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.
This study explored the effectiveness of group narrative therapy for improving the school behavior of a small sample of girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Fourteen clinics referred 9- to 11-year-old girls with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD were randomly assigned to treatment and wait-list control groups. Posttreatment ratings by teachers showed that narrative therapy had a significant effect on reducing ADHD symptoms 1 week after completion of treatment and sustained after 30 days.
Despite established country's tobacco control law, cigarette smoking by the young people and the magnitude of nicotine dependence among the students is alarming in Bangladesh. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of smoking and factors influencing it among the secondary school students. A two-stage cluster sampling was used for selection of schools with probability proportional to enrollment size followed by stratified random sampling of government and private schools. The 70-item questionnaire included 'core GYTS' (Global Youth Tobacco Survey) and other additional questions were used to collect relevant information. Analysis showed that the prevalence of smoking was 12.3% among boys and 4.5% among girls, respectively. The mean age at initiation of smoking was 10.8 years with standard deviation of 2.7 years. Logistic regression analysis revealed that boys are 2.282 times likely to smoked than girls and it was 1.786 times higher among the students aged 16 years and above than their younger counterparts. Smoking by teachers appeared to be the strong predictor for students smoking behaviour (OR 2.206, 95% CI: 1.576, 3.088) followed by peer influence (OR 1.988, 95% CI: 1.178, 3.356). Effective smoking prevention program should to be taken to reduce smoking behaviour. The school curricula had less impact in preventing smoking except teacher's smoking behaviour.
Varicella is a highly infectious disease that can lead to severe complications such as pneumonia, encephalitis and death. Vaccination is the best method to prevent the disease. The objective of this study was to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and vaccination status of varicella among UKM students. A cross sectional study involving pre-tested questionnaires was undertaken between February and April, 2005. Questionnaires were distributed and filled by the first and second year students from four faculties in UKM (n=879). The faculties included were divided into two categories: medical fields and non-medical fields. The results showed that the overall level of knowledge on varicella among respondents was intermediate. The score of knowledge was significantly higher among medical students (t = 10.9, p < 0.05) compared to non-medical students. The varicella vaccination coverage was low among UKM students (19.3%). The vaccination status was significantly higher among medical students compared to non-medical students (chi2 = 8.6, p < 0.05). Vaccination status of varicella among respondents had no association with the level of knowledge (chi2 = 2.42, p > 0.05).
The present study was conducted to examine: (a) the relation of positive psychological strengths, i.e., hope, optimism, self-efficacy, and resiliency, with subjective well-being, and (b) the role of social support as a moderator of positive psychological strengths and subjective well-being. The following hypotheses were proposed: (a) that positive psychological strengths would be positively related with subjective well-being and social support; (b) social support would moderate the relation of positive psychological strengths with subjective well-being. 116 men and 64 women (M age=21.53 yr., SD=4.99, range=33) from India participated. Significant positive relationships were found for positive psychological strengths with subjective well-being and with social support network (family, friends, and others). Regression analysis showed social support significantly moderated the relations of positive psychological strengths with subjective well-being.
Many studies have reported that the prevalence of psychological distress among medical students during medical training was high. However, there are very few studies exploring on the psychological health of prospective medical students. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors for stress, anxiety and depression symptoms among the prospective medical students. A cross-sectional study was done on two cohorts of applicants to a public medical school. A total of 839 applicants were invited to participate in the study. The 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale was administered to the applicants after they completed interviews. A total of 743 (92.2%) applicants took part in the study. The prevalence of moderate to extremely severe level of stress, anxiety and depression were 3.6%, 54.5% and 1.9%, respectively. Stress was significantly associated with extra-curricular activity (p<0.001) and race (p<0.001). Anxiety was associated with extra-curricular activity (p<0.001), race (p<0.001), mother education level (p=0.002) and CGPA group (p=0.034). Depression was associated with academic performance in class (p<0.001) and race (p=0.004). Prevalence of stress and depression among entering medical students was low; however prevalence of anxiety was high which could be due to worry about the interviews to enter medical course. The associated factors of psychological distress among prospective medical students were related to academic, non-academic, parent education and cultural backgrounds.
