Psychology

Psychology of personality is a branch of psychology that focuses on the study of personality and the individual differences. The main areas of focus are usually looking at individuals psychological processes, the individual differences and studying how human behavior is similar. Personality is usually defined as well organized and dynamic set of characteristics possessed by a person that distinctively influence the cognitions, behavior in various situations and motivations. Since personality is complex and dynamic, various psychologists have come up with different theories to explain the different personality types.  For the purpose of this paper, Freuds psychoanalytic theory and Jungs theory of personality shall be used to analyze the personality of a lady friend by the name Ann.  Since most people have various personality disorders, Anns personality disorder shall also be analyzed.

Freuds Theory of Personality
The Freuds theory of personality illustrates that personality of a human being is made up of three structures namely the ego, superego and id.  The id contains instincts and it is usually unconscious. The ego develops after the id and is considered to be the executive branch of personality since it uses reasoning to make decisions.  Both the ego and id have no morality but the superego is the structure that contains morality as it takes into account whether something is right or wrong. The superego is also referred as the conscience since it has the ability to judge whether something is right or wrong.
According to Freuds theory of personality, personality is established at around five years of age. Studies suggest that the early childhood experience influence human behavior and continue to do so through out the whole life (Mitterer  Coon 2008).  Further studies illustrate that behavior of a person develops through a series of childhood stages and the driving force during the stages is usually the psychosexual energy. Incase all the stages are completed successfully, healthy personality develops and if not, fixation occurs which leads to a personality disorder.   These stages of development include the anal, oral, phallic, latent, and genital stage.  Some of these stages shall be discussed comprehensively while analyzing Anns personality.

Jungs Theory of Personality
Jung is psychologist who accomplished much but his personality theory of introversion and extroversion gained a lot of recognition and overshadowed the rest of his work. His theory suggests that introversion and extroversion are opposing attitude types that make a person to behave in a particular way. According to this theory of personality, human behavior is controlled by the introversion and extroversion attitudes.  He defines an introvert as someone who is quite aware of the inner world and does not give much thought to the external world. An introvert attitude is usually more concerned with the subjective appraisal and considers dreams and fantasies more. On the other hand, an extrovert is usually characterized by the outside movement of the psyche energy.  An extrovert attitude places more importance on the objectivity and at the same time gains a lot of influence from the outer environment than the inner cognitive processes. Nonetheless, the theory suggests that it is still possible for one person to have both attitudes though more often than not one must be overshadowed by another.  The four functions of the personality theory namely, thinking, feeling, sensation and intuition were combined so as to come up with the eight personality types. 

Discussion
Ann is a twenty five year old lady who currently works as a research scientist. She is very competent and productive, and since she was employed two years ago, she has received a number of awards due to her competency. She happens to be the first born in the family of four and has been brought up by very strict parents.  Though she loves people, she mostly prefers to be alone and in social functions she prefers to remain calm and only talks with people close to her.  She spends most of her leisure time reading or watching television when she is not studying.  She can make a very good friend but once angered she reacts aggressively and she can put up a fight very first.  In addition, she is quite independent and barely shares her things with other people. However, many people usually complain of her reserved and cold nature but she is quite orderly and maintains high level of cleanliness.

In application of the Jungs theory of personality, Ann displays more of an introvert attitude than that of an extrovert.  While making decisions, Ann takes her time analyzing the available options and is not easily influenced by the outside factors which display an introvert attitude as illustrated by Jungs theory of personality.  She often makes a decision which suits her best, without giving much consideration to what others may think of her. Moreover she works best while alone and does not prefer social functions unless when it is very necessary. A person with such behavior is classified as an introvert by the Jungs theory of personality (Gelpi 1993).

While applying the Freuds theory of personality, some of the behavior that characterizes Anns personality can be attributed to the experiences she passed through during the early childhood stages. The fact that she holds a lot of mistrust toward people illustrates that the care takers did not feed her on demand during the oral stage. However, during the anal stage, she received the appropriate toilet training hence the reason why she is quite competent, productive and orderly (Dumont, Wedding  Corsini 2007).

Personality Disorder
A personality disorder is often described as an enduring pattern of inner experiences and behavior that seems to deviates from individuals culture and sets in during early adulthood or adolescence stage (Dobbert 2007).  Since most of these behaviors are pervasive and also chronic they usually cause impairment in the daily life.  A study of Anns life shows that she most probably suffers from a paranoid personality disorder.  It is a disorder that is characterized by agoraphobia, depression and substance abuse as illustrated by the studies of (Dobbert, 2007).  Ann displays most of the symptoms associate with paranoid disorder because she does not trust people, gets angry quickly especially if she thinks that she is being deceived, thinks that people are untrustworthy, she is always serious and secretive, and always analyzes every gesture and conversation to look for the hidden meaning. The above mentioned Anns personality traits illustrate that she suffers from paranoid personality disorder since the same symptoms characterize the disorder are part of the diagnostic criteria of the disorder.

Conclusion and Recommendation
Psychology of personality is very important since it helps in understanding different personalities as illustrated by the different behaviors.  In psychology, there are many theories that have been established to explain different personalities. Despite the fact that all have the same goals some contain controversial ideas. However, they are still very helpful. In this study, the Freuds theory of personality which illustrates that early childhood experiences shape the behavior of a person has helped in understanding the personality of Ann. It was possible to deduce that her mistrust originates from her oral stage as her caretakers did not feed her on demand. Such an experience makes an infant to lose trust on people.  Jungs theory of personality helps in understanding that the reserved nature of Ann is a result of an introverted attitude.   In addition, the study has been of great help since it was possible to realize that Anns pervasive behavior of excessive mistrust is as a result of a paranoid personality disorder. 

Attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is considered to be a genetic and heritable lifetime disorder that has incidence of around of 5 (Comings et al., 2005 Luders et al., 2008).  It is distinguished by presence of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, and is also related to the problems of academic and interpersonal relationship as well as comorbid mood and substance dependency disorders, and is lasting throughout adulthood (Comings et al., 2005 Garrett et al., 2008 Luders et al., 2009). 

