scholarly journals Attachment to God in a Collectivistic Context and its Impact on Perceived Stress

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-35
Author(s):  
Syeda Saniya Zehra ◽  
Elizabeth Schwaiger

Introduction: Research indicates that attachment to God is correlated with parental attachment and perceived stress.  However, these relationships have not been studied outside the Western context.  The present research evaluated the relationship between attachment to God and attachment to parents within different family systems and the impact of these attachments on perceived stress. Methods: A sample of 284 Christian undergraduate students was surveyed.  The data were collected from the participants through convenience sampling.  Relationships between attachment to parents, attachment to God, religiosity, and perceived stress were studied. Results: A significant positive relationship between attachment to parents and to God was found for the nuclear family system on the anxiety subscale.  For the avoidance subscale, both nuclear and joint family systems had significant positive relationships between parental attachment and attachment to God; however, it was stronger for joint family systems.  The multiple regression analysis showed parental avoidance (β = .256, p <.001) and God anxiety (β = .281, p <.001) as the strongest predictors of stress. Discussion: The findings highlight the impact of collectivistic cultural values, particularly the importance of relationships.  The implications include the significance of the impact of culture on attachment relationships and the finding that attachment correlates with lower levels of perceived stress.  The research also shows the difference in attachment styles depending upon the family system the participant belongs to which can again be attributed to cultural norms and values.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saima Majeed ◽  
Elizabeth Maria Schwaiger ◽  
Abia Nazim ◽  
Ivan Suneel Samuel

Background: In the wake of the worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus and the resultant restrictive measures, mental health has become a crucial issue. Physical health is not the only aspect of humans that is at risk. Globally, the rates and severity of mental illness are being significantly impacted by this pandemic. Two scales have been validated to measure the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the levels of anxiety and obsessional thinking in clinical and non-clinical populations. The present study was designed to investigate the levels of anxiety and obsessions related to COVID-19 in the general public of Lahore, Pakistan.Materials and Methods: Data were collected via snowball sampling from May 9 to May 19. An online survey consisting of a demographic profile and two scales, Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) and Obsession with COVID-19 Scale (OCS), was sent through email, WhatsApp, and Facebook groups to adults (18 years and above) of Lahore, Pakistan.Results: A total of 240 individuals (20% men and 80% women) recorded their responses. The majority belonged to a nuclear family system (60%), and their education level ranged from high school to Ph.D. The cut-off score for probable dysfunctional coronavirus anxiety and obsession levels was not met within this sample (CAS, M = 3.24, SD = 4.21; OCS, M = 4.14, SD = 3.15), suggesting that the general population of Lahore, Pakistan is not suffering from dysfunctional anxiety or obsessions related to COVID-19. Forty-seven participants' score on OCS and 35 participants' scores on CAS were above the cut-off, i.e., ≥7 and ≥9, respectively. The results of the correlation analysis showed a significant positive relationship (**p &lt; 0.619) between anxiety and obsessions related to COVID-19.Conclusion: One important, yet surprising, conclusion of this study is that the average adult in Lahore does not show much anxiety or obsessions related to COVID-19. Other studies around the world using these measurement tools have indicated significantly high levels of both anxiety and obsessions related to COVID-19. These findings may demonstrate the resilience of Pakistanis or perhaps the lack of understanding of the seriousness of the situation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-28
Author(s):  
Steven Barreto ◽  
Sue K. Adams ◽  
Jennifer Daly

Digital technology use is an integral part of children’s and adolescent’s lives. With the rapid evolution of technology, adult caregivers can easily feel overwhelmed by the daunting task of setting boundaries on technology use. Family systems theory offers a unique perspective for understanding how external factors (i.e., technology) can impede or enhance the family system, particularly when integrated into a developmental framework. Five clinical concepts are presented that weave together developmental tasks and family systems theory. This paper offers recommendations for clinicians to help parents understand the potentially harmful consequences of technology use across the developmental spectrum. We also provide recommendations for how to support parents in discussing technology use with their children and adolescents. Lastly, we offer suggestions for how the impact of technology use on development can be integrated into human service courses at the university level.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ms. Hiral Y. Suthar

The present investigation was undertaken to find the impact of emotional competence of adolescents of joint and nuclear family from urban and rural area. The emotional competence scale was administered on 80 adolescents of Vadodara district. Scale was use for data collection is personal datasheet and Emotional competence scale developed by Dr. Sharma H.C and Dr. Bhardwaj R.L (2007). Data were analysis by ‘t’ test. Result show, There is difference found on Emotional competence among adolescent’s joint and nuclear family. There is no significant difference in emotional competence of boys and girls. There is no significant difference in emotional competence adolescents of urban and rural area. Adolescents of joint family have better Emotional competence than adolescents of nuclear family. Girls have better emotional competence than boys.


