PERSONALITY TRAITS AS DETERMINANTS OF STRESS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN ANAMBRA STATE

The purpose of this study is to find out whether personality traits such as achievement drive, high competitive tendency, high level of anxiety and self concept are determinants of occupational stress. The study was guided by four hypotheses. The population of the study covered all the 6,036 teachers in 265 public secondary schools in the state. The sample consisted of 1,000 teachers made up of 450 males and 550 females; drawn through multi-stage sampling technique. The instrument for the study was a structured questionnaire tagged ‘Personality Traits and Stress’ (PTS) which was duly validated. Mean and t–test were used for data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that teachers with high achievement drive exhibited a significantly higher level of stress than those with low achievement drive; teachers with high competitive tendency exhibited a significantly higher level of stress than those with low competitive tendency; teachers with high level of anxiety exhibit a significantly higher level of stress than those with low level of anxiety; teachers with a low self– concept exhibit a significantly higher level of stress than teachers with high self–concept. Based on the findings it was recommended among others that teachers should be exposed to stress management techniques through seminars and workshops

PERSONALITY TRAITS AS DETERMINANTS OF STRESS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN ANAMBRA STATE

The purpose of this study is to find out whether personality traits such as achievement drive, high competitive tendency, high level of anxiety and self concept are determinants of occupational stress. The study was guided by four hypotheses. The population of the study covered all the 6,036 teachers in 265 public secondary schools in the state. The sample consisted of 1,000 teachers made up of 450 males and 550 females; drawn through multi-stage sampling technique. The instrument for the study was a structured questionnaire tagged ‘Personality Traits and Stress’ (PTS) which was duly validated. Mean and t–test were used for data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that teachers with high achievement drive exhibited a significantly higher level of stress than those with low achievement drive; teachers with high competitive tendency exhibited a significantly higher level of stress than those with low competitive tendency; teachers with high level of anxiety exhibit a significantly higher level of stress than those with low level of anxiety; teachers with a low self– concept exhibit a significantly higher level of stress than teachers with high self–concept. Based on the findings it was recommended among others that teachers should be exposed to stress management techniques through seminars and workshops

Restorative Justice: Psychological Needs of Offenders and Implications for Safety & Security

Crime creates psychosocial needs for victims, offenders, and communities where they occur—whether it is homogeneous or heterogeneous. Unfortunately, the criminal justice system does not recognize and take steps to meet these needs. This failure stems from a mischaracterization of the state or government as the crime victim. Our contention is that this problem also emerges from the theoretical groundswell that posits that offender must pay for his or her crime through incarceration. The result of this skewed perception of crime and victimhood has not deterred crime as evidenced by the high rate of recidivism. Certainly, crime-created psychological and social needs, also referred to in this analysis as psychosocial needs, do exist. The overarching question for this analysis is: Does the traditional criminal justice system meet these requirements? Contrarily, the restorative justice system is a method of justice administration that focuses on meeting the psychosocial needs of victims, offenders, and communities. The goal of restorative justice may be realized through victim-offender conference, family group conference, and peacemaking circles. Our findings revealed that these programs are effective because their success is supported by factors such as high rate of participation; the satisfaction of victims, the offenders and the communities where the crime occurred; as well as the programs’ popularity

Knowledge, perception and willingness to receive the current COVID-19 vaccine among residents of Awka metropolis, Anambra State, Nigeria

Background: Vaccines can effectively reduce most morbidities and mortalities caused by infectious agents. The emergence of the COVID-19 vaccine may be accompanied with huge success in containing the pandemic. The aim of the study was to assesses knowledge, perception and willingness to receive the current COVID-19 vaccine among residents in Awka metropolis, Anambra State, Nigeria.Methods: Using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire, this study was conducted in Awka metropolis Anambra State, Nigeria among 393 respondents (aged 18 years and above), and analyzed to assess their knowledge, perception and willingness to receive the current COVID-19 vaccine. Statistical package for social sciences software (SPSS) version 23.0 was used, descriptive statistics were reported in frequencies and percentages, Chi-square test was used to assess the association between socio-demographic characteristics and willingness to receive the vaccine, and level of significance was set at p<0.05.Results: The results showed that all respondents (100%) have good knowledge of the vaccine availability. Only 25.7% were willing to receive the vaccine, although 57.3% were willing to receive any other vaccine apart from the COVID-19 vaccine. Very few respondents (18.3%) thinks the vaccine is accessible to all. Most of the respondents (72%) did not support mandatory implementation of COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria. Among the socio-demographic characteristics, only occupation was significantly associated with willingness to receive the vaccine (p=0.010, χ2=20.214).  Conclusions: This study highlighted the need to effectively educate the masses through appropriate public health literacy programs and enlightenment campaigns on the role of the vaccine in curbing this pandemic

