EFFECTS OF HOMESICKNESS AND DEPRESSION

ON ADJUSTMENT OF HOSTEL STUDENTS

By

Saadia Haleema

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES, ISLAMABAD

JANUARY 2017

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Table of Contents
CHAPTER 01 ................................................................................................................................................5
INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................................6
Risk and protective elements ........................................................................................................................7
Risk elements .................................................................................................................................................8
Different ways to understand Homesickness ............................................................................................ 10
Management and homesickness ................................................................................................................. 11
Normal Reasons of homesickness............................................................................................................... 12
Major Depressions....................................................................................................................................... 13
Bipolar Disorder .......................................................................................................................................... 13
Persistent Depressive Disorder ................................................................................................................... 13
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) ............................................................................................................ 13
Psychotic Depression ................................................................................................................................... 14
Postpartum Depression ............................................................................................................................... 14
Substance Induced Mood Disorder (abuse or dependence) ..................................................................... 14
Depression and homesickness ..................................................................................................................... 14
Homesickness as an ailment ....................................................................................................................... 15
SYMPTOMS AND EFFECTS OF HOMESICKESS .............................................................................. 17
Theoretical Models of Homesickness ......................................................................................................... 18
Feasible intercessions about hostel students ............................................................................................. 20
Avoidances from homesickness .................................................................................................................. 21
Adjustment ................................................................................................................................................... 22
Adjustment as an everlasting process ........................................................................................................ 23
IDEA OF ADJUSTMENT .......................................................................................................................... 24
Normal adjustment ..................................................................................................................................... 24
Abnormal adjustment ................................................................................................................................. 24
Measurement of Adjustment in Hostel ...................................................................................................... 24
Adjustment to the new environment and hostel routine .......................................................................... 25
Adjustment to Academic and Extra activities........................................................................................... 25
Psychological Adjustment ........................................................................................................................... 25
Adjustment to and within themselves ........................................................................................................ 25
Social Adjustment ....................................................................................................................................... 25
Proper training to Teachers ....................................................................................................................... 25
Adequate Curriculum ................................................................................................................................. 25
Adequate Recreational Facilities................................................................................................................ 26

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Classroom atmosphere ................................................................................................................................ 26
Proper relationships between students and administrations ................................................................... 26
Evaluation system of the hostel .................................................................................................................. 26
The role of hostel warden in student adjustment ..................................................................................... 26
Adjustment Mechanism .............................................................................................................................. 27
Compensation .............................................................................................................................................. 27
Identification ................................................................................................................................................ 27
Rationalization ............................................................................................................................................. 27
Projection ..................................................................................................................................................... 27
Day-Dreaming.............................................................................................................................................. 27
Attribute of a Well-adjusted Hostel student ............................................................................................. 27
Rationale of the study: ................................................................................................................................ 28
Chapter 02.................................................................................................................................................... 30
LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................................... 30
Practical Experiences of homesickness ...................................................................................................... 35
Depression .................................................................................................................................................... 37
Adjustment ................................................................................................................................................... 39
Hostel Adjustment ....................................................................................................................................... 41
Hostel Context and Adolescent Alcohol Use ............................................................................................. 42
CHAPTER 03 .............................................................................................................................................. 44
METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................................... 44
Objective of the Study ................................................................................................................................. 45
Hypotheses ................................................................................................................................................... 45
Operational Definition ................................................................................................................................ 45
Homesickness ............................................................................................................................................... 45
Depression .................................................................................................................................................... 45
Adjustment ................................................................................................................................................... 46
Instruments .................................................................................................................................................. 46
Homesickness Questionnaire ...................................................................................................................... 46
Depression Questionnaire ........................................................................................................................... 46
Adjustment Questionnaire .......................................................................................................................... 46
Population and sample ................................................................................................................................ 46
Procedure ..................................................................................................................................................... 46
Research Design........................................................................................................................................... 47
Statistical Analysis Plan .............................................................................................................................. 47

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CHAPTER 04 .............................................................................................................................................. 49
Results and Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 49
Demographic details .................................................................................................................................... 50
Reliability of HomeSickness, Depression Questionnaires ........................................................................ 51
CHAPTER 04 .............................................................................................................................................. 69
Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 72
Findings: ....................................................................................................................................................... 73
CONCLUSIONS.......................................................................................................................................... 73
RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 74
LIMITATIONS & SUGGESTIONS .......................................................................................................... 74

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 CHAPTER 01

Introduction

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INTRODUCTION

The word "Homesickness" is related to the emotion of those people who left their own
houses and settle out on any new place, for example in our common student life we find
most students who study in those university or colleges which are so far from their own
houses. Because of this problem student need to adopt hostel lives against their interests.
Mostly these types of hostel students fall prey of homesickness because it's really
difficult for students to left their own houses and spend their few years in hostels.
During the couple of years which students spent in hostels, they could be fall prey of
many problems, for example students who are living in hostels it's commonly that they
will be facing lot more problems such as, mentally depression, missing their parents,
feeling loneliness and other kinds of problems as well. When a hostel student facing these
types of problems then he/she could be physically and mentally depressing. Furthermore,
those types of students would be involved in bad companies as well.
Most people have always led moving away from home to feel homesickness.
Homesickness as a psychological state created by the prospect or the reality of social
isolation continues to attract research attention. Much of the literature in international
human resource management acknowledges that one of the key issues facing expertise
and international workers is related to adjustment to the new place. Homesickness is
usually explained by the psychologists within the framework of culture shock, an
engaged but different psychosocial reality linked to different origin. The article defines
on the literature and interviews with psychologists and among those workers who use to
travel for observation about hostel students and their lives. The first part provides a
definition of homesickness and explores some theoretical models and achieves to
differentiate it from culture shock; the second part considers the experiences of the
specialists and migrant workers interviewed to explain the hesitation of homesickness
and its difficulties in the host country.
Van Tilburg, Vingerhoets & Van Heck (1996, p.899) define homesickness as the mainly
experienced state of distress among those who have left their house and home and find
themselves in a new and unknown environment. The authors debated that homesickness
is a big problem which can cause ill-health in the people affected e.g. Depression,
Deficiencies in the immune system, Diabetes The authors claim is not isolated

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Black, Mendenhall & Oddou (1991) classified about adjustment difficulties and they also
formed of four major elements: individual factors, non-work factors, organizational
factors and job factors. Some issues of culture and the family occupy a central place as
homesickness is not referred
Homesickness is the state of being in great trouble which is caused by an actual or
anticipated separation from home and attachment objects such as parents. It is indicated
by dreadful and terrible thoughts of home. Most of all children, adolescents, and adults
experience some degree of homesickness when they are separated by a distance from
intimate people and environments. In some individuals, the subjective distress and level
of impairment related to this separation may be extreme. The homesickness especially
overwhelms the students who come from far places to live in hostels during studies. Due
to homesickness students could not adjust in new environment and resultantly could not
pay heed to their studies. However, hostel life is much necessary for students. Students
living in hostels face many difficulties and hurdles, amongst which adjustment issues are
at the top of the list.
Homesickness is the distress caused by an actual separation from home. Its cognitive
problems are preoccupying thoughts of home and bond objects. Cause of homesickness is
classified as an adjustment disorder with diverse anxiety and depressed mood according
to the American Psychiatric Association taxonomy (diagnostic code 309.28).
Homesickness is classified by recurrent apprehension focused on home such as parents,
house, loved ones. It is always unexpectedly by an actual or anticipated separation from
home. These features make troubles for homesickness from other adjustment disorders,
anxiety disorders, and mood disorders. This is huge problem for those students whose
left their houses and settle in hostels.

Risk and protective elements

Risk elements establishes which increase the possibility or strength of homesickness and
protective elements establishes that decrease the possibility or strength of homesickness
vary by population. For example, increase on board, the pressure on the environment
associated with a hospital; foreign country may aggravate homesickness and complicated
treatment.

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Risk elements

The risk elements for homesickness could be defined into five basic categories:
experience, personality, family, attitude and environment.

Experience elements: Younger age; little previous experience far away from
home, little or no previous experience in the novel environment.
Attitude elements: The elements that homesickness will be strong and low
expectations for the new surroundings; understood absence of social support; high
perceived demand e.g. on academic and sports performance.
Personality elements: Uncertain attachment relationship with preceding
caregivers; low perceived control over the timing and nature of the distance from
home; anxious feelings in the months prior to the separation; low self-
directedness; high harm avoidance; rigidity; a wishful-thinking coping style.
Family elements: Lack of decision control e.g., caregivers forcing a young
children to spend time away from home against their wishes and furthermore
governments forcing a person to be in a novel environment for example a person
who is serving his/herself as military service officer government start forcing
him/her that far away from home or being sentenced to prison.
Environmental elements: Highly society contrast e.g., different languages,
customs, food, threats to physical and emotional safety; dramatic alternations in
daily schedule; having no information about the new place.

