Adolescents and self-hurt behaviour: a study among adolescents in Penang

The adolescence stage is described as the “storm and stress” stage because despite rapid growth in the physical body, adolescents are emotionally vulnerable. In the ever changing and diverse society, adolescents need to handle challenges and problems of family, school, and friends. Emotional or mental pain could cause many side effects. One of the side effects is adolescents trying to hurt themselves when they cannot handle problems. Concern about young people engaging in self-hurt behaviour has prompted many researchers to carry out studies in the west. In Malaysia, the subject of self-hurt is taboo, and self-hurt is still not an easy topic to discuss publicly. Even though Malaysia has a relatively young population as compared to the west, little of the aetiology of self-hurt among young population has been researched. To date, the state of well-being of our adolescents is uncertain. This study is therefore carried out using an instrument named Self-Hurt Assessment to investigate whether self-hurt problems exist among 602 school-going adolescents aged 13-16 in 12 schools in the state of Penang, Malaysia. The results and the implications are discussed

Understanding the Two Sides of Online Counseling and their Ethical and Legal Ramifications

AbstractThe rise of the Internet has drastically changed the means by which people obtain information and communicate in the Malaysian society. The Internet has become possibly the most popular medium to connect with others particularly through social networking tools, like Facebook, Twitter and other. For the field of counseling, the Internet offers a new way to reach, facilitate and communicate with individuals who need help from all over the world. Little is known, however, about the implications of interacting with clients online. The purpose of this writing, therefore, is to address the possible advantages and disadvantages of online counseling, as well as ethical and legal considerations in the use of online counseling by summarizing the past research. Additionally, suggestions for better practice are also discussed so that counselors and therapists are able to have a better preparation before practicing online counseling. Overall, this writing has several important implications for counseling practitioners in Malaysia and beyond. It contributes to a better understanding of the role of the Internet in counseling practice in an increasingly electronic world

A perspective on Freud's theories in relation to self-harming behaviour

Self-harming is intentional self-destructive behaviour, although it is not necessarily suicidal. It is common not only in the West, but also in oriental countries like Malaysia. Many people question why adolescents harm themselves intentionally nowadays? What actually motivates them to do so? This conceptual paper explains the reasons behind such actions based on Freud’s theories. According to Freud, the constructs of id, ego and superego interact to form a person’s character. The id is our instinctual drive that ignores consequences when it acts, while the ego is our common sense faculty, responsible for working out proper plans that are acceptable to society. The superego is moralistic; its role is to prevent the id from prevailing when it thinks that it is wrong. In daily life, individuals strive to achieve homoeostasis whenever pain occurs through the distribution of these energies. As adolescence is a stage of overwhelming experience, in order to release the tension that arises, the id leads us into instinctual desire and problematic behaviour, such as self-harming. It is only through rigorous training that the ego can function well and overcome the driving force of the id to avoid any problematic behaviour. When the superego leads, adolescents will be seen as rigid and cannot tolerate any flaws in their life. In order to have a balanced and healthy personality, adolescents need to have a good blend of these three constructs. Thus, understanding what lies behind an action can enable us to have a deeper understanding of why adolescents engage in self-harming behaviour

The mediating effects of resilience in the relationship of sexual involvement and romantic relationship dissolution

Romantic relationship dissolution (RRD) can be perceived as an upsetting or momentous event and the most stressful and unsettling events that one can encounter in life. The aim of this study to investigate the relationship between sexual involvement in a relationship and romantic relationship resolution and the role of resilience as mediators of this relationship. Two hundred ninety-three emerging young adults (ages 18 to 29) from Klang Valley have participated in this study. The present study used the Resilience Scale (RS), the Core Bereavement Items (CBI), and demographic information items. Obtained results indicated a significant difference in sexual involvement in a relationship on the level of reactions to romantic relationship dissolution. The sexual involvement in the relationship was positively and significantly correlated with romantic relationship dissolution. Specifically, sexual involvement was negatively correlated with resilience, which was, in turn, negatively associated with romantic relationship dissolution. Additionally, results also show that mediation effect for sexual involvement in resilience to romantic relationship resolution was significant. The practical implications for helping professionals were also discussed in this work

“Am I matter for others?” A study on mattering among students in a public university

University mattering is a type of societal mattering where students feel they matter when the people in a university knows about them, when the people reacts to their requirements, and when students can make a positive contribution to others. According to Rosenberg and McCullough (1981), mattering consists of four distinct elements which include awareness, importance, reliance, and ego-extension. Mattering had not much local study and it’s not very popular across the local research. Thus, the researcher decided to conduct this study to access university mattering. This study is designed to investigate the level of mattering among public university students. By using the Revised University Mattering Scale (RUMS) to measure the mattering level of 214 respondent. Descriptive analysis and inferential analysis are utilized in the process of analysis of the data. The result shows the overall level of mattering among university students are above average. In addition, the level of mattering among females are slightly higher than males, and the undergraduates’ mattering level is higher than the postgraduates. These findings are consistent with the results of the previous study

Self-Concept, Attitudes Toward Career Counseling, and Work Readiness of Malaysian Vocational Students

The authors examined the relationship between self‐concept, attitudes toward career counseling, and work readiness among 574 Malaysian vocational students. Attitudes toward career counseling have been studied in Western cultures; however, little is known about how career counseling is perceived in Eastern cultures. Attitudes toward career counseling were examined as a potential mediator of the relationship between self‐concept and work readiness. The authors applied structural equation modeling to explain these relationships. Value of career counseling was found to significantly mediate the link between self‐concept and work readiness. Results supported a direct relationship between positive self‐concept and work readiness skills. This may be due, in part, to a heightened value of career counseling among vocational students that increases career awareness and thus enhances work readiness. Future research could include samples with more female participants and additional constructs, such as self‐efficacy and career adaptability

Testing and assessment for career guidance and counseling in school setting

Schools offer a transition to the job world so that the individual can contribute to peace and harmony in the family, society as well as the country. The career planning of individuals should start when they are in school because school is a place for developing talent, ability, potential and personality. Testing and Assessment is an important part for Career Guidance and Counselling in the school setting. Testing and assessment is essential in helping the career exploration process, especially in the process of self-understanding, to access the strengths and weaknesses, as well as to explore the potential of students. The use of psychological test enables the career counselor to gather useful information about the students and to help them in their career development especially in making career decisions. Assessment procedures used in career development programming and career counseling can be classified as objective, qualitative, and clinical. Objectives and qualitative assessment approaches are basic to career counseling and development. Clinical assessment is often based on a combination of objective and qualitative assessment as well as the counselor's hunches about the client. Throughout the history of the career counseling and development movement, objective or standardized tests have been emphasized. Schooling time is an important time for students start to decide on career matters. Thus, it can be said that the testing and assessment is a "tool" for the school counselor in career guidance and counseling

Counselling the stressed for psychological wellbeing

The political, social and economic milieu in Malaysia has put many people in tight situations to make ends meet while maintaining their sanity. The struggles and hardships when become chronic will have a negative impact on their psychological wellbeing. The constant and sometimes abrupt changes can throw people off balance and breed stress, anxiety and tension. During this turbulent and uncertain situation, it is believed that counselling services could help the people to manage their life situations amicably despite the adversity faced. Based on extensive literature review, this article deliberates on the stressors, counselling philosophy and ways counselling services could contribute in helping people to pull through their difficult and challenging situations and at the same time monitor and maintain their mental health level. It is believed that the deliberations have contributed to the understanding of counselling services in Malaysia that should be fully utilized by those in need of the services

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta