Behaviour and Emotional Health of Adolescent Boys Engaged in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents has become a rising concern worldwide and a risk factor for suicide. There is a noticeable rise in number of children who attempted or committed suicide in past few years in Pakistan. However, not much attention has been paid to identify and target risk factors. A preliminary survey was conducted to assess nature of risk factor for NSSI and significance of main study. Participants were 12-17 years old boys (N=104) from schools of Islamabad. The variables of interest were assessed through The Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Assessment Tool (NSSI-AT), Abbreviated Dysregulation Inventory (ADI), Depression Scale for Adolescents (DSA), Peer Relations Questionnaire (PRQ) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Findings revealed that 34.6% adolescent boys were engaged in NSSI. Participants who reported self-harm had significantly high levels of distress, conduct problems, emotional, and behavioral dysregulation. Findings manifest the need to identify significant risk factors of NSSI among adolescents

Psychological Distress Experienced by Women with Primary Infertility in Pakistan: Role of Psycho-Social and Cultural Factors

This study aims to examine the predictive role of psycho-social factors in psychological distress among women with primary infertility and to explore the nature of mental pressures faced by these women. A sample of 200 women with primary infertility was recruited from various infertility clinics in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. A demographic sheet, Urdu versions of General Health Questionnaire, Couple’s Satisfaction Index-4 (CSI-4) a Self-Report Questionnaire (SCQ) were used to assess psychological distress, marital satisfaction, personal and other family members’ desire for child, available social support, and nature of mental pressures faced by women. About 82% of these women reported distress. The standard multiple regression analysis showed that low marital satisfaction (β =-0.716; p<0.001); woman’s non-work status (β =0.183; p<.001) and high personal desire to have child (β =0.136; p=0.006) were significant predictors. Low social support from mother-in-law (β = 0.286; p<0.001) and high personal (β = -0.188; p<.01) and husband’s desire to have child (β = -0.288; p<.001) influenced marital satisfaction. Besides factors such as criticism, loneliness, inquiries made by other people, fear of husband’s second marriage, quarrelsome in-laws were reported as stressors. Women with primary infertility are at increased risk to experience psychological distress attributable to several social and cultural factors

Assessing suboptimal health status in the Saudi population: Translation and validation of the SHSQ-25 questionnaire

Background: Suboptimal Health Status (SHS) is realised as a vital feature for improving global health. However, the Arabian world does not have a validated instrument for screening SHS in their population. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of Arabic-translated SHS (ASHSQ-25) in the Saudi Arabian population. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among the conveniently sampled 1590 participants from the Saudi population (with a 97.4% response rate). The data was gathered through an online survey and then exported into SPSS and AMOS version 26.0 for analysis. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to identify the median difference between demographic groups. The one-tailed 90% upper limit of SHS scores was chosen as the cut-off criteria for SHS. Reliability and confirmatory analysis were performed for the psychometric evaluation of ASHSQ-25 in the Saudi Arabian context. Results: This study demonstrates that the ASHSQ-25 has good internal consistency, interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.92; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.91-0.93) and reliability (Cronbach\u27s α = 0.92). The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results indicated a good fit of the databased on the CMIN/degrees of freedom (df) = 4.461, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.94, Tucker Lewis index (TLI) = 0.93, and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = 0.05. The result factor loadings for each item were high ( ≥ 0.55), except for one item from the immune system subscale. The SHS cut-off point for ASHSQ-25 was 33, leading to a 23.7% prevalence of SHS. Conclusions: This study reveals that ASHSQ-25 has appropriate internal consistency and structural validity to assess SHS in an Arabic-speaking population; therefore, it is recommended

Effectiveness of human mobility change in reducing the spread of COVID-19: ecological study of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Non-pharmacological interventions including mobility restriction have been developed to curb transmission of SARS-CoV-2. We provided precise estimates of disease burden and examined the impact of mobility restriction on reducing the COVID-19 effective reproduction number in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study involved secondary analysis of open-access COVID-19 data obtained from different sources between 2 March and 26 December 2020. The dependent and main independent variables of interest were the effective reproduction number and anonymized mobility indices, respectively. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between the community mobility change and the effective reproduction number for COVID-19. By 26 December 2020, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia reached 360,690, with a cumulative incidence rate of 105.41/10,000 population. Al Jouf, Northern Border, and Jazan regions were ≥2.5 times (OR = 2.93; 95% CI: 1.29–6.64), (OR = 2.50; 95% CI: 1.08–5.81), and (OR = 2.51; 95% CI: 1.09–5.79) more likely to have a higher case fatality rate than Riyadh, the capital. Mobility changes in public and residential areas were significant predictors of the COVID-19 effective reproduction number. This study demonstrated that community mobility restrictions effectively control transmission of the COVID-19 virus

