Emotional Maturity and Resilience among Orthopedically Challenged Adolescence: A Gender Perspective

                                                          Index

Chapter No.	Topic Name	Page No.
I	Ø Introduction	3-15
II	Ø Review of the Literature	16-25
III	Ø Rationale of the study Ø Methodology Ø Objectives Ø Hypothesis Ø Sample Ø Background of the study Ø Tools	26-31 31 31 32 32 32 33-34
IV	Ø Result & Interpretation Ø Discussion Ø Major Findings Ø Delimitations Ø Table Ø Chart	35-39 40-42 42-43 44 36 & 38 37 & 39

References

Appendix
                                                             

CHAPTER

            I   

Introduction

Here emotional maturity is defined as the ability to recognize own personality preferences and emotions. All of us face adversities in our lives throughout a lifetime. The ability to handle all the adversities in a proper way is called emotional maturity. An adult person is always expected to be mature. Physical disability is assumed as a barrier in the way of emotional maturity. And the surplus assumption with a female that she is assumed to be shy, introvert and having a high degree of sentiments, can she be emotionally mature?

A child learns to walk by first crawling, falling and stumbling. There are scraped knees, bruises, laughter, confusion and eventually after trial and error, walking, and after that running. It is the same learning curve for any human to develop their emotional self.

Emotional maturity refers to one’s ability to understand, and manage the emotions. Emotional maturity enables everyone to create the life one’s desire. A life filled with happiness and fulfillment. Everyone define success in one’s own terms, not persons, and one’s strive is to achieve it. Emotional maturity of everyone is observed through one’s thoughts and behaviors. When one is faced with a difficult situation, the level of emotional maturity is one of the biggest factors in determining the ability to cope.

Then resilience is natural and emotional maturity blossoms. When tragedy strikes with the cause of physical disability, some people fall apart, while others adapt to such life-changing events more easily. And emotional maturity plays an important role in resilience.

There will always be things that go wrong. There will always be setbacks and major disappointments. While one may initially be a little upset, emotional maturity allows you to express your feelings, identify the actions you can take, and move on. Resilience is used to describe people who lead normal, fulfilling lives despite having experienced having trauma or tragedy. They are resilient because they have to ability to recover from adversity and retain a positive self-image and view of the world. Facing challenges on the foundation that there is more right than wrong with the world give an individual the confidence to know that they can get through whatever problem exists. We’re all more capable than we think we are. The sun will come out tomorrow.

Nothing is more annoying than a handful of trite clichés when you are battling adversity and would really prefer a little sympathy, but these Pollyanna like clichés point out that it is far healthier to develop the ability to bounce back from adversity than it is to remain mired in misfortune. Resilience is the ability to decide that no matter what happens to you, you are going to learn from it. Resilient people accept responsibility for their lives and their choices, and they understand what’s gone wrong so they can fix it.

The expression, "maturity," refers to a significant phase in the growth of a living organism. Maturity is achieved when individual growth is completed and the organism is ripe for propagation. The concept of maturity is used also in psychology and psychiatry. In this field it designates that phase of personality development which corresponds to biological and psychological maturation. We call a person psychologically mature after he has reached a certain level of intelligence and emotional outlook. The development of a person is undisturbed, biological and psychological maturation progress more or less parallel with each other. Usually, however, biological maturation proceeds ahead of emotional maturation.

Each phase of biological development is characterized by certain well-defined psychological attitudes. Biologically, the newborn infant is completely dependent upon the mother and accordingly his emotional attitude is characterized by this dependence. He seeks gratification for his needs from the mother; his security is based on being cared for and loved by the mother. Gradually, the first signs of independence appear. The child learns to use his biological equipment, he learns to focus with his eyes, to masticate food, to coordinate the innervations of his skeletal muscles, he learns how to grab objects and to walk. He learns to exercise conscious control over his excremental functions and to communicate his needs by speech. All these functions at first are mastered separately. The eyes learn how to focus, the hands how to grab, the legs how to walk but finally all these functions become coordinated with each other and the child is able to spot objects in environment, approach them and take hold of them. The greatest step towards independence is accomplished by the development of the functions of intelligence which allow a high degree of independent orientation in the surrounding world. The most important phase of development begins with the maturation of the sex glands during puberty. By now the growing organism has acquired all functions, to which finally the faculty of propagation is added. There follows a period called adolescence which in many respects is in sharp contrast with maturity although it introduces maturity. We speak of adolescent attitudes often when we want to emphasize that they are juvenile and immature. We refer to adolescent boast- fullness, insecurity, awkwardness, instability, etc. Although biologically the adolescent organism reaches the end of its growth and is in possession of all its potential faculties, psychologically it can be sharply differentiated from maturity. In this age the parallelism between biological and psychological development does not prevail. Biological growth by now is a full phase of psychological maturation.

According to Buddha “Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”

Emotional maturity refers to one’s ability to understand, and manage, the emotions. Emotional maturity enables to create the desires life. A life filled with happiness and fulfillment. Everyone define success in one’s own terms, not for society, and strive to achieve it. That is called the mature state of mind when an individual justifies him/ herself as an absolute manner not only as a winner or loser.

It's far easier to get defensive and deny responsibility, or become overwhelmed with shame for our act of imperfection or ignorance. Being able to acknowledge when we are in the wrong way to take humility, self-compassion and courage, it is not fair.

