Psychological well-being of COVID positive patients during quarantine in a South Indian Private Hospital

Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to unparallel hazards to mental health globally. Many countries around the world have introduced quarantine measures. Quarantine has changed not only the plans of most people, but also their way of life. The greatest impact of quarantine is experienced by COVID positive patients who are isolated in a hospital. The aim of the study: to explore psychological well-being of COVID positive patients during quarantine in a private hospital. Materials and Methods: In this study, 100 patients who were COVID positive were requested to fill the Quality of Life Questionnaire. A pre-validated questionnaire was used to assess the depression score amongst COVID positive patients. The analysis of the answers and respondent opinions was conducted using the Pearson method, which produced statistically relevant results. Results: The studied aspects of mental health patients: sleep, appetite, crying spells; happiness and hope for the future; ability to concentrate and focus and getting disturbed easily by trivia; support received from family and friends; overall outlook of life and ability to stay happy in solitude. As a result, qualitative indicators of the patients’ mental health during quarantine in a private hospital were obtained. Conclusions: The data obtained showed that patients managed to stay happy and eat well but they talked less, had disturbed sleep and did not look forward towards a hopeful future. Some were able to shake away the blues with family, friends on Online Media but some got depressed and got crying spells and thought that their life was a failure. The study concluded that patients on quarantine were often depressed. Many patients might benefit if psychological counselling and support are employed during quarantine measures.

A topical methodology research subject in the European area of higher education: ELF, EFL or ESP?

The European “ecosystem” of higher education seems to have been affected by the global pandemic in a number of ways. Some of these impacts may well be viewed as negative; some others, as giving a new impetus to the development of the entire educational system. It is evident, for instance, that the dire necessity to “go virtual” has created new avenues for the intensification of contacts between educators who previously were less motivated to do so (Magomedov et al. 2020, Melnyk et al., 2020). That clearly manifests the fact that the ongoing process of transformations taking place in national higher education systems across Europe has not slowed down at all, which has made some of the current cultural and educational challenges even more pressing. One such challenge is the necessity to effectively use ELF (English as a lingua franca). Researchers working in post-communist countries have made valuable contributions to linguistic studies, especially in the area of EFL studies, as these countries clearly belong to the so-called Expanding Circle. However, the social and cultural realities of today call for more focus not on EFL studies but on research in the field of ELF and ESP (English for Specific Purposes). It is explained by the fact that the ability to use ESP is now a highly desirable skill for the majority of professionals working in the post-communist part of Europe.

Motivation and decision in choosing civil services as a career of fourth-year students at Chiang Mai University due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 epidemic is affecting the work of people around the world including students who have to graduate and to decide in choosing a civil servant career. The aim of the study: to explore the motivating factors influencing the decision for the 4th year students of Chiang Mai University to enter the civil service during the COVID era. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted among fourth-year students at Chiang Mai University. The sample in this study consisted of 362 people. Multiple regression analysis was used to find a linear equation that expressed the relationship between motivating factors and decision-making. Results: The findings of this research showed that choosing civil services as a career of fourth-year students at Chiang Mai University during the COVID-19 outbreak was high with an average of 3.60. According to hypothesis testing, the factors affecting levels of favorable decision in choosing a civil service career were statistically significant at the 0.05 level in descending order as follows: security, compensation and benefits, values, career path and job characteristics. The influence of personal factors on choosing civil service jobs were not significantly different at the 0.05 level, except the family income factor that influences choosing civil service jobs. Conclusions: It was found that personal factors which consisted of gender, domicile, grade point average and average family income per month affecting different government career choices and factors in motivation in deciding to choose a government career containing job characteristics, compensation factor and welfare factors career advancement factors, security factor and value factors had a negative effect on the level of decision-making on the choice of civil service careers.

The effect of cognitive behavioral therapy training program on reducing emotional and social distress: three years follow up

Background: This paper addresses the question: is a brief cognitive behavior therapy training program enhances psychologist’s skills as reflected in scores on cognitive therapy skills scale and in helping students with emotional and social problems? The aim of the study: to explore the impact of the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy training program on reducing emotional and social distress over 3 years. Materials and Methods: Participants are 35 school psychologists (20 females and 15 males) have received intensive cognitive behavior therapy training for 6 days during two weeks followed by one to one supervision in school sittings for three months. Participants completed cognitive behavior therapy scale. Individual and group counseling sessions delivered to male and female (age mean is 13.7 years) students known of emotional and social problems during the current school year. Supervisors wrote a report in the end of three months practice, students and parent’s feedback had collected. Results: Results show that differences between pre and post scores on cognitive behavior therapy scale are statistically significant (t=4.92), supervisors reports and students feedback indicate improving therapeutic skills by the end of three months practice. Conclusions: Cognitive behavior therapy training program has positive influence in enhancing cognitive behavior therapy skills in school psychologists that reflected in providing effective counseling for students with emotional and social problems. Supervision based training optimizing the therapeutic outcome in both individual and group therapy sessions. Follow up of 3 years revealed continuous effect of the training and continuous supervision in improving counseling skills of school psychologists.

Developing the instructions for the controlled association experiment by means of semantic features for the stimulus “flirting person”

Background: This article continues a series of studies devoted to ludic competence/playfulness and one of its components is flirting. The aim of the study: in the context of parametric concept of meaning, to identify on the basis of applied psycholinguistic research the semantic components of the stimulus “flirting person”, which are actualized in the speech acts of Russian-speaking inhabitants of Ukraine. Material and Methods: The main method of the research is a psycholinguistic experiment whose major stage is the controlled association experiment with the stimulus “flirting person”. The sample comprised 215 young people (aged 21-35), of which 112 females and 103 males. Results: At the final stage of formulation of the instructions 23 semantic features were selected for the stimulus “flirting person”. The results of the controlled association experiment with the stimulus “flirting person” allowed to build 23 associative fields and obtain the material for describing the behaviour pattern of ludic position Diplomat (flirting person) reflecting the reality of linguistic consciousness of young Russian-speaking inhabitants of Ukraine. Conclusions: Cluster analysis of the associative field of the semantic feature “What is the person’s marital status?” allowed to define: three core clusters – “Free” (71.16%), “In a relationship” (14.42%), “Any” (3.72%); three peripheral clusters – “Qualities” (3.26%), “Emotional State” (3.26)%, “Role in family relations” (1.40%); extreme peripheral clusters – “Changeable” (0.93%); an isolated female reaction “Guy” suggests an ambiguous interpretation and allows to highlight different meanings – “Gender” and “Age”.