The relationships between procrastination and motivational aspects of self-regulation

Many students in Malaysia are affected by procrastination. This study examines the relationship between academic procrastination and the motivational aspects of self-regulation. A sample, consisting of 310 undergraduates from two Universities in Perak, Malaysia, was recruited to complete a modified version of the Procrastination Assessment Scale for Students (PASS) and the Academic Motivation Scale – College (AMS-C 28). Interviews and focus groups were conducted to obtain details of social environments that contributed to students’ procrastination in the engagement of academic activities. Results indicated that there was a significant negative correlation between academic procrastination and the intrinsic motivation. A significant positive correlation was found between academic procrastination and extrinsic motivation. The identified motivation style under the extrinsic categories was found to be most frequently used. The findings from qualitative data analysis gave explanations for the quantitative findings. Implication were discussed in the context of Malaysia where students always internalised parents’ and society’s expectations in their academic careers

Dilemmas or no dilemmas: The role and experience of eleven counsellors working in the Singapore secondary school system

The role definition of school counsellors has always presented a variety of difficulties. This is especially true when changes occur because of local counselling movements or educational reforms which are closely linked to the contextualized socio-economic or political agenda. This is well documented in the literature. This study is an attempt to make a critical enquiry into the ways in which school counsellors describe and experience their role working in the Singapore secondary school system. It is essentially exploratory and qualitative in nature. The aim of this study is to explore the internal landscape, their feelings and thoughts; their perceptions about their roles and work, and to examine the factors that contribute to their role descriptions and experience. The unique environmental factors that shaped and define their role and experience will be explored. In-depth face to face interviews were carried out with the eleven participants involved in this study, two sessions for each participant. An adapted grounded theory methodology was used to guide the data collection and data analysis process. The findings show that the role experienced by the 11 counsellors was less restricted to role-base and operates on a flexible role description regime. Most counsellors described their role as being defined by pupils' profiles, and by the counselling approach they used. These interviews revealed that role and job scope were ill defined, there was a mis-match of expectations held by the counsellors and within the overall educational climate, and some uncontrollable factors from the wider environment were found. The emergent over-arching theme of dilemmas was identified and factors that enable and inhibit the role of the counsellors as described by the participants were also highlighted. As a result of this study, an ecosystemic approach is proposed

Refugee Children in Malaysia: Perceptions of Family and Coping Mechanisms

The percentage of refugee children in Malaysia has been growing in recent years with a rise of more than 9000 in less than 3 years. More than 51,000 of the 164,620 documented refugees in 2019 are below the age of 18 years. Refugee children are often marginalized in society making them vulnerable and requiring special assistance in meeting their educational needs, mental health care and socio-emotional wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to discover the perceptions of refugee children regarding family life and their emotional and coping mechanisms. Employing the Collage Life-Story Elicitation Technique (CLET) and a discovery-oriented narrative approach, 25 refugee children at a non-governmental educational center in Kuala Lumpur were interviewed. The findings from an in-depth thematic analysis revealed that these refugee children perceived their families as having gone through separation and disruption resulting in isolation, loneliness and being powerless in the host country. Their coping mechanisms included help offered by enabling adults, teachers seen as angels and other wise people from the community who were their sources of strength. They strived for a better future through being brave and independent. We also discuss the need for more humanitarian programs and support for this group of vulnerable children in Malaysia

THE MENTAL HEALTH OF ADOLESCENT REFUGEES IN MALAYSIA

As of June 2017, 24.8 % of the 149, 200 reported refugees in Malaysia aged 18 years and below and of that figure, 33% were females. There has been little research into the mental well-being of the refugee adolescents. This cross-sectional survey study examined the differences in stress, anxiety, and depression faced according to gender and whether there is any association between them. 104 refugee adolescents from four non-governmental organization educational centers participated in the study. The Depression, Anxiety, Stress scale 21 was used to measure the severity of the core symptoms of depression. The results showed that females have significantly higher stress, anxiety and depression compared to that of males at p<.001. Generally,the refugee has mild to normal stress as compared with anxiety and depression where a significant majority of those aged  14-27 years experienced severe to extreme severe anxiety with a moderate level of  depression.  A further analysis found that severe stress positively associated with anxiety and depression. Insights into the stress, anxiety and depression experienced by refugee adolescents are crucial towards understanding the mental health of young refugees. The current study may benefit mental health workers and humanitarian agencies to address and improve the mental health of refugees, regardless of any labels attached to them.&nbsp

Developing a Psychosocial Recovery Model for Depressed Young People in Malaysia Using an Adapted Grounded Theory Approach

