Mental health conceptualization and resilience factors in the Kalasha youth: An indigenous ethnic and religious minority community in Pakistan

The Kalasha are a religious, ethnic, and linguistic minority community in Pakistan. They are indigenous people living in remote valleys of the Hindu Kush Mountains in northern Pakistan, neighboring Afghanistan. The Kalasha are pastoral, as well as agricultural people to some extent, although they are increasingly facing pressures from globalization and social change, which may be influencing youth and community development. Their traditional world view dichotomizes and emphasizes on the division of the pure (Onjeshta) and the impure (Pragata). There remains a scarcity of literature on mental health and resilience of indigenous communities in South Asia and Pakistan generally, and the polytheistic Kalasha community specifically. Thus, the current study was conducted with the aim to explore the cultural protective factors (resilience) of the Kalasha youth (adolescents and emerging adults) and to explore their perceived etiological understandings and preferred interventions for mental health support systems. The theoretical framework of Bronfenbrenner's (1, 2) ecological systems model was used. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was conducted, considering the advantage of its idiographic approach and the “double hermeneutic” analytic process. This methodology was consistent with the aim to understand and make sense of mental health and resilience from the Kalasha indigenous perspective. A total of 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with adolescents and emerging adults (5 males, 7 females), along with ethnographic observations. The analysis revealed 3 superordinate themes of mental health perceptions and interventions, each with more specific emergent themes: (1) Psychological Resilience/Cultural Protective Factors Buffering Against Mental Health Problems (Intra-Communal Bonding & Sharing; Kalasha Festivals & Traditions; Purity Concept; Behavioral Practice of Happiness and Cognitive Patterns); (2) Perceived Causes of Mental Health Issues (Biological & Psychosocial; Supernatural & Spiritual; Environmental); and (3) Preferred Interventions [Shamanic Treatment; Ta'awiz (Amulets); Communal Sharing & Problem Solving; Medical Treatment; Herbal Methods]. The overall findings point to the need for developing culturally-sensitive and indigenous measures and therapeutic interventions. The findings highlighted the Kalasha cultural practices which may promote resilience. The findings also call for indigenous sources of knowledge to be considered when collaboratively designing public health program

Functional and dysfunctional impulsivity mediates the relationships between ‘Dark Triad’ traits and cyberbullying perpetration

Background: Cyberbullying perpetration and victimisation have been associated with psychological distress, including depression and suicidal ideation. Prior studies have shown that the ‘Dark Triad’ personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) are associated with greater likelihood of perpetration, yet there is a research gap regarding potential mediators of this relationship. Aims: To test whether functional and dysfunctional impulsivity act as mediators between Dark Triad traits and cyberbullying perpetration. Methods: A cross-sectional online study was conducted, in which a sample of 141 university students (63% male) from Malaysia were recruited by online and local poster advertising inviting them to complete a questionnaire containing a series of psychometric scales, including measures of ‘Dark Triad’ personality traits, impulsivity and cyberbullying perpetration. Results: A relationship between cyberbullying perpetration and higher psychopathy scale scores was mediated by dysfunctional, but not functional, impulsivity. The relationship between cyberbullying and narcissism scores was not mediated by impulsivity. Higher Machiavellianism scores were similarly associated with cyberbullying, but there was no correlation at all between Machiavellianism and impulsivity scores. Conclusion: Our findings add to the literature by showing that not only Dark Triad scale scores are associated with cyberbullying, but that difficulty in refraining from or controlling impulsive behaviours (dysfunctional impulsivity) may be a key component in this relationship. Given that our sample was of generally well-functioning people, our findings may not extend to those with serious cyberbullying problems. Yet, they provide avenues for identifying people at risk of such behaviours before problems become well-established and call for more nuanced approaches towards understanding and intervening with problematic cyberbullying

Being cut off from social identity resources has shaped loneliness during the coronavirus pandemic: A longitudinal interview study with medically vulnerable older adults from the United Kingdom

Loneliness is a pernicious problem in older adulthood, associated with physical decline and isolation from valued social groups. However, the long‐term evolving experiences of ageing, identity and loneliness have yet to be elucidated. We use a Qualitative Longitudinal Research interview approach with nine vulnerable older adults (Agemean = 79.4 years), in which five participants were interviewed twice between 2019 and 2020, and four participants were interviewed at three‐time points from 2019 to 2021. This study aims to understand the unfolding experiences of ageing, social identity and loneliness during a prolonged period of social isolation during the Coronavirus pandemic. A theoretically guided thematic analysis highlights that participants initially experience ‘Categorisation as Vulnerable and Loss of Agency’ and ‘Shrinking Social Worlds’, leading to ‘Undermining of Reciprocal Support’ and ‘Fears of Persistent Loneliness’. Findings suggest that interventions to ameliorate loneliness among older adults would benefit from addressing age‐based stereotypes and emphasising the value of reciprocal contributions that older adults can make to their networks, as well as scaffolding and enhancing social identification with new groups. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement

“We are the soul, pearl and beauty of Hindu Kush Mountains”: exploring resilience and psychological wellbeing of Kalasha, an ethnic and religious minority group in Pakistan

The Kalasha are a marginalized ethnic and religious minority group in northern Pakistan. The Kalasha minority is known for their divergent polytheistic beliefs, and represents the outliers of the collectively monotheistic Muslim population of Pakistan. This study aimed to explore the psychological resilience beliefs and lived experiences of the Kalasha and to identify cultural protective factors and indigenous beliefs that help them maintain psychological wellbeing and resilience. Seven semi-structured interviews and two focus-group discussions were conducted. The total sample consisted of 6 women and 8 men, aged 20–58 years (Mage = 36.29, SD = 12.58). The Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis qualitative method was chosen. Study findings identified that factors contributing to the wellbeing, happiness and resilience enhancement beliefs of Kalasha included five main themes, all influenced by their unique spirituality: contentment, pride in social identity, tolerance, gender collaboration and gratitude. The study also revealed the Kalasha’s perception of their marginalization related to challenges and threats. The Kalasha emphasized bringing these resilience enhancement beliefs into practice, as a mean to buffer against challenges. In conclusion, this study revealed Kalasha’s wellbeing and resilience enhancement factors, which they believed in and practiced as an element of their indigenous culture and religion

Family centredness and democratisation across cultures and generations : investigation of the impacts of macro- and individual-level factors

What are the factors that shape views and attitudes toward the family, and how are these views and attitudes influenced in changing cultures? Do culture, social change/economic development, childhood experiences, and gender influence family centredness and democratisation? Are there different levels of factors that impact on family centredness and democratisation? If so, how are these factors interlinked? The studies discussed in detail in this thesis investigated family perceptions across cultures and generations, looking closely into specific aspects of family views and attitudes and various factors that impact on them. This thesis attempts to answer these questions by conducting three experiments. Study I (described in Chapter 3), which was conducted in Hungary, South Korea, and Canada (total N=403), tested a hypothesised model based on the literature review (Chapter 2). The study looked at cultural differences in family centredness and democratisation, and the impact of cultural orientation, gender, economic growth (national-level), Postmodernist Values, and political beliefs on perceptions of family centredness and democratisation. Study II (described in Chapter 4), conducted in the US and South Korea amongst young individuals in their late teens or early twenties, and their parents' generations, mostly in their forties and fifties (total N= 230). It expanded on the model by adding Schwartz' value dimensions, self-beliefs, and broader aspects of family perceptions. Furthermore, Study II investigated the intergenerational differences and the impact of childhood experiences by comparing data from two generational groups. Study III (Chapter 5) was conducted in four cultures, Canada, Britain, South Korea, and Japan on 539 university students, in order to ascertain cultural influences on values, beliefs, and family centredness and democratisation. Study III also investigated the interlinks between the factors in each culture more specifically using multi-group analysis method in SEM (Structural Equation Modelling). The final chapter summarises and discusses the implications of the major findings from these studies, and makes note of possible methodological issues. Overall, cross-cultural differences in value priorities, self-beliefs, political beliefs, and perceptions of family centredness and democratisation were found. Generation/age, country-level economic growth and gender were significant predictors for values, beliefs and family views and attitudes discussed in this work. Women and younger generations were more likely to endorse the Autonomous-Related Self-belief, believe in the importance of family democratisation. Stronger belief in the Autonomous-Related self led to higher emphases on family centredness and democratisation. Significant relationship was also found between family centredness and democratisation and individual-level values and beliefs, where stronger democratic beliefs led to stronger belief in the importance of family democratisation, higher endorsement of Self-Transcendence values predicted higher levels of family centredness and democratisation, and stronger Consevation Values predicted higher level of family centredness. By investigating factors influencing family centredness and democratisation, the current work probed into the family in the contemporary world. In line with Kagitcibasi's new model of family change, this thesis demonstrates that certain features of family views and relationship, including perceptions of family centredness, are likely to persist, and contends the individualisation theorists' (e.g., Beck, 1997; Giddens, 1992) negative predictions for the future of the family.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Moral concerns through the lens of culture: Responding to intergroup-level authority decisions

We consider cultural differences in how moral concerns can shape responses to intergroup- level authority decisions – that is, decisions that allocate outcomes between different groups. We hypothesised that at the individual level, moral foundations may predict how people respond to authority decisions that either favour or disfavour their group, and that this relationship would be different depending on culture. The extent to which those values lead to the expected responses to authority decisions was investigated in two samples of students in Northern Ireland and Malaysia (N = 318). Participants read about two government decisions to distribute prestigious internships between their own and another university (in favouring or disfavouring ratios) and responded to scales measuring their decision acceptance and perceptions of fairness. We found that moral concern for authority - but not loyalty or fairness - predicted how students responded to authority decisions. However, cultural context moderated this effect. For Malaysian students, higher moral concern for authority predicted less preference for the pro-ingroup authority decision, whereas for the Northern Irish sample, the reverse was true. Thus, we demonstrate that the understanding of values is culture-specific and can translate to the opposing behaviours, depending on the context