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Stress is one of many types of normal and healthy emotions. However, stress can be destructive and interrupts an individual’s daily function. Hence, stress remains one of the psychological elements that has been the focus of many researchers interested in examining smartphone addiction. There is much past research that shows that stress that occurs because of smartphone addiction is related to disastrous outcomes to an individual’s mental and physical health. Therefore, this study aims to determine the relationship between smartphone addiction and the perception of stress among university students in Malaysia. The convenience sampling method was carried out by distributing questionnaires using Google Form links via social media such as WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. A total of 165 university students from around Malaysia have volunteered to complete questionnaires with questions relating to personal background, perception of stress, and smartphone addiction. Results from Pearson correlation analysis showed that there is a significant positive and moderate relationship between smartphone addiction and perception of stress, r=.31**, p<.001. Findings in this study showed that the higher the score for smartphone addiction among respondents, the more stressed respondents were. This study has two main implications for the field of psychology and practice. Findings from this study could help to expand the understanding of smartphone addiction and psychological well-being, Furthermore, findings from this study may help professionals such as counsellors, therapists and social workers handling clients with smartphone addiction issues. The researchers suggest that future studies use a larger sample size and focus on psychological variables such as psychological well-being, coping, and emotion regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intricate dynamics of gender roles significantly shape emotion regulation (ER) among adolescents, underscoring the importance of understanding these assigned roles in comprehending adolescents' emotional experiences. This study aimed to investigate and analyze in detail the central aspects of disparities between genders in the utilization of ER strategies. The formulation of the hypotheses aimed to predict significant distinctions between boys and girls, particularly in cognitive reappraisal (CR) and expressive suppression (ES) strategies. A cross-sectional design was employed and implemented in 27 public secondary schools across 12 states in Malaysia. A total of 1,718 adolescents, both boys and girls who did not have any current or prior clinical issues became participants in this study. Using the Malay version of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA), the study's findings contradicted the proposed hypotheses. The findings showed no gender disparities in CR and ES. These findings provide valuable insights for parents, caregivers, teachers, and adolescents, offering a nuanced understanding of ER during the critical stages of adolescence. The implications of ER across genders may guide the development of targeted interventions to address potential gender disparities and mitigate the risk of psychopathological issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to affect children in their ability to regulate emotions. Factors related to SES such as parenting behavior and chaotic living environment is linked to decreased emotion regulation (ER) in children. This review explores the role of SES in the development of ER in children. Two online databases were searched and returned 261 articles. After the process of screening and eligibility according to PRISMA guidelines, 10 articles were included in this review. Results from this systematic review suggest that there is a significant relationship between SES and ER and a correlational, predictive and longitudinal relationship between SES and ER in children was found. Three main themes were found associated with SES and ER in children which were family income, parental and environmental factor. SES is an essential factor associated with the development of ER in children. Findings from the study supports the importance of targeted social-emotional intervention for lower SES children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional intelligence is one of the crucial psychological elements and receives attention among psychologists whom study relationships within marriage. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and marital satisfaction among married individuals residing in Malaysia during the pandemic COVID-19. This study applies the exploratory research design and convenience sampling using questionnairs via social media platform. The questionnaire includes questions relating to emotional intelligence using Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT) and marital satisfaction using Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMSS) which has been adapted to fit the context of Malaysian culture. Overall, the Pearson correlation test results show a positive and weak significant correlation between emotional intelligence (emotional use) and marital satisfaction (r = 0.10*, p < 0.05). Findings suggested the importance of the emotional application within marital relationships. Findings also provide guidelines to helping professions such as counsellors and social workers who works with married individual clients. The researcher also provided recommendations for future researchers in examining into emotional aspects and marital satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on psychological well-being are gradually catching attention especially since the outbreak of pandemic Covid-19. Conversely, studies on psychological well-being comparing with single and marries are still scarce. Thus, this study aims to investigate psychological well-being comparing single and married individuals in Lembah Klang. This study specifically took place from December 