PSYCHOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF WELL BEING ... - Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Journal of Research

Vol: I Issue XI, November 2013

ISSN: 2320-5504, E-ISSN-2347-4793

PSYCHOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF WELL BEING AMONGADOLESCENTS Dr. A. Suresh, Scientist, Defence Institute of Psychological Research, R & D Organization,Ministry of Defence,Delhi Malar Jayachander, Counselling Psychologist.St.Stephen’s College, University of Delhi Shloka Joshi, M.A(Final) student, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi ABSTRACT Adolescents develop many habits, patterns of behavior and relationships that affect their future quality of life.Studies exploring self and health belief systems are keys to understanding the challenges to wholesome development of adolescents health status.Psychologicalwell-being has been given special emphasis intheirqualityof life as it consists of meaningfulness and satisfaction in life, emotional stability andhappiness in life. It is essential to help the adolescence to develop skills to handle a wide variety of choices, challenges and stressors in his/her life for better health. This study investigates health related behavior, health locus of control, self-esteem and resilience as predictors of psychological wellbeingamong school and college going adolescents. The study sample consisted of 119 adolescent students from various schools and colleges of Southern India. The sample age ranged between 14 -19 years. Subjects were administered the Health Behaviour scale, Multidimensional health locus of control scale, Resilience scale, self-esteem scale. The collected data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. The results indicated that self-esteem, health locus of control and resilience were effective in predicting psychological well-being of adolescents. On the basis of the finding, it was suggested that teachers should endeavor to teach fundamentals of self-esteem, health locus of control and resilience to the students while school counselors and psychologists should develop programmes to fosterpositive psychological strengthslike resilience, health locusof control and self-esteem. Keywords: Adolescents,Well-being, locus of control, health behavior, self esteem, resilience,

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Well-being as a construct in recent times has sanctioned a flourishing place in the field of psychology and social sciences (e.g. Huppert, 2005; Layard, 2005; Marks & Shah, 2005; Marmot,Ryff, Bumpass, Shipley, & Marks, 1997; Mulgan, 2006). Positive mental health is defined as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” (WHO, 2001). It is seen that focusing on positive concepts like well being, can do to more to diminish mental and behaviouralproblems(Huppert, 2005). Research studies have shown that people high on positive emotions evaluate and perceive others more positively along with being more happy optimistic, confident, productive, socially engaged and tend to have higher incomes.(Forgas, 2002, 2006; Sedikides, 1995; Diener, 2000; Judge,). A study by Kasser and Ryan(1996) showed that enhanced subjective wellbeing was positively correlated with individual personalgoals being more intrinsic in nature. Similarly people high on subjective well being have attritional styles that are more self enhancing than those who are low on subjective well being (Ryan and Deci,2001).The concept of subjective well being holds importance and is a major goal in the lives of individuals (diener 1999) as it not only focuses on strengths, resources, problems and needs but provides a comprehensive picture of health rather than the traditional biological attributionof health. In the rapidly changing world of the 21st century, the adolescents undoubtedly remain the most affected and vulnerable segment of the population.There has been a great deal of interest in the adolescent ill being such a smoking , drinking habits, drug abuse, psychosomatic symptoms, ( Ryff,1995; Heaven,2001).Even WHO expressed concern over adolescentwell being and called for interventions in adolescence health issues. In such a scenario it is importance that the well being aspects of an adolescent‟s life are looked into with a greater seriousness. Historically, it is around the ages 12-13 that children start assuming adult roles and responsibilities. The adolescence phase is marked with constant tension between developing competencies,achieving new milestones, striving for independence, while trying to make one‟s place among new people and having to adapt to a completely different environment.They tend to experiences failure, unhappiness, setbacks, worry, trauma‟s and anxiety which are usually of a much higher gradient than before. While the degrees of these emotions may vary between individuals, they seem to be a pervasive part of every adolescent‟s life. Here is wherethe notion of psychological well being becomes more pronounced. According to Huppert (2005), psychological well being is being able to feel good about oneself and to be able to function effectively. She posits that feeling good needn‟t necessarily mean presence of positive emotions like contentment and happiness but also presence of affection, confidence, interest and engagement. Being able to function effectively includes a range of things like having a sense of control over one‟s life, to be able to exploit one‟s potential, having a sense of purpose in life and experiencing positive relations with others. Bradburn(1969) on the other hand has viewed a person‟s position on the dimension of psychological well being as not just the excess of positive affect over the negative, but also frequency in the experiences of positive affect relative to the negative.