Increasing amount of evidence from the neuroimaging research suggests that ADHD has neurobiological origin, thus major brain structural changes are present involving cortical, subcortical regions, cerebellum and basal ganglia as well as impairment in fiber tracts networks (Fassbender  Schweitzer, 2006 Garrett et al., 2008 Hamilton et al., 2008 Luders et al., 2009).

The purpose of this research is to review primary research sources presenting evidence regarding involvement and impairment of certain brain areas in individuals with ADHD.

Biological Factors of ADHD
Functional neuroimaging enables to link brain activities observed in the real life to behavior, symptoms and cognitive function in clinical situations and better understand the morphological changes as potential compensatory strategies in the cases of lesion (Fassbender  Schweitzer, 2006). 

Findings from these studies suggest that higher cognitive activities are associated with more important activation in regions responsible for motor, visual and spatial processing in patients with ADHD, because patients lose their ability employ complementary regions of the brain and develop strategies helping to perform cognitive tasks while healthy individuals engage regions responsible for cognitive organization and employ phonological strategies (Fassbender  Schweitzer, 2006).

Anatomical and functional changes of prefrontal cortex (PFC), impaired construction in PFC are found in patients with ADHD findings confirm that PFC, especially the right hemisphere, plays a main role in the cognitive deficit found in ADHD (Fassbender  Schweitzer, 2006). 

Activity of anterior and posterior cingulate cortex is also reduced especially performing synchronized movement task in patients with ADHD (Fassbender  Schweitzer, 2006).

Data from three primary research studies performed by Garrett et al. (2008), Hamilton et al. (2008) and Luders et al. (2009) will be discussed further in this paper.  The first study explores neuroanatomical changes in late adolescent patients with ADHD and the other two investigate respectively impairment in white matter and corpus callosum with regards to ADHD.

Garrett et al. (2008) conducted a study exploring the specific sample of individuals aged 15-19 years with family ADHD history.  Researchers were looking for functional implications resulting from changes - decrease or increase- in volume of the neural matters of the brain regions exploring the caudate nucleus and the frontal gyrus in patients with ADHD.  Adolescents participating in the study had a family history of ADHD and they expressed persistent symptoms of the disease.  Garrett et al. hypothesized that atypical volume of caudate nucleus and frontal gyrus will be present in young patients with ADHD.

Evidence was gathered from 24 youth patients with ADHD and the control group of 10 healthy individuals to whom investigation with structural high-resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was performed as well as from archive materials of examination of 12 additional healthy individuals (Garrett et al., 2008).  Researchers also performed functional activation of MRI in order to find out correlation between brain volume and function in adolescents with ADHD. 

Study findings showed the similar entire brain tissue between the two groups as well as increase in the volume of the right caudate gyrus and right inferior frontal gyrus in the ADHD patients (Garrett et al., 2008). Additionally, enlarged left caudate volume in individuals with ADHD was associated with decreased function.  Garrett et al. (2008) argue that these neuro-developmental changes are particular present in individuals with ADHD in late adolescence and having family history of ADHD.

It is thought that impairment in the neural transmission circle, which is important in attention, motor and executive functions, is part of ADHD patho-physiology (Hamilton et al., 2008). 

Hamilton et al. (2008) cited structural studies performed by Castellanos et al. (2002), Filipek et al. (1997), Krain and Castellanos (2006), as well as studies by Luders et al.(2008) that showed decreased volume of white matter, reduced areas of midsagittal part of corpus callosum, and declined cortical thickness in patients with ADHD compared with the individuals from control groups.  Hamilton et al. argue that impairment in fiber tract are better seen by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), because it is more informative and because data can be further computed to fractional anisotropy (FA) presenting the directions of water diffusion within the body tissue.

In the study Hamilton et al. (2008) applied DTI in order to evaluate fractional anisotropy (FA), a measure of wholeness of the fiber tract in individuals with ADHD.  Participants were 17 male patients with ADHD in the investigation group and 16 male individuals in the control group.
Findings from this study proved the presence of disturbance in networks responsible for attention and motor function in individuals with ADHD (Hamilton et al., 2008).  Furthermore, Hamilton et al. (2008) concluded that decreased FA in the cortico-spinal tract and the superior longitudinal fasciculus may be related to the ADHD symptoms, such as reduced attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity.

Luders et al. (2009) stressed the importance of corpus callosum (CC) as the largest brain intersection responsible for the transmission of the inter-hemispheric information and outlined the results from neuroimaging studies reporting significant reduction in CC leading to asymmetry and contrasting hemispheric effects in ADHD.  Further, Luders et al. cited the meta-analysis performed in 2007 by Valera et al. where splenium of CC as a particular part of CC was greatly diminished in patients with ADHD.

In the clinical study comparing morphology of CC between the group of ADHD patients (19 subjects) and control group of normally developing individuals (19 subjects) Luders et al. (2009) aimed to define the exact location of changed CC thickness applying new methods for image analysis, which is a surface-based geometrical modelling.

Study findings proved that CC is significantly thinner in patients with ADHD and especially anterior and posterior CC parts are affected (Luders et al., 2009).  It is argued that the thinner CC is related to the reduced amount or decreased myelination of the fibers that tie the parietal and prefrontal parts of the cortex, and thus negatively affect ways of inter-hemispheric communication.  Theses changes hind the sustainability of motor control and attention, therefore contribute to the development of ADHD symptoms, such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity (Luders et al., 2009).

Conclusions
Findings from majority of nuroimaging and behavioral studies prove existing neuroanatomical brain changes and fiber tract disturbances in patients with ADHD.

Knowledge about these biological changes can help better understand the variety of existing symptoms of this disorder, plan interventions and treatment. 

Man is a social animal. He cannot live in isolation. His life is deeply intertwined with society at large. His or her interactions with his or her surroundings often lead to problems which may be psychological in nature. Anxiety and stress are two common reasons for psychological reasons. It is in this scenario that the role of a therapist is of utmost importance who tries to provide some sort of semblance to human relationships.

In a relationship there are many highs and lows. A therapist is after all a human being who faces similar problems in their own life. Often as a therapist the main challenges that we face are we tend to analyze a situation according to our personal context. It is often seen that stressful situations can cause the family to become dysfunctional. If past issues in the life of a patient are not taken up, it may lead to emotional explosion (Newman, 1994).

Family life cycles are based on factors like race, culture, class, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, etc. Hence each individual in a family faces different situations in different ways.
To family therapist different stages in the family life cycle poses varied challenges. To counsel a young adult leaving home the main concern is leaving the security of home and stepping out to the unknown world. It is a rite of passage and I would like to advice this fact to this group. Since everyone has to go through this phase, it would be easy to alleviate their fear of the unknown by me. The clients unwillingness to participate in the process has been conceptualized (Seibel and Dowd, 2001) and has to be dealt with appropriately.

In schools therapy is required in a huge way. Bullying and their victims have both to be helped to become normal. Peer pressure to perform better or try out drugs and alcohol at a vulnerable age often leads to petty crimes. Juvenile crimes are on the rise. The main challenge to a therapist is to win the confidence of these adolescents.  In schools, therapists may expect resistance from these children (Stone and Dahir, 2006).

At home sibling rivalry, temper tantrums, behavioral abnormalities in young children can be seen. These problems normally have a deeper root in the upbringing of a child. I would encourage that unhealthy comparison between children should be discouraged. As a therapist, the main challenges I might face is adults may not accept us into their lives thinking I am intruding their privacy. Ego may come in the way (Cowan and Presbury, 2000). So rapport between my patients and me has to be established on a priority basis before starting the sessions.

After a baby is born family is the primary source of security. So victims of family violence are very challenging for a therapist as they are very vulnerable and hence they normally build an invisible wall around themselves. They tend to hide the hurt that they feel and not take adult help (Teyber, 2006).

To reach out to such victims requires a lot of patience and understanding, as this builds trust in therapists. This would be the most challenging part in my career as such victims have to be counseled over a long period of time.

As a family therapist I may have to deal with issues of addiction. Any member of the family can be addicted. Alcoholism in parents has destroyed the very fabric of many families. Children may suffer abuse at the hand of their alcoholic parent. In such cases children suffer from a sense of insecurity. This is a rewarding as well as a challenging profession when we achieve positive results.

There are a number of strategies that parents and counselors use in facilitating the development among the youth.  These are very substantial as they dictate ways that help nurture the youths resilience in terms of education.  With regards to this, there are several strategies implicated by Ungar (2006), which have been performed during my internship, and these are the following first is by allowing the youth to express their notion second is by exploring the youths behavior third is by identifying opportunities that are at hand fourth is by allowing the counselor to express his or her sentiments fifth and final is by highlighting the differences from the stereotypes that are being created (Ungar, 2006).  During the internship, these strategies have been implemented and they have led to some very important lessons that are helpful in maintaining a flexible and miscellaneous environment.

Main Body
There are a number of significant lessons that I learned concerning the nature of counseling.  First of all, I learned how to deal with the students real life problem.  It was in Journal 1 that I coincided with a student who missed a credit and had problems with the transcript of records.  She was supposed to have all the credits required and should have no problems with her records.  It was just that there were problems in her transcript, which I helped her in dealing with, and this experience has shown me about the day-to-day problems of students, indicating that students who miss credits are not always subject to failure or repetition of the credit.  There are always some excuses, some good explanation to problems (e.g., concerning credits), and we need to be more tolerant and broadminded concerning the true reasons on why students experience trouble with their credits.

Secondly, under Journal 2, there were students who had attendance issues and were supposed to show up during a meeting with the Pupil Personnel Team.  However, they failed to attend the meeting and this would have led to negative judgment about the true nature of these students.  However, a moment after they called us up and I was able to speak to them on the phone and discuss options about the school closure.  This incident gives us the notion that it is wrong to be biased, inflexible, and predisposed.  There are always reasons why students fail to show up, and we are inclined to know what these reasons are.  The important issue is to be able to express the opinions on both sides, for the teams to be more compliant, more broadminded, and more flexible, just as Ungar (2006) has indicated in his book.  The most important issue is for both sides to come into terms, allowing them to coalesce into one.

Third and final, under Journal 3, all the staffs met and were trained during the Professional Development day.  During this episode, the guidance team entered the scene to share with the teachers and the staffs about what can be done to those students that were left behind.  From here, it is evident that, even after the negative outcomes, student counselors should still be firm and audacious in helping out students that are being left behind.  This led to my experience in Journal 4, wherein the principal allowed us to give chances on this type of students after giving our assurances that we shall work with these students and even make home visits just to make sure that they would be in better terms.  I learned in this experience that students should be given some chances to improving their educational conditions.  Counselor should do all they can in encouraging students to be more dependable and reliable, and this should persuade them knowing that there are people within the arena who are concerned about their future.  This should identify the opportunities for a better future.

Conclusion
During the internship, I learned that counseling is a two-way method of performing strategies that would facilitate both sides.  I learned that both sides have their own notions, and these should be brought out to be able to arrive at a single, common term.  I learned to be more apprehensive in helping the students.  This gave me the satisfaction of helping them acquire a better and more productive, more fruitful future.

Named by many as one of the greatest American films of all times, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest is a film about the life of certain people inside a mental institution, and focused on the life of the character named Randle McMurphy. In here, psychological therapies and treatments were applied to patients where they are expected to follow institutions policies and maintain good disposition despite mental illnesses. Examining the film in the perspective of psychology, we can see dynamics of the hospital as observed based on its effectiveness and other issues.

By looking at the common norms in a group therapy, some of the scenes in the film show issues which reflects ineffective process of the psychotherapy. In carrying out such effective process, goals should be defined properly while decision making process should be flexible and adapting group needs. In the film, it was not shown that the nurse is not an effective facilitator since the goals and process of the therapy sessions, as well as the roles and expected contributions of the participants. In terms of decision making, it can clearly be seen that the nurse also make all the decisions and individual contributions were not acknowledged and red respected fully, in the case of McMurphys suggestions. By having such clear presentations and exchanges, patients could learn and understand their conditions, and encouragement will be sought thereafter.

The extreme fright of the patients to the head nurse causes lack of trust and confidence to disclosure which is not healthy in group psychotherapy. In the film, this is evidenced by the faking of Chiefs being deaf and mute. Another one is the allowance of cigarettes during the therapy sessions, or in the institution itself. This defeats the purpose of psychotherapy to understand what is wrong in a patient by making him vulnerable to the cigarettes negative effect.