We all have innate biases and prejudices. It's impossible not to: we're socialized into a stereotyping world. So what's important is learning to cultivate an active awareness of these biases and prejudices, and examine how they might influence our decisions and actions. Ask yourself where you might be practicing discrimination (subtly or unsubtly), and how you can begin to counter these ingrained behaviors. Discriminate behavior can never be judged as a mature mental status.

How we observe our emotions — rather than clinging to our feelings immediately and reacting instinctively, we learn how to first observe, and then react more carefully and productively.

Perfectionism tells us to stay in a box where we feel comfortable, certain and in control. It tells us to manipulate our environments so we never feel vulnerable, needy or uncertain. It keeps us safe from our fears of failing, embarrassing ourselves or getting rejected. And sadly, many of us miss out on a lot of life because of this. So if you've felt uncomfortable feelings lately, and acknowledged them, you're growing in the right direction, even if your perfectionistic impulses are telling you otherwise.

Judgment is at the heart of hate. It is what fuels unhealthy relationships with ourselves and others. If you've learned or are learning how to be more compassionate, not just to others but also to yourself, you're moving closer to enlightenment.

Clients often emphasize how they want to "be independent" and "not rely on anyone." And yet they've come to therapy, which in itself is a (usually wise) act of asking for help. Knowing when to reach out isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of courage and resourcefulness.

Shunryu Suzuki says, "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few." Those of us who believe we know everything have not much room for possibility and knowledge. This is why the idea of enlightenment is such a paradox: the closer toward this elusive concept we move, the more elusive we realize it truly is. Yet being able to rest in the discomfort of uncertainty is where growth becomes truly evident.

A new British study reveals that men have an 11 year lag behind women when it comes to maturing. According to the study, commissioned by Nickelodeon UK, the average man doesn't reach full emotional maturity until age 43, while women mature by age 32.

The understanding of adolescence gives the clue to the essence of the mature state of mind. This consists in overcoming the insecurity and in being able to take one's self for granted. The period of competition during adolescence gives the person opportunity to prove the self to others and to one's own self. Moreover, this steady competition affords a continuous practice of one's full-grown capacities. During the period of adolescence the young person gradually grows emotionally into the advanced mature status which biologically he had already reached several years ago. The self- confident attitude of the mature person is based on taking himself and his capacities for granted. This is in sharp relief to the insecurity of the infant and of the adolescent. As a consequence of this inner security the mature adult's interests no longer center around the self. It can now be turned outwards towards the environment. Whenever life becomes difficult, beyond the individual's capacity to deal with its pressing problems, there is a tendency to regress towards less mature attitudes, in which a person could still rely on the help of parents and teachers.

Resilience is the capacity to withstand stress and catastrophe. Psychologists have long recognized the capabilities of humans to adapt and overcome risk and adversity.  Individuals and communities are able to rebuild their lives even after devastating tragedies. The road to resilience lies in working through the emotions and effects of stress and painful-events. 

Resilience is also not something that you’re either born with or not. Resilience develops as people grow up and gain better thinking and self-management skills and more knowledge. Resilience also comes from supportive relationships with parents, peers and others, as well as cultural beliefs and traditions that help people cope with the inevitable bumps in life.  Resilience is found in a variety of behaviors, thoughts, and actions that can be learned and developed across the life span.

Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress — such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences.

Research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary. People commonly demonstrate resilience. One example is the response of many Americans to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and individuals' efforts to rebuild their lives.

Being resilient does not mean that a person doesn't experience difficulty or distress. Emotional pain and sadness are common in people who have suffered major adversity or trauma in their lives. In fact, the road to resilience is likely to involve considerable emotional distress.

Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have. It involves behaviors, thoughts and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone.

A combination of factors contributes to resilience. Many studies show that the primary factor in resilience is having caring and supportive relationships within and outside the family. Relationships that create love and faith, and it provide role models and offer encouragement and reassurance help bolster a person's resilience.

Developing resilience is a personal journey. People do not all react the same to traumatic and stressful life events. An approach to building resilience that works for one person might not work for another. People use varying strategies.

Some variation may reflect cultural differences. A person's culture might have an impact on how he or she communicates feelings and deals with adversity — for example, whether and how a person connects with significant others, including extended family members and community resources. With growing cultural diversity, the public has greater access to a number of different approaches to building resilience.

Good relationships with close family members, friends or others are important. Accepting help and support from those who care about you and will listen to you strengthens resilience. Some people find that being active in civic groups, faith-based organizations, or other local groups provides social support and can help with reclaiming hope. Assisting others in their time of need also can benefit the helper.

None can change the fact that highly stressful events happen, but can change how interpret and respond to these events. Try looking beyond the present to how future circumstances may be a little better. Note any subtle ways in which you might already feel somewhat better as you deal with difficult situations.

Certain goals may no longer be attainable as a result of adverse situations. Accepting circumstances that cannot be changed can help everyone focus on circumstances that one can alter.

Develop some realistic goals. Do something regularly — even if it seems like a small accomplishment — that enables one to move toward the goals. Instead of focusing on tasks that seem unachievable, ask to self, "What's one thing I know I can accomplish today that helps me move in the direction I want to go?"

Act on adverse situations as much as be could. Take decisive actions, rather than detaching completely from problems and stresses and wishing they would just go away.

People often learn something about themselves and may find that they have grown in some respect as a result of their struggle with loss. Many people who have experienced tragedies and hardship have reported better relationships, greater sense of strength even while feeling vulnerable, increased sense of self-worth, a more developed spirituality and heightened appreciation for life. Developing confidence in ability to solve problems and trusting the instincts helps build resilience.

