Psychology

Domestic and intimate partner violence in recent years have aroused special interest around the world. This violence can take the form of physical assault, psychological abuse, social abuse, financial abuse, or sexual assault, and it can be occasional or chronic. Intimate partner and domestic violence, especially systematic one, not only causes physical injury, but it also damages the social, economic, psychological, spiritual and emotional well-being of the victim. The victims of such violence are in great need for psychosocial support. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of brief group psychotherapy to a sample of Kosovar women recovering from domestic and intimate partner violence. There were nine women that participated in six group therapy sessions. They were part of the project “Domestic Violence as a Traumatic Event-One for All and All for One” implemented by NGO ” Inject – Initiative for Justice and Equality.” The initial evaluation before the therapy indicated great presence of psychological distress among participants. After the therapy, through filling out the Evaluation Forms and answering open questions, therapy beneficiaries revealed many benefits to their psychological wellbeing as a result of the support received in group psychotherapy and in the created women support group among them.

The aim of this study was to detect the connection of the parenting upbringing styles with the drinking habits of the adolescents. A sample study has been conducted over 600 respondents, students from primary and secondary schools from the Polog region. The scale used for assessment of upbringing styles was applied- “Egna Minnen Batraffande Uppfostran” (EMBU), as well as the questionnaire by the WHO form “The global research of the adolescents’ health”. The statistical analysis of the data gained from the research was made with the statistical program SPSS 17,0. The results revealed that the structure of the respondents was composed of 264 (44%) male and 336 (56%) female students. The ethnic structure of the students was composed of 300 Macedonian students and 300 Albanian students, where 172 (28.67%) were students from 9th grade, 203 (33.83%) from 1st grade and 225 (37.5%) students from 2nd grade in high school. In this group of students, 230 (38.33%) of the students drink alcohol that is the prevalence of consumption was 38.3%. Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis as a father’s upbringing style significantly associated with developing a habit of alcohol consumption among children, confirmed: rejection (p=0.028) and oversaturation (p=0.011). The results of the research have shown that the upbringing styles of the mother have significant influence towards the risky behavior of the adolescents in the aspect of drinking alcohol.

The purpose of this study is to identify the interaction between the type of attachment andthe development of resilience in children at school age after having lost their father. The research was qualitative and semi-structured CAI was used for the type of attachment and the CYRM Interview was used regarding resilience.It is hypothesized that children with secure attachment will develop resilience and will easily withstand loss while those with insecure attachment will not develop resilience.Participants are 12 children aged 6-12 who live with their mothers. Target families were identified by the CSW in Prishtina and 10% of the children were selected randomlyThe findings of the study show that there is a high level of interaction between secure attachment and resilience development, while- there are no significant data that validate or invalidate the Alternative Hypothesis 2.

The purpose of the research is to identify the overcoming mechanisms to citizens of Kosovo and how they feel during the quarantine. The research was conducted with quantitative design and 1053 participants, variated age 19-65, while the administration of the non- standardized questionnaire was online and consisted of 22 questions and 3 of them were opened questions. The analysis of the data was performed depending on the frequency obtained from the results of the online platform in a descriptive form, by which a questionnaire was administered where they present the percentages and graphs from the answers of the participants. The results show that the overcoming mechanisms that have been identified are: watching movies 59.1%, reading books with 42.1%, jokes on social networks 35.9% and others such as solidarity with 41.9% in emotional, moral, financial, and material terms, then physical exercises, recreational games with children, handcrafts, preparation of various foods, seasonal work in the garden, meditation, application of religious rites and conversations with each other through a social network offering each other courage during the situation as a result of COVID- 19 coronavirus. Also, reported emotional states were: anxiety, panic, nervousness, and feelings of boredom. The needs of the citizens of Kosovo during the quarantine period as a result of COVID-19 are: Social 66.2%, Psychological 51.5% and Materials 19.2%. The creation of an online platform is suggested because of low cost and easy access to services.

In January 2020, the WHO declared the outbreak of Coronavirus as a Public Health Emergency of international importance, the same happened in Kosovo. Public health actions, such as social distancing, isolation can make people feel lonely and can increase stress and anxiety. The purpose of this research is to show the relationship between stress, anxiety, depression and the development of resilience of social workers in the period of pandemic. DASS will be used to measure S.A.D (Lovibond, SH & Lovibond, 1995) and the ARM to measure resilience (Ungar, 2008, 2011). It is hypothesized that Social Workers who have developed resilience will easily cope with S.A.D, while workers who failed to develop resilience will be more vulnerable to S.A.D. Participants are 39 social workers of CSW Pristina. The findings of the study show that level of SAD is in moderate extent and level of resilience is high.