Protective elements
Protective elements which we can divide into five major steps which we already
explained for example in experience elements we discuss about the ages of the
students who left their houses just because of hostels. Because some of the students
who are teenager they cannot adjust themselves in new environment. Furthermore,
they face lot of problems such as economic crisis, psychologically disturbances and
love for home.
1. The alpha reliability of the homesickness is 0.804 with the total item of 43
and reliability of study skills is 0.893 with total item of 49.

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 2. Item total correlation of life skills and study skills ranges from .105 and
.440 which shows positive correlation between the items of life skills
inventory and study skills inventory.
3. Item total correlation of the study skills inventory ranges from .062 and
.553 which shows positive correlation between the items of life skills
inventory and study skills inventory.
4. Inter-scale correlation of life skills with shows positive correlation with sub
scales. The highest correlation was present between decision making which
is 0.795 and creative thinking which is 0.722.
5. Inter-scale correlation of study skills with shows positive correlation with
sub scales. The highest correlation was present between test preparation
which is 0.862 and memory which is 0.815.

Homesickness in Hostel students

A study was completed to examine the basic role of religiousness in relation to
homesickness and depression, alcohol use, and risky sexual behaviors in hostel students.
Data were collected from 312 students who were spending their life in hostel from many
years. They share many of the problems which they were facing in hostels many of the
difficulties which we discuss before. In those students 195 were females and 117 were
males, mean ages which we considered were 18 years. . Religiousness was found to basic
relationships between homesickness and depression and alcohol use; however, the
moderation was dependent on the domain of religiousness measured. For the relationship
between homesickness and depression, positive religious coping served as a protective
element, while organizational religiousness, private practices, and global religiousness
functioned as risk factors. For the relationship between homesickness and alcohol use,
private practices served as a protective element, while personal religiousness was a risk
element. Religiousness had no impact on the relationship between homesickness and
sexual behaviors. Results highlight the need for domain-specific religiousness measures,
and for an increase in awareness of the role religiousness can play in an individuals
adjustment to hostel.
Homesickness in hostel students is an emotional state of mind, where the affected
student experiences intense feelings of longing due to separation from home environment

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and loved ones. The feelings that are most identified with homesickness are grief,
depression, anxiety, sadness, and withdrawal. Homesickness occurs during a time of
change and is a natural response to loss and adjustment, usually a normal process
experienced by many adults who are living or travelling away from home. Even though
hostel students may have chosen to move or travel to new places, students may still feel
homesick. It can take time to adjust to new surroundings, and as humans students
naturally tend to resist change; students are attached to familiar surroundings. As students
grieve the loss of the familiar and the usual sources of support, students may become
insecure and find it difficult to function as usual. Sometimes the insecurity and
loneliness, the longing for the familiar, can become overwhelming. Without their usual
framework of support, tasks that have normally been easy can suddenly seem like a
challenge, and sometimes impossible as students battle with the emotion and physical
symptoms experienced through homesickness.
Homesickness can effect on students both mentally and physically. The time taken and
degree of difficulty students experience in facing to a new environment which is different
from each students. There are mixed emotions as students struggle to adopt and
encourage their new situation, and loosen the strings that maintain their attachment to
home and the familiar environment.

There are lot of symptoms which we feel in students generally who are far from their
home difficulties which they usually face such as feeling sad, lonely, helpless, Depressed,
depressive thoughts, Anxiety, Panic attacks, Sense of insecurity, frequent mood swings,
Loss of confidence, Not being able to enjoy fully, Loss of motivation/enthusiasm, Simple
tasks become difficult and challenging, Social withdrawal and an unwillingness to engage
in and commit to social events, Irritability/ complaining, Sleep disturbance, Isolating,
Physical illness as a result of excessive mental stress or poor diet,
Headaches/stomachaches, Nausea, Fatigue/lethargy. Homesickness can affect people of
all ages, in many situations. It is not unusual for some people to feel homesick after only
a few days away, and also not something to feel ashamed of.

Different ways to understand Homesickness

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There are following ways which can help us to understand about homesickness. It is
recognizable that homesickness is the normal feeling. They need proper time to get used
to their new home environment. They need to talk about their feelings with friends,
family, a resident assistant, or counselor. They should use post pictures and things from
home in their room. They must be made useful plans to visit their home, keeping in mind
that they will be returning to school. They should be involved in their campus activities.
They must be try to ignore their feelings or try to drown them by drinking alcohol, taking
drugs, or participating in any type of risky behavior.

Management and homesickness

Allow them to feel sad, and have a good cry when needed. Take care of themselves by
eating well, getting enough sleep, and exercising. Establish a routine as soon as possible
and create a work, leisure balance, to try and connect with others. Give making new
friends a chance explores there. surroundings, seek out interesting places, be active and
make time to familiarize themselves with their new community. Stepping out of their
homesick zone" by travelling around in a new place can be exciting and educational.
Keep in touch with family and friends regularly by phone, Skype, email or letters. They
`may need to decide whether it's best for them to have more frequent contact with home
(if it makes them feel better) or less contact (if it makes them feel worse). Set up a routine
of phone contact with friends and loved ones at home. Being open to the positive aspects
of their new situation, make a list if this helps. Talk to someone about how they are
feeling, a partner, friend, counselor, or sympathetic colleague. Keeping familiar things
such as photos, favorite possessions etc, from home can give them comfort whilst they
adjust. Planning a home visit can often be helpful, although can also be unsettling if
going back too often. Invite their family and friends to come and visit. The duration and
experience of homesickness differs between individuals. Not everyone misses the same
thing as another. One person may miss their family and pets, another, their friends or
workmates and work environment, and another, the familiar physical or environmental
surroundings.
Overcoming homesickness can often feel at first 'all too hard' as we attempt to motivate
themselves and be open to the challenge of embracing our new lives away from home.

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Adult homesickness is usually a temporary phase, although for some, can be long lasting.
By attempting to remain positive and involved, whilst allowing themself the time to
grieve and feel whatever emotions arise, homesickness will more often than not fade as
they adjust to their new environment. Usually homesickness is a temporary or passing
phase in their life; Students will have felt homesick at some time in their lives, probably
when they were younger, and it is easy to forget, however sometimes feeling
homesick can be rougher if they are dealing with other problems, may be their parents are
getting divorced or someone they know recently died. These kinds of scary, sad and
gloomy experiences may make them even more attached to everyone and everything
around them, including the little things they don't even think about until they're not there.

Normal Reasons of homesickness

We face pretty difficulty in leaving familiar things, people and places and adapting
to new things, people and places.
We consider that we are far away from home, family, and friends.
We miss important events at home, such as birthdays, weddings, and other holiday
celebrations.
We find difficulty in communicating smoothly with the people around you.
We sometimes strongly feel like; it would have better if some of our family member
would have thereto take care of you.
A sense of anticlimax at finally arriving at new-place after working towards it for so
long.

Whether the migrated person was responsible for the decision to come to new-place

Unhappiness due to expectations of new-place not being met.

Job-strain - i.e. work overload and low control over it.

Contrast in lifestyle.

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Major Depressions

Major Depression is a symptom of an ailment that interferes with the ability to work,
study, sleep, eat and enjoy once pleasurable activities. A Major Depressive incident may
happen only once; but more usually, many incidents may happen in a lifetime. A Chronic
Major Depression may require a person to continue treatment and monitor lifestyle habits
on an ongoing basis.

This disorder is classified by the presence of the majority of these symptoms:

Persistent sad and anxious mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by
subjective report or observation of others. In children and adolescents, this may be
classified as an irritable mood, feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, Feelings of guilt,
worthlessness, helplessness, Lack of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities
,Decreased energy, fatigue, being slowed down, Difficulty concentrating,
remembering, making decisions, Trouble in sleeping, early-morning awakening, or
oversleeping, Appetite or weight changes, Thoughts of death or suicide, Restlessness,
irritability, or angry outbursts, Persistent physical symptoms, such as headaches,
digestive disorders, and chronic pain, which do not respond to daily basis treatment.

Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder which is characterized by mental illness that causes
unusual changes in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out daily tasks.
This disorder is responsible for serious issues like risky behavior such as suicidal tendencies.
Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depressive illness.

Persistent Depressive Disorder

A persistent depressive disorder is chronic depressions that usually come and go over a
period of years and their intensity can change over time. This disorder may lose attraction
in normal day-to-day activities, feel hopeless, lack productivity, and has low self-esteem.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

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Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that's related to changes in
seasons. SAD begins and ends at about the same times every year. This disorder may also
face difficulty waking up in the morning, nausea, lack of energy and difficulty
concentrating on or completing tasks.

Psychotic Depression
Psychotic depression is a severe mental disorder that is the combination of abnormal
thinking and perceptions. People with psychosis lose touch with reality. The symptom of
this disorder is delusions and hallucinations.

Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression is a clinical depression which can affect both sexes

after childbirth. This disorder may include sadness, lack of energy, changes in sleeping
and eating patterns, reduced desire for sex, anxiety, and irritability. Postpartum
depression (PPD) is also called postnatal depression.

Substance Induced Mood Disorder (abuse or dependence)

Substance-Induced Mood Disorder is a depressive illness of clients in substance abuse

treatment. This disorder may involve a complete loss of interest or enjoyment in life.

Depression and homesickness

The relation between depression and homesickness has not been extensively studied
especially as it applies to hostel students. A simple EBSCO host search of Psych Articles
and Psychology/Sociology databases with the terms homesickness hostels and
depression offers a mere four results, only one of which is an empirical article
(Retrieved April 14, 2009, from Psychology/Sociology databases on EBSCO host).In
addition to this , a similar search for depression and homesickness in the result of
these just ten results were issued from which only four of results were empirical and none
of which were relevant for the Current study.

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Johnson and Hayes (2003) found that those higher in depress distress are less likely to
seek help for homesickness, but at the same time homesickness may be connected with
depressive or spiritual distress. However, they search out the correlation between
homesickness and help-seeking as different to using depression as a moderator. While
there has not been a great connection of literature on homesickness and depression, some
have attempted to use depression to decrease the effects of homesickness. One guide to
study with homesickness even involved Get ready to grow in your faith as one of
their six steps for dealing with homesickness (Barnhill, 2001). This guide was not,
however, based on any empirical evidence. Indeed, there are only two studies that look at
depression as a beneficial factor for hostel students during adjustment within the
depressive literature. In observing a group of 268 undergraduates,
Richards (1991) found a main effect for intrinsic homesickness in lessening depression
among first semester hostel students. Furthermore, relevant is the finding that depress
students reported less separation anxiety from parents as opposed to non-depress
students. However, this study used a two-by-two design by splitting individuals into high-
and low-Intrinsic depression as opposed to a mode rational approach. Despite this
methodology, their findings are consistent with previous research concentrating that
depression is a beneficial factor for many at-risk behaviors and negative outcomes.
There are many of disadvantages of depression and homesickness such as when hostel
students left their own houses they face many difficulties in hostels as financial crisis,
mentally disturbance, missing their family relations as well as they miss all the
opportunities of their houses which they can enjoy as the member of their family .

Homesickness as an ailment

Homesickness is very dangerous for the life of hostel students because of that students
cannot fulfill their desires as they want. Large-scale migration in immediate society
underscores the need to learn about the difficult experience of leaving home and settled
within or beyond his/her own country. Separate observation of various types of stress out
students connected with geographic moves is called for, because these are same to be
connected with different correlates and consequences, probably leading to co morbidity.

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Homesickness is a usual element of relocation, known to be related to obvious
settlements, difficulties and health problems, as well as clinical disorders. However, an
up-to-date, comprehensive point of view of scientific observations of HS is lacking.
Therefore, this article scientifically reviews empirical research on HS, depending on
immediately sojourns from home. Fifty-five articles that explain to exact design and
methodological criteria were classified in the literature. These studies explain indicative
patterns of findings relating to the prevalence, consequences, predictors, and
prevention/treatment strategies for HS. Gaps in knowledge about phenomena and
hesitation connected with HS are also explained. Specifically, it is denoted that the
inclusion of stress out hostel students in the new place when assessing HS limits
understanding. We suggest theory-guided indications for future research. Baier & Welch
(1992), Fisher (1989) and many others explained much evidence to support this claim.
In observing the cognitive symptoms of homesickness, Fisher (1989) reveals that there
develop in the migrate person obsessive thoughts about home and sometimes
simultaneously negative thoughts about the new place. Fisher also highlighted a state of
absent stresses in the people affected. There is a tendency to idealize home rather than
revisiting the problems one encountered there before. The behavioral symptoms include
apathy, listlessness, lack of initiative and little interest in the new environment (Van
Tilburget al., 1996, p. 903).
A number of psychologist and migrant studies give knowledge that there are a lot of
complex relationships between socio-cultural and psychological adjustment (Fisher,
1989; Lin 1986; Scullion & Linehan, 2005). The business consequences of such
psychological, physiological and social anomalies are numerous and include lack of
encouragement, lack of team work and poor performance (Deresky, 2010). Omi and
Winnant (2003) found similar consequences in a study of migrant populations in East
Kentucky, in the United States. It should, however, be aware that there may be elements
related to personality and to the impact of the micro-environment in which the
psychologist and labor migrants arrive. If the individuals degree of psychological
damage, as a result of displacement, is high and has deeply affected on the lives of the
hostel students and probably effect on their personality, then they are more likely to
display much of the pathological signs explained by Fisher and other psychologists.

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Further, the extent to which the new environment in which the international assignee or
the migrant lands is giving supportive determines the degree to which the newcomer
experiences difficulties and the extent to which he or she feels homesick. Although most
studies of homesickness have been explained on other groups of migrates students who
migrate from one place to another, not necessarily psychologists, given the above argue it
may not be unreasonable to accept to speculate possible generalizations of the submission
to international assignees and to the social environments in which they arrive. The
cognitive and behavioral symptoms of homesickness are likely to lead to emotional
problems such as low mood, lack of security, loneliness, nervousness, lack of control and
depression.

SYMPTOMS AND EFFECTS OF HOMESICKESS

The symptoms and effects of homesickness help to understand the measure of the
problem, especially as it may affect long term international assignees and migrants.
Psychologists may already be facing many difficulties which are classified with their
involvement in major situations in the home country; consequently, they may be facing
the bundle of problems whether to pursue their career within a MNC in their own home
country or find out an international experience often seen as fetishism for a high flying
career as a global manager or guider. Further dilemma is faced by dual-career couples
that may be worried about opportunities for the partner abroad or the security of their
jobs on return. Such a psychological trauma coupled with isolation and difficult
conditions in the new environment could participate into acute cases of homesickness. If
support is not offered, then homesickness may involve protecting their belonging. In such
a case, integration and successful reconstructing of broken lives are in great jeopardy and
could intern affect the success of the international assignment as argued earlier.
Homesickness is viewed many time as a periodic situation although in severe cases
these feelings are continuous (Fisher et al., 1984). The possibility of protracted period
for homesickness enables to differentiate this condition from culture shock, whose life
cycle may be shorter. While homesickness is view as a serious illness, culture shock is
not always processed in this way. Adler (1987) in particular rejects the classification of
culture shock with illness.

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The main effect of homesickness is further classified by its observation although it has
been suggested that it is hard to assess prevalence of the disease because of its period
illness. Van Tilburg et al. (1996) explained that most people observe homesickness
especially in the early days following starts of their observation and only gave
experiences is reported immediately. Fisher et al., (1984) studied homesickness among
hostel students and they found that only 18 percent of cases were reported. However, a
deepest observation in the same hostel taking results a prevalence rate of sixty to seventy
percent. This condition may classify the case of psychologist who falls within a field that
is under-researched as asserted and substantiated earlier in this research. The little
attention paid to homesickness as a distinct condition in expatriate literature and, at the
same time, there are the volumes of existing evidence that a significant number of
international assignments end in failure (Briscoe & Schuler, 2004). Homesickness in
expatriates and international workers could be a deeper and continuous process that
should command more attention if the success rate in international labour transfers is to
improve.