Author(s):  
Bryan D. Carter ◽  
William G. Kronenberger ◽  
Eric L. Scott ◽  
Christine E. Brady

Session 8 is again focused primarily on family communication and dynamics for the purposes of identifying and addressing parenting behaviors and parent–teen dynamics that may unwittingly undermining teen confidence in becoming more independent in managing their illness and lifestyle. The clinician engages the family in a discussion of parental and teen roles within the family system and an examination of the impact of the teen’s illness on family members’ roles. Behavioral family systems concepts of “misguided support” and “strong beliefs” that family members hold, but that inadvertently may be serving to maintain a dependent or even overprotective/enmeshed family dynamic, are introduced and applied to the family situation, along with strategies for moving these dynamics in a more independence-engendering direction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karunanithi Gopalakrishan

The predominant type of living arrangement in pre-independence India was joint family system. It was based on the notion of collectivism and charity. It was a serving place for not only nurturing and preserving social values, but also passing them down through generations. After the advent of industrialization and subsequent emergence of urbanization and modernization, the joint families started disintegrating into nuclear families. The modern nuclear family is perpetually promoting the principle of individualism or independence in contrast to the value of collectivism deep-rooted in joint family. It is, therefore, a value shift in family from collectivism to individualism. It is followed by a loyalty shift in family from lineal ties to conjugal ties. Consequently, nuclear family has become an indispensible social unit in contemporary Indian society. However, its sustainability may perhaps be uncertain in a distant future because of the inclination of present younger generation to complete independence in life. Probably this may result in the emergent of a new type of living arrangement to satisfy the needs of generations of people in a remote future.


2020 ◽  
pp. 106648072093448
Author(s):  
Everette Coffman ◽  
Jacqueline Swank

This article focuses on the association between attachment styles within the family system and substance abuse. The authors describe attachment theory and the ways insecure attachments adversely affect the families of individuals with substance abuse concerns. Additionally, they discuss the need for attachment-informed approaches to treat these families and key components of this treatment approach.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 117-126
Author(s):  
Tina Manandhar

Digu puja is a ritual of worshipping lineage god among the Newars of Kathmandu valley. With the brief discussion of the puja rituals this paper gives a detailed account of the family system in Nepal starting from ancient period. Following the developments in the field of education and politics how the joint family system was disintegrated and how the concept of nuclear family emerged in Nepal will also be discussed. And finally, how other festivals along with Digu Puja are helping to create a binding link amongst the separated family members will be analyzed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 009164712110255
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Schwaiger ◽  
Syeda Saniya Zehra ◽  
Ivan Suneel

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on stress levels around the world. In developing nations such as Pakistan, lack of resources and socioeconomic inequalities have compounded the negative impact of the pandemic, especially for minorities. Religion in the developing, collectivistic, Muslim-majority nation of Pakistan is a powerful identity marker inherited at birth and reflected in all identifying documents. A well-developed conceptual framework for religion is attachment to God, which has demonstrated strong predictive value for perceived stress in Western samples. Given the importance of other attachment relationships as well, this study has examined the predictive value of attachment to parents, attachment to God, and religiosity on perceived stress in Christian minorities within a Pakistani context. The sample consisted of 183 adult Christian Pakistanis. Multiple regression indicated that religiosity, attachment to father, and attachment to God were the strongest predictors of perceived stress, though not in the same pattern as expected in Western contexts. This finding demonstrates the importance of the impact of culture, attachment relationships, and religious context on perceived stress, indicating a need to consider both religion and culture in psychological care, as well as local and international public policy, to mitigate stress along minorities in developing nations in such uncertain times.


2020 ◽  
Vol V (III) ◽  
pp. 56-63
Author(s):  
Ivan Suneel ◽  
Elizabeth Schwaiger Suneel ◽  
Sarah Anthoney

Studies suggest that alcoholism is on the rise around the world, with many individuals facing the damaging consequences of this affliction. Children of Alcoholics (COAs) deal with several psychosocial issues that manifest themselves in the forms of defense mechanisms, or roles which affect their attachment styles and personal relationships. Purposive sampling was used on 398 participants (201 males, 197 females). The first one was for the participants (18 to 25 age range, the minimum level of education: tenth grade). The second was the fathers of the adult children, admitted in rehabilitation for alcoholism. The third foundation for setting the criteria was the family (a nuclear family system and has at least three siblings). A chisquare test for independence was significant [x2 (8, N = 398) = 433.551, p < .001], indicating that adult COAs with specific attachment styles are prone to take on certain roles within the family.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahad Saqib Lodhi ◽  
Unaib Rabbani ◽  
Adeel Ahmed Khan ◽  
Owais Raza ◽  
Kourosh Holakouie Naieni ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Family system has been found to affect the quality of life (QOL) among joint and nuclear family systems. In Pakistan, there is scarcity of literature about QOL among joint and nuclear family systems. We determined the factors associated with QOL scores in joint and nuclear family systems in Pakistani general population in District Abbottabad, Pakistan. Methods We conducted a population based cross sectional study in all 52 Union Councils (UCs) of District Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan from March 2015 to August 2015. Multistage cluster sampling technique was used to select 2063 participants from both nuclear and joint family houses. A validated Urdu version of WHO QOL-BREF was used to assess level of quality of life among participants. Univariate and multivariate analysis was done to find out the association of different socio demographic variables with QOL among both family systems. A multilevel linear regression using backward analysis allowing to obtain final model for each domain was done to find out the variables that affect QOL score among both family systems. Results A total of 2063 participants were included in this study (51.0% joint family, 49.0% nuclear family) with the response rate of 97.4%. In multiple linear regression analysis of each domain for joint and nuclear family systems, rural as compare to urban residence (p < 0.001), being female as compare to males (p < 0.001), increasing age as unit a decade (p < 0.001), having any disease as compare to absence of disease (p < 0.001) low socioeconomic status (SES) as compare to high SES (p < 0.001) were found out to be strong predictor of poorer QOL. Furthermore social capital (p < 0.001) had a positive effect on joint and nuclear family QOL scores. Conclusion Our study was the first of its kind which determined the factors of QOL scores in joint and nuclear families using validated WHO QOL-BREF in Pakistan. Male gender, urban residence, younger age, higher socio-economic status and social capital were positive predictors of QOL score while increasing age and presence of illness were associated with lower QOL scores among both family systems.


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