perceived enjoyment and social presence are predictors of ATTP. In this study, the findings further indicated that ATTP has no relationship with the behavioral intention of using SNS, but it has a relationship with the attitude of using SNS. SNS development should provide features that ensure enjoyment and social presence for users to communicate instead of using the traditional face-to-face method of communication.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness*
Life scripts for emotionally charged autobiographical memories: A cultural explanation of the reminiscence bump

Haque S, Hasking PA

Memory, 2010 Oct;18(7):712-29.
PMID: 20803371 DOI: 10.1080/09658211.2010.506442

Two studies examined the ability of the life script account to explain the reminiscence bump for emotionally charged autobiographical memories among Malaysian participants. In Study 1 volunteers, aged 50-90 years, participated in a two-phased task. In the first phase, participants estimated the timing of 11 life events (both positive and negative) that may occur in a prototypical life course within their own culture. Two weeks later the participants retrieved the same set of events from their lives and reported how old they were when those events occurred. In the second study 92 undergraduate students produced life scripts for the same 11 events. The findings revealed reminiscence bumps in both life script and retrieval curves for the memories judged happiest, most important, most in love, and most jealous. A reminiscence bump was also noted for success, although this was later in the lifespan than other reminiscence bumps. It was suggested that the life scripts can be used as an alternative account for the reminiscence bump, for highly positive and occasionally for negative autobiographical memories.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Fulltext Dataset on positive mental health of Indonesian, Malaysian, and Thailand university students

Chusniyah T, Jaafar JLS, Chaiwutikornwanich A, Kuswandi D, Firmanto A, Mustopa A, et al.

Data Brief, 2020 Oct;32:106314.
PMID: 32995402 DOI: 10.1016/j.dib.2020.106314

The present data article provides a descriptive and analytical exploration on the links between positive mental health, subjective happiness, forgiveness, humility, and information literacy self-efficacy among 969 undergraduate students from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. There are 355 males and 614 females with an average age of 20.47 years and a standard deviation of 1.87. Respondents are recruited by simple random sampling using face to face method, at one time data retrieval during 2019. The Indonesian, Malaysian and Thailand-version questionnaires were provided to each groups of participants according to their nationality and native language, using back-to-back analysis. The socio-demographic details of the respondents, descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, correlation matrix of all variables in all groups according to country, results of regression analysis of variables, and Kruskal Wallis for all five variables in all groups are provided.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
The Unprecedented Movement Control Order (Lockdown) and Factors Associated With the Negative Emotional Symptoms, Happiness, and Work-Life Balance of Malaysian University Students During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic

Wan Mohd Yunus WMA, Badri SKZ, Panatik SA, Mukhtar F

Front Psychiatry, 2020;11:566221.
PMID: 33664679 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.566221

Background and Aims: Malaysia's first Movement Control Order (MCO) or "lockdown" was in place for 6 weeks to curb the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Consequently, all universities were forced to close temporarily with abrupt changes to teaching and learning activities. However, there has been a lack of consensus regarding students' actual psychological status and mental health during the MCO implementation. This study investigates the link, state, and differences of negative emotional symptoms, happiness, and work-life balance among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: This study recruited 1,005 university students across Malaysia. Data was collected online using Qualtrics to measure negative emotional symptoms (The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale), happiness (The Oxford Happiness Inventory), and work-life balance (Work-Family Conflict Scale). All data was analyzed using SPSS version 25 and AMOS version 26 using T-test, ANOVA, logistic regression analyses, and path analysis method. Findings: Findings indicated that 22, 34.3, and 37.3% of the university students scored moderate to extremely severe levels of stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms, respectively. Half scored rather happy or very happy (50%) for happiness levels. Meanwhile, 50.4 and 39.4% scored high to very high levels of work-to-family and family-to-work conflict. Significant differences in stress, anxiety, depression, happiness, work-family conflict, and family-work conflict were recorded across different demographic factors. Happiness was found to be a protective factor with a lesser likelihood of experiencing severe stress (OR = 0.240, 95% CI: 0.180, 0.321), anxiety (OR = 0.336, 95% CI: 0.273, 0.414), and depression (OR = 0.121, 95% CI: 0.088, 0.165) with higher happiness levels. Higher score of work-to-family conflict contributes to greater odds of having severe levels of anxiety (OR = 1.453, 95% CI: 1.161, 1.818). While greater likelihood of developing severe stress (OR = 1.468, 95% CI: 1.109, 1.943) and severe anxiety (OR = 1.317, 95% CI: 1.059, 1.638) under increasing score of family-to-work conflict. Besides, happiness is found to negatively linked with lower negative emotional symptoms, while work-family conflict and family-work conflict are positively linked with higher negative emotional symptoms. Conclusion: Lockdown implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have a significant impact on university students' negative emotional symptoms, happiness, and work-life balance. Happiness was found to be a protective factor while the state of work-life balance is a risk factor that can predict students' negative emotional symptoms.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Fulltext A study on anxiety and depression level among high risk inpatient pregnant women in an obstetric ward