Theoretical Models of Homesickness

There are some models going to be explaining which can help us to understand with the
ideas of different authors that what are the effect and difficulties of homesickness.
Models of homesickness conducted by Fisher in 1989 are similar to Lins 1986 model of
psychological and social disruption in forced migrants. Fisher explains five models to the
ways in which homesickness affect upon people who are far from their usual home.
The first, the Decline and attachment model, observes that the separation of the person
from his or her social and cultural networks is felt as a loss which turns into anxiety, grief
and anger. If this is persistent, the feeling of loss aggravates to become apathy and
helplessness (Van Tilburg, et al., 1996, p.903). These latter results of homesickness in the
loss model are what occasion a situation of dependency for the persons affected and
leads, in order, to depression, agoraphobia, two symptoms of home sickness according
to the authors.
The Intervention and disconnectivity model is depend on the fact that a break in the
way people used to abandon their lives and fulfill daily activities can be an important

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stressor and the source of other negative feelings like fear, anxiety, and distress. The
student becomes influence because the basic departments of his or her real life have
disturbed. In order to spend their lives in the new environment, the expatriate or displaced
person needs important adjustments that may not be hold in the immediate future, or may
not be achievable at all. Thus, the more extended the process of adjustment is the more
anxiety, fear and depression is developed to a large extent successful social and
professional integration in the case of global assignees.
In this Decreased personal control model the person who is new in hostel is not in
control of the new environment in which he or she has landed. In many cases, the
individual lacks coping mechanisms susceptible of helping to living in the new social,
cultural, technological and psychological conditions which can be perceived as opposing
and threatening forces. Burt (1993) argues that the increasing of homesickness is mainly
due to the fact that the displaced person is not in control of the host environment.
The Change and transformation model sees personally as being obliged to accept to
achieve new roles that are implements to enable them to live in harmony with the host
environment. The transformation between giving up old roles and habits to adopt the
novel ones is particularly stressful. This has been observed in male and female students
who settle out in hostels behavior. For instance, in research by the various plenty of the
migrant assisting organizations, some male migrants have been seeming to fulfil kitchen
and childcare duties in the United Kingdom because in their original cultures such duties
are basic feminine Similarly, some female migrants have been opposed to consider work
with male colleagues as this might clash with their own culture and religion (Hack-Polay,
2008).
The Contradiction model is being explained that there is a conceptual conflict within
the personal itself. On the one hand the migrated hostel student has the will - or is rather
forced - to learn and acquire new paths of seeing and to achieve things and life. On the
other hand, there is a kind of resistance on the part of the individual to provide
accommodations the uncontrollable wind of change. Thus, there adjusts in the mind of
the displaced hostel students a desire to return home but they are facing lot of issues of
security and safety. Research in an area connected to home sickness, culture shock, uses a
model referred to as the U-curve model conducted by Oberg (1960). This model claims

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that newcomers to an alien culture go through four stages to reach adjustment. These
stages are honeymoon, crisis, recovery and adjustment. This model has been argued
because some researchers argue that not all migrants go through the honeymoon phase
(Selmer 1999).
Models are interesting to consider in an attempt to understand the behaviors of
psychologists and international workers. Fishers models offer a very fair and logical
catalogue of what psychologists may feel like and do in the new environment and
professional context. However, Fishers theories as five different models, there could be a
practical inclination to categories them as one single model of homesickness with
different stages. Infect, it is not rare to observe that a personal point of view goes through
more than one, and sometimes, all the stages defined by Fishers model. These stages
may be classified that some theorists have given possible ideas, intervention or concept to
deal with homesickness.
Youngish and Metz (2004) investigated depression development by tracking both
depression and drug/alcohol use through the hostel years and found religiousness to
continue to have a buffering effect throughout. Such a protective effect of depression has
also been seen in specific communities and ethnicities, such as African American hostel
students (Regnerus, Smith & 5 Fritsch, 2003; Wills, Gibbons, Gerrard, Murry& Brody,
2003) and Jews (Regnerus, Smith & Fritsch, 2003). The relationship between alcohol and
depression has been found both in hostel students.

Feasible intercessions about hostel students

Van Tilburg, Vingerhoets & Van Heck, (1996: 909) have discussed that the feasibilities
of intercessions reveal to be limited. But much of what the literature has given the idea
as a remedy for the common illnesses of homesickness turns around the return to the
original society. This mode of intervention can be seen as involvement because in many
cases the people affected cannot return to the original society because of coercive forces
preventing them to do so. In the case of expatriates, for instance, the coercive force may
be the risk of losing their jobs, the risk of not being able to move up the ladders in their
career, or the prospect of unemployment, etc.
Perhaps, many other realistic modes of intercessions may be seen in the stress

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management approach (Fisher, 1989). It is planned to help the influenced people to
accept the feeling of homesickness, to be involved in the new surroundings, to do
physical activities (sports, games, visits), to eat and sleep properly, to go onto training
institutions (Van Tilburg, Vingerhoets & Van Heck, 1996). It can be noticed that with the
exception of the stress management approach, most remedies are social intercessions.
However, the materialistic home needs much comparable to the original one and this
should be reflected in the relocation strategies and the choice of resettlement areas for
displaced students. The reconstruction of a familiar social context needs to take account
of culture because this has often represented another big problem for hostel life students
and is well documented in expatriate literature.

Avoidances from homesickness

Preventive solutions may be greatly rooted in the ability of the organizations to ensure
proper preparations for their expatriates before departure. Deresky (2006) stress the
crucial importance of preparation and training. She claims that such activities smooth the
expatriates landing in the new environment and overcome the culture shock, including
distorted perceptions and anxiety. Deresky also claims that people in such a situation
confront trauma and key symptoms of this include irritation and deep seated-
psychological panic and crisis.

Preparation should chiefly be concerned with informing the expatriate about the
conditions in the new environment. It should also critically highlight the possibility that
the expatriate may face some social and psychological isolation for some time before he
or she becomes aware with the new environment, i.e. both physical and social. There
should be an understanding that this procedure is usual and takes time and personal or
family effort for a positive and gentle adjustment. Deresky (2006: 364) believes that
important family problems could result from homesickness; members could turn against
each other and this could lead on occasions to the fragmentation of the family. The author
claims that a large number of people do not pass this stage, causing the expatriate to get
back earlier.

As part of the preventive procedures, the expatriates group should include plans for daily

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basis return visits back home. While this may add to the general cost of the expatriate
assignment, it will still continue to exist cheaper than disappointed expatriation. This
should be considered for as part of the balance sheet approach to compensating the
expatriate as it will equalize the standard of living between the host and home countries
and compensate for inconvenience or qualitative loss (Deresky, 2006: 370). Possibly, a
relative of the expatriate, along from the accompanying spouse and children, could be
sponsored by the organization to visit the expatriate occasionally. This may be the
mother, father or other relative dear to the expatriate. This viewpoint is likely to ensure
that there is not essential breakdown in the family connections and reduce the feeling of
missing dear ones, which is often at the center of homesickness.

Last but not least, decreasing homesickness could also take into account an attempt to
reconstruct a socio-cultural network. For instance, areas such as Thailand, Indonesia or
West Africa where French, British and American expatriates work for their several
MNCs, there could be concerted efforts to set an expatriate network that could also
include host country nationals (HCNs). Cultural practices such as nightclubs, religious
institutions, schools or childcare facilities could be built up jointly to provide a more
cultural careful network for the expatriates. This is greatly from indicating that parent
company nationals (PCNs) and third country nationals (TCNs) should separate
themselves off the host society. On the other hand, they acquire from each others
adjustment difficulties and successes at once as combating somehow the effects of home
sickness. In a study on forced migrants Reynolds & Shackman (1995) argued that
possibly the best method to help the newcomers to settle in the new society is to help
them build intimate social networks and self-help groups that would provide them with
the means to combine the larger host society.

Adjustment

Adjustment problem begins right from the birth of and maintains till death, various
conditions arise at home. Adjustment is the way of arriving at a stable state between the
need of mankind and their satisfaction. Accommodations and education institutions play
a key role in the adjustment of an individual. According to the Darwin, he was developed

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in 1958 by theory of evolution. He argues that those living organisms which altered
successfully to the demands of living, survived and multiplied while others, who did not,
died out. Therefore, adaptation or change in individual according to the external
surrounding is a fundamental need for survival.

The term adjustment refers to which an individual's personality roles effectively in the
universe of population. It refers to the harmonious relationship between the person and
the living world. In other words, it is the bond that comes among the organisms, the
environment and the character. A well-balanced personality is well prepared to play the
functions which are expected of the status appointed to him with in given environment.
His wishes will be satisfied in compliance with the public needs.

Psychologists have explained adjustment from two important way of thinking.

