International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 3, pp 4368-4372 March 2023
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews
Journal homepage: www.ijrpr.com ISSN 2582-7421
A Comparative Study of Mental Health among College Students
1Dr Daljit Singh, 2Dr Rupinder Kaur
1
Assistant professor in Psychology Government College for Women Sirsa
2
Assistant professor in Commerce, Government College for Women Sirsa
ABSTRACT
More than only the absence of a mental condition, mental health plays a significant role in people's lives as well as those of their family and communities. In this
study, the mental health of college students, both male and female, is compared. For the purpose of evaluating the mental health of male and female college students
in Sirsa, Haryana, we employ the null hypothesis approach. We adopt the null hypothesis, which states that there are no appreciable differences in college students'
mental health based on their gender. This study is based on the "Mental Health Questionnaire as Mental Health Battery" questionnaire tool created by Arun Kumar
Singh and Alpana Sen Gupta. We found that there is a substantial difference in emotional stability, overall adjustments, and security versus insecurity after reviewing
the data that had been gathered, but we were unable to detect any differences that were significant in autonomy, self-concept, or intelligence.
Keywords: Mental Health, Emotional stability, Adjustment, Autonomy, Security- Insecurity.
Introduction Mental Health
Health is a crucial aspect of human life. Everyone knows that in order to develop correctly, they must be in good health. The term "mental" refers to "the
mind". It clarifies how one feels, thinks, and perceives oneself and his surroundings. The complete operation of the human body and mind is the definition
of "health" in its broadest sense. And when we talk about "mental health," we particularly mean how well the mind is working. A person's ability to
balance their desires and ambitions, deal with stress, and adjust physiologically, according to Zahoor and Zilli (2013), is a gauge of their mental health.
Mental health is characterised psychologically as a state of wellbeing or as the absence of a mental illness. It is said to be one of the most important
aspects of life, and personality qualities largely determine it (Richards, Campania, Muse-Burke, 2010). The phrase "mental health" has been used in study
in a variety of ways. There are many various definitions of mental health because there are differences in terms of age, sex, sociocultural background,
experiences, and the lack of a universal language.
Weare (2004) thought that a person's resilience, inner sense of coherence, ability to build relationships, feel attached to others, and understand rationally
about emotional issues all contributed to the deeper concern for mental health. The World Health Organization nevertheless offers the most agreeable
definition of mental health (2005). "Mental health is a condition of well-being in which every individual fulfils his or her own potential, can manage with
the regular demands of life, can work creatively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community," claims the World Health
Organization.
The concepts above make it obvious that mental health is the balanced operation of the human personality. One's level of self-adjustment and universal
harmony serve as indicators of one's mental clarity, fulfillment, joy, efficacy, and harmony (Walia, 2007).
Dimensions of mental health:
Mental health is a very broad concept. In the current study, six different indices or dimensions are taken into consideration. These dimensions are described
in the section below:
1. Emotional Stability - Having stable, albeit subjective, feelings that may or may not be meaningful to a person is referred to as emotional
stability. According to Smitson (1974), the process through which a person continually strives to feel emotionally better on both an intra-
physical and an intra-personal level is known as emotional stability. A person with emotional stability has been seen to be able to change their
relationships with their family, friends, and environment with ease, put up with delays in meeting their needs, handle intense frustration, and
be able to put off or revise their expectations in light of the demands of the situation.
2. Overall Adjustment - A person's capacity to strike a general, harmonious balance between the demands of their environment, such as those
connected to their home, health, social, emotional, and educational needs, on the one hand, and their cognition, on the other, is referred to as
their overall adjustment. A behavioural task is maintaining equilibrium between conflicting desires and social and personal restraints.
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 3, pp 4368-4372 March 2023 4369
3. Autonomy - This term denotes a stage of autonomy and self-reliance in terms of thought. A person's competence to make independent
decisions. A person's potential for independence and self-reliance as well as the requirements of the conditions are addressed.
4. Security – Insecurity - A high (or low) sense of safety, confidence, and freedom from dread, worry, or anxiety, especially with reference to
meeting the person's present or future requirements, is referred to as security-insecurity.
5. Self – Concept - This term applies to a person's general views, self-awareness, and evaluation of his achievements. It has to do with how
conscious a person is of himself and his actions. The self-concept encompasses every aspect of the self.
6. Intelligence - This word describes a person's overall mental ability, which helps them reason clearly and act purposefully in a variety of
contexts.
Review of Literature
From the perspective of positive psychology, mental health is viewed as a person's capacity to balance life's activities with his or her attempts to develop
resilience and to fully enjoy it. Those that exhibit strong mental health also exhibit good physical health, which has an impact on their socioeconomic
standing, family, friends and community. Such people contribute positively to society.
In their 2015 study, Rizwan Hassan Bhatand and Jahangeer Majeed discovered that there is no statistically significant relationship between a child's
mental health and their ability to regulate their emotions, their sense of autonomy, their sense of self-worth, their sense of security, or their level of
intelligence.
