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Psychosocial risk factors associated with mental health of adolescents amidst the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak

Amran MS

Int J Soc Psychiatry, 2022 02;68(1):6-8.
PMID: 33158391 DOI: 10.1177/0020764020971008

BACKGROUND: An outbreak of global pandemic COVID-19 profoundly affects life around the globe. Prolonged isolation, contact restriction and economic shutdown impose a deeply change to the psychosocial environment. These indicate a tendency to threaten the mental health of adolescents' significantly. Detecting adolescents' psychosocial risk during Pandemic COVID-19, particularly when they stay at home, may be helpful to better understand their mental health well- being.
AIMS: The current study aimed to explore psychosocial risk factors associated with mental health of adolescents' in the midst of the outbreak.
METHOD: This research uses a qualitative approach which focuses on focus group discussions interviews. This research took 6 weeks via online communication platform involving (n = 15) adolescents from the Low Income Household.
RESULT: The participants adolescents' psychosocial risk experience during amidst of Outbreak Covid-19 Pandemic are composed of (1) self- conflict (develop negative thought at home, unplanned of daily activities, changing sleep pattern and irregular wake up time and massively use internet) (2) Family Members (Conflict between parent and miscommunication between siblings) (3) School (Piling up on homework, Inadequate guidance for homework and Inability to comprehend online learning). These psychosocial risk factors have caused disruption to daily life adolescents' during outbreaks and almost inevitably trigger a spike in mental health issues.
CONCLUSION: Overall of study emphasized that psychosocial risks are important factors that can be addressed in order to reduce mental health problem.
Fulltext The Impact of Unplanned School Closures on Adolescent Behavioral Health During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Malaysia

Amran MS, Jamaludin KA

Front Public Health, 2021;9:639041.
PMID: 34164364 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.639041

School closures were implemented as a public health intervention to reduce the risk of infection from COVID-19. However, prolonged school closure is likely to impact adolescents' behavioral health due to the extreme change in routine. The current study aimed to explore adolescents' behavioral health experiences during the beginning of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study was done using qualitative methods to interview 15 adolescent participants (n =15) from low-income households in Malaysia. The study lasted for 2 months amidst the outbreak and data were collected via online based on focus group discussions. The results revealed that adolescents faced four main themes of experience during the COVID-19 pandemic: Alteration of sleep patterns, stress-related fatigue, dysfunctional eating patterns and lack of physical activity. This first-hand experience shows that knowledge and skills of adolescents' behavioral practices during outbreak deserves attention. This research stresses the role of family, schools, and media in addressing the health communication gap among adolescents to help them adapt in these new norms.
Compulsive digital use: the risk and link of loneliness among adolescents

Amran MS, Roslan MZ, Sommer W

Int J Adolesc Med Health, 2024 Aug 01;36(4):419-423.
PMID: 38997216 DOI: 10.1515/ijamh-2024-0047

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The current rise of digital technologies is causing adolescents to spend more time on their digital devices, especially since the lockdown period of the pandemic. Adolescents are among those who are affected by lifestyle changes and are at risk of digital addiction due to the overuse of digital technologies. This opinion paper discusses the possible risk of loneliness among adolescents due to the overuse of digital devices. In this article, we would like to propose the concept of digital abuse and its risk of loneliness, as well as discuss some proposed solutions by referring to recent statistics and research evidence to reduce digital abuse among adolescents.
RECENT FINDINGS: Evidence from previous studies highlights the association between digital addiction and loneliness among adolescents. Overusing digital devices among adolescents is also associated with various physical and psychological side effects.
SUMMARY: Recent findings support the rapid rise of digital device usage among adolescents and its contributions to digital use. More research is needed to support existing interventions, provide early screening, and combat digital addiction to protect adolescents from the risks of loneliness due to the overuse of digital devices.
Reliability and validity of the Game Addiction Scale in Malaysian Adolescents

Roslan MZ, Amran MS, Sommer W

Int J Adolesc Med Health, 2024 Nov 25.
PMID: 39582428 DOI: 10.1515/ijamh-2024-0150