Adjustment as an attainment

Adjustment as an attainment means how effectively a person could accomplish his tasks
in different situations. Employment, military education and other social activities require
efficient and well balanced men for the progress and human being of the nation. For
example, when poor children study in the corner of a playground because in home he has
not proper place to study he is said to be in the process of adjustment. As a result of that
adjustment he attains good grads in examination. Thus adjustment meant as an attainment
means how the effectiveness with which an individual can function in changed
circumstances.

Adjustment as an everlasting process

The process of adjustment is everlasting. In this process, we analyze that the child, at the
time of his birth is absolutely based on others for the fulfillment of his needs, but
gradually with age he learns to control his needs. His needs are also changing in
accordance with the demands of the changing outside environment. Consequently, the
process of an individuals adjustment can be supposed to change from situation to
situation and according to Ark off (1968), there is nothing like satisfactory adjustment

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which can be attained once and for all time. It is something that is constantly attained and
re-attained by us (Mangal,2006).

IDEA OF ADJUSTMENT
Adjustment is the association which seems to be established between the individual and
the environment. Every person plays certain position in his public relations. He is
educated to play his role in such a way that his maximum needs will be achieved. So, he
should play his role correctly and get maximum contentment. If he does not achieve his
task according to standards and educating home environment received his desires may
not be fulfilled and he may get hesitated. According to the ideas of adjustment there are
following two kinds of adjustment which can help us to identify a lot of problems and
their solutions which we face during the time of hostel life.
Normal adjustment

When a relationship between the students who is more respected to his parents and
always obeys them. If that kind of student leaves his family environments and joins new
people, new surroundings and pays new hostel life. Then it will be very easy for that type
of students for the normal adjustment.
Abnormal adjustment
If we study about the abnormal adjustment among the hostel students as compared to
those hostel students who adjusts normally in hostel life. Then we find that those students
who do not obey their parents and follow their instructions, then they try to make new
relations very fast in the result of that for these students always very difficult to normal
adjustment. These type of students easily fall prey to abnormal adjustments.

Measurement of Adjustment in Hostel

There are following the important measurements which are measured as measurements of
adjustment in hostel.

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Adjustment to the new environment and hostel routine
This means that a child should not feel himself/herself a new comer in the new hostel
environment. Student should feel like home while playing in the playground, using toilet,
and performing different activities at hostel.
Adjustment to Academic and Extra activities
This involves to getting most out of specific studies and activities, to stress out learning
problems and instructional difficulties, and to make beneficiary progress in observing
experience.
Psychological Adjustment
Development of good memory which turns into everlasting moments desirable interest,
good temper, and desirable attitudes given good strength to the psychological adjustment
of student.
Adjustment to and within themselves
Adjustment to and within themselves means to self-understanding and easily adopting
new things by their own acceptance, a proper insight into needs, attitudes and values,
overstressing emotional difficulties and personal hygiene.
Social Adjustment
This means a harmonious relationship with the students and teachers, Proper
understanding of social needs, requirements and group goals, and meeting effectively to
the social requirements of the home, peer groups, culture and the community.
If we analyze as psychologist, then we find some important factors which can affect to
adjustment at hostel students.
Proper training to Teachers
Teachers should build harmonious relationship between those students who come from
very long distance and settled down in hostel for better studies on the contrary teacher
training in psychological point of view may help students in their adjustment.
Adequate Curriculum
Extra activities should be planned and managed in such a way that it should be achieve
psychological and social needs of students.

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Adequate Recreational Facilities

Some recreational facilities can easily help for adjustment such as sports, library, debate
and excursion may help students in their adjustment.
Classroom atmosphere
If the classroom atmosphere is beneficial and cooperative for students, it can facilitate
better adjustment in students.
Proper relationships between students and administrations
Understandable relations between the Principal and teachers, and teachers and teachers,
and teachers and office staff as well as students also play a vital role in making
harmonious and congenial environment in the school.

Evaluation system of the hostel

Evaluation should be rigid cum flexible. Too much concentration in study and
unreliability should be avoided. Numerical marking should be avoided and grades should
be given to students. Due to low marks, students lose confidence in their life which then
affects in their mental health. By these word mostly hostel students loses their hopes and
they choose wrong way to overcome their problems such as using of alcohol avoidance
from studies, bad relationships between students and missing their parents. The world
'fail' should not be used by the teachers

The role of hostel warden in student adjustment

The role of hostel warden is very important to make peaceful environment. The hostel
warden plays the most key role to bring improvement in the hostel environment and help
the students in adjustment. He /She can perform the following role:
1. Provide a home environment where the students feel free to express themselves
2. Develop in youngsters student a sense of self-respect and self-esteem by complements
for work.
3. Accept the individual differences of students.
4. Maintains good mental health

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. 5. Hostel warden should adopt democratic and respective behavior

Adjustment Mechanism

The term adjustment mechanism refers to which the individual to achieve satisfaction of
the need ineffectively. This helps reducing tensions and also helps him in maintaining
self-respect. An adjustment mechanism defined as any habitual procedure of overcoming
blocks, reaching goals, satisfying motives, relieving frustrations and maintains
equilibrium. The following are the adjustment mechanism.
Compensation
Compensation is a concept where the individual attempts to overachieve his weakness in
one area by showing his strength in another. A student deficient in physical activities may
make amends himself in showing good results in the educational field and vice versa.
Identification
Identification is a concept when an individual attempt to identify himself with some
prosperous person. To conceal his own failures, a student may identify himself with his
father and talk about his victory.
Rationalization
Rationalization means transferring of responsibility for our failures to factors outside it
i.e. many students attribute their failure to the firm question paper.
Projection
Projection is a psychological defense mechanism in which individuals attribute
characteristics they find unrealized in themselves to another person. For example, a
husband who has a hostile nature might attribute this hostility to his wife and say she has
an anger management problem.
Day-Dreaming
The imaginative fulfillment of needs is called day-dreaming. Day-Dreaming provides
mental relief to an individual if it is done with limits. It becomes very detrimental when it
is carried to excess (Aggarwal,1995).

Attribute of a Well-adjusted Hostel student

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 A well-adjusted student is supposed to possess the following attributes.
1. Awareness of his own efforts and limitations. A well-adjusted student knows his own
strengths and weaknesses.
2. Respecting him and others. The dislike of one-self is a typical symptom of
maladjustment.
3. An adequate level of aspiration. His level of aspiration is neither too low nor too high
in terms of his own strengths and abilities.
4. Sense of achievement of basic needs. His basic organic, emotional and social needs are
full satisfied or in the process of being satisfied.
5. Absence of critical or fault-finding attitude. Most of the students encourage the good
abilities in different things, persons and their attitude. These students never try to observe
bad things the thinking of that type of students always logical as compared to other
students. They always attract people and win their satisfaction.
6. Flexibility in behavior. He is not stubborn in his attitude or way of life. He can easily
accommodate by making necessary changes in his behavior.
7. A well-adjusted hostel student feels satisfied with his surroundings. He fits in well in
his home, family, friends and other social surroundings. If a student, he likes his hostel,
hostel-mates, the caretaker of hostel, and feels comforted with his daily routine.
8. A well-mannered psyche of life. A well-adjusted student has a logic which gives
direction to his life forever keeping in view the demands of changed situations and
condition.

Rationale of the study:

This study is proposed in order to find out the effect of homesickness and depression on
adjustment of hostel students. Students face many life stressors: adjusting to living away
from home, academic demands, living with roommates, building new friendships,
managing time and money, and more. How the student reacts to such changes can give
you clues on what might be going on. Students who are "homesick" may miss their
family and friends, but will rebound quickly after checking in with those they miss or
after a brief visit home. Talking with family and friends usually leads to appropriate
problem-solving and the student feeling better about their situation.

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Students with depression have symptoms that persist and interfere with normal activities,
such as: Feelings of sadness or unhappiness, Irritability or frustration, even over small
matters, Loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities, Insomnia or excessive sleeping,
Changes in appetite or weigh.

