Prevalence of depression in university students belonging to different socioeconomic status

Objective: to study the prevalence of depression in University Students who belong to Middle, Upper Middle and Upper Socioeconomic status

Methodology: the present research involved 331 university students [165 males and 166 females]. Participants were selected with help of purposive sampling technique from different universities of Karachi, with age range of 19-30 years [Mean = 21.70 +/- 2.7]. Center for Epidemiological Studies Scale for Depression was used to screen out the level of depression and demographic form was used for Gender and Socioeconomic status

Results: among 331 participants 50 [15.1%] were not depressed, 75[22.7%] mildly depressed, 111 [33.5%] moderate and 95[28.7%] severely depressed. Males were more depressed than females and there was higher level of depression in upper middle socioeconomic status than other socioeconomic statuses

Conclusion: it is concluded that depression is common in male and female university students belonging to different socioeconomic status in Karachi, Pakistan. There is higher prevalence of depression in Upper Middle socioeconomic status than Middle and Upper socioeconomic statuses. Over all male university students have higher level of depression than female

Translation and adaptation of perceived social self efficacy scale [PSSE]

The objective of the present study is to adapt the scale of Perceived Social Self-Efficacy [PSSE; Smith and Betz, 2000] in Urdu [national language of Pakistan] and to estimate the reliability of Urdu version of Perceived Social Self-Efficacy. The process of translation included Expert Panel approach, Forward translation and Back translation. Linguistic equivalence of the translated version of Perceived Social Self-Efficacy was checked on a sample of bilingual adolescent students. Moreover reliability of scale was established on a sample of adolescent students with the age range of 16-l9yrs, mean age 17.09yrs. High degree of Cronbach alpha of Urdu version was found on the sample of 67 adolescent students with coefficient alpha .902. Test retest reliability over one week interval was r=.887 significant at .01 level. Translated version was found reliable in Pakistan. Implications and recommendation for future researches are discussed

Association of computational ability and digit span in schizophrenia patients

Present study is an endeavor to assess the relationship between computational abilities and digit span in patients of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is characterized by various executive function disabilities; working memory is one of few very important aspects among these. The construct being very significant in understanding the cognitive deficits associated with the schizophrenia, has been reported to be well assessed by various indices. Present study is an endeavor to study the performance of patients of schizophrenia on two of them that is, an Arithmetic test and a Digit span measure. It was assumed that the two set of scores will be highly correlated in patients of schizophrenia. For the purpose 101 individuals were included as participants in the study, 57 of them were the diagnosed patients of schizophrenia while the remaining 44 were the controls selected from the community. Both of the groups were tested on Arithmetic and digit span tasks. Results reflect that scores of schizophrenia patients on both measures were found significantly correlated [r=.610, p<.001], while in controls the association found was not significant [r=. 169, p>. 05]

Negative emotional states, marital status and gender: a comparative study

The aim of the present study was to investigate negative emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress in married and unmarried men and women. It was hypothesized that the level of depression, anxiety and stress would be high in unmarried men and women as compared to married men and women. The sample of the study comprised of 137 participants, 82 participants were male [50 married and 32 unmarried] and 55 were female [31 married and 24 unmarried] age ranging from 35 to 50 years. Their socioeconomic status was middle and their minimum educational level was graduation. Depression Anxiety Stress Scales [DASS] [Lovibond and Lovibond, 1995] was administered to measure negative emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress in married and unmarried men and women. Two-Way ANOVA was applied through statistical package for social sciences [SPSS, V-12.0] to test the significance of results. Results reflect Marital Status as a significant determinant for depression [F [1, 133] =21.69, p<.001], anxiety [F [1, 133]= 24.44, p<.001] and stress [F [1, 133] = 12.06, p<.001]. However factor of gender found to be not significant as trivial difference was found among males and females on variable of depression, anxiety and stress. Further, interaction effect of gender and marital status found to play significant role in determining depression and anxiety but not in stress. It was found that unmarried females are the most vulnerable group for all the three negative emotional states

Exploring predictors of compulsive buying behavior among young college/university students

The objective of the present study is to find out the significance of Materialism and self-esteem as the predictors of compulsive buying behavior among young college/university students belongingto middle socioeconomic status. 155 students between the ages of 18 years and 25 years participated in the research, and completed measures of compulsive buying [Edwards, 1993], Material value scale [Richins, 2004] and self-esteem [Rosenberg 1965]. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the hypothesized relationship of Materialism and self esteem with compulsive buying behavior which yields significant results reflecting Materialism and Self esteem as significant predictors of compulsive buying behavior [R[2] = .113, F [2, 152] = 9.646, p<001]

