Assessment of Aggressive behaviour among adolescent girls studying in selected Institutions of Block Pachhad, District Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh

 

Ms. Simarjeet Kaur¹, Ranjana Thakur², Richa Chaudhary³, Ravijeet Kaur⁴

¹Assistant Professor, Akal College of Nursing, Eternal University Baru Sahib, Himachal Pradesh.

²Clinical Instructor, Akal College of Nursing, Eternal University Baru Sahib, Himachal Pradesh.

³Nursing Officer, ACH, Baru Sahib, Himachal Pradesh.

⁴Nursing Officer, Govt Hospital, Chandigarh.

 

ABSTRACT:

Background: Aggressive Behavior is a type of behavior where people can cause physical or emotional harm to themselves and others. Aggression can be caused by mass media, child abuse, violence, rape, anti-social personality and psychological disorder. so it is an emerging issue to assess the aggressive behaviour in adolescent to maintain their mental health. Objectives: To assess the Aggressive Behaviour among adolescent girls studying in selected Institutions. Methodology: A Quantitative non- experimental cross -sectional research design was selected to conduct the study among 157 adolescent girls selected through simple random sampling technique studying in selected Institutions of Block Pachhad, Distt, Sirmour, H.P. Data was collected using standardized questionnaires (Buss and Perry, 1992) related to Aggressive Behaviour. Results: The result of study showed that majority (47.2%) of the adolescent girls had low aggressive behaviour followed by 45.3% of them had moderate and only 6.3% of them had high level of aggressive behaviour. According to different dimensions of aggressive behaviour, the study results revealed that 47.1 % of adolescent girls were having moderate physical aggressive behaviour. 54.1% of adolescent girls were having low level of verbal aggression. 72.6% of them were having low hostile behaviour and 42% of them had moderate level of anger. In psychological determinants, only history of stress has significant association with aggressive behaviour as p value<0.05 level of significance.

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Human Behaviour is person’s way of responding to stimuli which can be observed and measured. Aggression is the behaviour involved in causing harm or pain to other person and violates the social boundaries. Aggressive Behaviour results negative impact on the victim as well as same way to the attacker.¹

 

World Health Organization (WHO) defines adolescent period from 10 and 19 years of age.

 

Adolescents are not able to cope up with the changes that are affecting their physical and psychological health.²

 

There are various factors such as previous aggressive or violent behaviour, exposure to violence in the home, bullying, use of drugs or alcoholand socioeconomic factors (poverty, severe deprivation, marital breakup, single parenting, unemployment, loss of support from extended family) are responsible for aggressive behaviour among adolescents.³

 

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

Frustration is a response to conditions that keep adolescent away from achieving goals important to self-esteem and is closely associated with aggression. If adolescent learn that being aggressive when frustration is tolerated or gives them special treatment, the behaviour is reinforced. It is important not to attribute malice to adolescents who are responding to anxiety, feelings of incompetence or a sense of low self-esteem.⁴

 

According to World Health Organization, aggression percentage varies from 12-29% in countries under 16year of age. The prevalence of emotional intelligence is 5.42%, conduct 5.56%, hyperactivity 3.78%, peer 4.40% and psychological problems 4.26% respectively. Worldwide, 20% of children and adolescent suffer from a disabling mental illness.⁵

 

Nursing care focuses on client’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual care. Nurses play an important role in assessment, prevention and treatment of aggressive behaviour among patients and families.⁶

 

As per the researcher observation i.e. due to illiteracy or lack of education and financial crisis among families the needs of adolescent can’t be met by parents thus it may cause aggression and behavioural problems among them.Researcher recognized that adolescent find their role in society and if they are contradicted on that it leads to outbursts of anger and thus this put over impact in academic role.

 

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A cross sectional study to assess the aggressive behaviour among adolescent girls studying in selected Institutions of Block Pachhad, Distt Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh.

 

OBJECTIVES:

1.     To assess the level of aggressive behaviour among adolescent girls.

2.     To find out the association between level of aggressive behaviour among the adolescent girls with their selected demographic variables.

 

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Research Design:

In this study, the researcher used a quantitative approach and cross sectional research design.

 

Setting:

This study was conducted at selected institutions of Block Pachhad, Distt Sirmaur.

 

Population:

The target population was adolescent girls studying in selected Institutions.

 

Sample:

Adolescent girls (16-19yrs) studying in selected Institutions.

 

Sample Size:

Sample size was 157.

 

Sampling Technique:

The researcher adopted probability simple random sampling technique.