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 Chapter 02

LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter different psychologists and migrant workers share their knowledge and
those experiences which they gain during observation about those students who left their
own houses and migrate into hostel for study purpose. Many of the psychologists
examine the lives of different hostel students who suffering from lot of difficulties during

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the hostel life such as mentally disturbance, missing their relations, missing their family
atmosphere and with their special attachments.
The problem of homesickness among the hostel students didnt come into seems till
1750s. In ancient time this type of feeling was known as nostalgia, a medical condition.
It was first identified in 1688 by Johannes Hofer, a Swiss scholar, who warned that the
condition had not been sufficiently observed dire consequences. By Hofers explanation,
the nostalgic individual stress out himself thinking of home that he couldnt attend to
other ideas and needs. While nostalgia was examined as a Victorian virtue, a testament to
civility and the domestic order, extreme onsets could kill a person. And so they did
during the Civil War. By two years in, two thousand soldiers had been seemed with
nostalgia, and in the year 1865, twenty-four white Union soldiers and sixteen black ones
died from it. An emotional feeling that caused death could no longer pass as a force for
social good. Instead it had far greater utility as a patronizing justification of racism. Some
in favor of slavery began to claim that slaves loved their home more than anyone; that
being the case, how cruel to then tear them from the plantation.
WWIs national training programs, the first of their kind, were explained to stifle
homesickness from the start. Men from the same environment were deliberately assigned
to different units across America, so that they couldnt retreat into the comfort of local
remembrances. The aim was to turn each unit into a national entity whose first objection
was to the country. In the 1950s, the age of the civilization person, corporations
attempted the same thing. Displaced people were part of the path to promotion. IBM,
employees joked, stood for Ive Been Moved. Eventually, in a given year during the
Eisenhower Administration, roughly 20%of Americans had.
But the organization most successful at destroying localism, at least today, is the
American college. Places like NYU, Brown, Skidmore, and Harvard draw students from
across the country, from around the globe. No longer are their wants local; theyre
national. Lifelong friendships and rivalries persist largely between classmates rather than
childhood neighbors. If theres one locality overcoming represented at these liberal arts
education centers, its New York, wherein so many of their graduates hostel students
will subsequently settle.

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New York is the area wise American experiment on speed, a holding pen for migrants.
Graduatesimmigrants in sweatpants with big boxes of booksarrive every summer;
they try to adjust and to profit; they either accept that environment or return home. In the
1920s and 1930s, parents prepared their children for such moves by promoting them to
frontier-themed summer camps where they would play pioneer. And where kids have
camps to build confidence, college grads turn to New York as the final test, not only of
resilience but of that characteristic of confidence is supposed to serve: achievement.
Certain Manhattan hard-liners, the people who announce that New York is the only city;
though Paris is pretty, think the only reason to leave New York is if you fail out.
A successful friend of mine recently decided to come back home to Boston after
weathering New York for four years university study, during the studies he was living in
university hostel. He hated drawing, was tired of all the parties, and his gallery job, which
was probably pleasant enough, would never give him a good salary. What he wanted was
his home city, and a well-paying office job, where at 5 P.M. hed be released to enjoy
with his young nephews. Among my friends his honesty was polarizing: some, like me,
appreciated it; while many others felt threatened by his resignation from the rat race and
what was perceived as a regressive retreat into familiarity.
But the problem with homesickness isnt just that it obstructs ambition; its that the object
of longing, home, is not as fixed as one might think. After the Civil War, for instance,
the transcontinental railroad and steam-powered ocean liners, Matt writes, made it
easier to return to a physical home and thus, at least theoretically, easier to decreasing
homesickness. Upon traveling back, however, they found they had not arrived, for the
same technologies that had brought them home had also disrupted traditional ways of
life. The casual and even the clocks of hometowns had been rearranged to train
schedules and standard time; certain commodities, like ice, reshaped the diet. Traveling
back revealed that home had been reached by time, and a word necessarily arose to
define this longing for what was lost: nostalgia.
While homesickness was overpowered in America, nostalgia was permitted to prosper. In
1899 New Hampshire solved out a way to benefit off of it, and started throwing annual
Old Home Weeks. These festivals, wherein the township might show old photographs
and outdated town artifacts while concessionaires in old-timey clothes served up topical

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specialties, were formulated of as bonds, meant to sketch former stays rear to their
birthplaces. By 1903, these weeks were alluring half a million people, and this day quite a
few New England towns still throw themsuch as Freedom, New Hampshire, which
hosts one every August. Neither priory El Granada nor my El Granada of the 1980s and
1990s had enough of a community to justify an antiquarian street fair. But Americas
comparative acceptanceembraces, evenof nostalgia constructs sense to me. Its safer
than homesickness because its neutered; it cant be felt and wont get in the aspect of
work; it asks you to long only for something that no prolonger exists.
Ekblad (1993), Leff et al. (1970) and Weissman & Paykel (1973) found prove to explain
hesitations that homesickness effects on health. If homesickness affects students on the
move, even the voluntary migrants, then there is strong possibility that it could be more
pronounced in expatriate populations. In fact, the literature helps that homesickness is
usual among hostel students and is an illness of socially disorientated and isolated people.
Homesickness has been defined as difficulty and functional impairment caused by an
actual or unwanted separation from home and attachment objects such as parents
(Thurber, et al., 2007). Signs of homesickness have been submitted to include
maladjustment outcomes such as depression, substance use, and risky sexual behaviors
(Fisher, Murray & Frazer, 1985; Zaleski, Levey-Thors, and Schiaffino, 1998 for a
review). For example, in a sample of 101 first year college students, Fisher, Murray and
Frazer (1985) found that 60% of Participants reported homesickness. This study is
specifically mentionable because it was one of the first to conceptualize homesickness as
having multiple directions. Their findings indentified that both the distance of new
surroundings and features of the new environment combined to increase the feeling of
homesickness.
Stroeb, van Vliet, Hewstone and Wills (2002) experience that 280 British students found
a reasonable distance from homesickness to depression, as explained the relationship
between displace students and depression. Many point of views for homesickness have
been suggested, including booklets and Brochures (Thurber, 2005), practice time away
from home (Thurber, 2005; Thurber, Walton, & the Council on School Health, 2007),
introducing a system of companion and relatives away from home, and providing coping
instruction (Thurber, Walton, & Council on School Health, 2007). These procedures may

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be in large part due to the many differing unbalanced outcomes to which homesickness
has been attached. The structure of literature on homesickness in hostel students has
usually pointed on frequencies of occurrence, treatments, and specific educational
outcomes due to homesickness. Variance in the estimates of occurrence and variety of
symptoms identify the involvement of moderating and mediating variables. Researchers
have disappointed to observe these moderating and mediating variables, leaving a huge
gap in our understanding of the phenomenon. Understanding mechanisms involved in the
connected between homesickness and adjustment will be critical in establishing future
effective and powerful avoidance programs as well as intervention treatments.
Furthermore, problematic in the study of homesickness is the fact that strong cross-
cultural differences have been observed. This can make the understanding of
homesickness even more difficult, particularly when attempting to firm rapidly what
proportion of students suffer as well as the degree to which it effects on them.
According to the specialized psychologist to observed variety of students who suffering
from lot of problems, he examined that 69 Turkish and 75 American students residing in
their native countries, Cardin and Fichte (1991) found 77% of Turkish students
identifying homesickness, while 19% of Americans did. In addition to this, Americans
were mainly lower than Turkish students on ratings of value of symptoms.
There are lots of differing calculations of homesickness. Many previous studies used a
single item homesickness questionnaire, while reliable, significantly observed
homesickness as a sign of sorrow. From this point of view, homesickness is thinking of
as mainly results of missing items or people from the sufferers prior environment.
Furthermore, single item measures of homesickness fail to address the difficulty and
various types of the phenomenon, such as the multi- measurements explained by Fisher,
Murray & Frazer (1985).
Other specialist has examined how new environments effect individuals ability to cope
and found that the so-called strain model may be a more accurate way of conducting
homesickness. This model looks at the effect of the new environment on well-being and
observes problems due to homesickness as arising due to emotional strains. Archer,
Ireland, Amos, Broad and Curried (1998) tried to explain these two perspectives and
combined them together in one scale, the Homesickness Questionnaire (HQ). When

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data was collected, an observing factor analysis on their scale was executed by using two
factors. These two factors were disliking the university, which accounted for 24% of
the total variance, and attachment to home, which accounted for 8.7% of the total
variance. Each of the items included in the factors were loaded above .41. Cronbachs
alpha for the two subscales were .85 for factor 1 and .83 for factor 2. Both parts of this
scale were largely related to their single-item control of how homesick do you feel.
This single-item measurement has been found to be perhaps the most reliable
measurement of homesickness; moreover, it does not break homesickness into different
parts, which is a major strength of the HQ. There was a slight yet notable difference
between the two subscales and the control item, identifying that feeling homesick was
more closely associated to attachment to home as opposed to having negative attitudes
towards the environment. Due to the theoretical strengths of this measure, it was used in
the current study.

