Learning Strategy and Study Inventory (LASSI) merupakan suatu instrumen laporan kendiri yang digunakan untuk menilai strategi pembelajaran berdasarkan model umum pembelajaran kognitif dan model strategik pembelajaran. untuk mendapatkan maklumat tentang strategi pembelajaran pelajar Perubatan dan Pergigian di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam (IPTA) dan Swasta (IPTS). Instrumen yang telah dibangunkan oleh LASSI diadaptasi dan digunapakai. Tiga komponen utama yang diukur dalam LASSI iaitu KEMAHuAn, KEMAHIrAn dan PErATurAn KEnDIrI. Populasi kajian merangkumi pelajar lepasan STPM dan Matrikulasi dari IPTA dan IPTS yang mengikuti program Perubatan serta Pergigian atau program Perubatan sahaja. Secara keseluruhannya, persepsi pelajar menunjukkan keperihatinan pelajar untuk mempelajari maklumat baru, sikap dan minat terhadap bidang yang dipelajari dan disiplin diri amat rendah berbanding pelajar di negara maju. Perbandingan skor pelajar IPTA dan IPTS menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan bagi faktor Kebimbangan, Pemprosesan Maklumat dan Strategi Pengujianan. Perbandingan skor pelajar lepasan Matrikulasi dan STPM pula menunjukkan tiada perbezaan signifikan bagi hampir semua skor bagi faktor LASSI kecuali Mat Bantu Pembelajaran dan Pengujian Kendiri. Perbandingan skor pelajar Perubatan dan Pergigian pula menunjukkan strategi pembelajaran bagi kedua dua kumpulan pelajar yang mengikuti bidang kritikal tersebut adalah sama dengan tiada sebarang perbezaan yang signifikan dalam sebarang faktor LASSI. Dapatan kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa keseluruhan pelajar yang mengikuti program kritikal mempunyai strategi pembelajaran yang kurang baik. Sehubungan itu pihak pengurusan perlu mengambil inisiatif untuk membantu pelajar dalam memperkemaskan strategi pembelajaran mereka. Strategi pembelajaran yang kurang efektif akan mengundang kesan sampingan yang tidak sihat seperti kemurungan atau stress di kalangan pelajar.
Stress is on one of the important hazards faced by nursing staff. Although various intervention methods to reduce stress have been developed, its effectiveness among Malaysian nurses has yet to be established. This study involved 185 health nursing staff working at health districts Kemaman and Dungun in Terengganu. Health nursing staff from Kemaman (n=94) was selected as intervention group whereas those from Dungun (n=91) were chosen as controls. Members of the intervention group were given stress awareness education. They were taught how to reduce stress by relaxation methods. Teaching was conducted through lectures, practical training and providing a stress guidebook. A stress reliever card and letter reminding respondents to practice stress reduction methods were sent every two weeks. The total intervention period was 6 weeks. The control did not receive any education on stress reduction or encouragement to practice any stress reduction techniques throughout this period. The effectiveness of the intervention programme was measured by comparing changes in stress symptoms scores. Stress symptoms were measured using a modified Personal Stress Inventory questionnaire. The study found significant reduction of stress symptoms (42.66 ± 20.36 to 35.51 ± 22.60) in the intervention group after intervention compared to before intervention. However there was no significant difference in change of mean score of stress symptoms between both groups. Further studies need to be conducted to establish an intervention programme, which is suitable and effective in reducing stress among health nursing staff.
In addition to social and environmental factors, individual personality traits have intricately linked with maladaptive behaviour. Thus, the purpose of this article was to review the link between individual personality traits and criminality. A systematic review was conducted to obtain information regarding the link between individual personality traits with criminal behaviour in the Sage, Web of Science, APA PsycNet, Wiley Online Library, and PubMed databases. The results indicate that individual personality traits that contribute towards criminality are (i) psychopathy; (ii) low self-control; and (iii) difficult temperament. As an overall impact, the review is expected to provide in-depth understanding of the link between individual personality traits and criminality; hence, greater consideration will be given to the dimension of personality as a notable risk factor of criminal behaviour.