Pandemics have had a great impact on our inner and outer and has become an unwanted but unavoidable challenge among us. All we have to do is to adopt our lifestyle in contradict with our former lifespan. The famous expression “Life is a rat race” has already got its replacements of rats into bats, but that is not all. Is it the bat or human’s fault It is still a race but this case is a race of patience, persistence in quarantine conditions and post one due to physical and psychological viruses. There are a lot of questions that circles around us making visions for the future neither optimistic nor pessimistic ones. What is happening around the world and around us? What about our survival? Are we ready to face such major changes that we do not even know if they are called changes? However, one thing is for sure that our perceptions are undergoing into fundamental new ways of repairing their style or maybe ours or both. If the world is getting ready for the big leap in a totally unplanned future, so do our social perceptions react. The men have gone to the moon, explored space, has given thoughts about universe, have also ruined nature, polluted air but all these were included in the men’s social perceptions. Now it seems that our fears of the unknown have risen along with the fear of unplanned risen of the new upcoming perceptions.

Children are always defined as the future of society, which is undoubtedly so. But to have a healthy future we need to work for an even healthier present, starting from the family as an essential part of development, school institutions and society at large, because today is what precedes it. The next day, so we have to be careful about how children are growing and developing day by day, being side by side accompanying each other towards this growth, and especially at a stage as sensitive as the adolescent period, of some sort. ”war” that goes through almost every individual in his or her lifetime. Adolescence is such a sensitive period, which can lead to various disorders that have consequences for the later life of that individual who is facing these disorders, so the purpose of this study has been focused on identifying presence of depression among adolescents in the municipality of Mitrovica, to look even closer thanks to a more detailed study on this topic. Of the schools in Mitrovica, 900 respondents were included in the two levels of schools, lower secondary schools, and upper secondary schools, of which 476 were from primary schools and 424 were from secondary schools, as the result of which were many issues related to adolescents, and concluding how adolescents feel about depression.

In reality, virginity doesn’t have a universal definition. Despite this fact, it has a big impact in people’s lives, especially in collectivist cultures where social norms influence the way people behave and think. This leads to the main goal of this paper, which is to explore the attitudes of the Kosovar youth towards virginity as a social construct. To explain the thesis, the bio ecological model and the concept of binary opposites is used. The methodology is done through mixed methods, by administering surveys with a sample of 1507 respondents and three focus groups, with 18 girls. The results show that there exists a positive correlation between the religion and a negative one with the level of the education toward virginity. Also, it is perceived a double standard, especially for girls. The main recommendation is to intervene in the society by further studies, campaigns and sexual education.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the world, surpassed only by cardiovascular disease. It can have a drastic impact on families. The purpose of this research is to expand our knowledge about the special psychological experiences of persons who have parents affected by cancer, more specifically to gain more understanding about the psychological experiences which are most pronounced, and to see how their parent's illness affects their personal lives. There were 5 participants in this qualitative research, all adult children of parents diagnosed with cancer. The data were collected through a semi-structured individual interviews, which consisted of ten questions. All interviews were transcribed to further analyze the different perspectives offered by these participants on this topic. Each of the participants reported specific psychological experiences with initial mixed thoughts and feelings. Some of them experienced sleep problems, others needed to make family arrangements to stay close to their parent. All participants used their own ways to support and alleviate their parents’ coping with cancer, and tried to spend relatively long and beautiful time with their parent regardless of the difficulties and confrontations in which they are finding themselves. Our research suggests that the most prominent psychological experiences present among these participants are anxiety, stress, emotional shock, fear, sleep disturbances, and sadness. Persons supporting a parent with cancer are in great need for psycho-social support.

During the Covid-19 pandemic situation everyday life has changed in drastically way for all of us. The social distance is difficult for humans because they are social humans. Adolescents are much more affected from this new style of life because they more than adults need to be attachment emotionally and physically with their peers. Also, is seemed that adolescents around the world may be uniquely sensitive to this abrupt disruption in their lives due to the biological and psychological changes that occur during this developmental period. Social media has rapidly transformed the ways in which adolescents socialize and interact with one another, which has contributed to an ongoing debate about whether social media is helping or harming teens today. The Covid-19 pandemic has only magnified this societal dilemma as teens are spending more time than ever before on social media. Thus, it is important for parents, educators, and teens to better understand social media use in the context of Covid-19. This article discusses the implications of social media for adolescent development and mental health in the context of Covid-19 in Albania Society, with attention to the ways in which social media may be especially helpful for teens in the midst of physical distancing practices, as well as how social media behaviors can negatively impact teens’ physical and mental health during this time. Using research and theory, the article provides practical guidance on facilitating teens’ helpful use of social media and mitigating its negative effects during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This qualitative study aimed to further understand and explore the different perspectives that young and old adults have regarding the process of dying , respectively how young and old adults perceive and understand the process of dying, their thoughts, feelings and beliefs regarding the personal death and the death of loved ones, the connection between life and death cycle, their insights regarding the pivotal role that culture has on the way how people approach death, different coping mechanisms when facing loss, the idea of afterlife and perspectives for the idea of being immortal. In this research study participated 8 young adults (4 women and 4 men; 24-29 years old) and 7 old adults (3 women and 4 men; 65-72 years old). All participants were from Kosovo and were recruited through snowball sampling method. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews which lasted around 15- 40 minutes. The data gathered from semi-structured interviews were analyzed through Thematic Analysis. After the data coding, seven themes were generated: Appreciation for being alive, Life and Death Cycle, The meaning of Death, Afterlife, The universal fear of dying, Coping with the process of dying and The idea of being immortal.