Raja Lexshimi RG, Ho SE, Hamidah H, Rohani M, Syed Zulkifli SZ

Medicine & Health, 2007;2(1):34-41.
MyJurnal

Pregnancy is perceived by many pregnant mothers as a period of happiness in anticipation of motherhood. Not all pregnant mothers experience cheerfulness as some may experience a high anxiety and depression level for unknown reasons. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of anxiety and depression among high risk pregnant women and the factors that contribute to their level of anxiety and depression. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 38 high risk mothers whose stay in hospital exceeded more than three days in the obstetric ward of Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. A self assessment questionnaire “Hospital Anxiety Depression scale” was used to measure the level of anxiety and depression among high risk pregnant women. Of the 38 participants, 16 (42.1%) women experienced a mild level of anxiety and 22 (57.9%) experienced a severe level of anxiety. Seventeen (44.7%) women was classified as having mild depression and 21 (55.3%) severe depression. The factors contributing to the level of anxiety and depression, include those related with “lack of information on disease”, “family matters” and “finance”. High risk pregnant women in this study experienced a significant level of anxiety and depression during their stay in hospital. It is therefore important for nurses and doctors to be aware and sensitive to the influencing factors that cause anxiety and depression as to enable high risk pregnant mothers to enjoy their pregnancy and childbirth.
Study site: Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (PPUKM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Fulltext Mental Health Conceptualization and Resilience Factors in the Kalasha Youth: An Indigenous Ethnic and Religious Minority Community in Pakistan

Choudhry FR, Khan TM, Park MS, Golden KJ

Front Public Health, 2018;6:187.
PMID: 30065918 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2018.00187

The Kalasha are a religious, ethnic, and linguistic minority community in Pakistan. They are indigenous people living in remote valleys of the Hindu Kush Mountains in northern Pakistan, neighboring Afghanistan. The Kalasha are pastoral, as well as agricultural people to some extent, although they are increasingly facing pressures from globalization and social change, which may be influencing youth and community development. Their traditional world view dichotomizes and emphasizes on the division of the pure (Onjeshta) and the impure (Pragata). There remains a scarcity of literature on mental health and resilience of indigenous communities in South Asia and Pakistan generally, and the polytheistic Kalasha community specifically. Thus, the current study was conducted with the aim to explore the cultural protective factors (resilience) of the Kalasha youth (adolescents and emerging adults) and to explore their perceived etiological understandings and preferred interventions for mental health support systems. The theoretical framework of Bronfenbrenner's (1, 2) ecological systems model was used. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was conducted, considering the advantage of its idiographic approach and the "double hermeneutic" analytic process. This methodology was consistent with the aim to understand and make sense of mental health and resilience from the Kalasha indigenous perspective. A total of 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with adolescents and emerging adults (5 males, 7 females), along with ethnographic observations. The analysis revealed 3 superordinate themes of mental health perceptions and interventions, each with more specific emergent themes: (1) Psychological Resilience/Cultural Protective Factors Buffering Against Mental Health Problems (Intra-Communal Bonding & Sharing; Kalasha Festivals & Traditions; Purity Concept; Behavioral Practice of Happiness and Cognitive Patterns); (2) Perceived Causes of Mental Health Issues (Biological & Psychosocial; Supernatural & Spiritual; Environmental); and (3) Preferred Interventions [Shamanic Treatment; Ta'awiz (Amulets); Communal Sharing & Problem Solving; Medical Treatment; Herbal Methods]. The overall findings point to the need for developing culturally-sensitive and indigenous measures and therapeutic interventions. The findings highlighted the Kalasha cultural practices which may promote resilience. The findings also call for indigenous sources of knowledge to be considered when collaboratively designing public health programs.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Fulltext Happiness at work: A cross-cultural validation of happiness at work scale