Students' attitudes toward epilepsy have been studied in several countries, but none of the studies used a quantitative scale. We aimed to determine the validity and reliability of the Public Attitudes Toward Epilepsy (PATE) scale in a homogenous population consisting of secondary and tertiary students in Malaysia and to quantify their attitudes toward epilepsy, using a web-based survey.
University students represent a better-educated group of society and it is important that they possess the correct knowledge and attitude towards healthcare issues. The aim of this study was to determine the current level of awareness and knowledge of epilepsy among students at a public university in Malaysia.
The Malaysian official Islamic authorities have issued a "fatwa" (Islamic ruling) regarding smoking practice which prohibits Muslims from smoking because of its potential harm to health. Since the prevalence of smoking among Malaysian students is high, this study was designed to explore the perceptions and opinions of Malaysian Muslim students towards smoking in International Islamic University of Malaysia. A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted among School of Science students in International Islamic University Malaysia. Convenience sampling approach was used to recruit 323 students based on sample size calculation. A content- and face-validated questionnaire was used to collect the data from the participants. Non-smokers highly supported the fatwa on smoking forbiddance than smokers (94 vs 64.3 %, p = 0.001). A significant proportion of non-smokers believed that Islam prohibits smoking because of its potential harm (94.9 vs 71.4 %, p = 0.001). Majority of smokers agreed that addiction is the main barrier towards smoking cessation (78.6 vs 61.5 %, p = 0.019). The results showed positive influences of Islamic beliefs on the non-smokers. Further studies are required to validate these findings by surveying other universities of Malaysia.
BACKGROUND:
The main sexual and reproductive health issues among young people are premarital sexual intercourse, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted diseases including Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge related to sexual and reproductive health among Malaysian postgraduate students in a public university in Malaysia.
METHODS:
A cross-sectional study was carried out among postgraduate students by systematic random sampling technique. A pre-tested self administered questionnaire was used to collect the data.
RESULTS:
Out of 434 respondents, the majority of students were female (78.6 %) and single (78.3 %). The overall mean age of respondents was 27.0 ranging from 20 to 46 years of age. The main sources of information for sexual and reproductive health awareness were the internet (78.6 %) and newspaper (61.8 %). The majority (97.9 %) of the students knew that AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease. Most of them believed that the spread of sexually transmitted diseases was through shaking hands (92.1 %). Use of condoms was perceived to be the best way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases (88.4 %). Sexual and reproductive health knowledge was significantly associated with the students' age, marital status and faculty. The socio-demographic factors and current educational status accounted for a significant 9 % of the variability in sexual and reproductive health knowledge, f (7, 426) = 11, p <0.001.
CONCLUSIONS:
The postgraduate students' level of knowledge on sexual and reproductive health was not satisfactory. Sexual and reproductive health knowledge was associated with the students' marital status and faculty. Intervention programs related to sexual and reproductive health are recommended.
This study examined the prevalence of academic burnout and the relationship between academic burnout and eating disorder among Monash university students for a period of one year. One hundred and thirty-two participants were recruited for the study via advertisement. They were invited to complete three instruments, namely Demographic Questionnaire, Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey (MBI-SS) and Three Factor Eating Questionnaire-Revised 18-item (TFEQ-18). In addition, anthropometric measurements such as weight, height, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage and waist circumference were taken. All data were collected at baseline and after 6-8weeks. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis and Bonferroni pairwise comparison tests were performed using Stata version 13. The prevalence of academic burnout after 6-8weeks was revealed to be 17.4% and 73.5% respectively for moderate and high level of academic burnout respectively. Emotional eating (EEat) scores were significantly different over levels of academic burnout after 6-8weeks (p=0.0103) while no significant differences was observed in other subscales such as cognitive restraint (CR) and uncontrolled eating (UE). These findings evidenced partial associations between academic burnout and eating disorder.
