The influence of locus control on adherence to treatment regimen among hypertensive patients

Obiageli Omeje, Chinenye NeboDepartment of Psychology, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, Enugu State, NigeriaBackground: The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of locus of control on adherence to a treatment regimen among hypertensive patients.Methods: The participants were 100 previously diagnosed hypertensive patients drawn from the Ituku-Ozalla University of Nigeria teaching hospital, using a purposive sampling technique. All participants were individually administered the Wallston, Wallston & Devellis (1978), Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scale, and Drug Adherence Questionaire (DAQ) by the researchers. A one-way factorial design and analysis of variance with unequal sample sizes were used to analyze the data.Results: Internally-oriented patients adhered more to their treatment regimen than externally-oriented patients, F(1.98) = 18.2 (P < 0.01).Conclusion: Locus of control should be taken into consideration in the review of treatment packages for patients. This is because the efficacy of drugs depends to a reasonable extent on adherence to the schedule. If drugs are not taken as prescribed, their potency may be affected or wrongly assessed.Keywords: locus of control, adherence, treatment, hypertensio

Effect of herbicide (primextra) on tissue cholesterol level in Clarias Gariepinus juvenile

Juvenile Clarias gariepinus were exposed to sub lethal concentrations (0.04, 0.06 and 0.10μg/L) of primextra for 21 days in a static renewal bioassay system. The changes in the tissue cholesterol concentrations were determined every seven days. The result showed that primextra had adverse effect on the tissue cholesterol levels in C. gariepinus. When compared with the control, the liver and muscle cholesterol concentrations were significantly (P>0.05) elevated due to primextra exposure. However, the kidney cholesterol levels in the primextra-exposed fish were lower (P > 0.05) than the control. The cholesterol concentrations in the treatment groups were also different (P<0.05).Generally, the liver and muscle cholesterol concentrations increased with duration of exposure. The induction of hypercholesterolemia in both the muscle and the liver and hypocholesterolemia in the kidney of the treated fish are indications of dysfunctional lipid physiological processes occurring in the fish due primextra exposure.Keyword: Primextra, Clarias gariepinus, Cholesterol, Kidney, LiverAnimal Research International (2012) 9(1): 1524 – 152

The Influence Of Locality On Relapse Among Schizophrenic Patients

This study examined the influence of locality on the relapse rate among schizophrenic patients in Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu. 120 participants made up of 60 males and 60 females were used. The 60 males comprised 30 highly educated and 30 less educated while the females were made up of 19 highly educated and 41 less educated. 52 participants were drawn from the rural residence while 68 were from the urban residence.  All the participants were treated at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) key, Fishzbein & Oplar (2004) was used to assess the rate of relapse among the schizophrenic patients. Factorial design was used. The data collected was analysed using the One-way Analyses of variance (ANOVA). The result show significant main influence of locality on relapse, F(1, 113)=41.340, P<0.001. These results were discussed with its implication to the health of the patient, the family and society at large. Suggestions and recommendation for further studies made

Parental monitoring and parenting styles as predictors of deviant behaviour among undergraduate students

The study investigated parental conflict and parenting style as predictors of undergraduate students, one hundred and fifty-six (156) undergraduate students with mean age of 19.16 and SD of 1.895 were drawn using multi-stage (cluster, simple random: by balloting and purposive) sampling techniques as participants from Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu. Deviant Behaviour Variety Scale (DBVS; Sanches et al., 2016), Baumrid (1971) Parental care scale and Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale (CPIC) (Grych, Seid, &Fincham, 1992) were used for data collection, a correlational design was adopted, while multiple hierarchical linear regression using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 27 software was used for data analysis. Finding shows that parental conflict (self-blame Stβ= -.009 and t= -.037, conflict properties Stβ= -.095 and t= -.394 and threat Stβ= .301 and t= 1.159 at p< .05) did not predict deviant behaviour among undergraduate student, Parenting style (authoritarian parenting Stβ= .425 and t= 1.861, permissiveness parenting Stβ= .019 and t= .100 and authoritative parenting Stβ= -.098 and t= -.433 at p < .05) did not predict deviant behaviour among undergraduate student. Hence, clinical psychologist and care givers should derive a means to handle the onset of deviant behaviou

Core self-evaluation and loneliness as predictors of internet addictions among undergraduate students