2019 until February 2020 before Covid 19 pandemic outbreak in Malaysia. This study is apart from a larger study that explores death anxiety. A number of 295 respondents who are single and married with age ranging from 20 years old until 67 years old agreed to take part in this study. The study applies the survey research design using questionnaires. Questionnaires consisted of questions relating to personal background, stressor and psychological well-being (meaning of life, depression, anxiety and stress). In sum, there is a significant difference of psychological well-being (meaning of life, depression, anxiety and stress) between the single and married individuals. On the other hand, findings show that health problems was reported as the highest stressor and followed by work load and financial problems. Findings indicated the importance of considering marital status when understanding issue relating to psychological well-being in future. Hence, future studies should focus on the psychological process that takes place within a close relationship such as marital relationships that brings to psychological well-being of individuals. Besides psychological aspects, health and financial are two personal background aspects that was should also be considered in helping individuals achieve optimum psychological well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Love without loyalty cannot prove the purity of love, while loyalty without love, on the other hand, does not give happiness nor love pleasure itself to someone. Infidelity affects the overall functionality and stability within a relationship. For individuals who are married, infidelity is among the factors of divorce. This study focused on the predictor factors on infidelity according to narcissistic personality, love styles and love satisfaction. A number of 160 students Malay Muslims from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia took part in this research was selected using purposive sampling method. Inferential statistics were applied to analyze the data which was collected. Results showed that there was a significant correlation between narcissistic personality and Ludus love style with infidelity. Conversely, results showed that love satisfaction was not significantly correlated with infidelity. Findings also indicated that narcissistic personality was a significant predictor to infidelity however, Ludus love style and love satisfaction was not a significant predictor to infidelity. Besides that infidelity associated with a long-distance relationship, relationship problems such as lack of communication between spouses, dissatisfaction in relationship and responsibility problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positive communication serves as an important basis within a strong marriage. Thus, this study aims to explore the types of positive communication which are practiced by married Malays in Lembah Klang. Grounded theory and qualitative approach were applied to understand the positive communication patterns. Data were gained from semi structured interviews that were carried out among 18 married Malay indivudals living in 10 developing locations within lembah Klang. Informants were chosen according to determined criterias which were married for the first time, and still with married, living in one house and at least married for one year. Findings indicated that informants practiced two types of communication which are face-to-face communication and technology communication. Face-to-face communication was found to be applied to increase intimacy between spouses which includes humor, positive communication and conflict resolution. Technology communication was applied for married individuals to express love, connect intimately, sharing of knowledge and for conflict resolution. Informants also reported that positive communication increased marital satisfaction. Overall, this study gives implication to the field of develoopmental psychology which focuses on marital issues besides the West. This study also gives an implication practically to the helping profesions such as counsellors, social workers, and therapists working with married couples. Future studies are suggested to explore more on mariage within non Western cultures in order to increase the quality of married copuples within non Western cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sleep is a vital necessity need for children. Without enough sleep, a child's development as a whole will disturbed. The quality of sleep in children affected by sleep arrangement that selected by their parent or caregiver. Sleep arrangement refers to the location where a child sleep. Given that children are individuals who still depend on their parents or caregivers, the attitude of the parents or caregivers toward sleep pattern and arrangement will affect how children sleep management and thus affect the quantity and quality of their sleep. The purpose of the study was to assess psychometric aspect of Parental Sleep Attitudes Scale (PSAS) Malay version. This instrument was used to measure maternal attitude and opinion towards sleep arrangement of young children. The instrument divided to two component that measure maternal attitude toward solitary sleeping and co-sleeping. Overall scale consisted of 16 items. PSAS was translated into Malay language by using back to back translation procedure proposed by Brislin. Respondents of the study were 154 working mothers at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The result of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) found that 15 from 16 items were accepted due to factor loading greater than 0.6. however, only component 1 and 2 from 6 components extracted required the value of alpha cronbach minimum 0.7. As conclusion, for local context, this instrument need to rearrange the items measuring the construct into their respective components accordingly before proceed with data collection in the field study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]