Academic Adjustment Amongst First Year Undergraduate Students at Anambra State University, Uli, Nigeria

A successful academic adjustment of first year students to the university will enable them complete their studies. The work examines the academic adjustment amongst first year students in Anambra State University, Uli (ANSU). Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided to study. Stratified random sampling technique was used to draw a sample size of 498 first year students. Mean and t-test were used in analyzing the data obtained through questionnaire. Results showed that majority of first year students have high level of academic adjustment. It was also found that students who receive academic advising are more academically adjusted than those who do not. Further, the study revealed that there is significant difference in academic adjustment between males and females. The study also showed that there is significant difference between those who received academic advising and those who do not. It was therefore recommended that counselors should increase the level of publicity of guidance and counseling programmes in the universities and should emphasized the need of academic advising during orientation. Further, the university administrators should plan academic intervention programme for students who have low academic adjustment.Keywords: academic adjustment, undergraduate, studentsLWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research, 9(3), 49-56, 201

Global, regional, and national deaths, prevalence, disability-adjusted life years, and years lived with disability for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are common diseases with a heterogeneous distribution worldwide. Here, we present methods and disease and risk estimates for COPD and asthma from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) 2015 study. The GBD study provides annual updates on estimates of deaths, prevalence, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), a summary measure of fatal and non-fatal disease outcomes, for over 300 diseases and injuries, for 188 countries from 1990 to the most recent year. METHODS: We estimated numbers of deaths due to COPD and asthma using the GBD Cause of Death Ensemble modelling (CODEm) tool. First, we analysed data from vital registration and verbal autopsy for the aggregate category of all chronic respiratory diseases. Subsequently, models were run for asthma and COPD relying on covariates to predict rates in countries that have incomplete or no vital registration data. Disease estimates for COPD and asthma were based on systematic reviews of published papers, unpublished reports, surveys, and health service encounter data from the USA. We used the Global Initiative of Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease spirometry-based definition as the reference for COPD and a reported diagnosis of asthma with current wheeze as the definition of asthma. We used a Bayesian meta-regression tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, to derive estimates of prevalence and incidence. We estimated population-attributable fractions for risk factors for COPD and asthma from exposure data, relative risks, and a theoretical minimum exposure level. Results were stratified by Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite measure of income per capita, mean years of education over the age of 15 years, and total fertility rate. FINDINGS: In 2015, 3·2 million people (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 3·1 million to 3·3 million) died from COPD worldwide, an increase of 11·6% (95% UI 5·3 to 19·8) compared with 1990. There was a decrease in age-standardised death rate of 41·9% (37·7 to 45·1) but this was counteracted by population growth and ageing of the global population. From 1990 to 2015, the prevalence of COPD increased by 44·2% (41·7 to 46·6), whereas age-standardised prevalence decreased by 14·7% (13·5 to 15·9). In 2015, 0·40 million people (0·36 million to 0·44 million) died from asthma, a decrease of 26·7% (-7·2 to 43·7) from 1990, and the age-standardised death rate decreased by 58·8% (39·0 to 69·0). The prevalence of asthma increased by 12·6% (9·0 to 16·4), whereas the age-standardised prevalence decreased by 17·7% (15·1 to 19·9). Age-standardised DALY rates due to COPD increased until the middle range of the SDI before reducing sharply. Age-standardised DALY rates due to asthma in both sexes decreased monotonically with rising SDI. The relation between with SDI and DALY rates due to asthma was attributed to variation in years of life lost (YLLs), whereas DALY rates due to COPD varied similarly for YLLs and years lived with disability across the SDI continuum. Smoking and ambient particulate matter were the main risk factors for COPD followed by household air pollution, occupational particulates, ozone, and secondhand smoke. Together, these risks explained 73·3% (95% UI 65·8 to 80·1) of DALYs due to COPD. Smoking and occupational asthmagens were the only risks quantified for asthma in GBD, accounting for 16·5% (14·6 to 18·7) of DALYs due to asthma. INTERPRETATION: Asthma was the most prevalent chronic respiratory disease worldwide in 2015, with twice the number of cases of COPD. Deaths from COPD were eight times more common than deaths from asthma. In 2015, COPD caused 2·6% of global DALYs and asthma 1·1% of global DALYs. Although there are laudable international collaborative efforts to make surveys of asthma and COPD more comparable, no consensus exists on case definitions and how to measure disease severity for population health measurements like GBD. Comparisons between countries and over time are important, as much of the chronic respiratory burden is either preventable or treatable with affordable interventions. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation