RESUMO
Aims: To examine the relationship between self-esteem and attitudes to education among orphaned and non-orphaned adolescent secondary school girls in Kampala. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Institute of Psychology, School of Education, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda between June and October 2005. Methodology: Questionnaire including the socio-economic indicators, Rosenberg General Self-Esteem Scale and the Attitude Scale were administered to 225 students who were selected by simple random sampling in six secondary schools in Kampala, Uganda. Results: Orphaned girls had lower self-esteem and most had a negative attitude to education compared to non-orphans. However, girls orphaned to HIV/AIDS had a higher self-esteem compared to those orphaned by other causes and there was a positive correlationship between self-esteem and attitude towards education among orphaned adolescent girls in Kampala, Uganda. Conclusion: Non-orphaned girls have a higher self-esteem than orphaned girls. Non-orphaned girls have a more positive attitude to education compared to orphaned girls. Girls orphaned to HIV/AIDS have slightly higher self-esteem than those orphaned by other causes, but had the worst attitude to education. Recommendations: A special needs program should be designed to support orphan girls in secondary school so as to enable them perform better in their education. Additional study should be conducted among secondary school boys to compare the effects of orphan hood to their education and to see whether there are some disparities in the two genders of the same age group.
RESUMO
The purpose of this study was to examine the bone stiffness of healthy girls during their growth period and factors affecting on such stiffness. The subjects were 302 secondary school girls in Tokyo. Parameters examined included the body characteristics (standing height, body weight, bone stiffness measured by ultrasound, muscle thickness measured with the ultrasound B-mode system), extension power of the lower limb (containing the knee and hip joints), and a questionnaire about the daily intake of milk, kinds of meals and number of years from menophania. These examinations were carried out in June 1997.<BR>Results were summarized as follows : 1) From the observation of bone stiffness in secondary school girls, it appears that bone stiffness increases during the junior high school period. In other words, the bone stiffness of the subjects had almost reached on adult level by high school. 2) A significant positive correlation was recognized between chronological age and bone stiffness (r=0.365, p<0.05) . A positive correlation also existed between the years from menophania and bone stiffness (r=0.477, p<0.05) . These coefficients showed that the years from menophania correlate with bone stiffness more closely in comparison with chronological age. 3) In the period when short comparatively years from menophania, body characteristics, which were the index of maturity, correlated to bone stiffness. However, muscle thickness/power, which was related to exercise habit, became the major parameter correlating with bone stiffness. These results suggest that factors affecting bone stiffness should differ according to the growth period. 4) Comparison of different athletic clubs showed that the bone stiffness of volleyball players was higher than that of control. These data suggest that physical education class, which was given 3 times a week, is not enough for total body development in both quality and quantity. In other words, physical education should be better matched with total physical development, including the growth of healthy bones.