The current era of globalization has seen a pandemic rise in the number of patients with chronic diseases including end-stage renal disease (ESRD). This led to the study of various factors that affect patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL). One of the factors that is getting attention lately is the role of religious coping strategies and how it affects the quality of life of patients with chronic patients. Therefore, the present study examined the role of religious coping strategies (RCS) as a mediator between depression and HRQoL of ESRD patients. It was a cross sectional study, involved 274 ESRD patients who is undergoing dialysis treatment at dialysis centre in the Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Johor. Instruments used were the Short Form-36 (SF-36), Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II), and Religious Coping Strategies (RCS). Results showed that there were significant correlations between depression and RCS with HRQoL (Physical component summary PCS] and Mental Component Summary MCS]). Meanwhile, religious coping was a partial mediator between depression with PCS and MCS. The results of this study will facilitate health practitioners in developing appropriate interventions that take into account the role of religion to improve patient quality of life towards a more positive and effective manner.
Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menguji kesahan dan kebolehpercayaan instrumen Inventori Stereotaip Multi Etnik Malaysia (ISMEM) menggunakan analisis faktor eksploratori (EFA). Fasa kualitatif menggunakan kaedah temu bual mendalam dan kaedah perbincangan kumpulan berfokus. Kaedah kualitatif adalah untuk meneroka konsep stereotaip dalam kalangan etnik. Fasa kuantitatif melibatkan pembentukan item berdasarkan tema dan kategori yang telah dibina daripada fasa kualitatif. Seramai 1,000 orang pelajar universiti terlibat dalam fasa kuantitatif. Instrumen ISMEM telah membentuk dua komponen utama iaitu Anteseden Stereotaip dan Fenomena Stereotaip. Penilaian psikometrik ISMEM melibatkan i) pengujian kesahan konstruk Komponen Anteseden Stereotaip dan Komponen Fenomena Stereotaip; (ii) menentukan kesahan konvergen antara Komponen Anteseden Stereotaip dan Komponen Fenomena Stereotaip; (iii) menguji kebolehpercayaan pekali Cronbach Alpha Komponen Anteseden Stereotaip dan Komponen Fenomena Stereotaip dan (iv) meneliti kualiti item Komponen Anteseden Stereotaip dan Komponen Fenomena Stereotaip. Penilaian terhadap kesesuaian data untuk analisis faktor dilakukan dahulu sebelum penilaian psikometri dilakukan. Nilai korelasi (r≥.30) antara item bagi komponen anteseden stereotaip dan fenomena stereotaip mencadangkan pemfaktoran yang munasabah. Hasil pengujian kesahan konstruk seperti Ujian Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin, Bartlettt’s Test of Sphereity, nilai komunaliti, nilai muatan faktor , nilai Eigen faktor dan peratusan varians pada kedua-dua Komponen Anteseden Stereotaip dan Komponen Fenomena Stereotaip adalah munasabah. Nilai kebolehpercayaan Cronbach Alpha bagi Komponen Anteseden Stereotaip (α = .897 -.933) dan Komponen Fenomena Stereotaip (α = .706 -.821) juga adalah baik. Oleh itu, hasil kajian mencadangkan bahawa instrumen ISMEM adalah alat ukur yang boleh dipercayai dan sah. Walau bagaimanapun, kajian lanjutan perlu dilakukan ke atas sampel lain untuk mengesahkan lagi instrumen.
The aim of this study is to compare depression in terms of treatment between psychotherapy and medical approach or to combine these approaches among cancer patients in Malaysia with respect to the cancer categories. It also studies the major prevalence of depressive disorder in the group together with the specialized clinical connection to the health outcomes. The annual incidence of cancer cases in Malaysia is 30,000 at late stage of the disease. We found 17 eligible researches out of 142 articles which most were under designed of cross-sectional or prospective study, and contained 2,523 cancer patients. This study was conducted on systematic electronic review using the databases such as PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, Wiley Online Library were carried out from the period of time between 2006 and 2015. For data collection purposes, the study goes through the Malaysian articles in English language, in which some of the considered factors were general management principles, cancer level among the depressed patients, the selection of the psychological therapies and the use of antidepressant medication. However, the evidences are still not enough to present an effective diagnostic method for the depressive disorders in cancer patients, and to find a successful antidepressant drug and/or an appropriate psychotherapy in this group of patients. Hence, many different approaches could be presented for psychotherapy. In conclusion, we found increased hazard rates for the cancer death among psychiatric patients compared to the control group without a registered mental illness.
