Mutasem Mohammad Akour
@hu.edu.jo
Department of Educational Psychology
The Hashemite University
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
Scholar h-index
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Jalal Kayed Damra, Mutasem Mohammad Akour, and Omar Al Omari
RCN Publishing Ltd.
BACKGROUND
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, adolescents used various coping strategies to manage stress and loneliness. One such strategy was to engage in active coping, social relations coping and humour coping via social media. Such coping strategies can be helpful but can also reinforce stress and loneliness.
AIM
To explore adolescents' use of social media to manage stress and loneliness at a time of restricted social contacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including potential differences between adolescents according to gender, age, area of residence and extent of social media use.
METHOD
A cross-sectional design and an online questionnaire were used to survey a convenience sample of adolescents aged between 12 and 18 years in Jordan. Three data collection tools were used - the modified Brief Coping Scale, the six-item Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale.
RESULTS
A total of 770 adolescents participated, half of whom were using social media more than before the pandemic. Increased use of active coping, social relations coping and humour coping was associated with decreases in stress and loneliness. Active coping contributed the most to reducing levels of stress while social relations coping contributed the most to reducing levels of loneliness. Younger participants made more use of active coping and humour coping than older participants.
CONCLUSION
Social media use can be a positive coping strategy for adolescents to manage stress and loneliness during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mutasem Mohammad Akour, Jalal K. Damra, Tagreed M. Al Ali, Souad M. Ghaith, Thaer A. Ghbari, and Nezar A. Shammout
Informa UK Limited
Jalal. Kayed Damra, Mutasem Mohammad Akour, and Mohammad Al Qatawneh
SAGE Publications
This study examined the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and associated factors among male refugees within a refugee community. A sample of 441 Syrian refugee men from Al- Za'atari refugee camp and other cities was conveniently recruited, and data was collected in 2022 using the revised conflict tactics scale. The findings revealed that psychological IPV was the most prevalent form of abuse, while negotiation, injury, and physical IPV were rare. The age and education level of the men were related to the prevalence of negotiation, psychological victimization, and physical victimization committed by women. Certain demographic variables were found to predict the prevalence of psychological and physical victimization, injury, and the absence of negotiation. The study highlights the importance of recognizing that male refugees can be victims of IPV and emphasizes the need for supportive resources and assistance. Improving living conditions in refugee camps and providing employment opportunities are strongly recommended to address this issue.
Jalal Kayed Damra and Mutasem Mohammad Akour
Informa UK Limited
Jalal Kayed. Damra, Sanaa Abujilban, and Mutasem Mohammad Akour
SAGE Publications
This study aimed to examine the extent and characteristics of cyber intimate partner violence (IPV) and in-person IPV (IP-IPV) in a sample of 214 women aged 18–60 years in Jordan. A cross-sectional, correlational design was implemented, using the Cyber Aggression in Relationships and Revised Conflict Tactics Scales to evaluate both in-person and cyber IPV. The findings revealed that 65.4% of participants reported experiencing some form of cyber IPV, while 98.7% reported experiencing IP-IPV within the previous six months. Some demographic factors were linked to the prevalence of two cyber IPV types (cyber-stalking and cyber psychological aggression). Psychological and physical abuse were the most prevalent forms of IP-IPV. Exposure to cyber IPV was a predictor of psychological, physical, and injury types of IP-IPV. Overall, this study highlights the alarming prevalence of both IP-IPV and cyber IPV against women in Jordan and their interrelatedness
Mutasem Mohammad Akour
Modestum Ltd
Students in every discipline in higher education take at least one course in statistics. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance students’ understanding of statistics and their achievement in such courses by considering several factors that might contribute to this enhancement. Students’ attitudes toward statistics are a critical factor that influences their performance in statistics courses, and thus an accurate measurement of attitudes is needed. The survey of attitudes toward statistics (SATS-36) is widely used in measuring attitudes toward statistics; thus, it is important to ensure that its items accurately assess this construct. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to validate this survey when administered to a convenience sample of 423 university students. Using the Rasch rating scale model, the current study examined the dimensionality, item fit to the Rasch model, item and person reliabilities, functionality of response categories, and distribution of the SATS-36 items along the attitudes toward statistics continuum.<br /> The findings revealed excellent item and person reliabilities (greater than 0.90) and the uni-dimensionality of the survey. Additionally, all items were closely aligned with the respondents, and the response categories were well-functioning as each category had more than 10 observations and outfit statistics were all low. However, some improvements were suggested. All items on the effect subscale and some others from different subscales need to be altered in content, deleting three items (two from the value subscale and one from the difficulty subscale) and adding more items to have a better distribution of items along the continuum. Finally, the number of response categories is recommended to be reduced to five instead of seven to have a more efficient rating scale. The findings of the current study imply that even though great care has been taken in the development of this survey, examining the quality of its items and the utility of its rating scale in new settings, and using different validation approaches is necessary.
Rana T. Al-Smadi, Thaer Ahmad Ghbari, Jalal K. Damra, and Mutasem M. Akour
Modestum Publishing Ltd
Adolescents and the youth experience major psychological changes related to the issues they face. In some countries, local songs broadcasted on YouTube and by local radio stations have been significantly correlated with adolescents’ prejudiced behaviors as songs occupy a central role in their life. This study investigates the effects of exposure to different kinds of songs (national and local) on developing prejudiced attitudes in university students. A Prejudice Attitudes Scale (PAS) was developed and used to evaluate the students’ prejudice levels. A total of 111 undergraduate students who participated in the current study were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: the national song group and the local song group. In both groups, participants were requested to listen to certain songs for one month. The findings of the current study indicate that listening to local songs increased students’ prejudicial attitudes. Further, males tended to produce higher levels of social prejudicial attitudes compared to females.