Even when facing very painful events, try to consider the stressful situation in a broader context and keep a long-term perspective. Avoid blowing the event out of proportion. An optimistic outlook enables to expect that good things will happen in your life. Try visualizing what is wanted, rather than worrying about what about fear.

Everyone should pay attention to the own needs and feelings. Engage in activities that can be enjoyed and find relaxing. Exercise regularly. Taking care of oneself helps to keep one’s mind and body primed to deal with situations that require resilience. Some people write about their deepest thoughts and feelings related to trauma or other stressful events in their life. Meditation and spiritual practices help some people build connections and restore hope.

The key is to identify ways that are likely to work well for everyone as part of one’s own personal strategy for fostering resilience. The phase of adolescence has widely been recognized as a critical period of rapid development, and which are likely to have a significant impact on both the physical as well as mental health of the adolescents. The transition between childhood and adulthood comes with many challenges alongside their physical, cognitive, as well as social development. Common issues of adolescence as children reach the higher years of their schooling, they are eager to have their taste of freedom, as their need for independence begins to thrive. They become increasingly self-centric in their views, and hence teenage is the time of greatest conflicts of interests and problems with authority figures. In their quest for fulfilling their demands, they begin to almost seem rebellious, and a common teenage mantra is “But why, that is not fair.” etc.

This is the time when friends seem to become more important than ever, as the influence of peers is at its peak for the youth. This is the time for them to become experimental, and test their limits, and often they might not be able to understand the consequences of their actions at the time. Hence the youth are likely to indulge in risk taking behaviors, and are prone to abuse substances. Besides the influence of the peers, the media is another factor that has a major impact especially on the children and adolescents today. Research has shown that watching media with aggression, whether in the form of movies, cartoons, shows, news, or reality shows, is strongly linked to an increase in aggressive behavior in children. As the youth extensively play violent videogames, this could desensitize them towards violence and pain. And aggression is just one of the concerns regarding the passive influence of media.

The media has always known to define what is desirable and in vogue, thriving on stereotypical notions, and thereby planting unrealistic images and ideas in the minds of our youth. Since the youth are typically concerned about their body image, as they explore attractions and intimacy, they often end up dealing with identity and role confusions as well. Moreover, in the sway of their peer influences, most adolescents develop the tendency to compare themselves with others, and this could serve as a major factor being responsible for the negative views of themselves.

Depression is one of the most common mental health related illnesses to affect a person and is found in people of all ages including children and adolescents, with about 11 percent adolescents having had a depressive disorder by age 18 (NIMH). Suicide was the second leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds globally in 2012 and this trend continues to rise even today (WHO). Moreover, it is estimated by the centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that at least 25 attempts are made for every completed teen suicide. According to the NIMH, eating disorders affect 2.7% of 13 to 17 year olds worldwide (2010). Adolescent substance use has become one of the major areas of concern in India, with an estimate of 50% boys having tried at least one substance by the ninth grade (1991). Moreover, according to a recent study in India, easy availability and relief from tension were the most frequent reasons reported for the continuation of substance use, with media being stated as the most frequent source of information (Tsering et al, 2010). Considering the physical and emotional changes that occur in adolescence, it is natural for these emotions and feelings to be experienced very intensely, thereby leading to the vulnerability towards impacting their mental health.  When teenagers go through difficult emotions such as loneliness or extremely stressful situations that have grave ramifications on their self-esteem and self-concept, they can be driven to self-harm or even suicide. In the light of the glamorization promoted by the media, it’s no wonder that body image concerns and eating disorders are becoming prominent in the youth today. It is not surprising, as most of us, especially youngsters, have begun to define and value themselves and others based on the brands they wear and the model of mobile phones that they carry. Such ideologies are likely to create feelings of inadequacy and relative deprivation, thereby creating a sense of discrepancy between one’s perceived as well as ideal self. Teens are given to be experimental with many risk taking behaviors including the use and abuse of drugs and alcohol. More often than not, addiction sneaks up on the adolescent with a gradual increase in the use of substances as they begin to fulfill a valuable need in the eyes of the user – this need could be anything from mood elevation to pain relief. Some teenagers may turn to substances simply out of curiosity or even as a faulty coping mechanism to deal with their feelings of loneliness, depression, stress or anxiety, or to cope with family related problems and stressors.

Despite an increasing prevalence, mental disorders in adolescents are mostly under-reported, and hence adequate and timely help is not always able to reach those who need it, particularly in the underprivileged segments of the society. A major hindrance to the timely treatment of the condition is also the lack of awareness and understanding and knowledge which could facilitate timely identification. Awareness can easily break the stigma attached to immature health of the society.

This is especially important as many times such issues are neglected as being a typical by-product of adolescence itself. It is important to recognize the diagnosable disorders which can be effectively treated, and which could have adverse long-term consequences if neglected.  Besides identification, we must be open to seeking help. It is important to help our society overcome the stigma attached to mental health, and to encourage children and adolescents to be able to reach out to trained professionals. Moreover, it is vital to bring about a change in the way our society thinks about the youth and their mental health. Engagement with parents, schools as well as communities should be promoted to empower them for the timely identification as well as encourage resilience, emotional regulation, social skills, and healthy coping mechanisms for the youth.

The Orthopedically handicapped are those who have a physical defect or deformity, which causes an interference with the normal functioning of the bones, muscles and joints. So, orthopedic handicaps may be caused by injury, congenital malformation or disease.

More specifically causes includes genetic defects, metabolic errors, nutritional deficiencies, infections, physical trauma, toxins, poisons, gross brain disease, cultural influences, environmental factors and other causes.

