An Assessment of Customer Satisfaction with GSM Service Quality in Cross River State, Nigeria

This Study investigated the satisfaction of customers with the quality of services delivered by GSM firms operating in Cross River State. The purpose was to determine the influence of network quality, service charge, customer care support as independent variables on the dependent variable (Customer satisfaction). A conceptual model of customer satisfaction was developed for this study. Three hypotheses was formulated and tested for this study. Primary data were collected from 300 GSM subscribers drawn proportionally across the three geo-political zones of Cross River State. The questionnaire were validated through face, construct and content, and used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained through split-half reliability estimate. The data were descriptively analyzed using tables and figures, while the Pearson product moment was adopted to test the hypotheses. It was found that all the research variables (network quality service charge and customer care support) had a high correlation with customer satisfaction. Arising from these finding, it was recommended that mobile operators should make a conscious effort to upgrade their mobile service equipment symbolic in their telecommunication services, by investing in the necessary material(s) that could boost call quality and coverage. It is also relevant that all the elements in a service quality programme be strictly implemented to the later. Assurance, reliability, empathy, tangibles, and responsiveness are equally important in satisfying customers Keywords: customer satisfaction, service quality, service charge, customer care and GSM service

Development and preliminary validation of aculture-bound somatic symptom scale

Background: Culture specific psychosomatic symptoms such as “internal heat” are a common manifestation of psychological distress among Nigerians. However, instruments that include them in diagnostic endeavour are scarce.Aim: To develop and validate a new self-rating questionnaire based on psychosomatic symptoms peculiar in the local context, for the screening of Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) in Nigeria.Method: A preliminary stage which involved a review of the Enugu somatization scale (ESS), focus group discussion with Consultant psychiatrists and pretesting with 25 patients yielded an eight-item scale which was then tested in a two stage study. In the first stage, 230 subjects were recruited from patients attending the general outpatient clinic of the University of Calabar Teaching hospital using systematic sampling. The 8-item scale as well as the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was then administered. One hundred and thirty one subjects comprising those with positive scores on the GHQ-12 and a fifth of those with negative scores underwent a clinical interview to determine a diagnosis of somatic symptom disorder (SSD) following Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM 5) criteria. Data was analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22.Results: The 8-item scale had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.78 with a sensitivity of 0.79, a specificity of 0.72 and a misclassification rate of 28% at an  optimized cut off of 3. Higher scorers on the scale were more likely to be cases at interview X2= 14.22 p < 0.001Conclusions: The 8 item Culture Bound Somatic Symptoms scale can be a useful screen for somatic symptom disorder among patients with culture specific psychosomatic symptoms. Further validation studies are however needed to reassess its psychometric properties.Key-words: Psychosomatic, culture bound, internal heat, validation, scal

Government Policy Requirements and Personal Considerations as Determinants of Organizational Buying Behaviour

This study examined the impact of government policies and personal consideration factors as determinants of organizational buying behaviour in a developing economy. Using survey data from 321 respondents in the three categories of organizational consumers based in the southern senatorial district of Cross River State, the study shows that although government policy requirements and personal interest factors directly influence organizational buying behaviour, later emerged as having the stronger influence. Our finding also suggest that producers and suppliers of industrial products would derive greater patronage and benefit in exploring and sustaining personal relationships with members of buying centres, besides considering government policy requirements on purchasing. Keywords: Government policy requirements, personal interest factors and organizational behaviour

Personality and Consumer Behaviour: A Review

The trust of this paper was to show the relevance of the development of the theories of personality to an understanding of consumer behaviour. The development and limitations of the psychodynamic theory, trait theory, behavioural theory, humanistic theory and the socio-cognitive theory were analyzed. The paper looked at the relevance of these theories to buying behaviour of consumers and examined some empirical studies that have established linkage between personality and consumer behaviour and some that failed to. The paper concludes that the theories are relevant to an understanding of the complex behaviour of consumers, information which have been successfully applied in development of marketing strategies. The paper also conclude that the low correlation between personality and consumer behaviour recorded by some researchers is due mainly to their failure to approach their studies outside the context of psychology from where the concept of personality was borrowed and also the problem of definition of the constructs. Keywords: personality, consumer behaviour, psychodynamic, traits, behavioural, humanistic, socio-cognitive,

