A major proportion of women exhibited symptoms of antenatal composite DAS, and various factors were found to be related to their psychological distress. A young maternal age, low husband support, low income, large family size, adverse life events, lack of confidence, pregnancy-related concerns, and domestic violence were stronger determinants of poor antenatal psychological status. The study findings concluded that policymakers at the government level should launch special intervention programs to improve maternal perinatal mental and psychological health at the community level.

The present research examines how the presence of students’ psychological grit can boost up hope, meaning in life, and subjective happiness of 475 undergraduate students. To test this model, students’ grit is used as predictor of presence of hope, meaning in life, and subjective happiness. Student’s grit influences the passion and perseverance of the undergraduate students of the university to achieve their short and long-term goals. We administered grit scale, hope scale, meaning in life scale and subjective happiness scale to examine the predicted and criterion variables. Using correlation and regression (path analysis) analysis, findings of the study explored that students’ psychological grit is the significant predictor of hope, meaning in life, and subjective happiness. This study was conducted only in one public university, where students come from diverse areas. Significance of the study is, it will help counselors, planners, policy makers etc. to enhance passion and perseverance of students predicting and increasing hope, meaning in life, and subjective happiness of the students in order to make them focused to achieve their goals and face the challenges of life.

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This study examined the relationship of psychological distress with dietary intake of food groups, energy, macronutrients and micronutrients among pregnant women from Peshawar, Pakistan. A total of 230 pregnant women who attended antenatal care between September 2011 and December 2012, were enrolled. Psychological symptoms were assessed using Depression, Anxiety and Stress scales (DASS-42). Respondents were dichotomized into psychologically distressed (with DAS symptoms) and non-distressed groups (without DAS symptoms) based on the cutoff values for each set of symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Data on dietary intake, emotional support and demographic-socioeconomic characteristics were collected using pre-tested questionnaires. A total of 45% (n=104) of the respondents reported mild to severe symptoms of psychological distress. Overall, compared to women without DAS symptoms, distressed women had a tendency to consume less variety of foods, and had lower intakes of some key food groups (milk, meat and fruit). Mean dietary intake of fibre was higher in the distressed group than those without DAS symptoms (adjusted p<0.001); this was probably due to the higher intake of vegetables in this group. Mean dietary intake of calcium, iron, vitamin B3 and food variety score (FVS) were lower in distressed women (p<0.05) even after adjustment. The presence of antenatal DAS symptoms was significantly associated with low dietary diversity (below the median of FVS) (Adjusted OR = 1.98; 95% CI 1.12; 3.47). Family income and partner's emotional support during pregnancy were also associated with low dietary diversity. There is evidence that, in comparison to women without DAS symptoms, distressed women had lower dietary intakes of animal foods and some essential micronutrients with less dietary diversity. There is a need to develop policies focusing on maternal antenatal psychological health across the globe, particularly in developing countries where the burden of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality is ever increasing.

This study aims at investigating the association between metacognitive awareness and student’s academic achievements. The study undertakes the objectives and hypotheses on Low, Average and High achievers in addition to assess the effects of metacognition awareness level on student’s academic achievement. Through multistage stratified random sampling, data was collected from 160 undergraduate students, studying in Department of Mathematics & Department of English in Abdul Wali Khan University, Khyber Pukhtunkwa. Data was collected through Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI) by Schraw and Dennison (1994), CGPA of the students, and self-developed objective type subject test. Descriptive Statistics & statistical tests (Chi-square & Linear Regression) were applied for data analyses. The results showed that metacognitive awareness had significant effect on student’s academic achievement (CGPA) in Department of English whereas it was found to be insignificant in Department of Mathematics. The study recommends an introductory course on Educational Psychology, which cater the metacognitive needs of the students. Moreover, research studies are recommended in the subjects except English and Mathematics. The cultural difference of the students, teachers, and locality of the universities might be taken care of future perspective of researchers.