We examined the relationship between morale measured by the Philadelphia Geriatric Morale Scale (PGC) and disability, social support, religiosity, and personality traits. Instruments predicting morale were then tested against PGC domains.
This study aimed to validate the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in the Malaysian urological population. Reliability and internal consistency were evaluated using the test-retest method and internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha. Responsiveness was expressed as the effect size. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach's alpha value = 0.56 to 0.87). Test-retest correlation coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient were significant (ICC = 0.56 to 0.87) and a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. The BDI is thus a reliable and a valid instrument to be used in Malaysia.
A survey was carried out at the Pasoh Forest Reserve from 13–19 December, 2007 and 20–24 January, 2008, to inventory the herpetofauna contained therein. A total of 23 species of reptiles and amphibians were collected during this survey, five of which have not previously been recorded in the Pasoh Forest Reserve. An updated checklist which incorporates findings from previous studies is presented.
Objective: Medical housemanship training has always been regarded as a highly stressful environment to doctors. This article described findings on stress, stressors and coping strategies among house officers in a Malaysian hospital. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on house officers in a Malaysian hospital. The 12 items General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), General Stressors Questionnaire (GSQ) and Brief COPE inventory were administered to measure perceived stress, sources of stress and coping strategies among house officers respectively. Data was analysed using SPSS version 12. Results: Forty two house officers participated in this study. This study found that approximately 31% of the house officers were in distress. The top five stressors were fears of making mistakes that can lead to serious consequences, work overload, working with uncooperative colleagues, doing
work that mentally straining and feeling of being underpaid. The most frequent coping strategies used by house officers were religion, acceptance and self-distraction. Conclusion: This study found that there was a high percentage of distressed house officers. It also found that major stressors were related to performance pressure. The main coping strategy used by house officer was emotion-focused coping.
A study to assess the concentration of radionuclides in spent resins of the PUSPATI TRIGA Mark II reactor coolant purification system has been carried out. Fresh spent resins collected and analysed in May 2010, after the changing of leaked heat exchanger in Sept. 2009 was found to contain 24Na, 122Sb, 51Cr, 124Sb, 58Co, 65Zn, 54Mn and 60Co. Old spent resins removed in 2001 and 2002 but analysed in 2010 indicated the presence of 60Co and 152Eu as radionuclides with half-lives of < 1 year might have already been decayed out. These results can be used to establish radionuclide inventory of the spent resins as part of radiation protection programme.
This preliminary study aims to provide an initial description of phonological acquisition among Malaysian Children of Indian descent aged two to six years. The description of the consonantal phonemic inventory as well as various Phonological processes evidenced by subjects is also reported. The mothers’ phonemic inventory was obtained as the representation of the children’s most active environmental linguistic input. Speech samples of the mothers as well as the subjects were obtained from a single word test and narrative test. The speech sample was recorded and transcribed using the International Phonetic Alphabet. The results of the tests revealed a significant correspondence between the subjects' phonemic inventory and their mothers’ except for the following phonemes: /ð/ , /θ/ , /v/ and /w/. Both mothers and subjects demonstrated free variation for the production of /v/ and /w/. The mothers displayed a range of 21-23 phonemes in their inventories whereas the subjects displayed a range of 17-21 phonemes. The age acquisition for some phonemes, namely the affricates which was evidenced by subject aged 2;4 were noted to be earlier than that of subjects in past studies. Rapid phonological development was evidenced at the age of 2;4- 3;7.