Despite continuous argument about the efficacy of breast self-examination; it still could be a life-saving technique through inspiring and empowering women to take better control over their body/breast and health. This study investigated Malaysian female university students' knowledge about breast cancer risk factors, signs, and symptoms and assessed breast self-examination frequency among students.
Because students' ability to use statistics, which is mathematical in nature, is one of the concerns of educators, embedding within an e-learning system the pedagogical characteristics of learning is 'value added' because it facilitates the conventional method of learning mathematics. Many researchers emphasize the effectiveness of cognitive apprenticeship in learning and problem solving in the workplace. In a cognitive apprenticeship learning model, skills are learned within a community of practitioners through observation of modelling and then practice plus coaching. This study utilized an internet-based Cognitive Apprenticeship Model (i-CAM) in three phases and evaluated its effectiveness for improving statistics problem-solving performance among postgraduate students. The results showed that, when compared to the conventional mathematics learning model, the i-CAM could significantly promote students' problem-solving performance at the end of each phase. In addition, the combination of the differences in students' test scores were considered to be statistically significant after controlling for the pre-test scores. The findings conveyed in this paper confirmed the considerable value of i-CAM in the improvement of statistics learning for non-specialized postgraduate students.
The increased development of hospital services in Hong Kong over the last decade has given rise in the demand for more recruits to join the nursing profession. Despite the advancement in education and the improvement in the working conditions, the problems of attracting sufficient new recruits remain critical. This study aimed to examine high school students' attitudes towards the nursing profession and to identify the contributing factors affecting shortage of nurses within the context of Hong Kong. A convenience sample of 375 high school students was recruited. A questionnaire was used to measure their knowledge, attitudes and intention to study nursing. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to describe their career preferences and to compare knowledge, attitudes and intention scales between gender and nursing exposure groups. Results indicated that the students were generally knowledgeable about nursing but were reluctant to pursue nursing as a career. However, students who were socially acquainted with a nurse demonstrated a slightly more positive attitude towards nursing and slightly higher intention to pursue nursing as a career compared with those having no social acquaintance with a nurse. Implications for promotion of nursing profession and limitations of the study were discussed.
Scores for creative perception of 101 boys and 69 girls on What Kind of Person Are You and Something About Myself were not significant for overall scores on both measures, but boys obtained somewhat higher means on Initiative than girls. Further replications on similar samples are needed.
This study examined the phonological and reading performance in English of Malaysian children whose home language was Bahasa Malaysia (BM). A sample of 69 Malaysian Standard Two pupils (aged 7-8 years) was selected for the study. Since commencing school at the age of 6 years, the children had been learning to read in BM and had subsequently also been learning to read in English for some 12 months. The study was part of a larger scale research programme that fully recognized the limitations of tests that had not been developed and standardized in Malaysia. Nevertheless, as a first step to developing such tests, a comparison with existing norms for the Phonological Assessment Battery (PhAB) and the Wechsler Objective Reading Dimension (WORD) was undertaken in relation to information about the children's L1 and L2 language competencies. Results showed that the children's performance on PhAB was at least comparable to the UK norms while, not surprisingly, they fared less well on WORD. The results are discussed in terms of L1 and L2 transfer, whereby the transparency of written BM and the structured way in which reading is taught in BM facilitates performance on phonological tasks in English. This has implications for identifying children with phonologically based reading difficulties.
Two groups of college students in Malaysia, ethnic Malay and ethnic Chinese, completed a mental illness attribution and help seeking questionnaire, and these responses were also compared with the responses of their mothers. As expected, ethnic Malays rated religious items, such as God and prayer, higher than the Chinese. However, both groups rated the social and psychological causes higher than religious, supernatural or physical causes. Contrary to our predictions, there were no intergenerational differences among either ethnic group. Medical pluralism was demonstrated, as a variety of apparently contradictory help seeking behaviors received quite high ratings including doctor/pharmacy, prayer, herbal medicine and traditional healers.