The effect includes a wide range of restrictions of movement and agility, which the affected person’s capacity to participate in the wide range of recreational and work based activities.

It might be, though, that there is such a wide range of effects on individuals that some handicaps might be barely noticeable (a limp), while others (say, quadriplegia) might require quite extensive modifications to the immediate environment so that the person with the disability can live in reasonable comfort and participate in the social and cultural life of their community.

"Examples of orthopedically handicapped children include those born with dislocated hips or other joints, club feet, spina bifida (a congenital malformation of the spinal cord), and children who are victims of such crippling diseases as polio and myolietis..” Brittanica.

CHAPTER

II

Review of the Literature

          Every piece of ongoing research needs to be connected with the work already done to attain an overall relevance and purpose. A literature review is designed to identify related research, to set the current research project within a conceptual and theoretical context. So reviewing the related literature becomes one of the most indispensible parts of the research project. It is link between studies already done and the proposed research project. It works as a light house not only with regard to the quantum of work done in the field but also enables us to perceive the gaps and lacunas in the field of research concerned.

Review of related literature makes sure that the researcher is not repeating the work that someone has already done. Sometimes, when the proposed research has already been done, then it provides the researcher an option to modify the work by adding the new perspective altering some of the methods of research, to make the research more valuable. The other research reports may also be relevant from the point of view of the project as they provide some clues to the puzzle by suggesting a hypothesis, which may be the subject matter of the project under study. It also helps in highlighting difference in opinions, contradictory findings and different explanations given for their conclusions and differences by different authors. In a broader context Hart (1998) lists the following purposes of a review:

·        Distinguishing what has been done from what needs to be done;

·        Discovering important variables relevant to the topic;

·        Synthesizing and gaining a new perspective;

·        Identifying  relationships between ideas and practice;

·        Establishing the context of the topic or problem; 

·        Rationalizing the significance of the problem;

·        Enhancing and acquiring the subject vocabulary;

·        Understanding the structure of the subject;

·        Relating ideas and theory to applications;

·        Identifying methodologies and techniques that have been used;

·        Placing the research in a historical context to show familiarity with the developments.

Resilience has been defined as “the ability of an individual to function competently in the face of adversity or stress.”(Kirby and Fraser, 1997).

Most studies of developmental change have found that increases in individual resilience factors such as self-esteem are age-dependent among children and adolescents (aged 5 to 17 years) (Bolognini, Plancherel, Bettwshart, & Halfon, 1996.

Prior studies indicate that gender has a notable effect on a child’s coping strategies. Coping strategies can be categorised into two basic types; maladaptive and adaptive strategies (P. Hampel & Petermann, 2005). Younger boys and girls, and boys from all age groups tend to make more use of adaptive coping strategies that focus on the immediate problem. Strategies are externalised and commonly include direct action, distraction and positive self instruction (P. Hampel & Petermann, 2005; P.  Hampel & Petermann, 2006).

There is also evidence that girls cope with daily stressors by seeking social support and utilising social resources (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993). In contrast, boys use physical recreation such as sport to cope with adversity (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1993). 

Despite being under stress, girls have been found to use resilience factors such as seeking and getting support more than boys, with Grotberg finding that girls used these resilience factors more than boys (P. Hampel & Petermann, 2005).  

The studies mentioned above focused on older children, but few studies have examined age and gender differences in resilience in primary school aged children in Australia. In the current study, the effects of gender and age (late childhood, early, and middle adolescence) on resilience, within 2 domains (individual characteristics and protective factors) were investigated.  It was hypothesized that (1) girls would employ more individual focused strategies and protective factor focused strategies than boys. (2) Middle childhood would have higher scores than early adolescence in both individual characteristics and protective factors.

Further studies confirm this finding, showing that self-esteem is lower in younger children. However, a few studies of 9-14 year old children and adolescents have found decreases in self-esteem with increasing age, suggesting that the relevant individual characteristics are acquired in middle childhood. In contrast, results in terms of developmental changes related to environmental factors are less consistent.

In an abstract “Effect of Resilience on Coping Strategies, Perceived Stress and Emotional Control” according to Santosh Meena and Auashi Kumar…… resilience has been a topic of interest for researchers for a long time. Psychological resilience is an individual's tendency to cope with stress and adversity. This coping may result in the individual’s "bouncing back" to a previous state of normal functioning, or simply not showing negative effects. Resilience is a trait which can be developed eventually.

The key objective of the present study was to examine the effect of Resilience on coping strategies, perceived stress and emotion control among hostel wardens, and to examine the difference in coping strategies, perceived stress and emotion control in high and low resilience among hostel warden. Purposive sampling was planned.  70 female hostel warden’s sample between 30 to 50 years was targeted from Banasthali University. Tools used in the study were:  The Brief Resilience scale developed by Smith et al (2008), coping scale developed by Carver, Schemer and Weintraub (1989). Data was analysed through mean, SD, t-test ANOVA. It was found in the study that resilience significantly affects emotion control but does not affect significantly perceived stress and coping strategies. Study also revealed that, there is a significant difference in emotion control of high and low resilience groups and the difference is insignificant in perceived stress and coping strategies of high and low resilience groups. 

Kadambari and Swati Singh explain in “Emotional Turmoil of Adolescents: Inferences from Human Brain Imaging and Mouse Genetics”  the characterization of adolescence as a time of emotional turmoil remains an open debate intense and frequent negative affect during this period is considered to be a casual factor for heightened emotionally which ultimately result increased rate of affective disorders. Imbalance in the development of subcortical limbic (e.g. Amygdala) relative to prefrontal cortical regions is a major cause for heightened emotionally. We then provide environmental factors that may exacerbate in balance in amygdala ventru frontal function increasing risk for anxiety related behaviors. Finally we present data from human & mouse studies that provide covering methods approach for understanding the highly variable stress and turmoil experienced in adolescent.

