The use of the Internet has been increasing dramatically over the decade in Malaysia. Excessive usage of the Internet has lead to a phenomenon called Internet addiction. There is a need for a reliable, valid, and simple-to-use scale to measure Internet addiction in the Malaysian population for clinical practice and research purposes. The aim of this study was to validate the Malay version of the Internet Addiction Test, using a sample of 162 medical students. The instrument displayed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .91), parallel reliability (intraclass coefficient = .88, P < .001), and concurrent validity with the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (Pearson's correlation = .84, P < .001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that 43 was the optimal cutoff score to discriminate students with and without Internet dependence. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation identified a 5-factor model. The Malay version of the Internet Addiction Test appeared to be a valid instrument for assessing Internet addiction in Malaysian university students.
INTRODUCTION: Our study aims to determine the prevalence of nicotine dependence and investigate the effect of nicotine dependence on psychopathology among schizophrenia patients.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in an outpatient psychiatric clinic at a general hospital in Malaysia. 180 recruited subjects were administered the Malay version of Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS), and the Malay version of Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND-M) questionnaires.
RESULTS: The prevalence of nicotine dependence among the subjects was 38.1% (n = 69) and they were mainly composed of male gender, Malay ethnicity, being treated with atypical antipsychotics, and taking other illicit drugs or alcohol. Subjects with severe nicotine dependence scored less in the negative subscale of PANSS compared with the nonsmokers (P = 0.011). On performing the hierarchy multiple regressions, dependence status still significantly predicted negative scores after adjusting the confounders (t = -2.87, P = 0.005).
CONCLUSION: The rate of nicotine use disorder among schizophrenia patients in this study is higher than that of the general population in Malaysia. The significant association between nicotine dependence and negative psychopathology symptoms will help the healthcare practitioners in their management of nicotine dependence among schizophrenia patients.
Study site: outpatient psychiatric clinic in a general hospital
Anhedonia is the reduced ability to experience pleasure. It is a core symptom of depression and is particularly difficult to treat. This study aims to compare the level of anhedonia between depressed patients on anti-depressants and healthy subjects.
Depression and anxiety are prevalent mental health issues worldwide, especially among parental caregivers. By expanding the family stress model, this cross-sectional study investigated the relevant factors associated with depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and satisfaction with life among Malaysian parental caregivers of adolescent psychiatric patients. Data were collected through questionnaires (N = 207) across five major public hospitals through convenience sampling. Participants answered questionnaires measuring financial strain, caregiver burden, relationship quality, belief in mental illness, perceived COVID-19 stress, satisfaction with health services, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and life satisfaction. Findings revealed that relationship quality among spouses, COVID-19 stress and caregiver burden were significantly correlated with anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms and satisfaction with life. The multiple regression model also suggested that depressive symptoms (β = .613, p < .001), anxiety symptoms (β= .657, p < .001) and relationship quality among spouses (β = .264, p < .001) were the most influential predictors of anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms and satisfaction with life respectively. By addressing the mental health needs of parental caregivers, this study can contribute to improving the overall quality of care and support provided to adolescent patients and their caregivers in Malaysia and beyond.