 

Tools and Techniques:

The tool consists of following sections

 

1.     Socio Demographic profile:

It consists of ten items such as age, religion, areas of residence, type of family, birth order, education status of mother and father, occupation of mother and father, stream of participants.

 

2.     Structured knowledge questionnaire:

It consists of standardized questionnaire (BUSS PERRY, 1992) to assess the level of Aggressive Behaviour.

 

Data collection process:

To conduct research study formal permission was obtained from the college authority and the research committee. After accepting the permission the following steps were taken up:

·       Step 1: Researchers introduced themselves and explain the purpose of the research study to the subjects.

·       Step 2: Administration of Socio Demographic andstandardized questionnaire (BUSS PERRY, 1992) to assess the level of Aggressive Behaviour.

·       Step 3: Collection of data.

·       Step 4: Analysis of collected data.

 

Data Analysis:

Descriptive and inferential data analysis was done by using SPSS version 21.

 

RESULTS:

Description of Socio-demographic characteristics of the Subjects:

With respect to the age, greater number 122(77.7%) of them were from age group of 18-19 years. 116(73.9%) of adolescent girls were Hindus.Most of them 100(63.7%) were living in rural areas. More than half 90(57.3%) of girls were from nuclear family. 83(52.9%) of girls were having 1^stbirth order. More than half 67(42.7%) of girl’s fathers were graduate. Most 48(30.6%) of girl’s mothers education was senior secondary. 56(35.7%) of adolescent girl’s fathers occupation was private employee. Majority 134(85.4%) of their mothers were home maker. Most 57 (36.3%) of adolescent were from agriculture stream. (Table 1.1)

 

Table 1.1: Frequency and Percentage Distribution of demographic variables of Adolescent girls               (N=157)

S. No.	Demographic Variables	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
1.	Age(inyrs) a.      16-17 b.      18-19	35 122	22.3% 77.7%
2.	Religion a.      Hindu b.      Sikh c.      Muslim	116 38 3	73.9% 24.2% 1.9%
3.	Areas of Residence a.      Rural b.      Urban	100 57	63.7% 36.3%
4.	Type of family a.      Nuclear family b.      Joint family	90 67	57.3% 42.7%
5.	Birth Order a.      1st b.      2nd c.      3rd d.      4th e.      >4th	83 57 14 1 2	52.9% 36.3% 8.9% 0.6% 1.3%
6.	Education Status of father a.      No formal education b.      Primary c.      Middle d.      Secondary e.      Senior Secondary	17 11 26 36 67	10.8% 7.0% 16.6% 22.9% 42.7%
7.	Education Status of mother a.      No formal education b.      Primary c.      Middle d.      Secondary e.      Senior Secondary	22 51 26 56 2	13.4% 14.6% 15.3% 30.6% 26.1%
8.	Occupation of Father a.      Labourer b.      Agriculture c.      Self-employee d.      Private employee e.      Govt. Employee	22 51 26 56 2	14.0% 32.5% 16.6% 35.7% 1.3%
9.	Occupation of Mother a.      Home Maker b.      Labourer c.      Self-Employed d.      Private Employee	134 1 10 12	85.4% 24.2% 16.6% 40.1%
10.	Stream of Participants a.      Nursing b.      Agriculture c.      Education d.      Basic Science e.      Engineering	48 57 18 16 18	30.6% 36.3% 11.5% 10.2% 11.5%

 

Table:1.2: Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Psychological Determinants of Adolescent girls       (N=157)

S. No.	Psychological Determinants	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
1.	Traumatic Event a.      Yes b.      Accident (N=25) c.      Relationship breakup (N=25) d.      Death of loved one (N=25) e.      No	25 10 3   12   132	15.9% 40% 12%   48%   84.1%
2.	History of Psychiatric Illness a.      Yes b.      No	3 154	1.9% 98.1%
3.	History of Significant Stress a.      Yes b.      No	9 148	5.7% 94.3%
4.	History of Aggressive Behaviour a.      Yes b.      No	5 152	3.2% 96.8%

 

According to selected psychological determinants, majority 132(84.1%) of them had never faced any traumatic event. Out of 25, 12(48%) of them faced death of loved one. Most 154(98.1%) of them had no psychiatric illness. Most 152(96.8%) of them had no history of aggressive behaviour. (Table 1.2)

 

Objective 1: To assess the level of aggressive behaviour among adolescent girls.