Translation and adaptation of brief fear of negative evaluation [BFNE] scale in Pakistan

The objective of the present study is to translate and adapt Brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale [BFNE; Leary, 1983] in national language [Urdu] and estimation of its psychometric properties. After the process of Forward, back translation and committee approach the linguistic equivalence of the translated version of the scale was assessed on a sample of 71 bilingual adolescent students with the age range of 16-19 years, randomly selected from different schools of Karachi. The estimate shows significant results [r- .614] at .01 significant level. The split half reliability estimate was found to be .788, which is significant at .01 probability level. The Cronbach's alpha of the Urdu version of the BFNE scale is .762 indicating considerable internal consistency of the translated version of BFNE. The Urdu version of BFNE has found to be a reliable scale for adolescents in Pakistan

Conceptual ability advantages in patients of schizophrenia with paranoid ideation

Reasoning and planning deficits of conceptual ability are characteristically related to the diagnosis of schizophrenia, however a broad range of literature suggest the advantage of those with paranoid delusions over other patients of schizophrenia. To determine the relationship of paranoid ideation with the conceptual ability, sample of 52 patients diagnosed as having schizophrenia, with age of 20-50 years and minimum education of intermediate, was assessed on the [similarities] subtest of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised [Wechsler, 1981], and [Paranoia] scale of Personality Assessment Inventory [Morey, 1991]. Results reflect significant relationship between the two variables, with paranoid ideation explaining 12% variation in the scores on the measure of conceptual ability. Results were discussed with reference to the characteristic style of those with high paranoid ideation

Self efficacy: relationship with stress, anxiety and depression

The aim of the present research is to examine the relationship of general self-efficacy with psychological wellbeing. Correlational Study Federal Urdu University for Arts, Science and Technology, Karachi, from August 2005 to February 2006. After detailed literature review following hypotheses were formulated: a] There would be a significant inverse relationship between self-efficacy and stress. b] There would be a significant inverse relationship between self-efficacy and depression. c] There would be a significant inverse relationship between self efficacy and anxiety. Science students ['including females=84 males=113] from different departments of Federal Urdu University, Karachi were selected and were required to complete the questionnaires. Age range of the sample was from 19 to 25 years and minimum educational level was intermediate. Entire sample was recruited from middle socioeconomic class. To assess the psychological wellbeing, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales[1] [DASS21] was administered. A measure of General Self-efficacy[2] [GSE] was also administered. In order to interpret the data in statistical terminology the Pearson product moment correlation was applied. General self efficacy was found to have significant inverse relationship with stress [r=-.166; p<0.05], anxiety [r=-.186; p<0.01] and depression [r=-157. p<0.05]. High self efficacy as the perceived capability to organize and execute the courses of actions appears to have positive effects on a person 's mental health

Handedness and performance on the measures of visual motor perception and academic achievement

The purpose of present study was to determine differences between left and right-handers in their Performance on the Measures of Visual-Motor perception and Academic Achievement. On the basis of literature review, it was hypothesized that the left-handers would perform low on measure of Visual-Motor Perception as compared to right-handers. It was also hypothesized that the left-handers would score high on arithmetic and low on reading and spelling sub test of academic achievement test as compared to right-handers. A sample of 99 students, including 48 Right-handers [16 males, 32 females] and 51 Left-handers [16 males, 35 females] was selected from different educational Institutes of urban areas of Karachi. The age range of the participants was from 15 - 22 years [X =I8 years]. After obtaining personal information the Handedness Questionnaire [Coren 1992] was administered to determine the hand preference of the subjects. Bender Gestalt Test [Pascal, 1951] was administered to assess the Visual-Motor Perception and Wide Range Achievement Test-3 [Wilkinson, 1993] was administered to assess academic achievement of subjects in the areas of Spelling, Arithmetic and Reading. The t-test analysis showed that left-handers scored high on BG as compared to right-handers [t = 2.177, df = 97, p< 0.05]. It was also found that the left-handers scored low on reading subtest as compared to right-handers [t = -2.760, df = 97, p < 0.01]. However, the difference between performance of left and right-handers on arithmetic [t = .217, df = 97, p >0.05] and spelling sub-test [t= 339, df = 97, p>0.05] was insignificant