Fitriana N, Hutagalung FD, Awang Z, Zaid SM

PLoS One, 2022;17(1):e0261617.
PMID: 34986180 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261617

The idea of Happiness at Work is drawn from psychology and economic studies. It is often considered as a synonym with 'wellbeing' and defined as a state characterized by a high level of life satisfaction, a high level of positive emotions, and less negative emotions. This research aims to validate the Happiness at Work scale in the Indonesian context. In this study, the researchers conducted cross-cultural adaptation for the Happiness at Work scale following systematic procedures to produce the Scale of Happiness at Work in the Indonesian language. Afterward, the researchers evaluated the content validity with the help of professional judgment and measured the Content Validity Index at the item level and the scale level. Further, to examine the psychometric properties of the Happiness at Work scale, the researchers administer the questionnaire to a sample of 105 (35 male and 70 female) lecturers to conduct exploratory factor analysis to formulate the new dimensionality of the Happiness at Work scale. The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis indicated that Happiness at Work in the Indonesian context could be measured using four dimensions. To confirm that the extracted dimensions measure a single construct, the researchers administered the produced version to a sample of 370 (147 male and 223 female). Afterward, researchers conducted confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the validity and reliability of the measurement model. This research found out that the Indonesian version of Happiness at Work measurement is reliable and valid. Thus, this study may contribute to the happiness at work literature of non-western context. In conclusion, the Indonesian-Happiness at Work scale shows robust psychometric properties that can be used for further research.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Fulltext Translation and validation of the Malay Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale

Swami V

Body Image, 2010 Sep;7(4):372-5.
PMID: 20807682 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2010.07.005

The present study examined the psychometric properties of a Malay translation of the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale (ACSS; Henderson-King & Henderson-King, 2005). A total of 373 Malaysian women completed the ACSS along with measures of ideal-actual weight discrepancy, body appreciation, sociocultural attitudes toward appearance, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and demographics. Results showed that the Malay ACSS was best reduced to a two-factor solution, although an overall score of all 15 ACSS items showed the highest internal consistency. Results also showed that this overall score had good discriminant and divergent validity. It is expected that the availability of a Malay version of the ACSS will stimulate cross-cultural research on the acceptance of cosmetic surgery.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness
Fulltext Psychometric properties of the faces version of the Malay-modified child dental anxiety scale

Esa R, Hashim NA, Ayob Y, Yusof ZY

BMC Oral Health, 2015 Mar 10;15:28.
PMID: 25886943 DOI: 10.1186/s12903-015-0013-y

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the faces version of the Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale (MCDASf) Malay version in 5-6 and 9-12 year-old children.
METHODS: The MCDASf was cross culturally adapted from English into Malay. The Malay version was tested for reliability and validity in 3 studies. In the Study 1, to determine test-retest reliability of MCDASf scale, 166 preschool children aged 5-6 years were asked to rank orders five cartoons faces depicting emotions from 'very happy' to 'very sad' faces on two separate occasions 3 weeks apart. A total of 87 other 5-6 year-old children completed the Malay-MCDASf on two separate occasions 3 weeks apart to determine test-retest reliability for Study 2. In study 3, 239 schoolchildren aged 9-12 years completed the Malay-MCDASf and the Malay-Dental Subscale of the Children Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-DS) at the same sitting to determine the criterion and construct validity.
RESULTS: In study 1, Kendall W test showed a high degree of concordance in ranking the cartoon faces picture cards on each of the 2 occasions (time 1, W = 0.955 and time 2, W = 0.954). The Malay-MCDASf demonstrated moderate test-retest reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.63, p <0.001) and acceptable internal consistency for all the 6 items (Cronbach's alpha = 0.77) and 8 items (Cronbach's alpha = 0.73). The highest MCDASf scores were observed for the items 'injection in the gum' and 'tooth taken out' for both age groups. The MCDASf significantly correlated with the CFSS-DS (Pearson r = 0.67, p < 0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: These psychometric findings support for the inclusion of a cartoon faces rating scale to assess child dental anxiety and the Malay-MCDASf is a reliable and valid measure of dental anxiety in 5-12 year-old children.

Matched MeSH terms: Happiness

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