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Results from some cross cultural studies indicate that children with high subjective well being, reported less strain, higher personal control, resorted to higher problem oriented coping and less emotional oriented coping strategies ( Grob et al., 1999). Shapiro, Schwartz and Austin,( 1996) say that belief of individuals about their sense of controllability over what happens to them in their life is a core element into understanding how they live in the world.Primary control or attempting to control through a person‟s direct intervention is associated with the internal locus of control and is seen to be linked with academic success, higher self motivation, social maturity, lower incidence of stress and depression , and longer life span . Secondary control on the other hand is likened to external locus of control where an individual attributes a sense of control to an outside party for being responsible to mediate her emotional responses. People with high application of external locus of control are seen to suffer from higher levels of psychological distress , susceptibility to depression along with poorer responsiveness to anti-depressants and higher rates of suicide (Marks, 1998). Studies have shown that perceived control, intentional activities are very significant drivers of physical and Psychological well being(Diener, 2005).Locus of control has been linked to many developmental outcomes among adolescence like self esteem ,school satisfaction among adolescenceand levels of perceived stress . William James posed that self-esteem was an important contributor to mental healthasit was a product of „perceived competence in domains of importance. Maslow (1954) looks at self esteem as the path towards self actualizationContemporary Psychologists view self esteem as the subjective viewing, evaluating and valuing of oneselfwhich generally is seen to remain more or less static over time. In the study of Chapman and Mullis (1999),analyzed the relation between coping strategies and self-esteem among adolescents and it was found that with a higher self esteem showed much less avoidance coping strategies than children with a low self esteem. A famous study among 675 second-year undergraduate students showed inverse relation between high self-esteem in academic life and stress . Hence people with high self esteem not only display positive emotions like happiness, optimisim but also significantly less of anxiety depression, stress and negative mood (Pyszczynski et al.,2004). Often the consequences of anxiety, loneliness, stress, depression, academic performance underachievement, issues with friends and family, vulnerability to drug and alcohol misuse and other non productive, self destructive behavior can be significantly reduced if a person has a tendency to rapidly cope with these negative effectsandresilience.Resilience refers to the „ability to bounce back „from stressful experiences quickly and effectively while also being able to return to the original level of emotional well being after facing times of adversities (Noble and McGrath 2005,p.749, Carver,1998).According to Zautra, Hall, and Murray (2010), resilience is successful adaptation to adversity.(Yu and Zhang, 2007; Yee Ho, Cheung and Cheung, 2010; Carver, Scheier, and Segerstrom, 2010; Karademas, 2006).Yates and Masten (2004) have observed that many children after having faced adverse experiences were able to return to the normal state of psychological well being. Peoplehighonresilience are also seen as more optimistic when confronted with situations of adversities which in turn leads to a higher psychological well being(Rutter, 2006). There has been ample research that has shown the cyclical relationship between resilience as a contributor to positive experiences and vise versa. Studies show that people high on resilience not only trigger/perpetuate positive emotions like optimisim, creative exploration, humour effective coping and relaxation within themselves but also evoke positive emotions among 122



