Study: Psychological Health of Secondary Students and Working Mothers

This report presents a study on the psychological health of secondary school students in North Jordan, focusing on the impact of their mothers' employment status. The research involved a sample of 1305 students, examining their emotional balance, self-realization, and psycho-social compatibility. The study found a moderate level of psychological health overall, with self-realization scoring the highest. Statistically significant differences were observed in self-realization, favoring students with working mothers, and also in relation to the number of hours worked by the mothers. The study used a scale with 30 items across three domains, and responses were rated on a 5-point scale. The research highlights the importance of psychological health in the context of maternal employment and its effect on adolescents. The study also discusses the need for more research in this area to better understand and support the psychological well-being of students.

Level of Psychological Health of a Sample of Working and Non-Working
Mothers of Secondary School Students in North Jordan
Abstract: The present study aimed to determine the level of psychological health among the
children of working mothers and non-working, secondarysecondary school students in the light
of some variables in northern Jordan, tThe study sample consisted of (1305) students. The results
showed that the middle level of psychological health was moderate, and the existence of a
statistically significant difference at the level of st atistical significance between the average
estimates of children on the field of (self-realization) due to the variable (work of the mother) for
the benefit of working mothers. There are differences in variable (number of hours worked) for
the benefit of people with hours of work (more than 8 hours). . And Tthe absence of a
statistically significant difference between the average estimates of children in all fields and the
tool as a whole due to the variables (gender, number of children).
Keyword: Psychological Health; Children of Working Mothers and Non-Working; Secondary
School Students.
INTRODUCTION:
Psychological health has many concepts and meanings. It will present several
concepts that scientists have pointed out in order to reach a definition that allows us to
benefit in directing people to understand their lives and overcome their problems so that
they can lead happy lives and achieve their messages as compatible working people in our
modern society.

The developed countries make systematic efforts in the field of psychological
health to prevent psychological and psychological disorders. Conflicts and attacks threaten
humanity and dispel energies (Knapp, McDaid, Mossialos & Thornicroft, 2007). Their
disposal depends on the spread of the principles of psychological health, prevention and
the type of services provided by the responsible authorities, Guidance, counseling and
guidance services are offered to children and adults in solving their psychological
problems, deviations, and the discovery of psychological disorders in a manner that helps
to heal them before they become too difficult to cure (WHO, 2002).
Psychological health is a relatively permanent state in which anthe individualan
individual is psychologically compatible, happy with himself and others, capable of
achieving himself, exploiting his abilities. and abilities toThese are the fullest extent possible,
capable of coping with the demands of life, being fully integrated and his behavior so
normal that he can live in peace and peace (Slade, 2010).
He believes that Psychological health is a positive condition that exists in anthe
individualan individual and is at the level of the performance of his mental functions as it
appears in a number of manifestations., iIf the psychological functions are performed in a
good and harmonious and integrated within the unity of personality was psychological
health sound and good, if not the order was also It is necessary to look for the disruptions
(Dodge, Daly, Huyton & Sanders, 2012).
That psychological health is the compatibility of individuals with themselves and
with the world in general the maximum effectiveness, satisfaction and joy and social
behavior., andSimilarly, the ability to cope with life and acceptance, and can describe the
highest level of psychological health in the case that anthe individualan individual achieves a
high level of success, so that the maximum satisfaction with And the social system.
Therefore,, with a sense of minimal differences and tension, and that means a state of
happiness is not concerned itand does not show inappropriate behavior,, and maintain the
psychological level, and emotional in any environment and inas well as in different
circumstances (Acton, 2011).
Theat psychological health is not only anf ree of the individualan individual’s
psychological illness or psychological only, but is a state of physical, psychological and
mental completion (Westerhof & Keyes, 2010). As defined Tandon (2017). Thate