A study on teenage mental health in connection to self-concept was done by Gupta in 2002. She discovered that male and female adolescents' mental
health varied significantly. According to Deepti Dhurandher and Alka Agrawal's (2015) study, there was no discernible difference in the mental health
of boys and girls in upper secondary school, and just one factor—autonomy— showed a difference for students studying science and art.
According to Gupta and Kumar (2010), male students had better mental health than female students. According to Chawla (2012), ladies have greater
mental health than males. Male and female mental health status did not significantly differ, according to Bangale and Patnam (2013).
Many researches on the mental health of students studying at various levels have been undertaken to far. The mental health of adolescent children in
government and private schools was significantly different, according to Gupta (2002) and Devi, Devi, & Gonal (2018). Another study by Kaur (2015)
revealed important differences in teenage mental health according to gender and kind of school. Male students had greater mental health than female
students, and there are considerable differences between rural and urban pupils (Kumar, 2013). On the other hand, Jaiswal & Kumar's (2013) research on
adolescent athletes in public and private schools found no differences between the two groups on the indicators of mental health. Similar findings were
found in another study by Sarita, Dahiya, and Pushpanjali (2015), which found that pupils' mental health was unaffected by their gender or the sort of
school they attended.
Statement of the problem:
To study the mental health of college students, both male and female.
Objectives:
1. To examine the Emotional stability among males and females college students.
2. To examine the Overall adjustment among males and females college students.
3. To examine the Autonomy among male and females college students.
4. To examine the Security- Insecurity among males and females college students.
5. To examine the Self Concept among males and females college students
6. To examine the Intelligence among males and females college students
Hypotheses:
H1) There is no significant difference between Males and Females College students with Mental Health dimension on Emotional stability.
H2) There is no significant difference between Males and Females College students with Mental Health dimension on Overall Adjustment.
H3) There is no significant difference between Males and Females College students with Mental Health dimension on Autonomy.
H4) There is no significant difference between Males and Females College students with Mental Health dimension on Security - Insecurity.
H5) There is no significant difference between Males and Females College students with Mental Health dimension on Self-Concept.
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H6) There is no significant difference between Males and Females College students with Mental Health dimension on Intelligence.
Sample
The present study sample was selected from college students of district Sirsa in Haryana. Total sample of present study was of 300 College Students, in
which 150 were Males and 150 were females.
Research Tools:
Arun Kumar Singh and Alpana Sen Gupta (2000) developed and validated the English version of the Mental Health Battery, which was used in the study
by the investigator. MHB wants to evaluate the mental health of people between the ages of 13 and 22. Six tests make up the battery. In the MHB, there
are 130 items divided into six categories: emotional stability (ES), overall adjustment (OA), autonomy (AY), security-insecurity (SI), self-concept (SC),
and intelligence (I) (IG). The battery's various dimensions' reliability ranged from 0.72 to 0.87. Moreover, it has strong contemporaneous and construct
validity. Each item was given one mark for right answer and zero for wrong answer. The scores of each dimension were added separately to have the
dimensional scores.
Results and Analysis:
The data is collected from the students according to their six different features. This analyzed data is tabulated below according to the gender the students
and a standard deviation is calculated in each category of analysis.
Table 1 Emotional Stability
Group N Mean SD t-Value Sig.
Gender
Male 150 8.92 2.16 4.18 0.01
Female 150 10.04 2.48 S
Result: The results of Emotional Stability (ES) of the college students on the basis of their gender (Male or Female) are shown above in tabular form
(Table No. 1). After analyzing the whole data, the t-Value is found to be 4.18 which is significant at 0.01 level. The Table 1 revealed that the mean scores
of Emotional stability of males and females in College students are
8.92 and 10.04 with SD’s 2.16 and 2.48 respectively. The t -value came out from the above two groups is 4.18. Therefore, the hypothesis (H1) is rejected
which means there is highly significance difference between the Emotional stability of males and females college students. It was found that female
Students are having high Emotional stability than male Students. The obtained findings contradict the findings of the study conducted by Gandhi (2016)
which showed that the government and private school students did not differ in emotional stability.
Table 2 Overall Adjustments
Group N Mean SD t-Value Sig.
Gender
Male 150 26.92 3.54 2.59 0.01
Female 150 28.09 4.23 S
Result: The results of Overall Adjustment (OA) of the college students on the basis of their gender (Male or Female) are shown above in tabular foam
(Table No. 2). After analyzing the whole data, the t-Value is found to be 2.59 which is significant at 0.01 level. Table 2 revealed that the mean scores of
Overall Adjustment of male and female college students are 26.92 and
28.09 with SD’s 3.54 and 4.23 respectively. The t -value came out from the above two groups is
2.59 which is significant at 0.01 level. Therefore, the hypothesis (H2) is rejected which means there is highly significance difference between the Overall
Adjustment of male and female college students. It was found that female Students having high Overall Adjustment than male college students. The
obtained results are supported by the findings of Hussain, Kumar and Husain (2008).
