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Administrative Stressors and Islamic Coping Strategies Among Muslim Primary Principals in Malaysia: A Mixed Method Study

Tahir LM, Khan A, Musah MB, Ahmad R, Daud K, Al-Hudawi SHV, et al.

Community Ment Health J, 2018 07;54(5):649-663.
PMID: 29151201 DOI: 10.1007/s10597-017-0206-8

Principals are school leaders who experienced stress while leading their schools towards excellence. However, principals stress experiences are always ignored and least studied. This mixed-methods study investigates primary principals' stress experiences and their Islamic coping strategies used in incapacitating the stress experiences. A total of 216 Muslim primary principals across different gender, types of schools and years of experiences as school leaders responded to the administrative stress and the Islamic coping strategies items. In addition, seven primary principals were purposefully selected and interviewed in exploring their reasons of using Islamic coping strategies for their relieving process. Results discovered that primary principals experienced fairly stress level and they perceived managing students' academic achievement was the most stressor followed by managing teachers' capabilities. Although findings revealed that no significant differences in terms primary principals' demographics; male primary principals, and experienced between 6 and 10 years and positioned in schools with least students (SLS) category have slightly higher level of stress. In terms of Islamic coping strategies used by primary principals, saying dhua to Allah, performing dhikir and reciting the Yassen are selected coping approaches employed in handling their stress. From interviews, primary principals also revealed that they used Islamic religious approaches as part of meaningful activities not just to overcoming their stress but also as part of religious approaches in remembering Allah, thinking back their past mistakes as part of the Muhasabah process. Therefore, we believed that religious approaches should be taken into consideration in principals' training as it provides peaceful and treatment in managing principals' stress issue.

Matched MeSH terms: School Teachers/statistics & numerical data
Fulltext Predictors of low back pain among secondary school teachers in Malaysia: a longitudinal study

Zamri EN, Hoe VCW, Moy FM

Ind Health, 2020 Jun 09;58(3):254-264.
PMID: 31666460 DOI: 10.2486/indhealth.2019-0106

Low back pain (LBP) is prevalent among workers both in developed and developing countries. School teachers represent a high proportion of the working population in Malaysia. However, there is a lack of longitudinal study on predictors and course of LBP among teachers. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the predictors and course of LBP among secondary school teachers. Longitudinal data of 701 teachers in Selangor, Malaysia were collected from May 2015 to October 2016. Associations between predictors and LBP were analysed using logistic regression and reported as odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). At 12-month of follow-up, 44% (95%CI: 40.6%, 48.0%) of the participants reported having LBP. In the regression model that included all risk factors, only LBP at baseline (OR 10.43, 95%CI: 6.19, 17.58) was associated with LBP at 12-month follow-up. When LBP at baseline was removed from the model, anxiety symptom (OR 2.51, 95%CI: 1.19, 5.30) and lifting heavy weights (OR 4.16, 95%CI: 1.40, 12.30) were found to be significantly associated with LBP at 12-month follow-up. In conclusion, issues on anxiety and lifting heavy weights should be addressed to reduce the occurrence of LBP despite the presence of health condition itself (LBP at baseline).

Matched MeSH terms: School Teachers/statistics & numerical data*
Consistency and Generalizability of Dietary Patterns in a Multiethnic Working Population

Eng JY, Moy FM, Bulgiba A, Rampal S

J Acad Nutr Diet, 2018 07;118(7):1249-1262.e3.
PMID: 29615325 DOI: 10.1016/j.jand.2018.01.014

BACKGROUND: Dietary pattern analysis is a complementary method to nutrient analysis in evaluating overall diet-disease hypotheses. Although studies have been conducted to derive dietary patterns among Malaysians, their consistency across subgroups has not been examined.
OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to derive dietary patterns empirically and to examine the consistency and generalizability of patterns across sex, ethnicity, and urban status in a working population.
DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study using data from the Clustering of Lifestyle Risk Factors and Understanding its Association with Stress on Health and Well-Being among School Teachers in Malaysia study collected between August 2014 and November 2015. Dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, and dietary patterns were derived using factor analysis.
PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Participants were teachers from selected public schools from three states in Peninsular Malaysia (n=4,618).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Dietary patterns derived using factor analysis.
STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Separate factor analysis was conducted by sex, ethnicity, and urban status to identify dietary patterns. Eigenvalue >2, scree plot, Velicer's minimum average partial analysis, and Horn's parallel analysis were used to determine the number of factors to retain. The interpretability of each dietary pattern was evaluated. The consistency and generalizability of dietary patterns across subgroups were assessed using the Tucker congruence coefficient.
RESULTS: There was no subgroup-specific dietary pattern found. Thus, dietary patterns were derived using the pooled sample in the final model. Two dietary patterns (Western and Prudent) were derived. The Western dietary pattern explained 15.4% of total variance, characterized by high intakes of refined grains, animal-based foods, added fat, and sugar-sweetened beverages as well as fast food. The Prudent dietary pattern explained 11.1% of total variance and was loaded with pulses, legumes, vegetables, and fruits.
CONCLUSIONS: The derived Western and Prudent dietary patterns were consistent and generalizable across subgroups of sex, ethnicity, and urban status. Further research is needed to explore associations between these dietary patterns and chronic diseases.

Matched MeSH terms: School Teachers/statistics & numerical data*
Fulltext Prevalence and factors associated with poor sleep quality among secondary school teachers in a developing country

Musa NA, Moy FM, Wong LP

Ind Health, 2018 Oct 03;56(5):407-418.
PMID: 29848899 DOI: 10.2486/indhealth.2018-0052

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with poor sleep quality among secondary school teachers in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. This was a cross sectional study, conducted in two phases. Phase I tested the reliability of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index in the Malay language (M-PSQI), whereas Phase II determined the prevalence and factors associated with poor sleep quality where a total of 1,871 secondary school teachers were studied. Participants were recruited using multistage sampling. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic and teaching characteristics, comorbidities and characteristics of sleep. The M-PSQI was used to measure sleep quality. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 was used to measure mental health status. Results showed that the M-PSQI had a good internal consistency and moderate reliability. The prevalence of poor sleep quality was 61 (95% CI: 54-67)%. Total teaching hours/day, depression and stress were significantly associated with poor sleep quality in the univariate analysis, while only stress (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.02-1.05%) remained significant in the multivariate analyses. In conclusion, stress level of the secondary school teachers should be reduced to improve sleep quality.

Matched MeSH terms: School Teachers/statistics & numerical data*