psychological health is a state of balance or integration between the psychological functions
of the individualan individual lead lead to satisfy his motives in a way that makes him accept
himself and accepted by society. It is the an adjustment or psychological compatibility that
aims at the cohesion of personality, and unity and acceptance of the an individual and
others to accept him, also that all of this feeling of happiness and psychological comfort
(Biswas-Diener, 2011).
We note that the concept of psychological health has grown and developed with the
advancement of psychological health. After psychological health showed a limited negative
meaning is the absence of anthe individual individual symptoms of psychological illness, or
psychological development into a positive concept more comprehensive., as Iit is linked to
the ability of the an individual to achieve adaptation wWith himself, and with the society in
which he lives, and this in turn leads to a life free from crises and psychological illness ., and
t Thus, expandingd the concept of psychological health, towhich includes the ability of the
individualan individual to maintain some of his own autonomy to live, values, ideals andthat
believe in a, Achieveings his mission in life (Malla, Joober & Garcia, 2015).
Achieving the best psychological health of individuals can lead to the prosperity
and development of society., Tthe creation of a generation free of psychological defects to
achieve prosperity, and a society free of unrest (Richards, Campania & Muse-Burke, 2010).
The importance of the psychological health to an of the individualindividual and the
community is illustrated by helping an the individual to solve his or her problems in life to
lead a healthy social life and thus help him focus and emotionally balanced. It And brings in
the same security, tranquility, calm, and finally helps the individualan individual to
strengthen his physical health to achieve productivity, and increase the adequacy of his
career. The importance of psychological health for the community is that, it contributes to
the formation of successful social relations,, and to reduce individuals delinquents,
delinquents, and outside the values of society,, and to confront the pathological and
behavioral phenomena in society (Umberson & Montez, 2010).
It Iindicates Shiovitz-Ezra, Leitschj, Graber & Karraker (2009) there are several
psychological health indicators; grouped into four sets of features, as follows:

- The sense of self-satisfaction (psychological adjustment): It means the ability of the
an individual to reconcile his conflicting motives, and his various beliefs, including
the balance of the individualan individual with himself, and harmony with himself.
- Feeling comfortable with others (Social adjustment): This aspect includes, social
interaction, the ability to live with the values and norms of society; the ability to
accept and respect others; the mutual feeling of trust and lovee; and the sense of
responsibility towards the members of society.
- Ability to meet the demands of life (problem solving): It has been Ccharacterized by
the personality of psychological health insight,, and objectivity to the requirements
of daily life, and meet these requirements, and the ability to solve problems.
- Psychological safety (disease free): This aspect focuses on anthe individual
individual's absence from the symptoms of psychological or psychological illness,
such as anxiety disorders, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, illness fears
and other psychological disorders that negatively affect his effectiveness as well asnd
prevent him from performing his role in life.
The researchers see by reviewing thereview general indicators of psychological
health, which in general emphasizes the ability of the an individual to adapt by to himself,
on the one hand, and with his community on the other., wWe see the great correlation that
may sometimes reach the synonym between adaptation and psychological health. wWhich
adapts well to environmental situations and personal relationships is a proof of possession
and enjoyment of good psychological health, and the ability to form and modify by the
individualan individual to meet the requirements. and sSatisfaction of needs can be
considered by a measure of psychological health. So, I thought of talking about coping
strategies that are the way to connect the an individual to balance, stability and thus
psychological health.
An extensive search of the literature failed to find any published study on
psychological health undertaken with a Jordanian sample, emphasizing the need for
studies to address this topic in the Jordanian context. The purpose of the present study,y
was to iIdentify lLevel of psychological health of a sample of working and non-working
mothers of secondary school students in the light of some variables in north Jordan. The
following research questions were explored:

1. What is the level of psychological health in its different dimensions among a sample
of secondary school students?
[2.] Are there statistically significant differences at the level of statistical significance (α
≤ 0.05) in the average estimates of the children of working mothers and non-working
secondary school students on the study tool related to the level of psychological
health due to the variable (gender, mother's work, years of work, number of
children)?
METHOD
Participants
A total of 1305 high school students were selected using stratified random
sampling from four urbanurban schools,schools. There were two for females and the two for
males, in North Jordan. The sample was comprised of 613 (47%) female and 692 (53%)
male students. There were 641 (49.1%) 11th graders and 663 (50.9%) 12th graders. Students
ranged from 15.8 to 18.6 years of age (M=17.2, SD=0.53).
Study Instrument
The researcher referred to the theoretical literature and previous studies related to
the subject,. Iin order to prepare a specific scale for measuring psychological health, where
it was drafting the paragraphs of this scale, consisting of (30) items, dispensers on three
domains, she: Emotional balance domain and has (10), items a (1-10), Self-realization
domain and has (10), items a (11-20), psycho-social compatibility domain and has a (10)
items a (21.30).
The scale contains 37 items designed to measure Iindividual aspects: Emotional
balance and self-realization, psycho-social compatibility. Responses were rated on a 5-point
scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always). The validity of the scale (High Standards and
Discrepancy) was supported by a confirmatory factor analysis. Factor loadings for the
items of this scale ranged from .49 to .81. Internal consistency reliabilities (Cronbach’s
alphas) for the scale in this sample were .74 (High Standards) and .79 (Discrepancy).
Procedure