The objective of this study is to identify whether emotional intelligence among employees between grades N17 to N27 substantially affects their work motivation in the organisation of Mardi. This study used the instruments of Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI) and Employee Performance Measure. Data were collected by using questionnaires that were distributed to 50 staffs in Human Resources Management Division, Headquarters of MARDI, Serdang, Selangor. The results of correlation analysis showed that the relationship between emotional intelligence and motivation among employees in Grade 17 to 27 that are working in MARDI is not significant. In addition, the different levels of emotional intelligence according to their positions were not significant, however, for different levels of self-motivation by grade showed a significant and positive relationship. The research findings can give a good benefit to MARDI Division Human Resources Management in the effort of improving the quality of work and services among support staffs.
Peningkatan jumlah kehamilan luar nikah dalam kalangan remaja perempuan sehingga awal dewasa membimbangkan ramai pihak. Kemahilan luar nikah bukan sahaja boleh mengundang kepada risiko jangkitan HIV/AIDS, malah ia juga boleh membawa kepada masalah lain seperti pembuangan bayi dan pengguguran. Kajian ini dilakukan adalah untuk melihat sejauhmana tahap ganguan kognitif, kemurungan, kesunyian, penghargaan kendiri dan sokongan sosial dalam kalangan wanita hamil tanpa nikah. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan bahawa subjek kajian mempunyai tahap sokongan sosial yang sederhana, gangguan kognitif yang rendah; kemurungan, kesunyian dan penghargaan kendiri yang sederhana. Hal ini menunjukkan bahawa wanita hamil tanpa nikah ini masih kurang mendapat sokongan sosial yang sewajarnya dan cenderung untuk mengalami kemurungan dan kesunyian yang berpanjangan. Cadangan intervensi turut dibincangkan di akhir perbincangan kajian.
Emotion regulation and academic performance are two important domains in achieving students’ life’s goals and objectives. It is crucial for students to have the right attitude and be fortified with effective emotion regulation strategies to handle the difficulties of daily life. Thus, a study to investigate the relationship between emotion regulations strategies, namely cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression, and academic performance was carried out. Participants of the study comprised of 127 Psychology students, between the age of 21 to 25 years old, from international Islamic University Malaysia. A survey adapted from Emotion Regulation Questionnaires (ERQ) by Gross (2011) was distributed to the participants.Academic performance measures was derived from demographic background and students’ CGPA. Results revealed that there are different findings between the two emotion regulation strategies. This study found there is a significant relationship between Expressive Suppression and CGPA ; however, no significant relationship existed between Cognitive reappraisal and CGPA. Regression model revealed that both cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression did not predict students’ academic performance.
This study investigates the moderating role of individual-level cultural orientation and integrating style of conflict management on the relationship between subordinates’ depressive symptoms and job satisfaction in a collectivistic culture. The results from 390 Malaysian respondents revealed that subordinates with lower levels of depressive symptoms display higher job satisfaction, strengthening the Affective Events Theory. Horizontal collectivism, vertical collectivism, and integrating (as a style of conflict management) are hypothesized to buffer the negative consequences of depressive symptoms. Using the Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM) analysis, results suggested a negative relationship between depressive symptoms and job satisfaction. Supporting our moderating hypothesis, integrating style had an impact on the level of job satisfaction, in which higher job satisfaction was reported for high rather than low use of integrating style. The results provide new insights into the influence of interpersonal relationships in the shaping of a subordinate’s well-being and in relation to the culture in which they are embedded. From a managerial standpoint, intervention and training designed to enhance subordinates’ job satisfaction focusing on interpersonal skills are recommended. This paper describes what is considered to be the first study to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and job satisfaction in investigating the role of Malaysia as a collectivistic country at the individual level.