Using Spiritual Connections to Cope With Stress and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, stress and anxiety were pervasive among the masses due to high morbidity and mortality. Besides the fear of coronavirus was also particularly driven by social media. Many people started to look for faith and spiritual connections to gain comfort. The role of spiritual ties and religious beliefs in relation to coping with pandemic stress has acquired the attention of researchers in some parts of the world. This cross-sectional survey aimed at assessing the intensity of stress and anxiety symptoms experienced by people and how much they were alleviated by employing spiritual connections. The study sample comprises 795 respondents with 52% males and 48% females living in Saudi Arabia. The brief online study questionnaire collected data about background variables, anxiety and stress scale from DASS-21, and items from the WHOQOL (SRBP) instrument assessed the use of spiritual beliefs to cope. Multiple regression models were tested to determine the role of spiritual connections after adjusting demographic variables. Results illustrated that after adjusting for gender and age, participants’ anxiety symptoms decreased by (β = −0.27; p = 0.000) units with each unit increase in the use of spiritual connections, and participants’ stress symptoms reduce by (β = −0.36; p = 0.000) units with each unit increase in coping with spirituality. Additionally, females’ risk to experience anxiety and stress symptoms was more than males [(β = 0.88; p = 0.01) and (β = 0.92; p = 0.000)], respectively. An increase in age decreases the likelihood of experiencing anxiety symptoms and stress symptoms by (β = −0.75; p = 0.02) and (β = −0.11; p = 0.000) units, respectively. Findings support the protective role of spiritual connections despite small beta coefficients. The social and cultural context in Saudi Arabia favors deep-rooted connections with spirituality and faith. Our findings support the fact that the reliance on spiritual connections helped older people to deal with exaggerated fear during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and reduces the risk of experiencing anxiety and stress symptoms. Females and younger participants were relatively vulnerable to developing these symptoms. We discussed these findings considering some recent studies that reported similar relationships and made recommendations for future research

Coverage of Pakistani tribal areas conflict: Prospects of peace journalism

Conflict coverage of Pakistani tribal areas from two Pakistani English-language newspapers demonstrated significance of variations on indicators of war and peace journalism. Overall, the mean on war journalism was significantly higher than peace journalism. Despite dissimilar newspapers’ ideologies, the reporting patterns were the same across newspapers. The mean differences within war journalism were significant across events and types of stories. The findings discussed in the light of theory and context suggested areas of interventions for peace journalism. The dominance of peace journalism indicator, “causes and consequences”, is promising in a way to create a space for analysis of the conflict dynamics

Behaviour and Emotional Health of Adolescent Boys Engaged in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among adolescents has become a rising concern worldwide and a risk factor for suicide. There is a noticeable rise in number of children who attempted or committed suicide in past few years in Pakistan. However, not much attention has been paid to identify and target risk factors. A preliminary survey was conducted to assess nature of risk factor for NSSI and significance of main study. Participants were 12-17 years old boys (N=104) from schools of Islamabad. The variables of interest were assessed through The Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Assessment Tool (NSSI-AT), Abbreviated Dysregulation Inventory (ADI), Depression Scale for Adolescents (DSA), Peer Relations Questionnaire (PRQ) and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Findings revealed that 34.6% adolescent boys were engaged in NSSI. Participants who reported self-harm had significantly high levels of distress, conduct problems, emotional, and behavioral dysregulation. Findings manifest the need to identify significant risk factors of NSSI among adolescents

Knowledge about stem cell sources and obstacles in donation of bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cells: a cross-sectional survey from Ha’il city to track the prospects of regenerative medicine in Saudi Arabia