Lastly, a session should be summarized before it is adjourned and the patients dispersed. Goal achievement and any unresolved issues should be discussed at the end, which could provide feedback if the therapy session is effective and healthy to the individuals and the group.

Mental health a situation of well-being which enables a person to realize his her own potential and cope with the hardship dynamics of life. It is also the condition of absence of mental disorder which determines the productivity and output of an individual towards the community (WHO 2001a). It has been discovered that 20 of the children and adolescents population suffer from mental health disorder and about 6 million people are emotionally disturbed (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999).  An estimate of around 12 to 22 persons in a group of hundred people below the age of 18years are in need of mental health services in America (Windle, 1990). According to WHO, neuropsychiatric disorders in children are will increase by 50 percent come 2020 leading to childhood illness, incapacitation and death. 20 of children with 9 to 17 years of age have a diagnosable mental or addictive disorder that has the potential to cause some impairment (Shaffer et. al. 1996) though it is unlikely that many will get to the specialists in mental health (Offord et al., 1987) and if any, only a negligible percentage are under the cover of secondary Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) (Meltzer et al., 2000). Despite its high record of the rootedness of this problem, only 7 of the worldwide countries have a precisely defined child and adolescent mental health policies. A group therapy has been very useful in offering mental treatment for children and more especially adolescents because they are in a developmental growth stage where peer influence is rampant. There is need of establishing community-friendly treatments in matters of cost. However, there are unique challenges that may occur in the process of a group therapy the observed divide between practice and clinical science. Constituting a group or a number of them in this context could be challenging because children together with adolescents can be difficult to handle. Moreover, there has been a major concern in the management of fluctuations in the process of providing the treatment. Well, the group that seeks to establish the therapy should take into consideration the heterogeneity in the responses from the various members. Studying and analyzing mental health therefore would require making a choice of the suitable analysis levels for the group treatment information and data together with pointing out the major action mechanisms of group treatment. 

Child and Adolescent Rights
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Adolescent (CRC) is widely recognized all over to acknowledge and be concerned with mental health and its related problems. Though universally agreed and acknowledged by ATLAS responses, there is no proof of correlation between the Conventions ratification and the child development of mental health services (Meltzer et al., 2000).

Legal Framework
The Children Act 1989 terms children with emotional and behavioral problems to be in need and should be provided with necessary services from the local authority. A needy child is one who cannot access and enjoy reasonable standard of health without assistance from local authority whose health and development can be amiss if denied such services andor disabled. Members of the group research will be helpful in providing extensive information concerning the mental disorders. Depression, Oppositional defiant disorder, Anxiety, Conduct disorder together with ADHD have long been known as the main mental disorders with inclusions of Alcohol and drug abuse, Eating disorders, Schizophrenia, Epilepsy, Autism and Mental Retardation as the minor ones. The child can suffer from severe stigma, abuse, neglect, or abandonment as a side effect of the aforementioned disorders of the mind (Offord et al., 1987).

 Causes of Mental Health
Biology and environment has been on high blame of causing these problems among the children and adolescent population. Chemical imbalances in the body, genetics and even damage to the central nervous system such as a head injury constitute the biological causes of the problem. Such matters really need a diversified approach through group work. On the other hand, the environmental factors influencing mental health disorders include environmental toxins such as high levels of lead, physical violence, stress related to chronic poverty, discrimination, or other serious hardships and loss of great personalities as a result of  death, divorce, or even broken relationships (Offord et al., 1987).

Mental Health promotion for children and adolescents
In realization of the role played by the being together of children and parents in the psychological and cognitive development of babies and infants, WHO put in place programmes to encourage these mother-child interaction. These programmes have a particular meaning for mothers living in conditions of stress and social diversity. Schools as social institutions can adopt the responsibility of social and emotional development in pupils in addition to preparation of pupils for future through these groups. In regard to this, WHO developed a life skills educational curriculum so as to enhance childrens psychosocial competency. The skills include critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, empathy, interpersonal skills and ways of coping with emotions and which put children and adolescents in a position to develop sound as well as positive mental health (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999).

Another mental health initiative by WHO is Child-friendly schools which serves to encourage tolerance and equality between boys and girls and different ethnic, social and religious groups. This ensures that children participate wholly and work together, keeps off physical mistreatment and does not keep with hurting and frightening of the less powerful. As a supportive and nurturing environment, it provides education which responds to the reality of the childrens lives as well as establishing connections between school and family life, encouraging creativity and promoting self-confidence and self esteem of children.

Though not optimally utilized, various treatment models have proved effectiveness in addressing mental health problems of children and adolescents. Despite these strategies being costly and time consuming, most of them are economically efficient compared to the cost mental health problems exact from youth, their families and communities. Successful programs addressing social isolation, depression, family conflict, school failure, substance abuse, violence and delinquency in most cases involve long-term intense interventions (Shaffer et al., 1996).

Two models succeed in treating offending juveniles. Firstly is multi-systemic therapy (MST) (Surgeon Generals Report on Mental Health) where specially trained therapists work with the youth and family in their home aiming at changing the people who associate with the peers. MST therapists take advantage of family strengths to establish natural systems of support and to enhance parenting. The other one is the Therapeutic Foster Care which provides a community-based intervention for severe and persistent offending delinquents. In Therapeutic foster, parents are trained and supported with research-based procedures for working with these aforementioned serious juveniles in their homes (Shaffer et al., 1996).

Children and adolescents spent these ages in school something prompting the Educational services as well as the education staff to play a central role in the mental health of children by engaging in promotion and reinforcement of treatment strategies.  WHO proposes that mental health promotion should be incorporated into the school curriculum and secondary prevention left to target pupils at high risk, while children having psychiatric disorders taken to CAMHS.

Prevention of Mental Disorders
Childhood disorders are treatable (Kazdin  Weisz, 1998) but preventive interventions need to be offered prior to the development of significant symptomology so as to reduce levels of childhood mental illness. Consequently, extra efforts are required to reach the many marginalized children to treatment. A big number of the victims receive inadequate services or even never. A great challenge in service delivery is faced when some children are given services of therapy after they have entered another system such as special education or juvenile court something done after their problems take root (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999).