This study examined different types of symptoms of problem behaviours among juvenile offenders. Various symptoms of problem behaviours such as social problem, thinking problem, attention problem, rule-breaking behaviour, and aggressive behaviour can be predicted among young juvenile delinquents. There were 404 juvenile offenders participated in the study, consisted of 280 males and 124 females. All respondents convicted with seven different offenses. Prior to that, three research questions were developed: 1. Are there differences in the symptoms of problem behaviours among different types of juvenile offenders? 2. Are there gender differences in the symptoms of problem behaviours among young offenders? 3. Are there any age differences in the symptoms of problem behaviours among juvenile offenders? The results showed there were different symptoms of problem behaviours among young offenders. Gender differences profile also showed mean differences in each symptom of problem behaviours among juvenile offenders. One-way ANOVA results showed significant differences in thought problem F (7) = 2.748, p< .01 and attention problem F (7) = 25.948, p < .01 among different types of delinquent behaviours. Moreover, t-test results revealed that gender differences were significant in social problem; t (402) = -2.710, p
Psychological well-being among students began to received attention and be seen as an important aspect in the life of an individual who are in primary, secondary or higher education institution. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the three subfactors of perfectionism, three sub-factors in basic psychological needs and psychological well-being among university students. Methodology of the research is based on a survey among 468 university students using questionnaires of Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB), Almost Perfect Scale Revised (APS-R) and Basic Psychological Needs Scale (BPNS). The subjects consisted of 468 undergraduate students in University Malaysia Sabah. Data were analysed by using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. The results showed a significant relationship between perfectionism, basic psychological needs and psychological well-being among university students. Implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.
This study aims to examine the interrelationship of self-determination, the big five, achievement motivation and academic achievement among students. This questionnaire survey study involving 150 students from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, The National University of Malaysia. The data obtained in this study were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Instrument that has been used was Learning Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-L), Big Five Inventory (BFI), and achievement motivation scale (CLAMS). The results showed that the autonomous regulation (r =.40) and controlled regulation (r =.43) were significantly related to achievement motivation. Results also showed that the autonomous regulation (r =.45) and controlled regulation (r =.29) were significantly related to academic achievement. Correlation results also show that the big five personalities, that openness (r =.62), conscientiousness (r =.56), extraversion (r =.61), agreeableness (r =.43) and neuroticism (r =1.58) were significantly related to achievement motivation. The results showed openness (r =.31), conscientiousness (r =.44), extraversion (r =.30), agreeableness (r =.22) and neuroticism (r = -.23) were significantly related to academic achievement. In general, this study explains that self-determination and big five personalities can be used to predict the relationship with achievement motivation and academic achievement.
Safety culture has been shown to be related to patient outcomes and Safety Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ) is one of the measures of safety culture that has good psychometric properties. The present study attempts to adapt the short version of the Generic SAQ for use in Malaysian healthcare setting. The process of adaptation included forward translation and backward translation method, followed by content validity analysis by seven subject matter experts. All 36 items of the SAQ was retained for the field test. The Malaysian SAQ (MSAQ) was distributed to 400 healthcare workers in a hospital in Kuala Lumpur. There were 126 returned and usable questionnaires (31.5% return rate). The internal consistency indices of the MSAQ is acceptable but two items were revised due to low corrected itemtotal correlation. The revised MSAQ and the Barriers to Medication Administration Error Reporting scale was administered to nurses (n=175, with 76.1% response rate) of two public hospitals in East Peninsula of Malaysia. Internal consistency of the dimensions improved to .71 to .91. Dimensions of MSAQ correlated negatively with the barriers to error reporting, providing evidence of convergent validity. Thus, the revised MSAQ is suggested to be used for research and interventions in Malaysian healthcare organizations.