ISSN: 2320-5504, E-ISSN-2347-4793

others. ( Werner& Smith, 1992;). Fredrickson, B.L. (2004) shows how people high on resilience exhibit faster cardiovascular recovery as a result of negative emotional arousal viza-viz their less- resilient counterparts. So resilience among adolescence is seen as how they recoup from adversities while approaching to a healthy development in spite of risk exposure.There is a shift in the understanding of resilience as a particular trait, to resilience as dynamic process where family, community and other interactive factors gain preeminence. Promoting resilience is therefore important, as it is seen to propel so many other positive outcomes especially in children and adolescence, in a way producing its own domino effect. One of the chief dimension that resilience can strongly impact is an individual‟s health habits. Adolescence is a phase where people are susceptible to many risky health behaviours. Health behaviour is “any activity undertaken by a person believing him or herself to be healthy for the purpose of preventing disease or detecting it at an asymptomatic stage”(Kasl and Cobb, 1966).Brener and Collins (1998) study showed that adolescence aged 14 years did not show any risk promoting behavior while 41% of adolescence aged 14-17 did not engage in health risk behaviours like smoking, alcohol and drug use. The job of the researchesstudying this area is to find out the factors which might affect health behaviours, the process involved in understanding the behavior andmodification of health behaviour in order to optimize healthstatus.Adolescentsdevelop many habits, patterns of behaviour, and relationships that affect their future quality of life. Unfortunately There is an urgent need to provide today‟s youth with a set of ways and skills to deal with demands and challenges of life. It is essential and must to help the adolescence to develop skills to handle a wide variety of choices, challenges and stressors in his/her life and work towards better health. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Adolescence is a phase where many psychological factors dominantly mediate an adolescence sense of well being which ends up shaping / having a long range impact on the individual. This is typically a product of the array of challenges that an adolescent typically encounters during this period which impact their psycho social development.Adolesence growing up are at a risk of a number of outcomes as aresult of poor academic performance, substance abuse, failed relationships. Often it‟s the unanticipated experiences of high school and college life makes the transition from adolescence to adulthood more dramatic.Thereforean understanding of psychological predictors of some of the components of well beingcan provide a framework for developing more effective interventions to cushion the components of wellness. OBJECTIVES 

To understand the relationship among health behavior, health locus of control, self esteem, and resilience in relation to psychological well being among adolescents



To explore the psychological predictors of well being among adolescents.

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ISSN: 2320-5504, E-ISSN-2347-4793

METHODOLOGY

Table 1 presents their demographic information.

-----------------------------------------Table 1 About Here-----------------------------------------------For this study a cross –sectional, descriptive design was used.The study population consisted of students residing inTamil Nadu. .The sample represents students from school and college.(N=119 ). 57 % of the sample was males and 43% was females. Their age ranged from 14-19 years. Their mean age was 16.7 years, (SD = 1.3). Forty six percent of the students were college undergraduates and fifty four percent were school students. -------------------------------------------Table 2 About Here-----------------------------------------------------------------

In addition data was collected for the health habits which the subjects maintained. It was found that 80 % of the sample were non vegetarian, 97% were non smokers, and 63 % of the students do not exercise. In terms of sleep pattern and physical activity 1% slept well as well as 74% were actively involved in physical activity. Table 2 presents the composition of health habits of the sample. Psychological Measures In order to identify the psychological predictors of well being among adolescent students the following measures were administered Health Behaviour scale Health behaviour scale was developed by SanthanaKarthikeyan and Swaminathan (2001) to measure the health promoting and health compromising behaviour of individuals. The response format used in the health behaviour scale has four categories namely (Not At All Present to Almost Always Present). The score ranged from 24 to 96 with higher the score indicating more positive health behavior. Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) Scale :This scale was developed by Wallston (1978) to measure the extent of belief that health is determined by behaviour. MHLC is a self - administered questionnaire consisting of three subscales: Internality, Powerful Others and Chance factors, with 6 items in each subscale. Form B of the MHLC is used in this study. The scale is found to be internally consistent in terms of alpha reliability. The subscales having 6 items each are “lean and mean” enough. They have Cronbach alpha in the 0.60 -0.75 range and test-retest reliability coefficients ranging from 0.60 - 0.70. The scale is found to have high construct validity. Resilience Scale(Wagnild& Young, 1993): The resilience scale (RS), which measures the capacity to withstand life stressors, and to thrive and make meaning from challenges consists of a 17-item "Personal Competence" subscale and an 8-item "Acceptance of Self and Life" subscale. Resilience as construed by Wagnild comprises of 5 essential characteristics of 124