The Role of Developmental Theory in Prevention Research
Science of prevention is highlighted by the incorporation of developmental theory with models from sociology, epidemiology, public health and developmental psychopathology. Ecological analysis and multivariate examination of causation and risk has contributed in building the prevention research.
An organism in the course of development is highly influenced by context and the ecological model gives four levels for categorizing context as it affects the development of a child. Microsystem is the first level and revolves around the ecologies having direct interaction with the child like the family, peer group, school and neighborhood. Secondly is the mesosystem which looks into the relationships between the various microsystems and its absence welcomes a risk in development. These two levels affect prevention with circumstances which do not directly involve the child like changes in marital circumstance, changes in the legal system, parental social support or other social structures that set policies and practices that alter Microsystems and mesosystem interactions (Kazdin  Weisz, 1998).

The exosystem entails that which impacts the childs development indirectly. Many preventive interventions may be viewed as changes at the exosystem level that alter interactions among lower system levels. Finally, the macrosystem goes beyond all others and considers systems influence, consisting of the broad ideological and institutional patterns and events that define a culture or subculture. It is thus evident that Developmental-ecological models help to understand levels of influence on behavior and also point out potential targets and intervention mediators. It is therefore important for studies to be specific of where the interventions lay emphasis on (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999).

Interventions
Many victims of mental health disorders have problems in other areas of their lives and make them vulnerable to suicidal behavior. Depressive disorder, hyperactivityattention-deficit disorder were identified as the most common disorders of the mind (Windle, 1990). He also discovered that at least one among every four victims had attended a professional service during the six months before the survey thus making him conclude that child and adolescent mental health problems are an important public health service in Australia. In reference to this, appropriate balance between funding provided for clinical interventions focusing on individual children and families and funding for interventions that express concern on populations, needs cautious study. The latter are an essential component of any strategy to reduce mental health problems as the high commonness of problems makes it uncertain that personal care will always be available for all those requiring help. Clinical as well as population interventions of health should consider the comorbid problems encountered by children disorders of the mind.

Another study showed that primary preventive programs aimed at preventing behavioral and social problems in children and adolescents are better than those established preventive and treatment interventions in the social sciences and medicine. Programs modifying the school environment, independently focused efforts of mental health promotion and seeks to assist children negotiate traumatic transitions give way to major mean effects ranging from 24 to 93. Its evidenced that the average participant in a primary prevention program goes beyond the performance of 0.59 to 0.82 of those in a group of control, and outcomes show a 0.8 to 0.46 difference in rates of success promoting prevention groups. Most programs groups provide a double benefit of significantly cutting down on problems and significantly increasing competencies (Durlak  Wells, 1997).

In addition Durlak and Wells (1998) discovered that preventive interventions (secondary prevention) programs of mental health meant for children together with adolescents that desired to point out early signs and symptoms of maladjustment as well as to intervene prior to full-blown disorders root themselves significantly, reduce problems and increase competencies. Cognitive-behavior and behavioral programs for children having subclinical disorders are as successful as psychotherapy for children with developed problems and more successful than any attempts to thwart adolescent smoking, delinquency and alcohol use. The performance outwits by approximately 0.7 for an average participant receiving either cognitive-behavior or behavioral intervention pertinent to those in a group of control. Interestingly, a high mean effect (72) was recorded by programs targeting developing externalizing problems which are normally the least amenable to change via traditional psychotherapeutic efforts when they reach clinical levels (Durlak and Wells, 1998).

As part of the efforts needed to build up behavioral treatments for the abuse of substances that are together community-friendly and efficacious, convening a science meeting on this group based therapy research has been found of great help. The main aim of such a meeting is to make clarification for the position of the science in relation to the group behavioral cure, and also to converse the challenges of carrying out the group therapy as well as the potential way out to these challenges. These discussions are always anticipated to offer information concerning future initiatives concerning the group therapy, and to promote technical support provided to investigators who propose group therapy studies.

Of priority in the future research would require a greater intervention specification in these procedures, treatment implementation assessment, more studies of follow-up, and identifying how various participants react to the initial early intervention. Also future research should give priority to clearer specification of intervention procedures and program goals, assessment of program implementation, more follow-up studies, and determining how characteristics of the intervention and participants relate to different outcomes.

The methodology which would suffice the entire process of looking into the issues affecting mental health would be laying a foundation on the evidence of the matters as they unfold. The review of such secondary materials with information regarding mental health is not enough. The problems pertinent to mental health have a variety of originations in that what may be the course on one occasion may not really be the issue on another occasion.

Owing to this fact, there is therefore much communication that is needed to address the challenges faced by both the casualties and the therapists who administer treatment within these circles. Due to these dynamics experienced in the entire issue, the researchers are expected to be very much alert and avoid bias at all costs. There is a tendency that many people would tend to relate their findings with what has happened in the past. The issues of mental illness have gone to great levels which need a careful consideration. The study requires the development of a group therapy because previous initiatives have failed a great deal. Secondary analysis of data making use of developed statistical strategies has previously been useful in accounting for group data. The problem apparently fits in well in a group counseling set up where brainstorming of methodologies will be helpful in giving answers to good questions which arise.

This study evaluated the loneliness feelings experienced by international students. In particular, the surveys were carried out among Saudi and Chinese students in ELCOSE. In order to get comprehensive and refined response from the students, it was important to use questionnaires which were distributed to samples of 30 student. The results from the questionnaires indicated the extent in which the Saudi and Chinese students feel lonely in Bangor and the differences in their rating of loneliness. In addition, the questionnaire did capture the effects of loneliness to the Chinese and Saudi students especially in their academic performance. This collected data was subjected to statistical analysis by using mean and correlation equation. Indeed, the outcome of the two samples evidenced the existence of loneliness among international students. For instance, the results indicated that Chinese students experience loneliness feelings differently compared to the Saudi students. The degree of loneliness feelings among Chinese students rated higher with four percent where the Chinese males came out as lonelier than female Chinese students. However, the results did not establish the relationship between loneliness as measured by the scale of loneliness and grades of academic achievement among Saudi and Chinese students.