The indigenous personality dimensions of the Malaysian people were investigated by examining: (a) the trait adjective nouns provided by the cultural informants; (b) factor analyses of the items and factors capturing the personality trait adjectives. University undergraduate students of different racial background (N= 250) completed an open ended questionnaire about common personality trait adjectives and their associated behavioral exemplars. More than 20 desirable and non-desirable personality trait adjectives were identified through the open-ended questionnaire After selecting and refining the most frequently cited personality trait adjectives, items were developed based on the given behavioral and situational examples. In the following study, 1087 other university students completed the personality questionnaire. We combined the items of desirable and undesirable traits and factor analyze the 419 items in a series of incremental factor rotations. Congruence indices suggest the existence 4 factors of personality dimension. Good reliability and interpretable factors provide sufficient support for the indigenous dimensions of personality traits among Malaysians. Further comprehensive study involving relating the dimensions to the universal model of personality is recommended.
A board game has been designed in order to improve entrepreneurship among teenagers. This paper discusses about the development of the game and a preliminary study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a playing the board game in improving elements of entrepreneurship among the participants. Because entrepreneurship skill can be defined as skills in pursuing opportunities, a success in entrepreneurship is defined as success in pursuing opportunities, both Kirnzerian (discovery, exploitation) and Schumpeterian (creation, innovation) type. Features in the game is designed to represent the following psychological traits that literature suggested as elements of successful opportunity pursuing namely (1) self-esteem, (2) competitiveness, (3) resilience, (4) self-efficacy, (5) practical intelligence and (6) experience. In the preliminary study, a group of participants between 11 to 15 years old played the game twice a week for four weeks, where their behavior are observed during the game, and the collected data is analyzed in two cycles, namely in vivo and thematic analyses. At the moment this abstract is written, the participants had only been played twice; however some qualitative improvement can be seen in terms of competitiveness, resilience, and practical intelligence. It is suggested that the research be done on larger samples, conducted in mixed methods, and the game to be introduced to public in order to arouse entrepreneurship in early ages.
Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk mengenal pasti adakah latihan kecerdasan emosi sosial yang dibentuk ini dapat meningkatkan tahap interpersonal. kajian reka bentuk kuasi eksperimental ini menggunakan laporan penilaian kendiri yang diberikan ketika ujian pra dan pasca setelah 14 minggu latihan. Setiap latihan adalah selama 2 jam seminggu. Pelajar tahun 2 daripada Psikologi, Universiti Malaysia Sabah menjadi peserta dalam kajian ini dan 19 orang pelajar dipilih masuk dalam kumpulan eksperimen dan menerima intervensi sementara 22 orang lagi pelajar dipilih untuk kumpulan kawalan. Pemilihan peserta adalah berdasarkan pelajar yang mendapat nilai rendah tahap kecerdasan emosi sosial menggunakan Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) yang mengandungi 133 item, dibahagikan kepada 5 komponen dan 15 sub skala. Ujian pra diberikan pada awal semester yang bertujuan untuk mendapatkan skor asas dan perbandingan untuk hasil selepas peserta menerima latihan menggunakan Modul Latihan Kecerdasan Emosi Sosial yang dibina sendiri oleh pengkaji. Analisis Wilcoxon dan juga mann-whitney digunakan untuk melihat perbezaan sebelum dan selepas Latihan Kecerdasan Emosi Sosial dalam kumpulan dan juga di antara kumpulan. Hasil kajian melaporkan kemahiran kecerdasan emosi sosial interpersonal telah meningkat selepas latihan diberikan kepada kumpulan rawatan. Manakala tiada terdapat peningkatan skor dalam kumpulan kawalan. Perbandingan di antara kumpulan kawalan dan kumpulan rawatan pula melaporkan terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan di antara kumpulan rawatan dan kumpulan kawalan. Secara kesimpulannya, latihan kecerdasan emosi sosial (interpersonal) telah memberikan kesan yang positif kepada peserta dalam kumpulan rawatan.