The study investigated core self-evaluation and loneliness as predictors of internet addiction among undergraduate students, two hundred and forty-seven (247) undergraduate students which comprised 139 females and 108 males with a mean age of 21.76 and SD of 5.07 were selected using multi-stage (cluster, simple random: by balloting and purposive) sampling techniques as participants from Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu. Young (1998a) internet addiction test (IAT), Judge et al., (2003) Core Self Evaluation Scale (CSES) and Russell, Peplau, and Ferguson, (1978) UCLA Loneliness Scale were used for the gathering of data, correlational design was adopted, while hierarchical multiple regression using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 25 was used for data analysis. Finding revealed that core self-evaluation did not predict internet addict at sig.= .836 which is higher than the threshold of at p< .05, loneliness also failed to predict internet addiction at sig. 556 which is higher than the value of at p< .05. The two independent variable shows no relationship with the dependent variable at r= .1(r= .079), both core self-evaluation and loneliness contributed 0% to the variation of internet addiction at r2= .006, both independent did not jointly predict internet addiction at sig. .752, which is higher than the threshold of at p< .05. Therefore, it is important to encourage students to develop a strong sense of core self-evaluation, as it can help them regulate their internet use and prevent addiction

Social support as a correlate of depression among people living with HIV and AIDS in Nigeria

Background: Depression is a highly prevalent mental disorder among PLHIV, whilst social support is important in disease prevention, health promotion, therapeutic measure especially for PLHIV. Objectives: To ascertain the different types and sources of social support and their association with depression among PLHIV in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: The study was a correlation with 2515 PLHIV in three teaching hospitals in South-Eastern Nigeria. Data were collected between January to June, 2019 through interviews, using socio-demographic and Clinical Form and a Social Support Scale for PLHIV. SPSS-20 used for data analysis. Results: It was shown that average scores of instrumental and emotional social supports (IESS) were satisfactory and not influenced by sex (p = 0.894; p = 0.496), education (p = 0.805; p = 0.182), marital status (p = 0.076; p = 0.446) and length of antiretroviral therapy (p = 0.510; p = 0.136). People diagnosed for less than three years had more instrumental support (p = 0.05) than those diagnosed over three years. The regression score also revealed a high predictive power of IESS on depression of PLHIV. Conclusion: PLHIV have satisfactory social support, especially from family not residing in the same household and emotional social support from friends. Analyses identified knowledge gaps in the community regarding the social support received by PLHIV and their depression symptoms

The moderating role of resilience in the relationship between marital stress and depression

The study investigated the moderating role of resilience in the relationship between marital stress and depression among married teachers, with one hundred thirty-five (135) married teachers that comprises of 102 females and 33 males with an age mean of 32.20 and S.D 3.81 selected as participants using multi-stage (cluster, simple: balloting, and purposive) sampling techniques. Zung (1965) Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Omoluabi (1994) marital stress Inventory (MSI) and Connor and Davidson (2003). Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) were used for data collection, a cross-sectional survey design was adopted, while a moderated hierarchical multiple regression was used for data analysis. The finding shows that marital stress St= .551*** and t= 7.608*** at p< .001 positively predicted depression, Resilience St= -.517*** and t= -6.962*** at p< .001 negatively predicted depression among school teachers and Resilience St= -.748***and t= -7.178*** at p< .001 negatively moderated the relationship between marital stress and depression. Hence, school management can consider hiring psychologists to work with teachers to improve their resilience or educate them on the importance of resilience in managing depression

Expanded-multidimensional turnover intentions: scale development and validation

Abstract Background This study aims to provide researchers and practitioners with a more elaborate instrument to measure turnover intentions based on the planned behaviour theory model. The questionnaire assesses 5 distinct aspects of turnover intentions (i.e., subjective social status, organisational culture, personal orientation, expectations, and career growth). Methods In this cross-sectional study (comprise of 2 studies in one) a wave survey design was applied to a large diversity of workers drawn from the staff of universities, banks, hospitals, factories, and telecommunication companies. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was applied the identify the sub-dimensions and Cronbach’s alpha to assess the reliability of the first study. In the second study, for the Confirmatory factor analysis to establishing structural model of the dimensions. Results We demonstrate the reliability, factor structure, and validity evidence based on internal structure and relationship with other variables of the new measure among two samples (N1 = 622; N2 = 433). Twenty-five items with 5 factors were extracted to represent a broader perspective of turnover intention scale. Conclusions In total, the study indicates that the assessment can be used to reliably assess several major indicators of turnover intentions. Therefore, improved employees’ evaluations and reduced loss of valuable staff as a result of avoidable measures in considering the interests of workers