ISSN: 2320-5504, E-ISSN-2347-4793

meaningful life (purpose), perseverance, self-reliance, equanimity and existential aloneness (i.e. coming home to yourself). The first of these characteristics is identified as the most important that lays the foundation for the other four. The RS and its short version have good validity and reliability from several studies. The scale consists of positively stated selfdescriptions to be responded to on a 7-point Likert-type response scale, ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree). Overall resilience was determined by totaling the respondents‟ responses. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965): Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale is a brief and unidimensional measure of global self-esteem. The RSES is a short, easy to administer, Likert-scale type test, with ten items answered on a four point scale with responses ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (4). In the original version half of the items are positively worded; for example, "On the whole, I am satisfied with myself", while the other half are negatively worded; for example, "At times I think I am no good at all". Total scores range from 10 to 40, with the higher the score-the higher the level of self-esteem. Versions of the scale have been tested for reliability and validity in many languages and have, on average, been found to be effective. The original sample for which the scale was developed consisted of 5,024 High School Juniors and seniors from 10 randomly selected schools in New York State.The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale has demonstrated good reliability and validity across a large number of different sample groups. The SES has been validated for use with substance abusers and other clinical groups, and is regularly used in treatment outcome studies. The scale has been validated for use with both male and female adolescent, adult and elderly population. Demographic Information: Health related profiles of the respondent were taken by reporting some of their lifestyle details. These included age, gender, education, food preference smoking/drinking habits sleep pattern, exercise activities. Data Collection Approvals from college and school authorities at participating institutes were obtained. After receiving appropriate instructions, the research team administered the survey to students. Voluntary participation based oninformedconsent yielded student response rates approximately 80-90 percent in each of the survey in different institutes. English and Tamil versions of the questionnaires were used to collect the data. English versions of the questionnaires translated in Tamil for school students. Statistical Analyses: For the current study statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 15. The analysis was done on three levels. Level I comprised of data cleaning. This was done by doing outlier analysis. This contained box whisker diagrams which is also known as box plot analysis. Level II contained descriptive analysis. Means and standard deviations were computed. Pearson correlation was carried out to assess the strength of the relationship between the predictors and the dependent variable. Skewness and kurtosis were also carried out to see the normality of the data. Level III contained of prediction & mean difference analysis.Hierarchical regression was used to evaluate the relationship between a set of independent variables and the dependent variable, controlling for or taking into account the impact of a different set of independent variables on the dependent variable.

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ISSN: 2320-5504, E-ISSN-2347-4793

RESULTS The purpose of the present study is tounderstand the relationship between health locus of control, self esteem, resilience and health behaviour in relation to well being among adolescence. The survey data obtained on a sample 119 students were analyzed descriptively. -----------------------------------------Table 3 About Here-----------------------------------------------Table 3 shows the mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis value of all the variables. The mean value and SD of well being is 46.5 (6.5). Among the predictor variables the highest mean value is of, Resilience 131.4 (19.8) followed by health behaviour 76.3 (7.0) followed by internality (M = 31.30, SD 4.1), powerful others (M=24.5, SD 5.2) chance factor (M =19.8) and Self Esteem (M=19.9, SD 3.6) .Skewness and kurtosis were also examined to check the normality of the data. It was found that the value of skewness for well beingwas (.51), for Resilience was (-.32), health behaviour (-.19), internality (-1.4), chance factor (-.02), powerful others (-.7), general health (-.89). The value of kurtosis for well being was (-.10), Resilience (-.48)healthbehaviour (.79), internality (3.4), chance factor (-.4), powerful others (-.8), Self Esteem (1.0). These values indicate that variable is reasonably close to normal as its skewness and kurtosis have values between –1.0 and +1.0. -----------------------------------------Table 4 About Here-----------------------------------------------Table 4 reports the correlations among the study variable .The data indicated a positive significant correlation between well being and self esteem (r = 0.53; p