Religious Orientation and Development of Pro- Social Behavior in Young Female Students

Religious orientation is an attitude toward religion or religious practices or an integrated set of attitudes and beliefs. As religion emphasizes moral codes designed to instil values such as helping, caring, emotional support and empathy in humans so, the study was designed to investigate the relationship between religious orientation and pro-social behavior of young female students. The study also examines the predicting role of religious orientation in the development of prosocial behavior in young female students. The non-probability purposive sampling technique has been used with correlational research design in order to collect data. Analysis was conducted on SPSS by using sample of N=150 young female students with age ranged 20-26 years (M=23.50, SD=3.43). The results showed religious orientation had significant positive association with pro-social behavior (r=.40, p>.00) in young female students. Meanwhile, the findings revealed that religious orientation was a significant positive predictor of prosocial behavior in young female students. The study implies that such types of religious orientation will develop more awareness in youth of the present era about the development of prosocial behaviors like charity and help to the needy.

What Makes Women Social Cynics? An Exploratory Study

Although women are comprised almost half of the human population, still their experiences as a minority within the larger social framework, affect the affective and behavioral aspects of their personality including social cynicism. Unfortunately, social cynicism had never been empirically studied from the perspective of women, especially indigenously. By applying a qualitative approach, this study explored an indigenous understanding of social cynicism in a sample of (N=20) young adult women through a focus group discussion (n=6) and open-ended questionnaires (n=14), respectively. Five central themes emerged after the thematic analysis of the transcribed data that included gender inequality and exploitation, misrepresentation and misinformation, negative beliefs and generalizations, authority and control, and lastly, safety and security concerns. The findings showed several distinctive and indigenous themes like paternal authoritarianism, religion-based misinterpretation and sense of imminent danger while a few sub-themes were consistent with the previous literature. By exploring the construct of social cynicism in women, this study had not only broadened the limits of existing research literature on this construct but its themes could be applied for indigenous theory and scale development.

Role of Emotion Regulation as a Buffer against Workplace Stress among Nurses during COVID-19

The present study examined the relationship between workplace stress and job satisfaction among nurses along with exploring the moderating role of emotional regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic. A sample of 120 (n=60 male, n=60 female) nurses were approached from different public and private hospitals of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The Workplace Stress Scale, The Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire-Short Form, and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire were used to assess workplace stress, job satisfaction, and emotion regulation abilities among nurses. Pearson product-moment correlation and Linear regression analysis were carried out to measure the relationship of workplace stress with job satisfaction and the moderating effect of emotion regulation, respectively. Findings of the study revealed that workplace stress is negatively associated with job satisfaction among nurses. Moreover, moderation analysis indicated that cognitive reappraisal significantly moderated the relationship between workplace stress and job satisfaction. Other key findings of the study indicated that female nurses were higher on workplace stress and used cognitive reappraisal as compared to male nurses who used expressive suppression. Moreover, married nurses were higher on workplace stress as compared to unmarried nurses. Public sector nurses were higher on job satisfaction. The findings of the study suggest that there is a strong need to reduce workplace stress by developing healthy emotion regulation strategies to increase the level of job satisfaction among nurses, especially during this pandemic environment.

Role of Peer Relations and Family System on Academic Expectations Stress among Adolescents

The present study explored the role of peer relations and family system on academic expectations of adolescents. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant relationship among peer relations, family system and academic expectations of adolescents. A sample of 364 adolescents, boys (n=139) and girls (n=225) with the age range of 15-19 years was taken from different universities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Measures included Academic Expectations Stress Inventory by Ang and Huan (2006), and Index of Peer Relations by Hudson (1982), with use of correlational method. Results suggested significant correlation among study variables. A positive correlation of academic expectations was found with peer relations. Results showed non-significant difference in study variables with respect to gender. Regression analysis revealed that 23% variance was produced by peer relations in academic expectations. Results of One Way ANOVA showed significant difference between nuclear and joint family adolescents on peer relations, others expectations and self-expectations.

Treating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT): A Case Study

The present case study is about a 23 year’s old married man from a middle socioeconomic status Muslim family residing in Islamabad. He came with the signs of obsessive compulsive disorder such as obsessions, compulsions, superstitious thinking with comorbid depression, low mood, somatic complaints, anxiety, nervousness, tension, isolation and hostility. He was having these symptoms since 2006 to 2021. The present case study was conducted to assess the efficacy of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for individuals suffering with obsessive compulsive disorder. Case study continued for 12 sessions of cognitive behaviors therapy. 3 (1-3) sessions were conducted in initial phase, 5 sessions (4-9) were conducted in middle phase and 3 (10-12) sessions were conducted in termination phase and 2 follow up sessions after termination phase. Patient’s improvement was started in middle phase of the treatment; he seemed hopeful and motivated in getting better. After the end of the middle phase, he was almost symptom free. Further at the termination phase, patient’s symptoms were distinctly reduced and relapse prevention tactics were taught to him for dealing with his obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms in future. It was confirmed that CBT is an efficient therapy to treat obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms and improve well-being.

Relationship between Psychoticism and Creativity

Historically, creativity has been linked to mad geniuses. Different research studies explored the relationship between personality traits and creativity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine that whether there is a relationship between psychoticism and creativity. A cross sectional quantitative research design was employed to recruit online 200 university students from June 2020 to July 2020. Psychoticism sub scale of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-revised short version (EPQRS) and Kaufman Domains of Creativity Scale (K-DOCS) were introduced to participants after obtaining an informed consent via Google Docx. Data were analyzed by using SPSS v.23. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and independent sample t-test were the main statistical tools used in this study. There was found a non-significant negative correlation between psychoticism and creativity. The level of psychoticism and creativity was significantly different in married and non-married participants. Psychoticism is viewed as a risk factor for developing psychosis (especially bipolar disorder and schizophrenia), criminality and psychopathy on negative extreme and linked to creativity on the positive extreme. Therefore, it will be helpful to eliminate the stigmatization attached to psychoticism personality trait by focusing on its positive extreme both for individual and social entities.

Role of Resilience in Burden and Perceived Public Stigma among Primary Caregivers of Psychiatric Patients

The current study intended to find out the role of resilience on perceived public stigma and burden among primary caregivers of the psychiatric patients. The current study highlighted the psychological health of caregivers. A cross sectional study was conducted in region of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. A total of 250 caregivers participated in the study, whom 125 were male and 125 were female caregivers, age range was 25-60 years (M=31.61, SD=5.93). The data was collected from public and private hospitals. Three scales were used for data collection. The resilience was measured through Urdu translated resilience scale, public stigma was assessed by using Urdu version of perceived public stigma, and Burden was measured through interview. The result showed that resilience was negatively associated with burden and perceived public stigma (p< 0.01). Further, the multiple regression showed that resilience acted as moderator between public stigma and burden (? = -1.02, p< .001). The result supported a positive association between public stigma, burden and resilience among caregivers of psychiatric patients.

Impact of Quality of Online Education on Student’s Satisfaction Level: A Study during Pandemic

This study was conducted to check the impact of quality of online education during a worldwide pandemic on satisfaction level of students. The total sample size of this study was 212. Through the use of purposive sampling technique, the participants were chosen from different departments of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur. Cross-sectional survey research design is included in the present study. Students’ Perceptions of E-learning Questionnaire and Student Satisfaction with Online Learning were the two questionnaires used for collecting data. Using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Bivariate Correlation, and Regression Analysis, the results were examined. Online education was significantly negatively associated with student satisfaction, indicated the findings of this analysis. The sample of the study was restricted to students only. Further, in order to broad the scope of the study it is suggested to expand the present research on other universities students from all over Punjab.

Psychological Health and its Correlates during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Pakistan: A Survey of Undergraduate Students

With the outbreak of a global pandemic, people were faced with many difficulties such as financial and health issues, including psychological problems. There was a sharp rise in mental health issues as people were advised to observe social distancing resulting in social isolation. The present study examined three measures of psychological distress among the undergraduate student population: depression, anxiety, and stress. It also sought to study differences in academic years and gender on measures of psychological distress. A convenient and snowball sample of 1032 undergraduate students, aged between 17 and 25 years (M=21.81, SD = 1.99), filled out a survey. DASS – 21 was used to collect data on depression, anxiety, and stress among students. Descriptive statistics showed mild to normal levels of stress (M = 9.64), anxiety (M = 8.17) and depression (M = 9.05). Independent t-tests revealed significantly higher levels of psychological distress among women compared to men. Further, a one-way ANOVA and post hoc analyses showed that only juniors had significantly higher levels of stress compared to freshmen. Factors such as social support and religion have been discussed as possible explanations for lower levels of psychological distress in the overall student population. This research highlights resilience among students and future research should focus on investigating the factors which can help in dealing with difficult situations.

Role of Self Efficacy as a Moderator in the Relationship of Psychological Distress, Psychosocial Adjustment and Educational Adjustment among University Students

Psychological distress is a well-known term that has serious effect on the individual’s psychological and physical health. Now-a-days, it has become a topic of great concern for the psychosocial and educational adjustment amongst university students. The present study investigated the relationship between psychological distress, psychosocial adjustment and educational adjustment among university students. It also explored the moderating impact of self-efficacy on these variables. Data were collected from 304 university students (male=151, female=153). Kessler k10 Scale, General Self-efficacy Scale, Brief Adjustment Scale, Academic Adjustment Scale and Social Adjustment Scale were used to measure the study variables. Results of the current study revealed the inverse relationship between psychological distress, psychosocial and educational adjustment. Findings of regression analysis revealed that self-efficacy moderated the relationship between psychological distress, psychosocial adjustment and educational adjustment. Moreover, female students experienced more psychological distress as compared to male students. Results were discussed and limitations, suggestions and implications were presented for future research.