In “Role of Adolescent Parent Attachment: In Congnitive, Physical and Social Development” Kadambari and Ritu Rani explain…. Adolescent is characterized by significant neurological cognitive and socio-psychological development with advancing age the time spent with parents decrease and that with peers increase gradually. However, parents continue to play major and crucial role in adolescent development. Adolescent parent attachment has considerable and major impact on cognitive, social and emotional functioning. Secure attachment is associated with less engagement in high risk behaviors, and enhanced coping strategies. The main focus of this study is changes during adolescence, what attachment is and how it influences growth of adolescent. 

An abstract “The Role Of Parenting Style in the Development Of Emotional Maturity among Adolescents” by Niyati Garg  and Vandana Sharma  explains about the scenario of emotional maturity that an emotionally mature child has the capacity to make effective adjustment with himself, members of his family, his peers in the school, society and culture. The present study was conducted to identify the factors related to parenting style which may contribute in the development of Emotional maturity.  

Faulty role expectation/Realistic role expectation (mother), Lenient standard/Moralism (father), Neglect/Indulgence (mother) and Marital conflict/Marital adjustment were found significantly contributing in the development of Emotional Maturity.  

Result indicates that four dimensions of parenting styles emerged as predictors of emotional maturity. Negative Correlation between Parenting Styles and Emotional Maturity indicate that low level of mother’s faulty role expectation and neglect, father’s lenient standards and marital conflict lead towards high level of Emotional Maturity.  

Life Skills are the abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individual to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life – WHO. Emotional Maturity is the ability to monitor one's own and other people's emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior. Life skills training is used to help adolescents not only acquire knowledge, but also to develop relevant skills to enable them to reduce the risk of behaviors and negative consequences (Botvin & Griffin, 2004).This skills training is one of the best alternative strategies for the proper practice in essential abilities for managing adolescent life, particularly decision-making and critical thinking ability by considering information and behavior consequences, and ability in recognition of strong feelings in one’s self and others to modulate one’s own behavioral response, resolve disagreements, and follow rules in a productive and healthy manner (WHO,2003).

Persons with disabilities will have the disadvantage of sensory, motor or cognitive impairment depending on the nature of impairment. Having a physical disability can affect one’s emotional. Sometimes, the limitations imposed by attitudinal, socio-cultural, economic, and environmental variable act as barriers to their participation in society.

Limitations in participation and poor access to resources may in turn contribute to handicap (Simeonsson et al., 2000). However, it is not that everyone buckles under the impact of impairment or at-risk for stress and discrimination. Not all individuals exposed to stressors would experience negative psychological effects (Alriksson-Schmidt et al., 2007). On the contrary, some may do well, and even excel their non-disabled peers. This ability to circumvent the environmental and emotional barriers, and excel despite certain limitations is generally referred to as invulnerability or resilience. While vulnerability predisposes an individual to develop varied forms of psychopathology or behavioral ineffectiveness, or leads to negative developmental outcomes (Zimmerman & Arunkumar, 1994), resilience acts the other way. That is, it predisposes the individual to resist the potential negative consequences of the risk, and develop adequately. 

Studies from the field of psychiatry indicate that there is a need to consider a wide range of personal, familial, social, and environmental factors that could contribute to “a process of, or capacity for, or the outcome of successful adaptation despite challenging and threatening circumstances (Garmezy & Masten, 1991).  There is strong evidence to suggest that resilience is a multidetermined and ever-changing product of interacting forces within a given eco systemic context (Waller, 2001).  Because resilience occurs even when risk factors are plentiful, greater emphasis needs to be placed to understand how social and physical ecologies mediate positive developmental outcomes when individuals encounter significant amounts of stress (Ungar, 2011). As life stress is related to perceived environmental problems, which could affect the quality of life and resilience, perceptions about the environment need to be changed first. And any efforts to bring in changes must also consider necessary modifications at multiple levels, ranging from family to school, community, culture, and policy. Enhancing personal competence and providing social support may also improve quality of life (Masten & Reed, 2002;

In this context experiential accounts are useful to understand the level of resilience. The experiential accounts may include the entire ecological environment and positive behavioral competence. After all, capability (i.e. what an individual can do) and performance (what an individual does) depend on the environmental setting (Tieman et al., 2004). Environmental factors could be further divided into micro environmental variables like the physical environment, the family organization, the family support, and type of family. The behavioral competence may include the individual’s perceptions of the environment, personal competence, control and coping patterns. 

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) also recognize that disability is a function of person-environment interactions (World Health Organization, 2001). Applying the same in the area of physical disabilities, it could be understood that mobility is influenced by their capability in all developmental domains (e.g. gross motor, fine motor, cognition, and vision) as well as personal factors (e.g. age, personality, preferences and lifestyle), which in turn may vary across various everyday settings (e.g. home, school, and outdoor/community) as the settings are marked by specific physical, temporal, and social features. The interaction of the person and the environment leads to the performance of an activity, such as mobility. Because mobility is needed in many activities of daily living, successful participation in society is contingent on the person-environment interaction. Thus the environment plays a significant role in deciding the performance of the individual, though it depends on the interpretation of the environment.  Hence there is a strong advocacy to study the environmental antecedents of positive growth (Ungar, 2011). Another important dimension is the emotional strength. While the stressors being the same, some appropriately and successfully respond to a vast variety of emotional stimuli being elicited from the inner self and immediate environment, which in turn facilitates successful adaptation. Therefore there is a need to understand the interactive effect of emotional intelligence and the perceived environment on resilience.

