A Study of Mental Health Status of College Going Youths of Kashmir

: This study was conducted to evaluate the mental health status among youths. Descriptive survey Method was used in this study to obtain pertinent and precise information. The hypotheses of the study were to know the relationship between mental health status and emotional stability, overall-adjustment, autonomy, self concept, security-insecurity and intelligence of youths, to find out the difference in mental health status of youth boys and girls, to find out the difference in emotional stability, overall-adjustment, autonomy, self concept, security-insecurity and intelligence. The sample of this study included 300 youths selected by stratified random sampling from the district Baramulla Kashmir. The one standardized tool was used by the investigator to evaluate the mental health status of youths in relation to their emotional stability, overall-adjustment, autonomy, self concept, security-insecurity and intelligence. In order to draw out the results the investigator used statistical techniques like t‘tests, mean and standard deviation with graphical representations. The conclusions of the study are that there exists no significant difference between Mental health status and emotional stability, Mental health status and overall-adjustment, Mental health status and autonomy, Mental health status and self concept, Mental health status and security-insecurity, Mental health status and intelligence of youth boys and girls. practices as well as on questions in bio-medical ethics. The table does not show any significant difference between two groups on Autonomy.

Mental health is vital for individuals, families and communities, and is more than simply the absence of a mental disorder. Mental health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as ‗a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:-
There are number of studies conducted in India and abroad on mental health status but present study focuses on the following main objectives: -The purpose of present study was to examine the dimensions of mental health status viz., emotional stability (ES), over-all adjustment (OA), autonomy (AY), security-in security (AY), self concept (SI), and intelligence (IG) in college going boys and girls of Kashmir.

HYPOTHESIS:.
1. There would be a significant difference between boys and girls on emotional stability dimension of mental health status.
2. There would be a significant difference between boys and girls on overall adjustment dimension of mental health status.
3. There would be a significant difference between boys and girls on autonomy dimension of mental health status 4. There would be a significant difference between boys and girls on self-concept dimension of mental health status.
5. There would be a significant difference between boys and girls on security-insecurity dimension of mental health status.
6. There would be a significant difference between boys and girls on intelligence dimension of mental health status

METHODOLOGY:
This study includes first to select the sampling group to carry out the study. In this case, sample includes a group of youths of the age of 20-23 years. The study will then include the selection of the appropriate methods like scales to access the variables to be measured. Following the assessment of the variables, a right statistical approach is taken to authenticate the results for their significance.
Sampling:-The sample of the present study consisted of 300 students with equal number of boys and girls (150 boys and 150 girls) from three different colleges. The youth sample was selected from BA/B.SC I, II and III classes. All the sample units (N=300) were drawn from various colleges located in Baramulla district of Kashmir.
Sample was collected from the following colleges of Baramulla district of Kashmir.

Table1
Showing the names of the schools

Tests and Materials:
Mental Health Battery (MHB) was used in this study.

Mental Health Battery (MHB):-
In order to ascertain the level of mental health status among subjects, English version of Mental Health Battery developed by Singh and Sen Gupta (1987) was used in the present study. Mental Health Battery intends to assess the mental health status of persons in the age range of 18-23 years, as it is a battery of six (6) tests, the mental health battery consists of 130 items which are divided into six (6) parts. In the battery there is no fixed time limit for first five (5) parts. However, generally in normal subject having average mental health takes about 25 minutes in giving complete answers. Part six (6) is a speed test. The total allotted time for this part is ten minutes.

1: Analysis On the basis of Emotional Stability:
Emotional stability refers to the state of being able to have the appropriate feelings about the common experiences and being able to act in a rational manner. Emotional stability is not only one of the effective determinants of the personality patterns, but it also helps to control the growth of adolescent development. The concept of stable emotional behavior at any level is that which reflects the fruits of the normal emotional development. An individual who is able to keep his emotions stable and under control even in extreme situations, might still be emotionally stunned or be childish in his behavior sometimes. Therefore emotional stability is considered as one of the important aspect of human life. People must be able to control their emotions adequately and also express them appropriately. Below given table indicates that there does not exist any significant difference between the two groups on emotional stability. A perusal of table 1 reveals that mean emotional stability scores of youth boys and girls were 8.32 and 8.26, with SD 1.926 and 1.862 respectively. The t-ratio between the means of the two groups was found to be .274 which was not significant at 0.01 level of significance.
Ciarrochi et al. suggested that emotional indicators and stressor factors impacted on sociopsychological health status. Salovey, that EI was associated with mental health, and individuals with higher EI were able to deal better with stress and were less vulnerable in stress.

Analysis On the basis of Overall adjustment:
Adjustment is a builtin mechanism for coping with the problematic or other realities of life. Adjustment has been considered as an index to integration; a harmonious behavior of the individual by which other individual of society recognize person is well adjusted. (Pathak, 1990). Below drawn table shows that on overall adjustment there does not exist any significant difference between two groups. He reported no significant impact of gender and class on the mental health.