Practical Experiences of homesickness

It is being submitted that research proved some authentic information about

homesickness.

Homesickness is increasing lot more these days usually homesickness is depending on

the population and environment during hostel life period in universities or colleges, as
well as the method used to checking homesickness. Consequently, upwards of 90% of
young students spending their times away from home, it is reported by (Thurber &
Walton, 2007) that those students suffered from many problems such as depression,
homesickness as well as missing their parents. Only 20% of boys and girls report
moderate-to-severe signs and just about 7% report intense homesickness that is related
with severe symptoms of depression and/or anxiety (Thurber, Sigman, Weisz, &
Schmidt, 1999; Thurber, 1999).

Young people who experience moderate-to-severe levels of homesickness commonly

present as being tearful and withdrawn. Other students might present who had changed
their behaviors, such as fighting, swearing, or destroying property. Some present with
nonspecific somatic complaints, such as a headache or a stomachache (Anes, Feldman,

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Gersony, Morrison, & Weiss; Thurber, 1995). Some hostel students try to make and keep
friends; others find it difficult to concentrate (Fisher, Frazer, & Murray, 1986).
Homesickness can be classified by (Thurber &Sigman, 1999). Risk factors for the
increasing of intense homesickness in young hostel students include: little previous
experience away from home, prior negative experiences away from home, negative first
impressions Little knowledge of the new environment, feeling forced to leave home by
parents, made them insure attachment to primary hostel warden, prior history of
depression or anxiety, and ambivalent messages from primary hostel warden, such as,
Have a great time away. I dont know what Ill do without you.

Although the best way to reduce intense homesickness is through a specifically supported
prevention program, surrogate hostel warden can be also trainedvia printed materials
and online educationto recognize and treat the symptoms of distress that accompany
homesickness. Homesickness has been researched in boys and girls hostel camps, as
well as in boarding schools, universities, and hospitals (Thurber & Walton, 2006).
Hugely, people of different genders, ages, ethnicities, and cultures all defines and
experience homesickness similarly, regardless of the environment they are in

Homesick campers are less likely to return to camp the following summer, more likely to
withdraw socially, little bit interest to participate in activities, and more likely to
monopolize staff time than their less homesick peers (Thurber, 1999). Boys and girls at
hostel camp report that the most thinkable ways of coping with homesickness which
could be include: staying busy at their new places, talking with someone they trust,
writing to their loving parents, making new friends, Chris Thurber, Exeter Academy 1
reframing time, and keeping a good and valuable attitude (Thurber &Weisz, 1997a;
1997b).

Homesickness can be made less effective such as Prevention programs for homesickness
can take interests a combination of environmental information, psycho-education
(normalizing homesickness), social support (both at home and in the new place), explicit
coping instruction (outlining the most effective strategies), hostel warden training (to be
positive and non-ambivalent), Giving good time to those students who are living at
hostels and very away from home (such as short stays at a friends house). One

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empirically supported homesickness prevention program exist for summer camps: The
American Camp Associations DVD-CD set entitled The Secret Ingredients of Summer
Camp Success. Camp-based research gives idea that homesickness prevention programs
can lower the strength of first-year hostel students campers homesickness by an average
of 50% were among those students (Thurber, 2005), as well as increase the likelihood
that campers will return to camp the following summer (Thurber, 1999). Prevention
programs result not only in less severe homesickness, but also fewer feelings of
depression and anxiety and greater satisfaction with the new environment (van Tilburg et
al., 1999; Thurber, 2005; Tognoli, 2003). Many Hostel camps, boarding schools, and
colleges also use theoretically-based homesickness prevention programs of their own.
These programs include essential base programs for parents and hostel students who
participate with sound advice on the best ways to cope with homesickness (Stover, 2007).

In bottom explanation Homesickness is a normative response to live far away from a

familiar environment and those enjoyments which students just enjoy in their houses.
About 20% of young hostel students who were spending time away from home
experience moderate-to-severe homesickness; about 7% experience debilitating levels of
homesickness. By the Good Luck, homesickness can be hugely prevented and effectively
treated with proper and cheaper education and training. Experiencing some degree of
homesickness also encourage young students to learn long lasting coping skills that serve
them best future benefits away from home.

Depression

During 2007, American College Health AssociationNational College Health

Assessment (1), a national survey of Maximum 20,500 college students which were
spending their times on 39 hostel campuses, 43.2% of the students reported feeling so
depressed and uncomfortable it was difficult to survival at least once in the past 12
months. More than 3,200 university students reported being seen as having depression,
with 39.2% of those students diagnosed in the past 12 months, 24.2% presently in therapy
for depression, and 35.8% taking antidepressant medication. During the students
surveyed, 10.3% admitted seriously considering attempting suicide within the past 12
months and 1.9% actually attempted suicide during that year. Consequently, the
37 | P a g e
explanation which classify before can help to understand depression among hostel
students, it is not to most mental health clinicians and officials at U.S. colleges.

According to the 2008 National Survey of Counseling Center Directors, 95% of

researchers believe that there has been a trend in recent years of an increase in the
number of students with serious psychological problems. In 2008 an approximately 26%
of consulting center clients were taking psychiatric medication, up from 20% in 2003,
17% in 2000, and 9% in 1994. And furthermore the rate of suicide among hostel students
may have decreased in recent 10 years; suicide still remains the third leading cause of
death among adolescent and young adults. Many college officials have started to
appreciate the effect that a students depression can have on overall classifying in the
college community.

Depression has been linked to academic problems as well as interpersonal problems at

hostels, with more severe depression correlated with higher levels of impairment. The
treatment of depression among hostel students has been examined with a beneficial effect
on these students grade point averages. In an effort to diagnose and treat early and
effectively, and thus decrease the excess morbidity and risk of suicide connected with
depression, some U.S. college have even started to screen students for depression in the
initial care setting. There are specific challenges of providing treatment to hostel students.
These challenges involved special academic burden in semester-based cycles, lately
semester breaks that result in disturbing of care, and heavy reliance on community
supports that can be inconsistent. Given the prevalence and impact of depression on
hostel campuses and the different services classified by university mental health centers.
Through the bad effects of depressive identities has been increasing among hostel
students.

According to a study of college students receiving counseling services between the years
of 1988 and 2001, a 20% increase occurred in the number of students seeking help for
depressive symptoms during that time period of hostel lives (Benton, Robertson, Tseng,
Newton, & Benton, 2003). In a observation of university counseling center directors
completed in 2006, it was explained that 91.6% of the expatriates reported that they had
examined an increase in the strength of students experiencing psychological problems in

38 | P a g e
the recent years (Blanco, et. al, 2008). The development of depressive identifications may
have a powerful impact on the ability of college students to successfully achieve
academic requirements.

In a nationwide study, 43% of hostel students reported feeling so depressed that it was
difficult for them to study (American College Health Association, 2009). Depressive
symptoms can negatively impact the lives of hostel students. Students examining
depressive symptoms report large amounts of emotional suffering. This suffering may
impact life satisfaction and academic performance (Brown &Schiraldi, 2004). A large
national study (n=4,092) focused upon a comparison of the mental health of hostel
students and their non-college attending peers. A total of 2,188 2 students between the
ages of 19 to 25 years who were currently attending college, and 2,904 of their peers who
were not attending college were surveyed to determine the prevalence of psychiatric
disorders and the rate of treatment received for these disorders in each of the groups. The
results depended that the problem of mood disorders and anxiety disorders were huge in
both groups. An alarming result of this activity was that almost 50% of all of the
individuals from both groups met the problematic for at least one psychiatric disorder
during the past 1 year (Blanco, et. al, 2008). In a nationwide travelling according to
investigation about the depression among hostel students conducted by the American
College Health Association in 2008, 94% of the students reported feeling overwhelmed
by the demands of college life (American College Health Association, 2009).

Adjustment

Psychologists use term "adjustment "differing conditions of social or familiar relationship

in the society. Adjustment means reaction to the needs and conflicts of society
environment imposed upon the individual. The need may be external or internal to whom
the person is to behave (Agarwal, 1996) According to Carter V. Good (l959),
"Adjustment is the way of finding and adopting ways of reaction suitable to the
surrounding or the changes in the environment". Erickson (1968) Adolescents as a good
have long been concerned observing for themselves to find some form of classify and
meaning in their lives. The Gale encyclopedic of childhood and adolescence sometimes
referred to as teenage years. Youth puberty, adolescence crosses the period from
39 | P a g e
irregularly as 10 to 20 in a child's development. In all societies, adolescence is a period of
growing up, of moving from the inexperience of childhood into the experience of
adulthood.