Most of the times, the physical environment in India is not designed to facilitate access. The access equation shows how, when access is denied, persons with disabilities are marginalized and excluded from mainstream society. However, it is the individual’s perception and interpretation of the environment, which instills or diminishes one’s faith in one’s own capabilities. In this context, the present study was designed to understand the perceived access to environment and emotional intelligence as function of resilience among persons with locomotor disabilities. 

CHAPTER

III

Rationale of the Study

Adolescence is a transition phase of life. That is the time when dreams play a significant role rather than what is happening. Everyone has a wish to fly, to dive in the high sky of ambitions. A child throws the tantrum in many ways but when a child passes through adolescence phase s/he has nothing to throw, nothing to lose. S/he has only one attitude to grab all the things. When s/he feels her/himself different from others gets disappoint. Sometime emotion carries out an individual towards depressive state of mind, the feeling like hopeless.

Adolescence & Identity Crisis is a much discussed phenomena. Who am I? A question everyone at some point will ask themselves. Identity crisis is something that every adolescent must go through. Some have a much more difficult time with it than others but everyone must struggle with this concept of finding out, which they are to some degree or another. Adolescence is a period of life, which is full of ups and downs. It is period of social and psychological transition between childhood and adulthood. After puberty, children become more aware of the opinions and emotions of both themselves and others. They enter into a new world to relationships while adjusting with hormonal effects and new physical changes. As they are not mature enough to handle a relationship at this stage, relationship issues are very common and many a times converted into great emotional trauma for them, which has a huge imprint in their life. Environment holds a pivotal position in our lives. The quality of our life depends a great deal on the quality of our surrounding environment.

When there is a question of the quality of life, everyone assumes the wealth either it is physical or a good state of mind. Physical wealth means a good physique to set a societal phenomenon. Personality is the particular combination of emotional, attitudinal, and behavioral response patterns of an individual. A personality test is a questionnaire or other standardized instrument designed to reveal aspects of an individual’s character or psychological makeup.

Contemporary era is full of dismay and uncertainty, resulting in depression and volatility among youth. In such a topsy-turvy scenario, the psychologists are engrossed with the issues of happiness.  Emotional intelligence is an important source of happiness. The present study intends to find out the levels of happiness, emotional intelligence and the potency of emotional intelligence to predict happiness among youth.

Physical disability is a big hindrance to be positive in social phenomenon. Orthopedic challenged person takes him/herself as a curse in the society sometime. But when the emotions are strong, it turns the weakness into the weapon to nurture the fruitful thoughts. The positive enforcement is considered always in justifying manner. Positivity gives firm determination. As emotions do play central role in the life of an individual, one is expected to have higher emotional maturity in order to lead an effective life. It is also true that our behavior is constantly influenced by the emotional maturity level that we possess.  Especially, the adolescents who are observed to be highly emotional in their dealings need to be studied. In view of this, an attempt is made in present study to find out the impact of emotional maturity of adolescents on their stress and self-confidence.

All energy which is not needed to maintain life can be considered as surplus energy. It is also the source of all productive and creative work. This surplus of energy shows itself the mature person in generosity, the result of the strength and overflow which the individual can no longer use for further growth and which therefore can be spent productively and creatively. The mature person is no longer primarily a receiver. He receives but also gives. His giving is not primarily subordinated to his expectation of return. It is giving for its own sake. Giving and producing as Dr. Leon Saul correctly emphasizes in his book on maturity, are not felt by the mature person as an obligation and duty; he gives, produces and spends his energies with pleasure in the service of aims which lie outside of his own person. Just as for the growing child, receiving love and help are the main sources of pleasure, for the mature person pleasure consists primarily in spending his energies productively for the sake of other persons and for outside aims. This generous outward directed attitude is what in ethics is called altruism. In the light of this view, altruism, the basis of Christian morality, has a biological foundation; it is a natural, healthy expression of the state of surplus characteristic for maturity.