Analysis On the basis of Autonomy;
Autonomy is an individual's capacity for selfdetermination or governance. Autonomy is generally held in high esteem. It serves as one of the central concepts in many philosophical debates, e.g. on understanding ourselves as persons, on how to conceptualize morality, on the legitimization of political norms and practices as well as on questions in bio-medical ethics. The table does not show any significant difference between two groups on Autonomy.   Table 3 depicts that the mean Autonomy scores of youth boys and girls were 7.59 and 7.51, with SD 1.589 and 1.617 respectively. The t-value between the means of the two groups was found to be .432 which was not significant at .01 level of significance.
Autonomy has been identified as an intrinsic psychological need that, when realized, promotes mental health and well-being. The failure to develop autonomy, it has been hypothesized, may lead to decreased motivation and 4 Analysis on the basis of Self-Concept; Self-concept is the way people think about themselves. It is unique, dynamic, and always evolving. This mental image of oneself influences a person's identity, self-esteem, body image, and role in society. As a global understanding of one's self, self-concept shapes and defines who we are, the decisions we make, and the relationships. Self-concept is perhaps the basis for all motivated behavior. Table is the indicator that there is no significant difference on self-concept between the two groups.  4 reveals that mean self-concept scores of youth boys and girls were 7.71and 7.65, with SD 1.256 and 1.248 respectively. The t-ratio between the means of the two groups was found to be .369 which was not significant at 0.01 level of confidence. Self-concept is the sum of an individual's beliefs and knowledge about his personal attributes and qualities, it is a cognitive schema that organizes abstract and concrete views about the self, and controls the processing of self-relevant information Markus, 1977; Kihlstrom and Cantor, 1993 Selfconcept is considered as equivalent to self-regard, self-estimation and self-worth (Harter, 1999). Sartorius (Sartorius, 1998), the former WHO Director of Mental Health, preferred to define it as a means by which individuals, groups or large populations can enhance their competence, selfconcept and sense of well-being.
According to Tudor (Tudor, 1996), self-concept, identity and self-esteem are among the key elements of mental health. Again (1996) in his monograph on mental health promotion, where he presents self-concept and self-esteem as two of the core elements of mental health, and therefore as an important focus of mental health promotion.

Analysis on the basis of Security-Insecurity Security:
In contexts of poor security, public health interventions and the delivery of health care to the individual are more difficult to perform and less likely to succeed than in contexts of security. Violenceincluding the threat of violencein such contexts results in injury, death, psychological harm, impaired development or deprivation. Insecurity: Insecurity, therefore, potentially has a double impact on people's lives and well-being; this is the reality of everyday life for many millions of people. The nexus of security, insecurity and health is as complex as it is important. In a given context, responsibility for what happens at this nexus falls to multiple actors, including ministries responsible for health, defense and internal affairs; the overriding influence, especially on security, may even be the foreign policy of other countries. On security-insecurity table does not indicate any significant difference between the two groups.  Table 5 depicts that the mean security-Insecurity scores of youth boys and girls were 7.63 and 7.54, with SD 1.662 and 1.536 respectively. The t-value between the means of the two groups was found to be .471 which was not significant at .01 level of significance. Young people development is due to love and affection and sense of security which is further dependent on the attitude of parents towards their children (Bossard & Boll, 1954). The insecurity state of a person is an emotional problem, a state of being in disturbance due to the feeling of tension, strain and conflict together with other consequences of tension. According to Shankar, (1958) emotional security prepares the ground for mental health and creative activities of the individuals by which they make adjustments to their environment.

Analysis on the basis of Intelligence
A very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings--catching on,‖ -making sense‖ of things, or -figuring out‖ what to do. Intelligence has been defined in many different ways such as in terms of one's capacity for logic, abstract thought, understanding, selfawareness, communication, learning, emotional knowledge, Memory, planning, and problem solving. Below given table proves that there is no significant difference between two groups on intelligence. .630 respectively. The t-value between the means of the two groups was found to be .595 which was not significant at .01 level of significance. Goleman (1995) suggested the need to bring intelligence to emotions. Goleman tells us that we really have two different ways of understanding, intellectually and emotionally and our mental life results from the interaction of both functions. It means mental health directly depends on head and heart because intellectual development depends on head (brain) and emotional development depends on heart. CONCLUSIONS Results of the study show the acceptance or rejection of the hypotheses. Conclusions of study are: 1. There exists no significant difference between boys and girls on emotional stability dimension of mental health.
2. There exists no significant difference between boys and girls on overall adjustment dimension of mental health.
3. There exists no significant difference between boys and girls on autonomy dimension of mental health. 4. There exists no significant difference between boys and girls on self-concept dimension of mental health. 5. There exists no significant difference between boys and girls on security-insecurity dimension of mental health. 6. There exists no significant difference between boys and girls on intelligence dimension of mental health.