Table 3 Autonomy
=Group N Mean SD t-Value Sig.
Gender
Male 150 10.96 1.49 .620 NS
Female 150 10.85 1.66
Result: The results of Autonomy of the college students on the basis of their gender (Male or Female) are shown above in tabular foam (Table No. 3).
After analyzing the whole data, the t- Value is found to be .620 which is non-significant at both levels. Table 3 revealed that the mean scores of Autonomy
of male and female college students are 10.96 and 10.85 with SD’s 1.49 and
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 3, pp 4368-4372 March 2023 4371
1.66 respectively. The t -value came out from the above two groups is .620. Therefore, the hypothesis (H3) is accepted which means there is no
significance difference between the Autonomy of male and female college students.
Table 4 Security – insecurity
Group N Mean SD t-Value Sig.
Gender
Male 150 10.33 1.91 3.53 0.01 S
Female 150 9.56 1.84
Result: The results of Security-Insecurity (SI) of the college students on the basis of their gender (Male or Female) are shown above in tabular foam
(Table No. 4). After analyzing the whole data, the t-Value is found to be 3.53 which is significant at 0.01 level. Table 4 revealed that the mean scores of
Security- Insecurity of male and female college students are 10.33 and 9.56 with SD’s 1.91 and 1.84 respectively. The t -value came out from the above
two groups is 3.53. Therefore, the hypothesis (H4) is rejected which means there is significant difference between the Security- Insecurity of male and
female college students It was found that There is significant difference between male and female college students n Security- Insecurity dimension.
Table 5 Self-concept
Group N Mean SD t-Value Sig.
Gender
Male 150 9.09 2.27 .027 NS
Female 150 9.10 1.97
Result: The results of Self-Concept (SC) of the college students on the basis of their gender (Male or Female) are shown above in tabular foam (Table
No. 5). After analyzing the whole data, the t-Value is found to be .027 which is non-significant at both levels. Table 5 revealed that the mean scores of
Self-concept of male and female college students are 9.09 and 9.10 with SD’s
2.27 and 1.97 respectively. The t -value came out from the above two groups is .027. Therefore, the hypothesis (H5) is accepted which means there is no
significance difference between the
Self-concept of male and female college students. It was found that there is no significant difference between male and female college students with
Mental Health dimension on Self- concept.
Table 6 Intelligence
Group N Mean SD t-Value Sig.
Gender
Male 150 19.23 3.52 .766 NS
Female 150 19.55 3.85
Result: The study of Intelligence (IN) of the college students on the basis of their gender (Male or Female) is shown above in tabular foam (Table No. 6).
After analyzing the whole data, the t- Value is found to be 0.766 which is non-significant at both levels. Table 6 revealed that the mean scores of
Intelligence of male and female college students are 19.23 and 19.55 with SD’s 3.52 and 3.85 respectively. The t -value came out from the above two
groups is .766. Therefore, the hypothesis (H6) is accepted which means there is no significance difference between the Self- concept of male and female
college students. It was found that there is no significant difference between male and female college students with Mental Health dimension on
Intelligence.
Conclusion
Gender is an important aspect for investigation, generally males are considered to be superior and females as inferior commonly in our culture. In this
research we were observed that females are better in emotional stability and overall adjustment than males. It was noticed that in Indian culture, female’s
faces struggle from the birth to end of her life, eg. Sati Custom, Female Feticide, Dowry Death, Female abuse and Domestic violence etc. All these factors
lead to make her strong and adjustable. According to the society and culture makes her capable to face the situation the life. Comparatively males are not
face the society pressure, tradition and conditions .As per result of the present study's data interpretation and analysis, it was determined that male and
female in colleges differed significantly on three aspects of mental health: emotional stability, overall adjustment, and security -insecurity. The male
students showed better score than female students only on one dimension that is security – insecurity when compared.
On the other hand, female students showed better scores on the overall adjustment and emotional stability as compared to college male students. Al
though literature exists where researcher have explored the link between mental health in college students, more investigation is required because this is
not a curable issue which will disappear. Mental health in college students will likely remain the part of conversation about the challenges that students
face.
1. Female Students high Emotional stability than males Students at college level in this study.
2. Female Students high overall adjustment than males Students at college level in this study.
3. Male Students high Emotional stability than females Students at college level in this study.
International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews, Vol 4, no 3, pp 4368-4372 March 2023 4372
4. There is no significant difference found in female Students than males Students on autonomy dimensions at college level in this study.
5. There is no significant difference found in female Students than males Students on self- concept dimensions at college level in this study.
6. There is no significant difference found in female Students than males Students on intelligence dimensions at college level in this study.
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