Bahria Journal of Professional Psychology

1-19

Authors: Jawaria Shaukat, Nida Zafar and Rukhsana Kausar

The present paper investigated relationship between self-compassion and positive psychological functioning, i.e., hope, gratitude and psychological well-being, in women with primary and secondary infertility. It was hypothesized that there is likely to be a relationship in self-compassion and positive psychological functioning in women with infertility; self-compassion, hope and gratitude are likely to predict psychological well-being of women with infertility; and there is likely to be difference in self-compassion and positive psychological functioning in women with primary and secondary infertility. A sample of 60 women with infertility (n=30 with primary infertility; n=30 with secondary infertility) was taken from Hameed Latif Hospital and Tariq Clinic, Lahore, Pakistan. For assessment Self-Compassion Scale by Neff (2003a), Hope Trait Scale by Snyder, Irving, and Anderson (1991), Gratitude Scale by McCullough, Emmons, and Tsang (2002) and Psychological Well Being Scale by Ryff (1989) were used. Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Hierarchical Regression and Independent Sample t test were applied. Results indicated a significant relationship of self-compassion with psychological well-being of women. Results showed that self-compassion (isolation and mindfulness) predicted psychological well-being (personal growth) after controlling the effects of demographic characteristics. Moreover, women with secondary infertility were more self–compassionate (over identification) and had better psychological well-being (environmental mastery) as compared to women with primary infertility. Findings have important implications for infertile women to enhance their psychological well-being by highlighting the importance of positive thinking.

32-43

Authors: Sarwat Sultan, Rizwana Amin and Muhammad Shahzad Naseem

This study intended to explore effects of students’ anxiety that they experience towards math and perceived teachers’ social support on their achievement towards math. Participants were 345 elementary school students (157 female and 188 male students) aged 12-14 years. Participants were approached through convenient sampling technique at their schools in Vehari city. Math anxiety and perception about instructor’s support were measured through Math Anxiety Questionnaire (Wigfield & Meece, 1988) and Teacher Social Support Scale (Malecki, Demaray, & Elliot, 2000) respectively. Students’ performance score in mathematics in their annual examination was used as math achievement. Employing Pearson Correlation and Regression Analysis, results revealed that math achievement was found with inverse relationship with math anxiety while was found positively correlated with teachers’ support. Findings further indicated that students’ anxiety towards math and perception of teacher’s social support were found significant determinants of achievements in math. On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that teachers should provide support, autonomy, and empowerment to their students because the students’ perception about their teachers always affect their performance in the course to be learnt.

55-69

Authors: Sadiq Hussain and Ghulam Rasool Lakhani

Keeping in view the importance of psychological adjustment in students’ academic achievement this research was conducted to assess the predictive power of psychological adjustment for students’ academic achievement. A total of 171 (85 male & 86 female) students between the ages of 17-35 years (M = 22.08, SD = 2.7) were recruited from Karakoram International University, Gilgit, Pakistan. The adult version of Personality Assessment Questionnaire along with the obtained marks in last semester of the students was recorded to assess their academic achievement. Results showed that students’ psychological adjustment was significantly related with their academic achievement. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that only students’ negative self-adequacy, a subdomain of psychological adjustment, independently predicted their academic achievement. Additionally, gender differences were also found in emotional instability and academic achievement.

1-21

Authors: Ishrat Rizwan and Erum Irshad

The study was carried out to investigate suicide risk among HIV/AIDS individuals in comparison with HIV negative individuals. The sample of the present study comprised of two hundred participants (N = 200), including two groups: hundred people diagnosed as HIV positive, and hundred people diagnosed as HIV negative. In both groups, male and female adults were ranging in ages between twenty to fifty years with educational background of primary, intermediate and above, from Peshawar and Islamabad. The Suicide Probability Scale and a self-constructed structured interview was administered individually and sought out demographic information from the participants. This helped in the collection of qualitative data pertaining to their physical illness as well as the extent of their emotional disturbance. t-test analysis was carried out to analyze the data. Results indicated significant differences among people diagnosed as HIV positive and people diagnosed as HIV negative on the suicide probability scale (t = 8.534, df = 196, p<.001). It is concluded that the rate of suicide risk was high in people diagnosed as HIV and AIDS. These research findings have implications for endorsing attention to mental health provision, emotional support and social context. Limitations of the present study were also discussed.

48-71

Authors: Hadia Serwat Pasha and Seema Munaf

The association between global self-esteem and overall adjustment and the association between identity integration and institutional attachment/commitment was examined in traditional and mature university students. 165 students of first semester Masters (83 traditional and 82 mature) from six universities participated in this study. Traditional students were 21-23 years of age (M = 22, SD = .73), with a linear pattern of education without any gap, whereas mature students were aged 25 years or older (M = 31, SD = 7.42), and had returned to their education after a gap of minimum two years. The Multi-dimensional Self-Esteem Inventory, and Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire were administered for assessment. Bivariate analysis of the scores of students on these scales indicated a significant positive relationship between global self-esteem and overall adjustment for both groups, whereas identity integration correlated significantly and positively with institutional attachment/commitment for mature students but not for traditional students. Related factors for these findings and their implications are discussed in the last section of the study.

90-104

Authors: Rizwana Zahid Siddiqui and Munazza Mehmood Qureshi

The purpose of the study was to assess the level of executive functioning between two psychiatric disorders; schizophrenia and bipolar. It was hypothesized that executive functioning will be more impaired in patients with schizophrenia as compared to patients with bipolar disorder. The sample comprised of 120 participants; including 60 individuals with schizophrenia and 60 with bipolar disorder. The ages of the participants ranged between 18 to 35 years. In order to collect data the purposive sampling method was used. A demographic information form was used to determine the pre-requisite information and selection criteria for the research. To assess the executive functioning, cognitive symptoms checklist (CSC) was used. The data was collected from different psychiatric hospitals in Karachi city. For the statistical analysis, a t- test was computed to find out the difference between the two groups. Results indicate significant difference between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients [t = 4.059, df = 118, p < 0.05]. Moreover mean scores showing more impairment in executive functioning among the schizophrenic patients (M = 26.05) as compared to patients with bipolar disorder (M = 14.17).