Introduction: The LA-i was found to be valid, reliable, simple and easy to be administered and consumed minimal time. However, to author knowledge, none of articles reported its stability across multiple observations. Realising its potential, continued research is required to optimize its role, usefulness and applicability as a tool to help educators to understand their students’ learning approaches. Objective: To determine stability of the LA-i to measure characteristics of students’ learning approaches at different time and occasions in a sample of medical students.Method: A prospective cohort study was done on 177 first year medical students. It was administered to a cohort of medical students at four different intervals. The Cronbach’s alpha and intra-class correlation analysis were applied to measure internal consistency and agreement level across the
intervals. The analysis was done using SPSS 18. Result: A total of 157 (88.7%) first year medical students responded completely to the inventory. The overall Cronbach’s alpha value of the LA-i at different intervals ranged between 0.79 and 0.92, The Cronbach’s alpha values for surface learning
approach subscale ranged between 0.65 and 0.80. The Cronbach’s alpha value for strategic learning approach subscale ranged between 0.76 and 0.84. The Cronbach’s alpha value for deep learning approach subscale ranged between 0.83 and 0.95. ICC values for the three learning approach subscales ranged between 0.46 and 0.50. Conclusion: This study reflected that the LA-i had high level of internal stability to measure students’ learning approaches at different time and occasions. Continued research is required to optimize its role, usefulness and applicability at various educational settings.
Caregivers face challenges to adapt while handling individual with learning disabilities (LD). The Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scale (F-COPES) is a widely used instrument to measure coping strategies among caregivers. The current study performed cross cultural translation of F-COPES in Malay language. This study aims to examine the reliability by testing internal consistency of Malay version of F-COPES which is developed through back to back translation method from original English version.
Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk mengenal pasti perkaitan antara tahap kemurungan, kesihatan mental, kesan sokongan sosial dan kesejahteraan psikologi di kalangan mangsa rogol dengan aspek demografik. Subjek kajian seramai 30 wanita telah dipilih dari Pusat Perlindungan dan Pemulihan Wanita, di Batu Caves, Selangor. Kaedah ujian yang digunakan terdiri daripada Beck Depression Inventory, General Health Questionnaire-28, Provision Social Relation dan soalan demografik. Soalan diedarkan di kalangan mangsa diikuti dengan penerangan ringkas ke atas kaedah ujian. Analisis data menunjukkan terdapat perbezaan yang signifikan di antara faktor umur dan kesejahteraan psikologi mangsa (p = 0.004). Selain itu, kemurungan didapati mempengaruhi secara signifikan ke atas kesihatan mental (R' = 0.60, [F (1, 27) = 40.312, p < 0.0011). Kajian inijuga mendapati hubungan yang positif antara kesihatan mental dan kemurungan (r = 0.77). Ini bermaksud semakin tinggi kemurungan yang dialami mangsa, semakin tinggi kesan ke atas kesihatan mentalnya.
Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between stress score and body mass index (BMI) of students of Science in Kuala Lumpur. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 126 students. Data about stress score were collected using a questionnaire, the Student-Life Stress Inventory (SLSI) Data about BMI were calculated from height and weight of the respondents. Results: A total of 117 (92.85%) out of 126 students had responded. The mean difference of stress score among first, second and third year students were 87.6 ± 17.0, 83.4 ± 16.9 and 86.7 ± 15.4 respectively. The mean difference of stress scores between the Bumiputra and non-Bumiputra students were 87.9 ± 16.5 and 83.2 ± 15.9 .The mean of body mass Index(BMI) between first, second and third year students were 21.0 ± 3.5, 20.3 ± 2.7 and 21.8 ± 4.3 respectively. Conclusions: This study showed that the stress level is higher in first year, female and bumiputra student. There was no significant relationship between stress score and BMI.
Objective: To determine the sensitivity, specificity and internal consistency of the Malay version GHQ-12 among medical student population. This study determined the appropriate GHQ-12 score to detect distressed medical students. Methods: The Malay version of GHQ-12 was derived based on two sources which were the original version GHQ-12 and the validated Malay version 30-items GHQ. The GHQ-12 and the Malay version Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) were administered to a total of 141 medical students. Distress diagnoses were made based on the Malay version BDI-II. ROC curve analysis was applied to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the GHQ-12 by testing against the BDI-II. Reliability analysis (Cronbach’s alpha and item total correlation) was applied to test internal consistency of the
GHQ-12. The analysis was done using SPSS version 12.Results: The GHQ-12 sensitivity and specificity at cut-off point of 3/4 was 81.3% and 75.3% respectively with positive predictive value (PPV) of 62.9% as well as area under ROC curve more than 0.7. The Cronbach’s alpha value of the GHQ-12 was 0.85.Conclusion: This study showed the Malay version GHQ-12 is a valid and reliable screening tool in detecting distressed medical students. The
GHQ-12 score equal to or more than 4 was considered as significant distress.