Introduction
Whenever an individual is going through moments of loneliness feelings she succumbs to certain psychological difficulties. In particular, the lonely person may feel insufficiently accepted, not loved and may also feel that little attention is paid to himher. Besides, it jeopardizes the capability of the individual in nurturing social relationships and this may lead to a sense of social isolation. It is worthwhile to note that social relationships are fundamental to human life. In fact, man is typically regarded as a social animal which means that she will need the other to be. No doubt that this fact makes it imperative for the psychologists to regard the issue of human relationships with all its aspects as a very crucial study in Psychology. From a causal point of view, loneliness has been linked with a number of other serious individual and social problems like in the case of drugs abuse and alcoholism.

On the other hand, surveys have been conducted on oversea students since students in this context are more bound to succumb to loneliness. This is due to the fact that they end up living in alien countries with a totally different culture. Again, such students may experience loneliness feelings due to family and friends separation. In a bid to satiate their social needs, for example, social support and social recognition, the students will be pegged more on the social relationships. By and large, when one is accepted and positively reinforced, she will develop positive emotion which is characterized buy happiness, elation, commitment and calm. However, if the same person undergoes rejection or exclusion, she will develop profound negative feelings, for instance, anxiety, depression, grief, jealousy and loneliness.

This study will explore the extent to which international students feel loneliness. The differences between the overseas students in rating and degree of feeling loneliness will also be investigated. Moreover, the study will also explore the impact of loneliness on communication between students and whether these feelings do affect their academic performance. In general, the study seeks to establish loneliness feelings in a sample of Saudi and Chinese students in Bangor.

Literature Review
It is impressive to note that loneliness has been given maximum consideration by researchers, both psychologists and sociologists. There is no doubt that this issue is regarded as important due to its significant implications on the person and the society. In this regard, a greater part of this study focuses on international students who are more prone to loneliness feelings. This is due to the fact that such students find themselves in foreign countries composed of different cultural settings. Their separation from their families and close friends and relatives make them feel lonely as well. Notably, there have been different approaches to this subject. This is because some researchers have opted to focus their studies on the rates of loneliness among students whereas other researchers have focused on the causes of loneliness feelings. Moreover, researchers have demonstrated great interest in establishing the relationship between loneliness feelings and the academic performance. Overall, the researchers have tried to provide remedies to adverse impact of loneliness feelings.

In Australia, there is a heavy presence of international students. According to statistics, it hosts 9 international students across the board. It is reported that in 1994, Australia enrolled 228, 555 international students in its higher education institutions, three quarters of them onshore in the southern continent.  The percentage level of international students constituted 24.2 of the entire enrolled students. This had an economic value as it provided Australia with 15 of university revenue (Department of Employment, Science and Training 2005 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 2005). The international students should never be regarded as mere customers or tourists or members of a classroom they are human beings that need to be respected and cared for.
By virtue of crossing national borders in their quest for quality education, these students leave behind their loved ones and their families and social networks as well as citizenship rights in their mother country. According to Grinberg and Grinberg (1989), in migration one is no longer identified with the world one left behind, while on the other hand, one does not belong to the world one is destined to as yet. By and large, the new students find themselves in a relational deficit or social isolation, and this happens at a time when they need more love and encouragement. They find themselves in a completely foreign land with a foreign language, the study settings also change, finances, accommodation, and the everyday problems. In addition, they must settle for an unfamiliar set of institutional rules. In most cases they face issues of personal autonomy and the development of identity in the new setting (Baker  Siryk 1986).

In most cases there emerge differences in the physical and cultural environment, with new social systems and norms (Erlenawati et al. 2007). It is important that the international students regard themselves as foreigners staying for a time. They should be in a position to coup with unpredictable encounters, idiosyncratic communications, and problems of racial discrimination, by themselves (Church 1982).

In order to provide a good and favorable atmosphere for the international students it would be recommendable for the universities abroad to develop orientation programs that will enable the students familiarize themselves with the various support services and activities as well as social and cultural activities found in the institution. This orientation programs create supportive mechanisms for international students as well as facilitating an optimal academic and social adjustment. In Australia, for example, universities develop orientation programs that prepare the international students as they also acquaint themselves with the overall environment (Erlenawati et al. 2007). It cannot be doubted that such assistance may relieve or lessen experiences of loneliness while on the other hand, without such support then feelings of loneliness will be reportedly high and outrageous.
According to findings conducted in Australia, a total of 130 students which is relatively equal to 65 agree that they experienced feelings of loneliness. More specifically, 67 were female students while 62 were male students (Erlenawati et al. 2007).

The Notion of Loneliness
There is no human being in this world who can claim that she never experienced some sort of loneliness at some point in time. As noted earlier, it occurs mainly when one is away from home or whenever one loses a very close person. It is important to note that loneliness falls under emotions such that it takes place in the affective area of the person. Feelings of joy, sorrow or hunger are not different from the feelings of loneliness indeed, they can be dealt with although not absolutely prevented (Rokach  Brock 1998). The good news is that loneliness is open to observation, analysis, and evaluation strategies not withstanding the fact that most human experiences are never fully known to social sciences.  Normally, the modalities reflected in loneliness are mostly a study of psychology and sociology. In this regard, psychologists will regard personality as a predisposing factor. A sociologist will look at loneliness from the point of view of deficits in social networks.

Intentional Dynamicism
There a philosophical grounding on why human beings will need to belong. Depth psychology looks at the human person as virtually enclosed to himselfherself. This kind of an attitude is characterized by egoism, self-centeredness, pessimisms and so and so forth. On the contrary, the height psychology regards the person as loving, caring, and more importantly a self-transcendent being. Now, in the former case, the individual is guided by the culture of detachment while in the latter case, the individual is characterized by the culture of care. Whenever an individual is undergoing the culture of detachment, she normally goes through deep feelings of solitude, egoism, and loneliness. In fact at this level, the person can be said to have an imbalanced personality. However, while at the culture of care, the individual goes through a happy life characterized by self-esteem, concern for others, self-transcendence and the degree of loneliness is minimal at this point.