Jalal K. Damra, Mutasem Mohammad Akour, and Thaer A. Ghbari
American Psychological Association (APA)
OBJECTIVE
This study explored the relationship between Peer bullying (PB) and Posttraumatic Stress Symptomatology (PTSS) in a sample of refugee Syrian schoolchildren in Jordanian schools.
METHOD
The study sample was composed of 116 Syrian refugees (female = 62, 53.4% male = 54, 46.6%) ages 9-18 years with a mean age of 14.5 years (SD 1.18) who had been in Jordan for at least 3 years and were studying in five public schools (three for females and two for males) located in Irbid and Mafraq governorates in the northern area of Jordan between the June 14, 2018 and the March 20, 2019.
RESULTS
The results indicated that 116 children out of 180 (64.4%) suffer from high levels of PB (physical M = 1.47, verbal M = 1.41, and relational M = 1.35). The most prevailing type of bullying was the physical type, followed by the verbal and the relational types. Moreover, the three types of PB were positively and significantly correlated with PTSS (physical, r = .20, p < .05, verbal, r = .26, p < .01, relational, r = .22, p < .05), and (total PB, r = .43, p < .05). PB accounted for 14% of the variability in PTSS. Finally, the results did not indicate any significant differences in PB by gender, age, length of exposure to PB, living conditions, or disability.
CONCLUSIONS
This study may provide a deeper understanding of the need to develop more thorough, institutionalized as well individualized, interventions to reduce PB against schoolchildren from a refugee background in schools. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Alanood Mubarak Al-Thani, Mutasem Mohammad Akour, and Sadriya Mohammed Al-Kohji
Elsevier BV
Taghreed Al-Ali, Mutasem M. Akour, Enas Al-Masri, Annie Abu Hanna Mizaghobian, and Soua’d Ghaith
Russian Psychological Society
Background. Psychological burnout is a state of psychological and physical fatigue that shows the effect of work stress on the individual and negatively affects his/her attitudes towards work. The current study was motivated by the assumption that people who work directly with students with special needs are at the forefront of professions that can create feelings of frustration, and thus may be vulnerable to psychological burnout. Objective. To identify the level of psychological burnout among professionals working with children with motor disabilities, and how these levels differ according to gender, workplace, years of experience, and the number of children the employees treat. Design. The sample comprised 195 staff members at the Al-Hussein Society for the rehabilitation of the Physically Challenged and the Cerebral Palsy Foundation in Amman, Jordan. The researchers used the Maslach Burnout Inventory, which consists of three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and the lack of a sense of personal accomplishment. Results. We found a low level of psychological burnout among those who work with children with motor disabilities. The level of psychological burnout was low for two dimensions: lack of a sense of personal accomplishment and depersonalization, whereas it was average for emotional exhaustion. The results showed statistically significant differences in the degrees of psychological burnout in its three dimensions according to the employee’s workplace, with higher levels at the Cerebral Palsy Foundation. However, no statistically significant differences were found among the participants due to gender, years of experience, or the number of children they treat. Conclusion. The low levels of psychological burnout among professionals who work with children with motor disabilities might be due to the psychological and professional support they receive from their institutions.
Soua'd Mansour Ghaith, Ghaleb Salman AL-Baddareen, Tagreed Mousa Al Ali, and Mutasem Mohammed Akour
Elsevier BV
Kholoud Adeeb Al-Dababneh, Eman K. Al-Zboon, and Mutasem Mohammad Akour
Informa UK Limited
Abstract This study investigates what competencies are needed by teachers of children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH), in the changing circumstances of their profession in Jordan. One hundred and five teachers of children who are DHH from kindergarten up to primary grade took part in this study. A scale was developed in order to achieve the goals of the study. The results revealed that the teachers’ competencies on the development of Instructional Planning Strategies subscale ranked first as the most important teaching competency that teachers need to develop. Competencies in definitions and communication skills, assessment, managing the classroom environment, and team working ranked lower, with developing positive attitude ranked the last. Moreover, the results showed that there were significant differences at (α = 0.05) according to school type in favour of private schools, according to educational settings in favour of local public schools (inclusion settings), and according to teachers’ background in favour of ordinary teachers with general teaching qualifications. Based on the findings, appropriate recommendations for the educational system of the DHH in Jordan were outlined.
Mutasem Akour, Saed Sabah, and Hind Hammouri
SAGE Publications
The purpose of this study was to apply two types of Differential Item Functioning (DIF), net and global DIF, as well as the framework of Differential Step Functioning (DSF) to real testing data to investigate measurement invariance related to test language. Data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)–2006 polytomously scored science items for four countries with different test languages were used, where French and English represented the reference languages. The findings showed that many items exhibited both types of DIF, although, in most cases, the results were inconsistent for the two source languages. In addition, net and global DIF tests did not always yield the same results depending on the DSF effect pattern. Furthermore, the DSF analysis provided valuable information over and above that provided by the net DIF analysis concerning the nature and the location of the DIF effect.