Objective: Emotional Intelligence (EI) is described as the ability to perceive, express,
understand, motivate, control and regulate emotion. The USM Emotional Quotient Inventory (USMEQ-i) was designed to measure EI and it was found to be a reliable and valid tool in a sample of prospective medical students. The objective of this study is to determine stability of the USMEQ-i to measure EI at different time and occasions. Methods: A prospective cohort study was done on 196 first year medical students. It was administered to the medical students at four different intervals. The Cronbach’s alpha and intra-class correlation analysis were applied to measure the internal consistency and agreement level across the intervals. The analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18. Results: A total of 196 first year medical students participated in this study. Its overall Cronbach’s alpha value across intervals ranged between 0.94 and 0.97. The Cronbach’s alpha values of emotional control, emotional maturity, emotional conscientiousness, emotional awareness, emotional commitment, emotional fortitude, and emotional expression scale ranged between 0.59 and 0.91. The Cronbach’s alpha value for the faking index scale ranged from 0.76 to 0.89. The ICC coefficient values for EI total score was 0.83, EI domain score ranged between 0.62 and 0.76 and the faking index score was 0.76. Conclusion: The USMEQ-i has demonstrated a good level of stability and internal consistency to measure EI at different time and occasions. It is a promising psychometric instrument that can be used to measure EI.
Objective: The aim of this study is to translate the original English version of List of Threatening Experiences (LTE) into Malay and to test the reliability on a group of medical students. Method: The LTE was translated into Malay and back-translated. The Malay LTE (LTE-M) was then tested on a total of 237 medical students. They were given LTE-M, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and English version of LTE. A week later, these students were again given the LTE-M. Results: The parallel and test-retest reliability were satisfactory for 7 out of the 12 event categories (Kappa=0.67- 0.88). However 3 event categories were not reported. There was no statistical significant difference in the BDI and GHQ scores between the students with and without threatening experiences. Conclusion: The parallel and test-retest reliability of the LTE-M were acceptable. An association between the threatening experiences and increased disorders was not established.
Objective: To determine the sensitivity, specificity and internal consistency of the Malay version GHQ-30 among medical student population. This study also determined the level of agreement between GHQ-30 and M-BDI.
Methods: The Malay version GHQ-30 and Malay version Beck Depression Inventory (M-BDI) were administered to 190 medical students. ROC curve analysis was applied to determine the sensitivity and specificity of the GHQ-30 by testing against the M-BDI diagnoses. Reliability and Kappa analysis were applied to test internal consistency of the GHQ and to determine the level of agreement between GHQ-30 and M-BDI respectively.
Results: 141 (74.2%) medical students participated in this study. The GHQ-30 sensitivity and specificity at cut-off point of 5/6 was 87.5% and 80.6% respectively with positive predictive value (PPV) of 70% as well as area under ROC curve was 0.84. The Cronbach’s alpha value of the GHQ-30 was 0.93. The Kappa coefficient was 0.64 (p<0.001).
Conclusion: This study showed the Malay version GHQ-30 is a valid and reliable screening tool in detecting distressed medical students. The GHQ-30 score equal to or more than 6 was considered as significant distress. The GHQ-30 showed a good level of agreement with M-BDI in detecting distressed medical students.