Depression has become a severe health concern and there is an alarming rise in the depression rate in Malaysia. The main objective of this study is to investigate the role of psychosocial aspects in the depression recovery process among young people in Malaysia. We aimed to develop a depression recovery model from a psychosocial aspect. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 participants aged 18 to 40. The recruitment of participants was through referral from clinical settings and snowball sampling via online advertisements. This case study sheds light on our understanding of depression recovery from a non-biomedical model. In this case, we share the challenges faced when conducting this study and how we overcame them by adopting openness and flexibility. Other relevant issues will be discussed, namely, ethical consideration when research participants were researchers’ students or patients, sensitivity needed when conducting interviews related to mental health issues, dealing with the seemingly contradictory issue of non-assumption when adopting a grounded theory approach in research, and integration of the personal experience of recovery into the existing normative definition of recovery

Spirituality, religiosity, and the quality of life among elderly adults in Malaysia

Malaysian older adults will be accounted for 10% of the population by 2020 as the consequence of the global ageing demographic revolution. Malaysian studies showed poor quality of life (QOL) among Malaysian older adults despite their long life expectancy. Studies showed the positive relationship between religiosity, spirituality, and QOL. However, previous studies did not distinguish spirituality from religiosity and it has presented insufficient persuasiveness of findings. This study aims to investigate spirituality and religiosity as the predictors for QOL. Quantitative and cross-sectional survey designs were used in this study. 180 participants from aged 60 to 88 were recruited. This study used multiple linear regression analysis to examine the predictors of religiosity and spirituality on QOL. The result showed only spirituality predicted QOL among elderly adults, but not religiosity. The findings of the study implied the importance of internalising spiritual virtues instead of focusing on religious activities which may not improve QOL among older adults significantly

English teachers’ perceptions of project-based language learning in secondary schools in Ningbo China

The perceptions of language teachers on project-based language learning (PBLL) is important as negative perceptions will affect the adoption and promotion of PBLL in a particular English learning context. The educational culture of basic English education in mainland China is teacher, classroom, textbook and examination-oriented which is opposite to the principles of conducting PBLL, which may cause negative perceptions among language teachers of PBLL. Therefore, this study adopts a mixed methods approach in the investigation of English teachers’ perceptions of PBLL in 9 secondary schools in Ningbo China. A questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews were employed to gather the relevant data from 265 English teachers. The results of data indicate that: (1) PBLL can be promoted in secondary schools in Ningbo further due to the positive perceptions of PBLL of most of English teachers, but it is proper for English teachers to take PBLL as a supplement to the traditional classroom instruction in English; (2) the educational culture may affect the perceptions of language teachers of PBLL to some extent, but it is not a determinant factor; (3) the social environment factor may affect language teachers’ perceptions of PBLL, such as the economic development and the English education quality of a district

Guidance for the prescription of human immunodeficiency virus pre-exposure prophylaxis in Singapore.

10.11622/smedj.2022043Singapore Med

Brown Adipose Tissue, Adiposity, and Metabolic Profile in Preschool Children

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society.Context: An inverse relationship between brown adipose tissue (BAT) and obesity has previously been reported in older children and adults but is unknown in young children. Objective: We investigated the influence of BAT in thermoneutral condition on adiposity and metabolic profile in Asian preschool children. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 198 children aged 4.5 years from a prospective birth cohort study, Growing Up in Singapore Towards Healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) were successfully studied with water-fat magnetic resonance imaging of the supraclavicular and axillary fat depot (FDSA). Regions within FDSA with fat-signal-fraction between 20% and 80% were considered BAT, and percentage BAT (%BAT; 100∗BAT volume/ FDSA volume) was calculated. Main Outcome Measures: Abdominal adipose tissue compartment volumes, ectopic fat in the soleus muscle and liver, fatty liver index, metabolic syndrome scores, and markers of insulin sensitivity. Results: A 1% unit increase in %BAT was associated with lower body mass index, difference (95% CI), -0.08 (-0.10, -0.06) kg/m2 and smaller abdominal adipose tissue compartment volumes. Ethnicity and sex modified these associations. In addition, each unit increase in %BAT was associated with lower ectopic fat at 4.5 years in the liver, -0.008% (-0.013%, -0.003%); soleus muscle, -0.003% (-0.006%, -0.001%) of water content and lower fatty liver index at 6 years. Conclusions: Higher %BAT is associated with a more favorable metabolic profile. BAT may thus play a role in the pathophysiology of obesity and related metabolic disorders. The observed ethnic and sex differences imply that the protective effect of BAT may vary among different groups.Peer reviewe