Abstract Background Promoting stem cell donation behaviors could be crucial in advancing stem cell-based treatment, research and improving public health in Saudi Arabia. Donation of stem cells can be considered an act of social welfare just like blood donation because stem-cell-based therapies are emerging as a hope for those suffering from chronic health conditions and/or terminal illnesses. Aim This study aims at assessing levels of awareness about sources of stem-cells, donor organizations and predictors of stem cell donation behavior in target population. Methods The study employed a cross-sectional online survey method. The study sample comprises 1325 educated Saudi people living in Ha’il city. The survey questionnaire collected data about respondents’ demographic background, awareness about various sources of stem cells and stem-cell donor registries, willingness to donate stem cells, registration status and obstacles in stem cell donation registration. Percentages, Chi-square analysis and Odd Ratios were computed to analyze the data. Results In this sample, (n = 696; 52%) were males and (n = 629; 48%) were females. Although (n = 1308; 98%) percent of respondents reported willingness to donate stem cell, less than one percent (n = 6; 0.5) were registered with Saudi Stem Cell Registry. Over 50% of respondents hold inaccurate perceptions about sources of stem cell. Odd Ratio (OR) values from binary logistic regression model identified four factors as significant predictors of non-registration status. These included (i) unaware about donor agencies and procedures (OR = 10.07; p < 0.05), (ii) unaware about possibility to donate stem cells (OR = 8.08; p < 0.05) (iii) concerns about impact on health (OR = 10.01; p < 0.05) and (iv) have health issues that does not permit donation (OR = 10.50; p < 0.05). Conclusion Stem cell registrations can be enhanced through appropriate health education programs that focus on increasing awareness about donation procedures, trustworthy donor organizations and reducing people apprehensions related to donation

Psychological Distress Experienced by Women with Primary Infertility in Pakistan: Role of Psycho-Social and Cultural Factors

This study aims to examine the predictive role of psycho-social factors in psychological distress among women with primary infertility and to explore the nature of mental pressures faced by these women. A sample of 200 women with primary infertility was recruited from various infertility clinics in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. A demographic sheet, Urdu versions of General Health Questionnaire, Couple’s Satisfaction Index-4 (CSI-4) a Self-Report Questionnaire (SCQ) were used to assess psychological distress, marital satisfaction, personal and other family members’ desire for child, available social support, and nature of mental pressures faced by women. About 82% of these women reported distress. The standard multiple regression analysis showed that low marital satisfaction (β =-0.716; p<0.001); woman’s non-work status (β =0.183; p<.001) and high personal desire to have child (β =0.136; p=0.006) were significant predictors. Low social support from mother-in-law (β = 0.286; p<0.001) and high personal (β = -0.188; p<.01) and husband’s desire to have child (β = -0.288; p<.001) influenced marital satisfaction. Besides factors such as criticism, loneliness, inquiries made by other people, fear of husband’s second marriage, quarrelsome in-laws were reported as stressors. Women with primary infertility are at increased risk to experience psychological distress attributable to several social and cultural factors

Utilization of maternal healthcare services in women experiencing spousal violence in Pakistan: A comparative analysis of 2012-13 and 2017-18 Pakistan Demographic Health Surveys.

BackgroundPakistan and other developing countries need to address disparities in maternal health care and factors associated with it. This justifies tracking the progress on two important indicators 'spousal violence' and 'maternal health care utilization' to improve maternal health and achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for these nations.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to compare the data from the latest two Demographic Health Surveys of Pakistan to identify trends in prevalence of various forms of spousal violence and maternal healthcare utilization and to determine the predictive role of spousal violence in poor maternal health.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis of nationally representative data from the 2012-13 and 2017-18 PDHS. The data used in this analysis is from the domestic violence module and core women's questionnaire. Spousal violence and sociodemographic background were predictor variables. Terminated pregnancy, number of pregnancy losses, number of antenatal visits for last birth and institutional delivery for last birth were taken as indicators of maternal health. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to test for association between maternal health indicators and various forms of spousal violence after controlling for sociodemographic variables.ResultsAlmost one quarter of women experienced physical and emotional violence as revealed by both surveys. Binary analysis revealed that all forms of spousal violence significantly associate with maternal health variables in both surveys. The comparison of results on logistic regression analysis showed that odd ratios were relatively higher for 2012-13 as compared to 2017-18 PDHS. Logistic regression analysis from 2017-18 data showed that experience of less severe physical violence (OR = 1.26; 95% CI, 1.08-1.47), severe physical violence (OR = 1.41; 95% CI, 1.09-1.83), sexual violence (OR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.02-1.89), physical violence during pregnancy (OR = 1.37; 95% CI, 1.07-1.76) augment the risk of terminated pregnancy. Emotional violence decreases the likelihood for institutional delivery (OR = 0.64; 95% CI, 0.45-0.93) and above than four antenatal visits (OR = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.37-0.79).ConclusionsStrategies to prevent spousal violence should be at the core of maternal health programs because health sector provides a platform to challenge social norms and promote attitudes that disapprove spousal violence which are essential for promoting gender equality, women empowerment (SDG 3) and improve maternal health (SDG 5)