This leads us to another important characteristic of emotional maturity, to the faculty of appraising realistically one's own limitations. The mature person is able to face not only the facts in the outside world but also the facts concerning his own self. He adjusts his work, his ambitions and efforts to these facts and seeks his gratification within the limits set by external conditions and by his own personality. This faculty to adjust one's needs to the existing and continuously changing external and internal conditions we call adaptability. It enables the person to meet in a flexible manner changes in the environment and changes in oneself which are involved in the process of the growth and decline through aging. This is the function of the central governing portion of the personality, the ego. This flexible adaptive behavior stands in sharp contrast with automatic responses, for example, blind obedience to existing standards. The child's· ego is not capable of sizing up each single situation on its own merits. As we say, he has not yet acquired a sufficient amount of discriminatory judgment. Lacking those faculties on which flexible adaptation is based, experience and precise reasoning, the child's behavior is regulated by parental supervision and guidance. He cannot yet use his own mind and must by obeying them borrow from the experience and knowledge of the adults. Mature behavior, however, is characterized by flexible adaptation to a given situation. The patterns learned in the past do not fit every new emergency. If the world and the individual were both stable, fixed automatic patterns would be sufficient to insure harmonious adaptation to given conditions. Adaptation is much simpler therefore when conditions remain unchanged. The same is true for adults who live under extremely stable conditions. They do not need flexible adaptation to a changing environment. The typical Parisian or Viennese is a fish out of water elsewhere. These fine representatives of their native culture do not even attempt to change their way of life when they emigrate but create little Parises and Viennas abroad. A similar example is the tragedy of the older generation in a rapidly changing world. Superb representatives of their own age, they become disgruntled and neurotic when a rapid social change forces them to live in a new era. This problem did not arise during relatively static periods like the feudal period in Europe. At such times conditions and customs remained the same from generation to generation and the place of each individual in society was rigidly determined. The same patterns of behavior descended from parents to children for centuries. Sociologists correctly emphasize rapid social change as the most conspicuous feature of our present industrial era. Not only do two subsequent generations live under different conditions, but an individual during his own lifetime has to readjust himself repeatedly to rapidly changing material and ideological conditions. As a youngster he lived in a world of rugged individualism, in his twenties he was taught the blessings of political paternalism only to face in his mature years a renaissance of individual initiative. From this it is obvious that the first requirement of industrial civilization is a highly flexible and adaptable personality. As we have seen, the instrument of flexible adaptation is the conscious ego. The comfort of living according to well-tested traditions is not enjoyed by man in the modem era. Habitual behavior patterns do not require conscious deliberation but become routine. Men living in a period of rapid change must develop the faculty of rapid adjustment. They must therefore be more aware of themselves and of their needs than was necessary for their predecessors. We have characterized the mature person as one who is able to use those energies not needed for survival in a productive, creative fashion by expending them for the sake of others. We have seen also that this generous productive state of mind requires security. Only that person who is not involved in his own internal conflicts, who is not handicapped by anxiety and confusion about his own problems is able to turn his interest outwards. In order to obtain such internal peace of mind, the person must be able to adjust his internal needs in a flexible way to changing external and internal conditions. In order to have surplus energy which can be spent productively, the ego has to accomplish his adaptive functions in a smooth and economical way. Finally, we have seen that the complexities of modem life make the adaptive functions of the ego more and more difficult. The inevitable conclusion is that to reach emotional maturity in this present era became more difficult than it was in those periods in which life was simpler and regulated by well tested traditions.

Methodology

The project has been prepared with the association of R P Shah Memorial Trust work on gender perspective. For this study a random sample has been taken.

Objectives

·        To compare orthopedically challenged male adolescents and orthopedically challenged female adolescents on Emotional Maturity.

·        To compare orthopedically challenged male adolescents and orthopedically challenged female adolescents on Resilience.

·        To study the relationship between Emotional Maturity and Resilience.

Hypothesis

·        There is a significant difference among orthopedically challenged male adolescents and orthopedically challenged female adolescents on Emotional Maturity.

·        There is a significant difference among orthopedically challenged male adolescents and orthopedically challenged female adolescents on Resilience.

·        There is a positive relationship between Emotional Maturity and Resilience.

Sample

The sample covered 30 orthopedically challenged Male and 30 orthopedically challenged Female.

The age groups of samples are in between 13 years to 18 years with severe/ mild physical disorders. They all were being treated one to seven years. They all were having semi-permanent disability. 

Background of the study

R. P. Shah Memorial Trust for Children with Disabilities is a non-profit organization. It has been registered on 11^th June 2010. It is established in Lucknow. It is well established trust for treating and caring for patients who are suffering from different disabilities.

It helps parents coping with developmental disabilities especially cerebral palsy, expert on treatment and motivational speaker for parents, care givers and people with disabilities. People from all over the country visit the trust. The management of this trust provides all facilities for all. When I approached this trust for data collection, they happily received my request.

Tools

1.     Emotional Maturity Scale (Dr. Yashvir Singh & Dr. Mahesh Bhargava from Agra) 1990.

The tool to measure the emotional maturity, that would help as a preview to judge the emotional strength of one’s own.

Dimensions

This scale has 48 questions related to the following five categories.

·        Emotional Instability

·        Emotional Regression

·        Social Maladjustment

·        Personality Disintegration

·        Lack of Independence

Reliability of the scale- The test-retest reliability has been estimated at 0.75 by Singh and Bhargava (1990).

2.    Resilience Scale for child and adolescents. (Sandra, Prince and Embury, 2007) (used Hindi version of this scale converted by Dr. Nehashree Srivastava, Asst. Professor Deptt of Psychology, National PG College Lucknow).

Dimensions

·        Sense of Mastery

·        Sense of Relatedness

·        Emotional Reactivity

Reliability of the Hindi Version scale- The reliability has been estimated at 0.82 (Split half method).

CHAPTER

IV

Result & Interpretation

Table –I:

Showing t-test on Emotional Maturity among Orthopedically challenged Male Adolescents & Orthopedically challenged Female Adolescents.

Sample	Mean	df	t-value
Orthopedically Challenged Male Adolescents	88.6	29	2.01
Orthopedically Challenged Female Adolescents	109.2	29

INFERENCE

The t-value of 0.05 level is 2.00. The obtained t-value is greater than that. So there is a significant difference.

Chart I & II

Table –II:

Showing t-test on Resilience among Orthopedically challenged Male Adolescents & Orthopedically challenged Female Adolescents.

Sample	Mean	df	t-value
Orthopedically Challenged Male Adolescents	141.6	29	0.53
Orthopedically Challenged Female Adolescents	137.6	29

INFERENCE

The t-value at 0.05 level is 2.00. The obtained t-value is smaller than that. So there is no difference.