OBJECTIVES: Problematic gaming behavior has been an issue in many countries, raising the need for assessment tools. The Game Addiction Scale for Adolescents (GASA) by Lemmens et al. is widely used for assessing game addiction and has been adopted for use in various countries. The GASA consists of 21 items covering several criteria of game addiction: salience, tolerance, mood modification, relapse, withdrawal, conflict, and problems. The present study aimed to investigate the reliability and validity of the GASA when applied to Malaysian adolescents.
METHODS: The study was conducted in two phases (reliability assessment for phase 1 and validity assessment for phase 2). The Malay version of the Game Addiction Scale was created using a forward-translation procedure with the help of panelists consisting of researchers and educators from the fields of Psychology, Medicine, and Education to translate from English to Malay. The participants of the study were presented with both versions (Malay and English) during the data collection process. The study checked content validity with the help of 33 panelists and reliability based on the scores of 116 participants who spent at least 1 h and up to 6 h per week playing games.
RESULTS: The reliability was measured using Cronbach's alpha and provided high reliability ranging from 0.671 to 0.903 for all criteria. All criteria scored higher than 0.8 except for relapse (α=0.788) and problems (α=0.671) criteria, indicating that the instrument provides high reliability. The findings from the study show acceptable content validity with high I-CVI values ranging from 0.73 to 0.94 and an S-CVI/Ave value of 0.80. Internal consistency was excellent (α=0.949) and the Content Validity Index (I-CVI) was high for most items.
CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that GASA is suitable for application among adolescents in Malaysia.
Effects of pyrolysis temperature on the physicochemical properties of empty fruit bunch and rice husk biochars

Claoston N, Samsuri AW, Ahmad Husni MH, Mohd Amran MS

Waste Manag Res, 2014 Apr;32(4):331-9.
PMID: 24643171 DOI: 10.1177/0734242X14525822

Biochar has received great attention recently due to its potential to improve soil fertility and immobilize contaminants as well as serving as a way of carbon sequestration and therefore a possible carbon sink. In this work, a series of biochars were produced from empty fruit bunch (EFB) and rice husk (RH) by slow pyrolysis at different temperatures (350, 500, and 650°C) and their physicochemical properties were analysed. The results indicate that porosity, ash content, electrical conductivity (EC), and pH value of both EFB and RH biochars were increased with temperature; however, yield, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and H, C, and N content were decreased with increasing pyrolysis temperature. The Fourier transform IR spectra were similar for both RH and EFB biochars but the functional groups were more distinct in the EFB biochar spectra. There were reductions in the amount of functional groups as pyrolysis temperature increased especially for the EFB biochar. However, total acidity of the functional groups increased with pyrolysis temperature for both biochars.
Fulltext Thinking About Behavior: Perspective on Meta-Behavior in Education

Amran MS, Zain SM, Jamaludin KA, Surat S

Front Psychol, 2021;12:727116.
PMID: 34466138 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.727116

Studies on metacognitive skills have started in the past 30 years and cover various fields, including education. In general, metacognitive skills refer to awareness and monitoring cognitive processes and their ability to sharpen the mind enhancement process. However, much attention has been given to metacognition alone and less focusing on its manifestation in behaviors. Thus, this study aims to conceptualize how metacognitive concepts can be adapted in the context of behaviors. In achieving this, an in-depth analysis of relevant behavioral theories and metacognitive models was conducted. The proposed conceptual framework, named the meta-behavior framework, underscores the importance of the thinking process before an individual engages in action. Undoubtfully, this skill is vital in influencing an individual to plan, monitor and evaluate his/her actions in daily life. In short, the proposed framework is essential in expanding the current knowledge terrain on psychology, which specifically provides a new perspective in understanding how the thinking process determines behavior.
Gasification of oil palm empty fruit bunches: a characterization and kinetic study

Mohammed MA, Salmiaton A, Wan Azlina WA, Mohamad Amran MS

Bioresour Technol, 2012 Apr;110:628-36.
PMID: 22326334 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2012.01.056

Empty fruit bunches (EFBs), a waste material from the palm oil industry, were subjected to pyrolysis and gasification. A high content of volatiles (>82%) increased the reactivity of EFBs, and more than 90% decomposed at 700°C; however, a high content of moisture (>50%) and oxygen (>45%) resulted in a low calorific value. Thermogravimetric analysis demonstrated that the higher the heating rate and the smaller the particle size, the higher the peak and final reaction temperatures. The least squares estimation for a first-order reaction model was used to study the degradation kinetics. The values of activation energy increased from 61.14 to 73.76 and from 40.06 to 47.99kJ/mol when the EFB particle size increased from 0.3 to 1.0mm for holocellulose and lignin degradation stages, respectively. The fuel characteristics of EFB are comparable to those of other biomasses and EFB can be considered a good candidate for gasification.