sabrina mahmood | Eötvös Loránd University Budapest (original) (raw)

Papers by sabrina mahmood

Acta Psychologica, 2024

Digital communication platforms and increasing screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic made cybe... more Digital communication platforms and increasing screen time during the COVID-19 pandemic made cyberbullying a significant public health issue for adolescents. Despite this urgent issue, qualitative research on adolescent cyberbullying victims' counselling interventions, particularly during the pandemic, remains limited. Hence, this novel study sought to explore the lived experiences of adolescent victims of cyberbullying receiving counselling interventions during this period through an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) lens. We conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of ten high school students (seven females and three males, mean age = 15.12 ± 0.81) who had attended at least five counselling sessions during the pandemic as victims of cyberbullying. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using IPA guidelines by Atlas.ti 8. We explored five personal experiential themes and eighteen subthemes were identified from the analysis: 1) Intensified Emotional Turmoil from Cyberbullying pointed out the deep emotional and psychological distress cyberbullying took on adolescents, particularly during the pandemic. 2) Navigating Internal and External Hurdles in Seeking Support outlined the barriers these adolescents faced in accessing counselling, such as privacy concerns and technical issues. 3) Counselling as a Crucial Support System emphasized how counselling assists in dealing with the impact of cyberbullying. 4) An Evolving Sense of Self-Perception explored the positive changes in self-identity and emotional resilience emerged through counselling. 5) Sense of Sustained Development and Personal Growth illustrated their self-commitment to continue follow-up sessions. This study emphasized that Virtual counselling, despite its limitations, emerged as a vital resource for the personal growth and development of the participants during the pandemic.

Background: Research has focused much on assessing attachment styles since it provides valuable i... more Background: Research has focused much on assessing attachment styles since it provides valuable insights for developing more precise psychological interventions. The Attachment Style Classification Questionnaire (ASCQ) is a widely used measurement of peer attachment styles. There is a scarcity of validated instruments to assess attachment styles among Bangladeshi secondary school students. This study sought to translate the ASCQ into Bangla and validate it among secondary school students of Bangladesh. Method: We collected data from grade 8-10 students (N = 801, 409 females, 392 males, Age Mean±SD = 12.95± 0.99). The participants completed the ASCQ-B, the Beck Youth Inventory (BYI), and the Children's Revised Impact of Events Scale-13 (CRIES-13). To validate the ASCQ Bangla (ASCQ-B), we have followed classical test theory-based analyses (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, measurement invariance, and reliability). Results: The exploratory factor analysis retained nine items and revealed a two-factor latent structure. The confirmatory factor analysis on the second-round data supported the two-factor latent structure with seven items (CFI= 0.999, TLI = 0.997, RMSEA = 0.081; SRMR =0.052). The strict measurement invariance analysis on the CFA samples indicated that the two-factor latent structure was robust across genders (200 males vs. 201 females). In line with our hypothesis, both factors of ASCQ-B showed a strong associations with BYI and CRIES-13, indicating satisfactory concurrent validity and exhibited satisfactory reliability

Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 2023

Background: The assessment of bullying-related attributes is vital in developing anti-bullying in... more Background: The assessment of bullying-related attributes is vital in developing anti-bullying intervention and prevention programs. The revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ-R) is one tool that has been widely used for this purpose. Thus, as we noticed a rising interest in research on bullying and there is a scarcity of proper psychometric tools to assess bullying-related attributes in Bangladesh, our study aimed to translate the OBVQ-R and test the psychometric properties of the Bangla version of this questionnaire on a large Bangladeshi adolescent sample. Method: In Bangladesh, we collected data from grade 8-10 students (N = 567, 309 females, 258 males, Age Mean ±SD =15.12 ± 0.81). The participants completed Bangla OBVQ-R, Beck Youth Inventory (BYI), and Children's Revised Impact of Events Scale-13 (CRIES-13). Results: The item response theory (IRT) analysis discarded five items and retained 15 items (Victimization=8, Perpetration=7). Both subscales had items with high discrimination (Victimization: 3.14 ± 0.67; Perpetration: 3.40 ± 1.04). Confirmatory factor analysis supported a correlated two-factor model (CFI=0.99; TLI=0.99). Both subscales (Victimization and Perpetration) and the 15-item full scale exhibited satisfactory reliability (>0.80). In line with our predictions, both subscales demonstrated significant positive correlations with BYI and CRIES-13, indicating satisfactory concurrent validity. Conclusion: The results of the psychometric analyses supported the reliability and validity of the 15-item Banglaversion OBVQ-R to assess bullying involvement. Hence, this new, adapted measurement can facilitate further bullying research in Bangladesh and, thus, the development of prevention and intervention programs.

Dhaka University Journal of Biological Sciences, Jul 10, 2017

The study was carried out to explore the outcome of relaxation on stress, anxiety and depression ... more The study was carried out to explore the outcome of relaxation on stress, anxiety and depression level of the caregivers of cancer patients. Fifty caregivers of cancer survivors were randomly assigned to two groups. In intervention group, participants received relaxation once a week for five consecutive weeks while control group received no intervention. Stress (life-stress questionnaire), anxiety (anxiety scale) and depression (depression scale) levels were assessed before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed by independent sample t test. Results showed that relaxation helped the caregivers of cancer patients to reduce their stress and anxiety. But relaxation did not reduce the level of depression. Implication of the research and future guideline are also discussed.

Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond, 2014

Child sexual abuse has been addressed in Bangladesh since the early 1990s.Sexual abuse of childre... more Child sexual abuse has been addressed in Bangladesh since the early 1990s.Sexual abuse of children with disabilities, today, is an under reported phenomenon due to the inability of victims to report, lack of awareness of direct service providers to recognize and understand the meaning of signs of sexual abuse, and due to their reluctance to comply with mandated reporter laws and responsibilities. In 2012 study the World Health Organization (WHO) found that worldwide children with disabilities are almost three times more likely to be sexually abused than non-disabled peers. The study also found that children with cognitive or mental health disabilities are nearly five times more likely to suffer such abuse. Another study was conducted jointly by the Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation (BPF) and Save the Children Sweden-Denmark in 2010. The result of the study showed that half of all the disabled children in Bangladesh are sexually abused, mostly by close relatives. Psychological approaches to helping children in Bangladesh recover from sexual abuse have emerged in the last few years. However, Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation have set up ‗counseling' units as psychosocial support and have tried to full recognition of the holistic approach required to address child sexual abuse with adequate training, standards and protocols necessary to produce healing environments and effective interventions in support of the child. The present study will be conducted with those children with disability who are already identified as sexually abused assessed by the clinic of Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation The study will show the effect of psychosocial support including different types of counseling psychotherapy and home based psychological services for this children by pre and post test of their self-esteem, loneliness and anxiety level. BACKGROUND Child sexual abuse is the exploitation of a child or adolescent for the sexual gratification of another Person. Child sexual abuse is an horrific crime against children, boys and girls, and describes when a child is used by an adult or adolescent for their sexual means and stimulation. This, not surprisingly, can cause severe problems in the children future lives. It can be soul destroying for any individual, as it's such a violation of trust that a lot of people find hard to overcome, and can cause many problems at later stages of life. Children living in adverse condition are more likely to be in abusive situation which may include physical or sexual abuse, and exploitation characterized by street child, child labor, child domestic workers, or youth offender. It may take the form of violation of rights such as family violence and neglect, conflict with arms and war, law enforcement; acid violence, sexual exploitation and child trafficking etc. Causes of children living in adverse condition  Poverty, ignorance and low level of education  Adult's attitude toward children, social taboo e.g. blaming the children  Inappropriate laws and ineffective implementation  Power structure of the society  Parenting; low participation of children in families.  Lack of children participation in family and society  Patriarchal nature of the society  Unequal power structure and relation such as gender, age, class, disability, cast, religion etc.  Existing violence in the society including violence against children.  Stereotyped gender discrimination Research Finding From 2012 study of the World Health Organization (WHO) found that worldwide children with disabilities are almost three times more likely to be sexually abused than non-disabled peers. The study also found that children with cognitive or mental health disabilities are nearly five times more likely to suffer such abuse. Child sexual abuse has been addressed in Bangladesh since the early 1990s. Breaking the Silence (BTS) was one of the first organizations in South Asia to address CSA. They began raising awareness on the issue in 1993. The Centre for Training and Rehabilitation of Destitute Women (CTRDW) provides shelter and day care for pregnant unmarried young girls and women, many of whom have been sexually abused and/or trafficked, and alienated from their families and communities. A study was conducted jointly by the Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation (BPF) and Save the Children Sweden-Denmark (2010). The result was that half of all the disabled children in Bangladesh are sexually abused, mostly by close relatives.

Asian Journal of Psychiatry, May 1, 2023

Asian Journal of Psychiatry

This thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Educational Psychology department... more This thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Educational Psychology department of Educational & Counselling Psychology, University of Dhaka.

Incidence of bullying among school children is very common and well recognized. The present study... more Incidence of bullying among school children is very common and well recognized. The present study explored the existing scenario of bullying in high schools at Dhaka city. Phenomenological approach was used to gather and analyze focus group discussion data from 60 parents, teachers and students from both English and Bangla medium school, selected through convenient sampling. The qualitative analysis using software NVivo, revealed seven forms of bullying such as verbal, emotional, exclusion, physical, sexual, cyber, and race, to be prevalent among high school children. Though bullying found to affect large numbers of high school children in both Bangla and English medium, according to teachers' report, physical and emotional bullying were more common in Bangla medium, while frequency of verbal, sexual, and cyberbullying were high in English medium. Teachers also reported that student of grade 9 and 10 experienced more sexual and cyberbullying than other classes. It was evident that bullying took place at anywhere and everywhere in the school premises, like in classroom, playground, bathroom, around the campus, or even in school bus. Common causes, probable consequences and prevention strategies on bullying were also identified. Seeking attention was found to be an important factor for bully behavior. Opinion of parents, teachers and students about experiences and probable prevention plan were considered to work out a helpful intervention program for bullying in future.

Acta Psychologica, 2024

Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 2023

Dhaka University Journal of Biological Sciences, Jul 10, 2017

Institutionalised Children Explorations and Beyond, 2014

Asian Journal of Psychiatry, May 1, 2023

Asian Journal of Psychiatry