Love and compassion is the most persuasive emotional attachment in the family. Mothers true love empower children survival in the world and hereafter. Thus, the research aims to understand on how the Malaysian exemplary mothers award winner (Ibu MithÄlÄ«) show their love and mercy to their children in order to develop parent-child attachment. To answer the research question, research was done using Grounded Theory approach. As a result, three main themes were emerged: physical touch, emotional touch and spiritual touch. Love and mercy from mothers are pertinent in child development. Therefore, mothers should nurture their children with love and compassion to balance firm discipline and strict rules in the family.
Generic skills can be defined as “core skillsâ€, â€key competenciesâ€, â€underpinning skills†as well as “capabilitiesâ€. More recently, generic skills also include personal attributes that are linked with values and identity. The commonly accepted definition of generic skills is “those transferable skills which are essential for employability at some level for most†and the phrase “generic skills for employability†is now emerging as a common usage in public policy and research. This paper will discuss generic skills acquired by the students of one selected private university after they have undergone courses related in developing those skills. The findings from the research will be cross-related to generic skills from the Islamic perspectives. This is in line with views from Islamic scholars such as Imam as-Shafi’i whom had proposed that interpersonal skills will develop generic skills that could inculcate a holistic individual comprising of Self Concept and Personality, Communication, Conflict resolution and Leadership. These skills are vital in carving human capital to be an important asset for an organization to achieve its goal. The paper will also discuss the findings and its relation from Islamic perspectives in fulfilling every individual’s attributes and values so as to be compatible with Islamic values.
It is very consistent in the sense that social competence was predictive of youth employability. Unlike many previous surveys, the present study utilized multiple measures and provided a more comprehensive picture of social young adults’ perception of social competence in the domains of social (communicative competence and assertiveness), cognition (critical thinking and future orientation), and emotion (identity formation and prosocial tendency). Six measures of social competence were completed by 1134 university students in six randomly selected universities. Analyses revealed most young adults were situationally non-assertive and scored lower communicative competence. Moreover, they were more frequently concerned about family-related, financial-related, and educational-related aspects, but less involved in civic engagement. Of significance, critical thinking or problem-solving skills among young adults should be of concern. The identity formation also poor manifested due to extending exploration of the self and undecided manner in young adulthood. Interestingly, emotional benefits have been directed students to become involved in more prosocial behavior. The findings may be useful for social efforts to promote social competence in early adulthood and for their later working life
Is dishonesty affected by one’s creativity and environment? Recent studies have documented the effects of creativity and environment on dishonesty respectively. However, little attention has been given to the interaction effect of creativity and environment. Based on past findings, we hypothesized that creative people, compared to their non-creative counterparts, may tell more lies in an enriched (vs. scarce) environment. An experiment was conducted on a sample of 97 undergraduate students to examine the moderation effect of environment on the linkage of creativity and cheating. Participants completed a creativity task and a questionnaire on general knowledge about Malaysia. Two-way ANOVA analysis showed that creative participants, as well as those in the enriched environment, were more likely to tell lies than their counterparts. More importantly, the interaction effect of creativity and environment was statistically significant. Specifically, the creative people were more likely to cheat in the enriched environment than in the scarce environment. The results not only shed light on the link between creativity and dishonesty but also suggest a new direction for minimizing dishonesty behaviours.
This study explores whether differences in levels of psychological well-being exist between the Orang Asli in Pertak and those in Gerachi Jaya. Field studies were conductecl on orang Asli in both these villages by using structured interviews. Psychological well-being questionnaires were modified by the researcher based on the Psychological Well-being Scale (Ryff 1989). Psychological well-being was measured in terms of autonomy, control environment, personal development and positive relationships. This study involved 40 Orang Asli from Gerachi City and 35 Orang Asli from Pertak. Data were analyzed with SPSS software using t-tests. Results show that the levels of psychological well-being between the two groups were not significantly different (t= 0.339, k> 0.05). Implications are also discussed.