Therefore, every person has within his being a sense of intentional dynamism. Consider the following case Some students are working in a cyber each is very calm busy concentrating on what she is doing. If one goes there, she will conclude that there are no people in that cyber. However, the lights go off and suddenly a loud explosion goes up in the neighborhood. In this event, they begin to ask one another about what the problem could be. They all rush to check it out and even begin to talk to one another now. See the point Before, they have not been talking, but after the explosion, they begin talking like they know one another. Now, this is because their silence before was conscious and their sudden talking to each other is unconscious why It is because of the intentional dynamism.

Remember that to some extent, the things one does unconsciously are those that are inherent and part of us. They are pushed by a force within their inner being and this is what is referred to as intentional dynamism. Even in associationism studied in Psychology, the intentional dynamism better explains why a persons mental activity is always attached to the external objects.  The mental content is geared towards something else and only God is exempt from this fact by virtue of noeos noesis. That only God can be the object of his knowledge, so to speak.  So, it can be seen that the tendency or the movement towards the other is not a choice but it is something that individuals desire by virtue of their being.

Sense of Belonging
One of the simplest and most interesting theories in psychology is that one coined by John  Harries. They literally look at the individual person as a four partitioned window. The partitions connote the following free area, area only known to the person, area only known to others and the dark area. Now, the philosophy behind the area known to others and not to the person is a valid explanation why man needs to belong. Indeed, there are some elements of the person that need another person to be known. In other words, an individual will need the opinion of others to be complete and to develop sufficient self-knowledge. These are some phrases people utter everyday without really noticing their magnitude. So, according to Jo-Harries window one of the parts of the human person is that which must need others to be.

In psychology, the need to belong implies the desire to uphold a minimum quantity and quality of interpersonal relationships. In the converse, loneliness is the absence of necessary relationships (Weiss 1973). In addition, a lonely person succumbs to unpleasant or inadmissible lack of desired social relationships (De Jong-Gierveld 1987). Again, if there is dissatisfaction in the belongingness needs, negative feelings will emerge in the person, including loneliness (Baumeister  Leary 1995).

One will concur with Weiss (1973) in that personal loneliness and social loneliness are distinguishable entities. As mentioned earlier, loneliness derives from the absence of either close relationships or bonding or less intimate social relationships and social integration. A person will undergo emotional (personal) loneliness in those moments when she loses a loved one like in the case of a spouse, parent, brother or sister just to mention a few.  This can however, be restored through satisfactory personal relationships.

Social loneliness occurs when there is a lack of social network engagement especially with peers who believe or share the same view of the world. Normally, a person undergoing loneliness experiences a lot of boredom and a feeling of exclusion (Weiss 1973). On the other hand, a sense of belonging leads to positive affectivity, happiness, elation, commitment and calm (Osterman 2001). Furthermore, rejection, exclusion and been ignored translates to profound negative feelings such as depression, grief, jealousy, anxiety, and above all loneliness.

Origin of Loneliness
It is believed that several scholastic attempts have been made in a bid to understand the causes of loneliness (Lunt, 1991). Somewhat, external circumstance is one of the explanations, in the breaking of social networks and personal relationships. Loss of loved ones may be through death, marriage break ups and divorce (Rokach 1988) and are potential causes of loneliness. Again, movement form one place to the next increases the chances of separation from well-established relationships and worse of all it fractures a persons social networks and support systems, hence resulting to what were mentioned earlier as relational deficits (Rokach 1989).

It had been indicated earlier that an individual can be so much absorbed in the culture of detachment. In most cases, it is normally a voluntary tendency where someone just feels that she does not want to associate with others. Well, this may also be a trait in the person. There are some people who find it difficult to interact with others simply because they lack adequate interpersonal skills or communications capacity, low self-esteem and fear of been rejected. Such people are in most cases shy, introverted, melancholic, extremely anxious, depressed, and neurotic (Hojat 1982). A person may feel that hisher language skills are incompetent. Whenever a person is an introvert with low self-esteem, she closes the chances of networking and reaching out towards the other people around.

Indeed, high-esteemed people are always surrounded by numerous networks to which they feel part of (Stokes 1985). However and in a paradoxical way, persons who exhibit signs of self-sufficiency, authenticity and independence are more likely to attract others and to foster successful relationships with them. Once again, personal characteristics can trigger chances of loneliness. In this regard, one can end up being lonely either voluntarily or involuntarily. Once the experience of loneliness occurs in the person it leads himher to withdraw from social relations in order to contain the agony, reinforcing social relation.

Individuality in Loneliness
It can be argued that individuals will experience loneliness in different ways. In this regard, different persons will have different experiences of loneliness. Consider the following X is very outgoing and cheerful while Y is very melancholic and introverted. In the case where X is lonely, she is likely to be more outgoing such that his loneliness is easily released on the other hand, when Y is lonely she is going to be more absorbed to himself and it will be difficult for him to deal with hisher loneliness adequately. By the way, it can turn out that X may not feel lonely while Y will feel lonely. These variations also occur in international students by virtue of whom or what their personality is like. Remember that, such students come from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and religion just to mention a few. Notably, elderly people may experience much degree of loneliness compared to young people (Green et al. 2001). On the other hand, increasing the magnitude of the college students networks may help in addressing their loneliness (Stokes 1985). It is also noted that youths from other cultures may have lower inclinations to close personal relationships while those from other cultures may have greater inclinations to close personal relationships.

From a gender point of view, it is believed that males do experience low levels of loneliness compared to females. According to Hojat (1982) women have low self-esteem hence are more prone to feelings of loneliness. However, there are others who believe that gender has no impact on the way people experience loneliness. There is no connection between gender and loneliness (Russell et al.1980). In the common parlance it is believed that women are more emotional than men. There is no common ground for this fact as some are of the opinion that men are more apt to loneliness while on the contrary, women are believed to be more inclined to feelings of loneliness. Deniz (2005) asserts that the degree of loneliness is higher in males compared to female students. He argues further that female students have excellent attachment skills that enable them to build close social ties.

Dealing with Loneliness
The lonely person can develop certain coping strategies by himself that can be useful in coping with feelings of loneliness. This is somewhat a personalized strategy. On the other hand, there are other strategies that are intended to shape and build social relationships. Furthermore, the lonely students can seek help from a third party through guidance and counseling.