Approximate Solutions of the Non-Relativistic Schrödinger Equation with Inversely Quadratic Yukawa plus Mobius Square Potential via Parametric Nikiforov-Uvarov Method

We study Schrödinger equation for inversely quadratic Yukawa plus Mobius square potential using the generalized parametric form of Nikiforov-Uvarov method. We obtain energy eigenvalues and the corresponding normalized wave function expressed in terms of the hypergeometric functions. Three special cases of this potential have been discussed. Numerical values of the energy eigenvalues are also computed for various states. Keywords: Approximate solutions, Schrödinger equation, Nikiforov-Uvarov method, inversely quadratic Yukawa potential, Mobius square potentia

Educational attainment and screening potential of the 12 item general health questionnaire: a reassessment

Introduction: The General health Questionnaire (GHQ) is the most popular instrument for screening psychopathology globally. It is widely used locally and has been translated into a few Nigerian languages. Research on the relationship between educational attainment and the screening ability of the English version among Nigerians is scanty.Aims: This study aims to determine the effect of educational attainment on the screening potential of 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) among persons in Ilupeju, Lagos.Methodology: A random sample of 399 participants was drawn from worshipers from some churches in Ilupeju in Lagos state. Socio-demographic questionnaire and the English version of the GHQ-12 were administered to the selected church members. Participants who had a GHQ score of 2 or greater than 2 and 20% of those that had a GHQ score less than 2 had Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) administered to them. The data was analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, 21st edition (SPSS-21).Results: The sensitivity and specificity of the GHQ-12 among those who had secondary education or less (non-tertiary) was 82.0% and 64.2% respectively, while the sensitivity and specificity among those who had tertiary education was 89.1% and 81.4% respectively. A comparison of correctly classified and misclassified cases in both groups yielded a statistically significant difference (p=0.04). Subjects with low education were found to be 3.23 times more likely to be misclassified as false positive (95% CI 1.11-9.34, p=0.03) and 2.27 times more likely to be misclassified on the whole (95% CI 1.009-5.107, p=0.04).Conclusion: The performance of the English version of the GHQ 12 is poorer when used among persons with lower educational attainment. Standardization of the GHQ 12 for use among this demographic may need to be given research prioroty in order to improve its screening potential. A locally developed alternative in simplified English may also be considered.Keywords: GHQ 12, Education, Educational level, screening, ValidityRunning Title: Educational attainment and GHQ 1

Coping strategies among patients in a tertiary hospital: associations with quality of life and mental wellbeing

Background: Coping is essential for adjusting to life's stresses to optimize wellbeing. This study examined associations between coping, quality of life, and psychological wellbeing among adult patients seen in the primary care clinic of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, we elicited information from 230 subjects that were selected using systematic sampling. Four instruments were administered: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Coping Strategies Inventory – short form (CSI-SF), the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Bref (WHOQOL-Bref) and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Pearson correlation and logistic regression were done using IBM SPSS version 23.0. Results: Most subjects were less than 30 years old (54.3%) and female (53.0%). Problem-focused engagement positively correlated with all QOL domains and associated negatively with depression (p<0.05). Emotion-focused engagement positively correlated with the psychological and environmental domains (p<0.05). Emotion-focused disengagement negatively correlated with the physical, psychological, and social domains and positively correlated with anxiety and depression (p<0.05). Problem-focused disengagement positively correlated with the psychological domain and negatively correlated with depression (p<0.05). In logistic regression, emotion-focused disengagement was the only predictor of psychiatric diagnosis (OR: 1.05, 95%, CI: 1.01-1.09). Conclusion: Coping strategies are linked to life quality and mental wellness. More research is advocated to explore the observed interrelationship further