Rumaya Juhari

Bullying and Its' Relationship with Depression among Teenagers

Abstract The current study examined the relationship between bullying and depression among teenagers. The participants of the study were 242 teenagers (119 males and 123 females) aged between 13 and 17 years selected secondary schools in Selangor, Malaysia (mean age = 14.67 years; SD = 1.27).Teenage depression was measured with from Children Depression Inventory (CDI), while bullying was measured with the bullying subscale of the Peer Relationship Questionnaire (PRQ). The study found a positive and significant correlation between bullying and teenage depression (r = .296, p < .01), significant gender difference between males and females (t = 3.306, p < .05) in bullying and a non-significant difference in depression between male and female teenagers (t = .498, p > .05). The result of the study provides confirmation to earlier findings on the relationship between bullying and depression. Recommendations of the study centre on the need to examine the report from family members and peers of teenage bullies.

Father Involvement Among Malay Muslims in Malaysia

This article reports on findings from a study of 989 fathers of school-going children aged 10 through 16 from intact families in rural and urban areas in Selangor, Malaysia. The study aims to explore the factors that affect father involvement among Malay Muslims. Results indicate that fathers’ education, marital quality, and number of children are significantly related to their involvement in children’s lives. Fathers’ perceptions of their own fathers’ involvement when they were young is also positively associated with their involvement with children, supporting the concept of intergenerational fathering in social learning theory. Muslim fathers see financial provisioning, moral teaching, praying, reciting the Quran, and fasting together with children as their religious duties that God entrusts to them to fulfill both world and after-life purposes. However, they cite lack of time and a common wish to be more involved in their children’s life.

How marital relations affect child behavior: review of recent research

The development of children over time is one of the continuing aims of psychological inquiry. Many studies have concluded that children who grew up in dysfunctional households show inconsistent development across various developmental pathways. Previous studies have consistently concluded how different family factors, such as interparents relationship, parent–child relationships, and emotional relations in families, can explain the outcomes of child behavior problems. Therefore, this paper attempts to review the empirical findings of previous studies that assess the effects of marital relations on child behavioral development by reviewing the literature that supports the association between marital relations and behavioral problems of children. Twenty-seven studies were chosen for their outcomes. This review used online databases such as Google Scholar, Scopus, ProQuest, Psychological and Behavioral Science collection, SAGE full-text collection in psychology, and PsycINFO. The key words used were marital relation, marital conflict, marital satisfaction, child behavior problem, and offspring behavior adjustment. All articles hypothesized that marital relation affects child adjustment and behavior outcomes directly and indirectly. Approximately all the research samples were in the developmental stage (ages 3 to 12). Various methodologies were used in the studies, but some methodological defects in the literature in some way diminished the interpretation of their findings. Results revealed that children who come from families high in conflict are at risk of psychopathological developmental problems in their adolescent years. This review adds to a large collection of literature that highlights the damaging effects of marital conflict on children. Research limitations and suggestions for future studies are outlined. The study provides a concrete basis for further research on this topic considering that married couples and child behavior problems are varied. This review can benefit married and soon-to-be married couples by revealing perceptions into the experiences of others as regards marriage problem solving.

Stress and Marital Satisfaction of Married Middle Eastern Students in Malaysia

This study examined the relationship between stress and marital satisfaction from the perspective of the vulnerability–stress–adaptation model. We hypothesised that some stress factors were associated with lower marital satisfaction. Making use of the structure equation modeling, the results of data analysis on 462 Middle Eastern students in Malaysia, supported the hypotheses of our study and showed that a higher level of stress is strongly related to a negative marital satisfaction. Moreover, the results indicated that marital stress is the strongest stressors that negatively affect the marital satisfaction of the respondents. This research provides a general view of stressors that have an impact on the marital satisfaction of married Middle East students who live as sojourners in Malaysia.

Predictors of Psychological Distress Among Divorced Women in Iran

Previous research has consistently found that divorce is associated with psychological distress. This study expands existing research by considering age, education, employment, income, length of divorce, number of children, and economic hardship as predictors of postdivorce psychological distress among divorced women in Iran. This study examines 800 divorced women in Iran 30 to 48 years old who had been divorced for no more than 2 years. Results demonstrated that education, number of children, and economic hardship together predict 63.6% of the variance in psychological distress among divorced women. Economic hardship was found to be the strongest contributor. Recommendations for researchers and implications for clinicians are discussed.