The correlation between Emotional Maturity and Resilience is -0.198 (negative). There is no relationship between Emotional Maturity and Resilience.

Chart III

Chart IV

Discussion

The main focus of this study was to analyze the difference of Emotional Maturity and Resilience in between Orthopedically Challenged Male and Female Adolescents and also to analyze the effect of Emotional Maturity on Resilience in Orthopedically Challenged Male and Female Adolescents. The result of the study depicts that females are more emotionally mature in the comparison of male but on the other hand male has more resilience power in the comparison of female. It is difficult to comment on the cause and effect relationship between emotional maturity and positive environmental perceptions. It is reasonable to say that both are strongly related. It may be because of educational, social, demographical difference.

This finding has several implications for a developing country like India where implementation of law to develop a barrier free and accessible environment is very necessary. While it takes considerable amount of time and patience to achieve this goal.

Gender refers to the social differences, roles and expectations accorded to women and men. These roles are learned, can change over time and are influenced by culture, education, class, economic and political environments, the media, crisis and conflicts (UNESCO, 2000)

Gender equity is the process of being fair when addressing the specific needs of women, men, girls and boys. To ensure fairness, strategies must often be available to compensate for women’s historical and social disadvantages, which prevent women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field. Equity leads to equality (UNFPA, 2005)

Gender equality refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women, men, girls and boys. Equality between men and women is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and an indicator of, sustainable people centered development. (UNDP, 2014)

Vulnerability can be described as the characteristics and circumstances of a community, system or asset that make it susceptible to the damaging effects of a hazard (UNISDR, 2009).

Adaptation designates the adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities (UNISDR, 2009).

Although addressing gender issues should not theoretically exclude attention to men and masculinities, there is a tendency to focus on women and their associated status, roles and power (or lack of) because, as Momsen (2010) argues, most societies, despite their pluralities, suffer gender imbalances to the detriment of women. Gender studies since the 1970s, largely inspired by feminist theories, have continuously stressed that men and women face different constraints in their daily lives and the predominance of patriarchy typically leads to the subordination of women, even though power relations can be experienced and expressed in different ways. Often what it means to be a woman is to be powerless; ‘it is considered ‘feminine’ to be quiet, accommodating, and obedient’ while ‘it is considered ‘manly’ to exercise power-over, that is, to get others to do what you want them to do’ (Koester, 2015: 3). In Burundi, male elites block legislation to grant women inheritance rights as a way to maintain a political settlement based on exclusionary land ownership (Castillejo, 2011).

If the female is powerless, quiet, obedient then how she may be resilient? Building and enhancing people’s resilience requires an understanding of social norms and other societal factors that maintain gendered power inequalities in different contexts and curtail women and girls’, as well as boys’ and men’s, abilities to reduce their vulnerability to environmental shocks and stresses. Harper et al. (2014: 2) define social norms as ‘the informal and formal laws, beliefs and practices that help to determine collective understanding of what are acceptable attitudes and behaviors. As such, they can either drive processes of social change or act as brakes and barriers to such processes’. These social norms, and the way they may be detrimental for the status and well-being of certain gender groups, are likely to differ significantly between and within the region.

Major Findings

Emotional Maturity in the present study would be considered as perceived emotional maturity. Because it has been hypothesized that perceived emotional maturity (appraisal of emotion in self, appraisal of emotions in peers, emotional regulations of the self, and utilization of emotions in problem solving) would be significantly associated with different ways of coping (such as coping, self-controlling, positive reappraisal, accepting responsibility etc.). 

There is a gender difference in the study. A number of researchers have argued that emotions create different mental sets that are more or less adaptive for solving certain kinds of problems. Disability is treating as a problem. Apart from disability economic and socio-demographic status, level of education and etc. play a vital role to create mental set.

Appraising emotions in one self and others as well as regulating ones emotions may produce an elaboration of the cognitive affective structure regarding a stressful encounter. It may introduce elements incompatible with the original structure. For example, the individual may realize that, negative emotion eventually subsides and that the initially associated emotions are not as threatening as initially believed. Thus, some benefit can be probably derived from adversity. It was also found that emotional regulation of the self was positively and significantly correlated with self-controlling, which describes efforts to regulate one’s feelings and actions. Research indicates that from early age self-control is a necessary skill in all arenas of life (Strayhorn, 2002).

When people lack self-control they have difficulty in regulating their emotions (Brooks & Goldstein, 2004). It is then conceivable that, regulating one’s own emotion is a crucial ability while using self-control as a coping strategy. Changing the problem situation requires a good degree of self-regulation, because it involves direct and active mature efforts. It also includes potential for conflict or unpleasantness, which requires the person trying to confront and alter the problem situation to stay alert to the subtle as well as obvious changes in his or her own emotions. Students with higher emotional regulation of self are probably more confident associated with emotional maturity of the self. Pearlin and Schooler (1978) found that distancing strategies were most successful for dealing with stressful impersonal situations, but committed and engaged strategies with relevant others were most successful in reducing emotional distress in more personal situations. Emotional regulation of the self includes “the ability to reflectively engage or detach from an emotion depending on its judged informative or utility” (Mayer & Salovey, 1997).

Being more emotionally mature than the males, females have less resilience power according to the study. It may be the influence of circumstances, up-bringing. 

Delimitations

Although the generalizability of these results requires further work, it can be stated that Emotional Maturity and Resilience should be interest of professionals and authorities in the field.

Further studies may focus on the facilitating and inhibiting factors of the emotional maturity favorable to resilient power in orthopedically challenged male and female adolescents.

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