Examining a Conceptual Model of Maternal and Paternal Warmth, Emotion Regulation and Social Competence among Preadolescent Children in Malaysia.

Although parental warmth has been shown to be related to children's social competence, the mediating role of preadolescent children's emotion regulation in this context has been less explored, particularly in Asian cultures. Thus, this study examined the role of emotion regulation as a mediator in the relationship between parental warmth (i.e., paternal and maternal warmth) and social competence among preadolescent children in Malaysia. Preadolescent children (N = 720; Mage = 10.95; SD = 0.59; 58.8% female) completed self-administered questionnaires. Results of correlation analysis showed that higher levels of paternal and maternal warmth were associated with greater emotion regulation in preadolescent children and a greater level of social competence. However, analysis of structural equation modeling revealed that emotion regulation significantly mediated only the relationship between maternal warmth and social competence. These findings underscored the importance of maternal warmth in promoting Malaysian preadolescent children's social competence as well as their emotion regulation as a mediating pathway. This study also highlights the direct effect of paternal warmth on preadolescents' social competence. Theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.

Problem-solving skills and perceived stress among undergraduate students: The moderating role of hardiness.

This study was designed to examine the relationships between problem-solving skills, hardiness, and perceived stress and to test the moderating role of hardiness in the relationship between problem-solving skills and perceived stress among 500 undergraduates from Malaysian public universities. The analyses showed that undergraduates with poor problem-solving confidence, external personal control of emotion, and approach-avoidance style were more likely to report perceived stress. Hardiness moderated the relationships between problem-solving skills and perceived stress. These findings reinforce the importance of moderating role of hardiness as an influencing factor that explains how problem-solving skills affect perceived stress among undergraduates.

Self-efficacy as a mediator of the relationship between parental closeness and suicidal ideation among Malaysian adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Suicide has become a serious worldwide mental health problem, including Asian countries. Suicidal ideation happens prior to the actual suicidal behaviour; thus, identifying the roots of suicidal ideation is vital. This study investigated the relationships between parental closeness, self-efficacy and suicidal ideation among adolescents in Malaysia. The mediation effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between parental closeness and suicidal ideation was also examined. METHOD: A total of 684 school-going adolescents aged 14-17 years old were recruited via multistage cluster sampling. Bivariate analysis was conducted using Pearson's correlation analysis. The mediation model was tested using SPSS macro developed by Preacher and Hayes. RESULTS: The results showed that mother closeness, father closeness and self-efficacy had significant negative correlation with suicidal ideation. Specifically, self-efficacy emerged as a partial mediator in the relation between mother closeness and suicidal ideation. Self-efficacy also fully mediated the relationship between father closeness and suicidal ideation. CONCLUSIONS: The findings implied that mother closeness had stronger correlation with adolescents' suicidal ideation compared to father closeness, while self-efficacy plays an important role in the relationship between parental closeness and suicidal ideation. Prevention and intervention efforts by practitioners dealing with adolescents' mental health issues, specifically on suicidal ideation, should seriously consider providing them with skills to enhance mother-adolescent relationship and their self-efficacy.

Problem-Solving Skills and Suicidal Ideation Among Malaysian College Students: the Mediating Role of Hopelessness.

OBJECTIVE: Recent evidence suggests that suicidal ideation has increased among Malaysian college students over the past two decades; therefore, it is essential to increase our knowledge concerning the etiology of suicidal ideation among Malaysian college students. This study was conducted to examine the relationships between problem-solving skills, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation among Malaysian college students. METHODS: The participants included 500 undergraduate students from two Malaysian public universities who completed the self-report questionnaires. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling estimated that college students with poor problem-solving confidence, external personal control of emotion, and avoiding style were more likely to report suicidal ideation. Hopelessness partially mediated the relationship between problem-solving skills and suicidal ideation. CONCLUSION: These findings reinforce the importance of poor problem-solving skills and hopelessness as risk factors for suicidal ideation among college students.

Problem-solving skills appraisal mediates hardiness and suicidal ideation among malaysian undergraduate students.

OBJECTIVES: Recent evidence suggests that suicidal ideation is increased among university students, it is essential to increase our knowledge concerning the etiology of suicidal ideation among university students. This study was conducted to examine the relationships between problem-solving skills appraisal, hardiness, and suicidal ideation among university students. In addition, this study was conducted to examine problem-solving skills appraisal (including the three components of problem-solving confidence, approach-avoidance style, and personal control of emotion) as a potential mediator between hardiness and suicidal ideation. METHODS: The participants consisted of 500 undergraduate students from Malaysian public universities. RESULTS: Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) estimated that undergraduate students with lower hardiness, poor problem-solving confidence, external personal control of emotion, and avoiding style was associated with higher suicidal ideation. Problem-solving skills appraisal (including the three components of problem-solving confidence, approach-avoidance style, and personal control of emotion) partially mediated the relationship between hardiness and suicidal ideation. CONCLUSION: These findings underline the importance of studying mediating processes that explain how hardiness affects suicidal ideation.

Negative automatic thoughts as a mediator of the relationship between depression and suicidal behaviour in an at-risk sample of Malaysian adolescents.

BACKGROUND: This study examined the mediating role of negative automatic thoughts in the relationship between depression and suicidal behaviour in a sample of at-risk Malaysian adolescents. METHOD: A total of 1441 adolescents were initially recruited via multistage cluster sampling. Subsequently, 294 at-risk adolescents were selected for further analyses through a specified cut-off score. RESULTS: The results showed significant positive relationships among the study variables. Specifically, negative automatic thoughts emerged as a significant mediator in the relation between depression and suicidal behaviour (z = 7.15, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that depressed adolescents are at high risk for a host of negative thought processes which in turn lead to suicidal behaviour. The study limitations and recommendations for further research are discussed.

Problem-solving skills and hardiness as protective factors against stress in Iranian nurses.

Nursing is a stressful occupation, even when compared with other health professions; therefore, it is necessary to advance our knowledge about the protective factors that can help reduce stress among nurses. The present study sought to investigate the associations among problem-solving skills and hardiness with perceived stress in nurses. The participants, 252 nurses from six private hospitals in Tehran, completed the Personal Views Survey, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Problem-Solving Inventory. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyse the data and answer the research hypotheses. As expected, greater hardiness was associated with low levels of perceived stress, and nurses low in perceived stress were more likely to be considered approachable, have a style that relied on their own sense of internal personal control, and demonstrate effective problem-solving confidence. These findings reinforce the importance of hardiness and problem-solving skills as protective factors against perceived stress among nurses, and could be important in training future nurses so that hardiness ability and problem-solving skills can be imparted, allowing nurses to have more ability to control their perceived stress.