Psychology

Well-being includes many aspects such as happiness, energy, leisure, peace with oneself, contentment and sensitivity to the environment. It is a sense of balance between different aspects of life - from physical to emotional to spiritual and the much researched psychological well-being. The domain of the psychological well-being lies in the everyday experiences of people. To say the Internet is an important component of human life is a statement that is not exaggerated. Typically the human race would come to a standstill or become non-existent without the usage of internet, be it in mobile /computer to surf and check Facebook, Whatsapp, and other social media. A report by UK’s chartered institute of IT (BCS) found that 35,000 people who use the internet reported that it made them feel happier and better about their lives (BCS, 2010). Happiness is a gregarious feeling and is usually multiplied with better communication channels and robust interaction among people leading to an integrated well-being in individuals. Technology in the form of Internet helps in a large amount of communication and interaction, which can happen in a minuscule time. The purview of the present research is to analyse the relationship between Internet Addiction and Happiness in relation to Well-being. The sample consists of 150 Internet users both male and female. Internet Addiction Test (IAT; 1998) by Dr. Kimberly Young and The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ; 2002) by Peter Hills, Michael Argyle were used to measure Internet addiction and Happiness respectively. The results thus obtained were subjected to statistical analysis.

Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) is an important survival factor for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs). However, patients on ART in Kenya still miss routine check-ups, and get lost to follow up. Research on the factors influencing ART adherence among different populations in Kenya have yielded inconsistent results. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between patient factors and adherence to ART by adults living with HIV/AIDS in Kisumu County, Kenya. Facility based cross-sectional survey was carried out on patients receiving ART from all the seven Sub-Counties in the County. Systematic random sampling was used to recruit a sample of 386 patients. Data collection tools were pre-tested and piloted to ensure validity and reliability. Chi-square statistic was used to analyze the data at ?=.05. Findings indicated that the relationship between age and ART adherence was statistically significant (?2= 8.064, df= 2, p = 0.034). Similarly, the relationship between alcohol use and ART adherence was statistically significant (?2 = 5.331, df = 1, p = 0.009). Knowledge of ART also had a statistically significant relationship with ART adherence (?2 = 7.799, df = 1, p = 0.0028). However, marital status, level of education, employment status, stigma, and psychosocial support did not exhibit statistically significant relationships with ART adherence. The study concludes that patient age, use of alcohol and knowledge of ART are patient factors related to ART. It is recommended that these factors should be considered in the treatment of PLWHAs to ensure ART adherence.

This study examined the relationship between EFL learners’ attributions for success and failure in learning a foreign language and their self-perceived communication competence. To this end, having homogenized the learners via the Interchange Objective Placement Test (IOPT), the Causal Dimension Scale (CDS-II) and the Language Achievement Attribution Scale (LAAS) were administered to 72 EFL learners studying at two English language institutes in Iran. Six causal attributions (ability, effort, task difficulty, mood, luck, and teacher) together with four attributional properties (locus of causality, stability, personal control, and external control) were compared with learners’ self-perceived communication competence. To see whether there is any significant relationship between learners’ attributions and their self-perceived communication competence, Pearson product-moment correlation was applied to the data. The results showed significant correlations between some of the LAAS, but not CDS-II, subscales and learners’ scores on the SPCC scale. Results from Regression Analysis (using LAAS) revealed that task difficulty attribution was the best predictor for low SPCC scores, indicating that students who attributed the outcome of their test to the difficulty of the task received lower grades on the SPCC scale. Finally, statistical results were discussed, and implications for English language teaching were suggested.

Previous studies emphasizing that psychological interventions and pharmacological medications may have a small effect on depressive symptoms in coronary artery patients, and no beneficial effects on reduction of inflammatory markers and mortality rates. Recently there is increasing interest in whether positive psychological states have predictive power over and above depressive symptoms for cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. The present study has intended to test and compare the correlation of plasma high sensitivity C-reactive protein and cortisol awakening response’s flexibility with positive psychological states and depression in 54 coronary artery patients. The results of this study indicated that the correlation between high sensitivity C-reactive protein and psychological states only for life satisfaction and subscale of hope "pathways in regard to goals" are significant. Moreover the correlations of cortisol awakening response’s flexibility with happiness, hope and depression were marginally significant. It is possible that directly building the positive psychological states may counteract negative symptoms and may also buffer against their negative biological outcomes.

Education is important for the effective functioning of society and plays a key role in every individual’s behaviour. Alcohol abuse is defined as an alcohol use disorder. Alcoholism and alcohol dependence among teachers in Kenya have increased exponentially. The study thus sought to assess the influence the level of education on alcohol abuse among public school teachers in Nyeri County, Kenya. A mixed method approach employing self-administered structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews was used to undertake the study. The target population consisted of teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in public primary and secondary schools. A sampling frame was obtained from the TSC providing a list of all teachers in the county and the schools they teach in. The study utilized the stratified sampling methodology to select participants, where strata used was the subcounty and type of school (primary/secondary) after which a random sample was used to identify the teachers who participated in the research. A sample of 385 teachers was selected from a population of 6,264 from Nyeri County. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. An interview schedule was presented to the TSC County Director to capture the views concerning the alcohol situation in the county. Data was coded and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results on the prevalence of alcohol use revealed that 59% of teachers use alcohol while 32.7% fall under the category of hazardous use. The Chi square test and t-test for independence of means were used for inferential analysis. The level of education was noted to have a significant effect on alcohol abuse with the number of teachers with lower educational qualifications being associated with alcohol abuse. The study recommends urgent interventional strategies targeting the enhancement of personal growth through higher education in the management of alcohol abuse among teachers.