The study was conducted after approval was obtained from the secondary school
students in Jordan. Participants in the study were chosen from the 11th and 12th grades, and
oral informed consent was obtained from all of them. The participants were asked to
complete a demographic sheet, study instrument from researcher referred. The
participants completed the questionnaires in one sitting during class time, and did not
receive any compensation for their participation. The researcher oversaw the completion of
the questionnaires.
RESULTS
Concerning the first research’s question, the level on the psychological health scale
was calculated. Accordingly, there was extracted arithmetic means (M) and standard
deviation (SD) for the domains of psychological health. The results wasere is the study
sample has a medium level of psychological health, reaching the (M = 3.32). It. Which cames
self-realization domain in the first rank the highest arithmetic (M = 3.47; SD = .63), then
was followed by psycho-social compatibility domain with a (M = 3.42; SD = .69), and finally
came the last emotional balance domain reached a (M = 3.08; SD = 0.74), then came all the
domains scale at a medium level. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS software
version 21.0 for Windows, are shown in Table 1.
Table 1
The M & SD the scores of respondents on the psychological health scale
No. Domains M SD Rank Level
1 Emotional balance 3.08 0.74 3 Medium
2 Self-realization 3.47 0.63 1 Medium
3 Psycho-social compatibility 3.42 0.69 2 Medium
Total 3.32 --- --- Medium
The second research question concerned children differences of working mothers
and non-working on the psychological health scale, due to the variable (gender, mother's
work, years of work, number of children). Accordingly, was extracted arithmetic means

(M) and standard deviation (SD) for children's estimates for psychological health scale, and
according to the variables of the study. are shown in Table 2.
Table 2
The M & SD of children's estimates on the instrument as a whole and by variable (gender,
mother's work, number of years of work, No. children
Variable Level
Emotional
balance
Self-
realization
Psycho-social
compatibility
Gender
Male
M 3.14 3.47 3.23
SD .43 .41 .42
Female
M 3.08 3.52 3.15
SD .46 .40 .57
Mother's Work
Working
M 3.15 3.57 3.24
SD .45 .40 .59
Non-Working
M 3.08 3.46 3.15
SD .44 .40 .53
Working Hours
Less than 6 hours
M 3.89 3.59 3.16
SD .45 .41 .54
6-8 hours
M 3.17 3.48 3.18
SD .46 .43 .62
More than 8 hours
M 3.21 3.62 3.31
SD .41 .42 .53
Less than 3 sons
M 3.13 3.53 3.26
SD .48 .52 .65
M 3.09 3.50 3.17
SD .48 .43 .55

No. Children 3-5 sons
More than 5 hours
M 3.17 3.59 3.22
SD .36 .42 .53
Table 2 shows the existence of apparent differences in the average estimates of
children in each of the fields of the study tool and according to the variable (gender,
mother's work, working hours, and number of children) and the statistical significance of
these differences; (MANOVA), and Table (3) shows this.
Table 3
The results of the analysis of the multiple variance of the average estimates of children in each area
of the study instrument and according to the variable (gender, mother's work, working hours, No.
children
Source of Variance Domain SS df MS F Sig.
Gender
Hostelling’s
Trace = 0.033/Sig.=0.020*
Emotional balance .341 1 .341 1.421 .253
Self-realization .234 1 .234 2.130 .134
Psycho-social compatibility .383 1 .383 1.754 .198
Mother Worked
Hostelling’s
Emotional balance .126 1 .126 .948 .531
Self-realization .976 1 .976 7.842 .001*

Trace = 0.029/Sig.=0.037*
Psycho-social compatibility .648 1 .648 1.864 .127
Working Hours
Wilks' Lambda=0.972
Sig.=0.192
Emotional balance .416 2 .208 1.214 .384
Self-realization .657 2 .328 5.416 .001*
Psycho-social compatibility .398 2 .199 .937 .541
No. children
Wilks' Lambda=0.979
Sig.=0.385
Emotional balance .576 2 .288 1.975 .116
Self-realization .142 2 .071 .087 .768
Psycho-social compatibility .528 2 .264 1.548 .421
Error
Emotional balance 37.245 1297 .029
Self-realization 28.568 1297 .022
Psycho-social compatibility 64.613 1297 .050
Total
Emotional balance 39.147 1304
Self-realization 30.279 1304
Psycho-social compatibility 66.415 1304
*  = 0.05
Table (10) shows the following:
- There is a statistically significant difference at the level of statistical significance ( =
0.05) between the average estimates of children on the domain (self -realization) due
to the variable (Mother Worked) and for working mothers.
- The is a statistically significant differences at the level of statistical significance ( =
0.05) between the average estimates of children on the domain (self-realization) due
to the variable (working hours), and to know in favor of those differences was used
Scheffe test for the comparison of the dimension, and table (4) shows that.