It is important for lonely students to learn how to deal with their situations. Emotional maturity is marked by how much an individual is able to control hisher emotions. As mentioned earlier, whenever students find themselves in an international institution with completely different settings, they should be able to adapt themselves to the circumstances. They should make it their initiative in dealing with feelings of loneliness rather than suppressing them. They can even use their religion in destroying the feelings of loneliness. No doubt that religion connects the individual with some sort of a supreme force that the believer can draw comfort and consolation. In other words, prayer and commitment to ones religious faith is a way that can help the lonely person. Overall, the lonely students who are normally energetic and enthusiastic can engage in sporting activities or similar club activities that will automatically and easily create interaction with other peers.

Methodology
The aim of this research is to find out the extent to which Saudi and Chinese students feel loneliness in Bangor. This project will use a questionnaire as a valuable and convenient method to collect the data in a short time and with reliable results. The approach in this research shall involve going to any Saudi and Chinese student, male or female at ELCOS in Bangor. In this regard, the questionnaire will be distributed to a sampled number of those students during their break time. More specifically, it will select a  number of 30 students from English Language Centre for Overseas Student both male and females who are studying in the period of 12 April to 4 June 2010. Furthermore, the arithmetic mean will be extracted from the degrees of the samples on the loneliness scale.

Consequently, the data will be subjected to SPSS program in order to find out if there is a correlation between these two variables, loneliness and academic achievement. Moreover, the results will be interpreted to yield to the final results of this research. In the long run, these final findings will be useful in the discussion of this topic by analyzing it and comparing it with the results of previous studies. 

Result Findings
Initially, the analyses aimed at the application of simple statistical analyses by use of mean to obtain the arithmetic mean of the total scores on a scale of loneliness. In the first instance, the scale was applied on 30 samples where 15 were Saudi and 15 were Chinese students, 16 males and 14 females. The loneliness scale mean  25, 6 in the context of Saudi students whereas the males mean score 25,28 and the females mean score  25, 87. The age mean among Saudi student  24, 2, the males age mean  24, 14 and the females age mean  24, 25.

The loneliness scale mean in Chinese sample  29, the male mean score 30, 22 and the females mean scores  27, 16.The age mean in the context of the Chinese students 25, 46, and the males age mean 25,33 and the females age mean  25,66. (See more in appendix below)
         Student (Gender)                      Age                 Loneliness
             Saudi (Males)
                     24.14                    25.28             Saudi (Females)
                     24.25                    25.87



         Student (Gender)                      Age                 Loneliness             Chinese (Males)                     25.33                    30.22             Chinese (Females)                     25.66                    27.16

Further analyses evaluated on connection between loneliness feelings and academic performance. The SPSS program was used in this matter. Through the use of correlation equation (Kendalls Tau Test),it was found that the scale degree of loneliness and grades for the total sample of Chinese and Saudi Students was   493 which implies p,05. The score of loneliness as measured by the scale of loneliness and grades for the total sample of Saudi and Chinese students 119 which implies p0. (See appendix C).

Discussions
According to the study, result findings indicated that there are significant differences between Saudi and Chinese students in the rate in which they experience loneliness. This was established in the rate of loneliness mean on scale score. The Chinese students rate higher with four percent hence the impression that they succumb more to feelings of loneliness in comparison to Saudi students.
Furthermore, it is established that the male Chinese students are more apt to feelings of loneliness. In particular, the comparison between these two samples establishes that there is a significant increase of the loneliness mean on scale score among males Chinese students which is approximated at 30,22, at the rate of about five percent. On the other hand, the Chinese females samples comes on the second rank approximated at 27,16. Evidently, the results for the loneliness scale score further establish that among Chinese students in ELCOSE, males are more prone to feelings of loneliness as compared to females. In the case of Saudi students, the results are relatively equal with no big margins between them. In particular, their mean of loneliness score approximates as follows the males mean scores  25,28 and the females mean scores  25,87.

Previously, it was mentioned that individuality determines the way in which people respond to feelings of loneliness in their lives. It was also stated that different people will experience loneliness in different ways. It was even illustrated that females are more apt to feel lonely as compared to males. However, this is not absolutely agreed upon as some purport that it is males who are more apt to feel lonely. Indeed, this remains an open discussion where either standpoint can be regarded as true and possible.

From the findings of this research, it has been established that male Chinese students are more reportedly said to undergo feelings of loneliness as compared to the female Chinese students. The gap is very big as well. It therefore cannot be regarded as the case to infer that males are less exposed to loneliness. It can be argued and justifiably so that it depends with the situation and circumstances for this matter. Earlier long, the study illustrated some of the causes of loneliness in that it can be orchestrated by personal traits, culture, circumstances and individuality just to mention a few.

Looking at the settings of the methodology adopted in this investigation, it can be noted that the students both from the Chinese and the Saudi are a community hence share the same circumstances. Again, considering the results on the side of the Saudi, there is a slight difference in the ratings between males and females with respect to loneliness. Therefore, the settings cannot be said to be anti-male. If it were so, all the findings would indicate that males both in Saudi and Chinese resort more to loneliness and with big margins against the females. Therefore, the possible explanations to the reason as to why male Chinese experience feelings of loneliness revolve around culture, personal traits and not the circumstances.

Age is also one of the many factors that attract loneliness. Earlier in this study it was indicated that elderly people are more prone to loneliness as compared to young people. Notably, the findings indicate variations in the ratings on different ages. Like in the case of Saudi students, the findings place a female of 24 years at a scale degree of 34 which is similar to that of a male of 30 years who is also placed at a scale degree of 34.

Conclusion
It can be seen that loneliness is a serious reality which affects international students in the contemporary world. The findings of this research provide us with adequate and concrete information to this fact. In this regard, loneliness somewhat is an inevitable issue which students must learn to cope with. Loneliness is not exempted from other emotions and due to this it can be controlled. We have learnt that whenever one is undergoing a kind of loneliness, which is the time when she should grow more in self-knowledge and self-esteem. No doubt those most international students are very young and energetic so they should engage themselves in various activities that will cheer them up and somehow interact with other peers as well. Yes, our backgrounds, culture, personal traits and circumstances may catalyze the rate of loneliness. Once again, the person should always strive to grow out of such setbacks and where necessary seek external intervention. She can consult a counselor or friend or even say a small prayer.