In this article the researcher seeks to provoke discussions on the unseen curriculum and its role on students’ learning of professionalism. The article draws educators’ attention to the formation of professional values through the concealed curriculum via examination of issues like how the veiled curriculum functions within education as a countervailing force to educations’ push for professionalism. The article defines expert values as standards for specialized practice, which are based on the agreement of expert groups of people. Professional values like competence, honesty, confidentiality and appropriate language among other virtues, provide a framework for appraising the ideas and viewpoints that influence success at work place. The researcher responds to key concerns about pervasive calls emanating from unprofessional and academic onlookers alike to strengthen the teaching of professional values within the formal curriculum. She employed exploratory mixed methods design. She distributed 498 closed-ended questionnaires to randomly selected respondents at different times and interviewed ten key informants. The results revealed that it is possible to teach information about professional values, ethical reasoning, or improve understanding of professional language and ethical concepts, but course material or the formal curriculum is very limited in decisively influencing students’ personality or ensuring moral conduct. The results also revealed that students learning of professional values takes place not within the formal curriculum but in a more subtle, less officially recognized curriculum. The researcher maintains that any attempt to develop a comprehensive professionalism curriculum must acknowledge the broader cultural milieu (the humanistic climate) within which that curriculum functions. The researcher concludes by proposing thorough exploration of the humanistic climate (the hidden curriculum) in which professionalism is caught rather than taught, which if made positive is likely to allow expertise principles to blossom among young workers

The present study aimed to investigate the impact of loneliness and emotional intelligence on mobile phone addiction among adolescents. The sample for the current study consisted of 200 adolescents (100 males and 100 females) in the age group of 14-19 years from Chandigarh. The subjects were administered a measure of UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, 1980) along with Emotional intelligence scale (Singh & Narain, 2014) and Mobile phone addiction scale (Velayudhan & Srividya, 2012). Inter- correlation analysis, t-test and regression analysis were applied. Results revealed that loneliness was positively related and emotional intelligence was negatively related to mobile phone addiction. Also, loneliness and emotional intelligence were negatively related with each other. It was also found that loneliness significantly predicted the levels of mobile phone addiction in male adolescents. Males as compared to females were higher on loneliness and mobile phone addiction; however, females in comparison to males were higher on emotional intelligence.

For women of childbearing age, the major challenge is the risk of maternal death as a result of poor health during pregnancy and childbirth. This study explores socio-cultural factors and their implications on maternal health in rural communities in Nigeria using Owukpa community and Obollo-Eke community as study areas. The data were generated from a cross sectional survey of mothers aged 15-49years in both communities whether married or unmarried. A cluster random sampling procedure and non probability sampling were adopted to select 572 respondents for the study, out of this 560 constituted the questionnaire which was the major instrument for data collection, and 12 was based on in-depth interview guide. The result shows that most of the factors identified have serious implications for maternal health in the two communities though the degree at which the factors affect health varied. The factors include; education, poverty, nutrition, lack of basic social amenities, inadequate and inaccessible health care services, lack of family planning, low status of women, gender base violence, and paternity pattern. The study revealed that paternity pattern practised in the two communities differed, The result also shows that certain attitudes like; early marriage, delay in seeking service, sex preference and desire for many children, and sexual activities among the unmarried affect the health of women however with certain degree of variations among the two communities.

It is observed that formal training given on basic communication skills (CS) during medical undergraduate years can help to develop better doctor patient relationship throughout the clinical practice. Developing communication skills was felt as a need through formal training as well as in assessment, hence Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, India, incorporated it in curriculum. To sensitize and train third year BDS students for communication skills and evaluate the module through their feedback. 55 third year BDS students were sensitized for communication skills through a module. The module was divided into four important aspects; 1) Components and barriers of effective CS while dealing with patients2) Training for effective communication viva voce examination 3) communicating effectively with different types of patients, 4) Improve Prescription writing as communication skill Knowledge gained by the participants through the module was statistically analyzed by comparing pre and post test results. At the end module was evaluated by the feedback obtained from students. Wilcoxon signed rank test used for comparison of responses before and after the implementation of module, showed highly significant differences. 98% students wrote in the feedback that the module was a key to learn nuances in routine clinical practice and guide to communicate well in viva. Sensitizing and training third year BDS students for communication skills was effective and would remain as an important component of University curriculum.

Being a Christian and clinical psychologist our worldview must be determined by Scripture because all truth is Gods truth. Our understanding of mental illness and disorder should also be based upon a biblical worldview. Our therapeutic practice will utilize Scripture to heal our clients for the glory of God. Psychology, then, in the Christian framework, is not an independent activity that operates apart from God; it is dependent upon Gods mercy to illuminate human understanding on therapeutic intervention and research. Human spirituality is a source of great strength. Christians recognize that psychological observations illuminate our understanding of human cognition, emotionality and experience. The Bible gives some very specific instructions on how one might become more emotionally and spiritually healthy, psychology gives us insight into the emotional and mental dynamic of our experience and provides us with tools to enact the Bible?s instructions. This article will therefore focus on Deciphering the Discipline of Clinical Psychology through the Eyes of Faith.