Keywords: Kelantan; Malaysia; medical student
Kajian ini mengukur kesan pembawaan semula jadi, punca tekanan dan reaksi tekanan ke atas kesihatan mental di kalangan juvana. Ia melibatkan 55 orang juvana dari pusat pemulihan akhlak dari lingkungan umur 15 hingga 18 tahun. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ28), Student Life Stress Inventory (SLSI), dan Dimensions of Temperament DOTSR-Child (Self) digunakan sebagai alat kajian. Manakala analisis regresi dan korelasi telah dikendalikan untuk menganalisis data. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan punca tekanan, reaksi tekanan dan pembawaan semula jadi tidak memberi kesan yang signifikan ke atas kesihatan mental juvana. Namun punca tekanan secara tunggal didapati menjadi peramal yang signifikan kepada kemurungan juvana dengan menyumbang sebanyak 14.6% daripada varian. Punca kekecewaan menyumbang sebanyak 18.1% daripada varian dalam meramal kemurungan. Reaksi emosi menyumbang sebanyak 10.6% kepada kesan anxieti dan insomnia. Punca tekanan dan pembawaan semula jadi pula menyumbang sebanyak 31% kepada reaksi emosi. Punca tekanan mempunyai korelasi positif yang sederhana dengan reaksi emosi (k = 0.55) dan mempunyai korelasi positif yang rendah dengan pembawaan semula jadi (k = 0.11) dan kesihatan mental (k = 0.23). Kesimpulannya punca tekanan memainkan peranan yang penting dalam mempengaruhi reaksi terhadap tekanan. Faktor pembawaan semula jadi tidak mempunyai pengaruh yang kuat dalam mempengaruhi reaksi tekanan dan kesihatan mental juvana. Faktor kekecewaan pula merupakan peramal yang signifikan kepada kemurungan.
Currently, great emphasis is placed on the development and intervention of psychology in sports in order to address the problem of athletes’ failure to achieve peak performance in actual competitions. This problem is primarily due to internal factors, such as anxieties, as well as external factors, such as the high pressure of the competitive environments athletes encounter. In this study, the cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and self confidence levels amongst elite and sub-elite Malaysian volleyball players are defined (male sample n = 50; female sample n = 35; age range between 17 to 25 years). These parameters were measured using the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2), in which the questionnaires were completed by all respondents 30 minutes prior to the start of a competition. The findings indicated that there was a significant difference (p < 0.005) in cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety and self-confidence among elite and sub-elite Malaysian (male and female) volleyball athletes. According to the findings, the competitive anxiety levels of the sub-elite athletes were higher than the elite, mainly due to the inability of the sub-elite athletes to control their emotions using psychological skills. In order to minimize this problem, a novel approach that involves using virtual reality to reduce the athletes’ competitive anxiety was proposed. This approach utilizes a 3D immersive environment that was developed based on the challenging real-world situations encountered during a volleyball match. The design and development of this approach is predicted to enhance athletes’ psychological skills, and in turn ensure that they can achieve peak performance under high pressure conditions.
Introduction: Self-awareness and reflective-skill are important components of personal and professional development of medical students.
Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether self awareness and reflective skill could be improved by direct teaching intervention.
Method: This was a cross sectional intervention study conducted among 75 third year medical students of UKM Medical Centre Malaysia in 2010. Malaysian Emotional Quotient Inventory (MEQI) was used to measure self-awareness and reflective writing scripts were used to measure the reflective skills of the respondents before and after teaching intervention. Experimental group comprised of 30 students while the control group constituted the rest 45 students selected randomly. The factors contributing to self awareness with gender and learning styles were determined.
Result: There was no significant improvement observed in self-awareness of the respondents but reflective skills was significantly improved (p=0.007) following intervention. A non-significant relationship between self-awareness and gender (p=0.588) as well as self-awareness and learning styles (p=0.435) was also noticed.
Conclusion: It is concluded that intervention programs improved students' reflective skills but not their self-awareness. Effectiveness of the intervention programme is an important factor. Continuous effort should be focused to train students in an effective way in order to be more self-reflective, self-regulative as well as self-corrective, to ensure a high level of personal and professional development in their daily practices.