Table 4
The results of the Scheffe test for the after post comparisons of the average estimates of
children on the domain (self -realization) and the variable working hours.
Working Hours M Less than 6 hours 6-8 hours More than 8 hours
3.59 3.48 3.62
Less than 6 hours 3.59 0.02 0.16*
6-8 hours 3.48 0.15*
More than 8 hours 3.62
Table (4) shows that there is a statistically significant difference at the level of
statistical significance ( = 0.05) between the average estimates of children in working
hours for mother (more than 8 hours). oOn the one hand, and the number of hours worked
(less than 6 hours, and 6-8 hours) and for those with working hours (more than 8 hours).
DISCUSSION
The results showed that the main level of psychological health was moderate with
an average of 3.32. The authors point out that, women's work into the labor market and
their financial independence are reflected on the family socially and achieve greater
stability in family life. In the age in which we live, the family cannot be left to react on its
own with the great challenges it faces in the modern and contemporary world. This is due
to the nature of the relationships between the children, and that the social and family values
and norms on which the children are based are working to strengthen their social relations
whichand promotes their psychological health. In addition, the children seek to achieve
psychological solidarity among themselves, Some, and face the difficulties that face them
psychologically., and that tThe circumstances surrounding them require them, and this is
one of the most important factors and reasons that enhance their abilities and contribute to
achieve their psychological compatibility.
The results of this question regarding the impact of the mother's working hours on
the level of psychological health of students. The study showed a difference between the
number of working hours (less than 6 hours and 6-8 hours) on the one hand and the

number of working hours (more than 8 hours) and the number of working hours (more than 8
hours) in the field of self-realization. The reason for this is the length of time that the
working mother is absent from home and from the children, making her eager and eager to
meet her children to make up for the long hours she spent away from work. wWith them,
which increases the level of trust, love, belonging and security.
As per thefor the variable number of children, the study revealed that there is no
statistically significant difference between the average responses of students in all fields and
the tool as a whole due to the variable (number of children). This can be explained by the
fact that families with few individuals can provide sufficient care and psychological
security for their children. In the case of large number of children in a the family, it
replaces the mother brothers and older sisters or relatives, who in turn provide
psychological care until the return of the mother.
Conclusion
The researcher recommends, increasing the levels of psychological health, by
emphasizing emotional and communicative learning with members of the community
surrounding the family, and conducting a study on other samples of students, whether in
Jordanian schools or universities of the current research variables themselves.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Acton, A. (2011). Mental disorders: New insights for the healthcare professional. Georgia:
Published by Scholarly Editions.
Biswas-Diener, R. (2011). Positive psychology as social change. Heidelberg: Springer
Science.
Dodge, R.., Daly, A., Huyton, J. & Sanders, L. (2012). The challenge of defining wellbeing.
International Journal of Wellbeing., 2 (3)., 222-235.
Knapp, M., McDaid, D., Mossialos, E. & Thornicroft, G. (2007). Mental health policy and
practice across Europe: The future direction of mental health care. England: Open
university press.
Malla, A., Joober, R. & Garcia, A. (2015). Mental illness is like any other medical illness: A
critical examination of the statement and its impact on patient care and society.
Journal Psychiatry Neurosci., 40 (3)., 147–150.
Richards, K., Campania, C. & Muse-Burke, J. (2010). Self-care and well-being in mental
health professionals: the mediating effects of self-awareness and
mindfulness. Journal of Mental Health Counseling., 32 (3)., 247–264.
Shiovitz-Ezra, S., Leitschj, S., Graber, J. & Karraker, A. (2009). Quality of life and
psychological health indicators in the national social life, health, and aging project.
The Journals of Gerontology Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 64
(Suppl 1), 30–37.
Slade, M. (2010). Mental illness and well-being: the central importance of positive
psychology and recovery approaches. BMC Health Services Research, 10 (1), 26-40.
Tandon, M. (2017). A study on psychological well-being among elderly. International
Journal of Home Science, 3 (1), 387-389.
Umberson, D. & Montez, J. (2010). Social relationships and health: A flashpoint for health
policy. Journal Health & Social Behavior, 51 (S) 54-66.
Westerhof, G. & Keyes, C. (2010). Mental illness and mental health: the two continua
model across the lifespan. Journal of Adult Development, 17 (2), 110-119.

World Health Organization – WHO (2002). Prevention and promotion in mental health.
Geneva: Mental health: Evidence and research department of mental health and
substance dependence - World Health Organization.