Bahria Journal of Professional Psychology

23-41

Authors: Jawwad Muhammad Shujaat, Dr. Seema Gul and Muhammad Dr. Tahir Khalily

The present study is based on the Theory of Sense of Coherence. Sense of coherence is the ability of individuals to cope with stress and ensure health during traumatic life incidents. The study examined the moderating role of resilience between sense of coherence and psychological problems including depression, anxiety, stress and PTSD among the victims of suicide bombing. Moderating effect of the domains of resilience including trait and state resilience was also examined. The study comprised of a purposive sample of the victims of suicide bombing (N = 300) with age ranges from 30 to 45 years (M = 12.23, SD = 6.73) further divided along gender lines. Data was taken using Sense of Coherence Scale, Trait-State Resilience Inventory, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale and Impact of Events Scale. Hierarchical regression revealed that resilience significantly moderated the relationship between sense of coherence and psychological problems including depression, anxiety and stress among victims of suicide bombing. More specifically, resilience moderated between sense of coherence and PTSD among victims of suicide bombing. Trait and state resilience also moderated between sense of coherence and psychological problems among victims of suicide bombing. Similarly, trait and state resilience also moderated between sense of coherence and PTSD. The study confirmed that the interacting effect of the sense of coherence and resilience on reducing psychological disorders resulted from a severe traumatic experience. The study also shed light on the dual functions of resilience―an ability to recover from trauma and stressful incidents of life. Along with sense of coherence, the moderating effect of resilience inbuilt in an individual’s personality (trait resilience) as well as the resilience gained to respond to a trauma (state resilience) remained helpful in reducing the resultant psychological disorders emerging as an aftermath of becoming victims of suicide bombings in Pakistan.

63-76

Authors: Naima Fatima Shariff and Prof. Dr. Zainab F. Zadeh Ali

Positive psychology interventions have long been used in the West to increase the overall happiness or subjective well-being of individuals (Mendelsohn, 2008) and have also found to be effective however; this form of treatment has largely been neglected in the East reference. The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficacy of positive psychology interventions on the subjective well-being of institutionalized abandoned and orphaned females. It was hypothesized that positive psychology interventions would increase the subjective well-being of institutionalized, abandoned and orphaned females. The participants of the study included N=30 orphaned and abandoned females who were approached through convenient purposive sampling technique from two private orphanages of Karachi. The age range of the participants was from 13-19 (M=14.15) years and their stay at the institute was 5-7 (M=5.7) years long. In a pre-post quasi experimental design, the participants received pre-test followed by 6 group sessions of positive psychology interventions then a post-test. The pre-posttests were conducted to test the efficacy of the interventions, which were comprised of the Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience. The findings of the paired samples t-test revealed that positive psychology interventions are significantly effective in increasing the subjective well-being of institutionalized abandoned and orphaned females. The current study has significant implications in the field of clinical, developmental and positive psychology in the indigenous context.

91-105

Authors: Erum Kausar and Dr. Zainab Hussain Bhutto

Current research is intended to see the efficacy of the integration of spirituality and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) in reducing depression in patients with cardiac illnesses. The hypothesis under consideration is that there will be a significant differences in the level of depression experienced by patients with cardiac illnesses before and after the integrative treatment of spirituality and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). This study included (N =05) cardiac patients including females (n = 02) and males (n = 03) from a private hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. The age of patients ranged between 36-59 years (M = 49.00, SD = 9.62). Depression in Chronic Illnesses Scale (Yaseen, 2014) was used in the pre-and-post intervention stages to test the efficacy of the treatment applied. This study utilized a Twelve Sessions (1 session per week) manualized treatment approach that focuses on spiritual growth and decreasing depression through a Spiritually Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT; Good, 2010) for the treatment of depression in patients with cardiac illnesses. Results of the paired sample t-test revealed significantly large differences in pre-post assessment(r=3.82). Patients in post-test significantly exhibited lower level of depression as compared to the pre-test results. In conclusion, this study can provide guidelines to mental health practitioners to decrease or prevent depression among cardiac patients. Furthermore, awareness programs can be started to educate patients about depression at the very initial stages of diagnosis of medical illness.