 

Table: 2.1: Frequency and Percentage Distribution of aggressive behaviour among adolescent girls.         (N=157)

S. No.	Levels of Aggressive Behaviour	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
1. 2. 3.	High (112-140) Moderate (84-111) Low (<83)	10 72 75	6.3% 45.3% 47.2%

 

Majority 75(47.2%) of adolescent girls were having low aggressive behaviour followed by 72(45.3%) of adolescent girls were having moderate and only 10 (6.3%) of them had high level of aggressive behaviour respectively. (Table 2.1)

 

Table 2.2: Frequency and Percentage Distribution of different dimension of aggressive behaviour among adolescent girls.        (N=157)

S. No.	Different dimensions of Aggression	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
1.	Physical Aggression a.      High (36-45) b.      Moderate (27-35) c.      Low (<27)	13 74 70	8.3% 47.1% 44.6%
2.	Verbal Aggression a.      High (20-25) b.      Moderate (15-19) c.      Low (<15)	11 61 85	7.0% 38.9% 54.1%
3.	Hostility a.      High (32-40) b.      Moderate (24-31) c.      Low (<24)	2 41 114	1.3% 26.1% 72.6%
4.	Anger a.      High (28-35) b.      Moderate (21-27) c.      Low (<20)	27 66 64	17.2% 42.0% 40.8%

 

Majority 74(47.1%) of adolescent girls had moderate level of physical aggression. 85(54.1%) of them had low level of verbal aggression. 114(72.6%) of them were having low hostile behaviour. In anger, 66(42.0%) having moderate level of anger. (Table 2.2)

In psychological determinants, only history of stress has significant association with aggressive behaviour as p value<0.05 level of significance.

 

DISCUSSION:

Most of adolescent girls 74(47.1%) were having moderate physical aggression. 85(54.1%) of them had low verbal aggression. More than half 114(72.6%) of adolescent girls had low level of hostility, 41(26.1%) had moderate level of hostile behaviour. 64(40.8%) of them had low level of anger,66(42.0%) had moderate level of anger and 27(17.2%) were having high level of anger respectively. Majority of adolescent girls 75(47.2%) had low level of aggressive behaviour. Similar study was conducted by Nagda M Elmasry et.al (2016)⁷which revealed that the physical aggression is more than verbal aggression and having moderate level of angeramong adolescent girls.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

·       An Experimental or interventional study to assess the effectiveness of coping strategies of aggressive behaviour among adolescent girls can be done.

·       A Comparative study can be conducted to assess the Emotional Intelligence and Aggressive Behaviour among adolescent girls and boys.

·       A Qualitative study can be conducted to assess the factors affecting the Emotional Intelligence and Aggressive Behaviour among adolescents.

 

CONCLUSION:

Majority of adolescent girls were having low and moderate level of aggressive behaviour. Among which physical verbal aggression as well as anger was more commonly found. Aggressive behaviour can be prevented to some extent by judicious early childhood training, proper parental care and adequate parenting style. By trying to fulfil the basic needs of the adolescents, they can be exposed to less frustration inducing situations. Hence, it requires psychological and educational interventions in order to control the aggressive behaviour among adolescent girls for promotion of mental health which will give better outcome in both health and academic aspect.

 

REFERENCES:

1.      Sreevani R. A guide to mental health and psychiatric nursing. 3rd ed. New Delhi: Jaypee Publishers; 2010. p:1

2.      Stuart GW, Laraia MT. Principles and practice of psychiatric nursing. 7th ed. Canada: Mosby Elsevier; 2005. p. 72-7.

3.      WHO Adolescents health. Available on: https://www.who.int/pmnch/media/news/2018/Adolescent-Health-Missing-Population-in-UHC.pdf?ua=1

4.      WHO Adolescents: health risks and solutions. Available on: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescents-health-risks-and-solutions

5.      Encyclopedia of children health. Aggressive behavior. Available on: http:// www.healthofchildren.com/A/Aggressive-Behavior. html

6.      Fields S, McNamara J. The prevention of child and adolescent violence: A review. Aggression and Violent Behavior. 2003;8(1):61–91.

7.      Nagda M Elmasry, Amira A Fouad, Dalia M Khalil, Khalid S Sherra. Physical and verbal aggression among adolescent school students in Sharkia, Egypt: prevalence and risk factors.EJP: 2016; 37 (3). Pp :166-173. Available on: http://new.ejpsy.eg.net/ article.asp?issn=1110-1105; year=2016; volume=37; issue=3; spage=166; epage=173; aulast=Elmasry

 

 

 

Received on 31.03.2020          Modified on 01.05.2020

Accepted on 29.05.2020 © AandV Publications all right reserved