In this study Day Scholar and Hostlers residence is examined. The Day Scholar and
Hostlers areas have their own particular characteristics and they distinguish prevalently
with each other in words of homogeneity, morality, professions, environmental
differences, social traditions, contrasts in size of communities, differences in physical
facilities and educational level. Day Scholar and Hostlers residence also distinguished on
the basis of psychological features. For instance, the behavior patterns, thoughts, beliefs
and ideologies, patterns of socialization, social cohesion, emotional bonding, simplify
and sincerity of relationships. Day Scholar Life is quick and strainful as compared to
Hostlers life. Those adolescents staying Day Scholar or Hostlers areas are socialized and
natured ultimately various situations. So it is supposed that Day Scholar and Hostlers
situation can affect adolescent's emotional intelligence and different areas of adjustment.

Chadda (1985) created that no difference was noticed between the emotional adjustment
ranks of various sub classes of teachers, vice versa male female, Hostlers and urban. Chu
(2002 appeared that males have superior level of emotional intelligence that the females.
With treat to gender wise contrasts in adolescents, conclusions are in opposition with the
findings of Abdullah and Maria (2008) who indicated that male students' overall level of
adjustment was established to be as compared to female students.

Gupta (1990) originated that, teenage girls studying in Day Scholar schools were
significantly finer in their social adjustment as compared to girls in Hostlers schools.
Gupta, Sushma (1990) found that parents of girls studying in Day Scholar and English
medium schools had a superior opinion according the social adjustment of their daughter
as estimated to the parents of girls in Hostlers and Hindi medium schools teenage girls
studying in Day Scholar schools were prominently better in their social adjustment as
contrasted to girls in Hostlers schools. Kauri (2007) expressed that males were high on
home, health, social and total adjustment. Kumar (1988) found that sports girls belonging
Hostlers and Day Scholar areas were superior in emotional social and educational
adjustment than non-sports girls.

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Pandey (1979) created that among students of higher secondary stage, the Hostlers group
to be higher in emotional, health and school adjustment whereas the Day Scholar group
to be better in aesthetic adjustment prominent relationship occurs among adjustment,
aspiration and achievement. Wing and Love (2001) announced that Day Scholar
adolescents had comparatively better emotional intelligence and adjustment against
Hostlers counterparts

Hostel Adjustment

The concept of hostel adjustment has been widened in recent years to consider outcomes
beyond academic performance (Ladd, 1989, 1996; Libby, 2004; Perry & Weinstein,
1998). Libby produces a thorough review of the conceptualizations of attachment,
bonding, connectedness, and engagement to school utilized in research over the past
couple of decades. In an effort to incorporate as much of the existing theory and
empirical evidence as possible, we think three ways of hostel adjustment the
individuals level of hostel bonding, friends hostel bonds, (connection with peers who
are bonded to hostel), and avoidance of hostel-related misbehavior.

The extent to which a student likes or enjoys hostel and is connected to teachers is a very
commonly considered aspect of hostel adjustment and is often referred to as hostel
bonding. Friends hostel bonding is considered because the social development model
(Catalano, et al., 2004; Hawkins & Weis, 1985) and peer cluster theory (Oetting &
Beauvais, 1987) clearly suggest the importance of bonding to peers and indicate that
bonding to peers with prosaically attitudes, involving positive attitudes toward hostel,
keeps prosaically behaviors. Finally, hostel related misbehavior or disruptive behavior is
a construct that also has been used to conceptualize a students overall level of hostel
adjustment (Ryan & Patrick, 2001).

The hostel environment has been described as one of the most influential socialization
domains in a teenagers life. Several times of research have demonstrated that a students
experiences at hostel and adjustment to hostel can exert both positive and negative effects
on their development. These influences extend beyond hostel-specific behavior (e.g.,

41 | P a g e
academic performance, attendance at hostel) to prosaically and antisocial development in
general, including early involvement with alcohol use.

Ample evidence indicates that a young students own positive hostel adjustment is a
protective factor with respect to alcohol use. However, an individual students alcohol
use may not only be affected by their own degree of school adjustment but may also be
affected by the degree to which their classmates demonstrate positive hostel adjustment.
As explained by Osgood and Anderson (2004), an individual-level scale (e.g., hostel
bonding) may account for contrasts in alcohol use across hostels in two ways via a
compositional effect and via a contextual effect. A compositional impact is simply the
effect that would be supposed because the students in a particular hostel have, on the
average, better hostel adjustment than students in other hostels, and the average level of
alcohol use in that particular hostel would therefore be lower than in other hostels. In
other words, in hostels where more of the students are well adjusted to hostel, fewer
students will use alcohol. A contextual effect is different. It occurs when the general
hostile environment, in this case, hostel adjustment, has an impact on individual student's
use of alcohol above and beyond what would supposed based on his or her own level of
hostel adjustment. In other words, a significant contextual effect indicates that, given two
students who show the same level of hostel adjustment but attend two different hostels,
the student attending a school where pupils lead to be better adjusted to hostel will
demonstrate less alcohol use than the student attending a hostel where pupils tend to be
poorly adjusted to hostel. Osgood and Anderson (2004) indicate that contextual effects
are results of emergent properties of groups or social settings, and thus they cannot be
accounted for at the individual-level. Thus, a compositional effect exists only because it
is an average of the person effects, while a contextual effect is an impact of the general
hostel environment on an individual.

Hostel Context and Adolescent Alcohol Use

Several theories produce a solid theoretical framework for supposing that the
normative hostile environment with respect to hostel adjustment elements is an important
predictor of substance use and other forms of delinquency. The social development
model (Catalano & Hawkins, 1996; Hawkins & Weis, 1985) hypothesizes that young
42 | P a g e
people seek both pro-social and antisocial patterns of behavior (including use of alcohol)
from the hostel environment. Furthermore, the behavior of an individual student will be
pro-social or antisocial (e.g., avoiding or engaging in alcohol use) as a role of the
prominent norms, attitudes, and behaviors showed by the hostel culture. There is some
empirical work to maintain this hypothesis (Battistich & Hom, 1997; Cleveland & Wiebe,
2003; Frankowski, et al., 2007; Henry & Slater, 2007; Kim & McCarthy, 2006).

Welshs (2000) studies of hostel climate corroborate this theoretical framework. He

argues that hostels, like individuals, have their own characteristic personalities (e.g.,
climates), explaining climate as the feel of the school as perceived by those who work
there or attend class therethe general we feeling and interactive life of the hostel.
Moreover, Welsh points to Owens (1987) efforts on organizational behavior in
education, classifying that the aggregated perceptions of individuals at the hostel (e.g.,
students, teachers) comprise the construct of hostel climate. Research has firmed that
hostel climate elements such as hostel belonging, hostel attachment, and sense of hostel
as a community do vary significantly across hostels (Anderman, 2002; Battistich & Hom,
1997; Henry & Slater, 2007) and Welsh (2000; Welsh, Greene, & Jenkins, 1999)
indicates that negative hostel climates can and do exhibit a negative influence on
students behavior. Although the idea of adjustment is not as simple as adaptation.
Psychologist and scholars differ considerably in understanding its meaning and nature.

James Dreier defines adjustment as the alteration to compensate for or meat special
condition. According to the Shaffer, L.S. Adjustment is the process by which living
organism maintain a balance between his needs and the conditions that effect the
satisfactions of these needs. In the words of Coleman, James C., Adjustment is the
outcome of the individuals attempts to deal with the stress and meet his demands: also
his works to maintain harmonious relationships with the environment. And according to
the Carter V Good, adjustment is the process of finding and adopting modes of behavior
suitable to the environment or the change in the surrounding.

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 CHAPTER 03

METHODOLOGY

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In this chapter, the researcher describes their objective of the study, hypothesis,
instruments, data, and procedure. This study uses a non-experimental or passive
observational design to investigate the effect of homesickness and depression on
adjustment of different hostel students of Islamabad. The method for data collection and
analysis are also described here.

Objective of the Study

Following are the objectives of the research study

To measure the impact of homesickness on adjustments of hostel students.

To weigh the impact of depression on adjustments of hostel students.

Hypotheses

H1: There is a relationship between homesickness and adjustments in the context of

university students living in hostels.

H2: There is a relationship between depression and adjustments in the context of

university students living in the hostels.

Operational Definition

Homesickness
Homesickness is defined as the distress and functional impairment caused by an actual or
anticipated separation from home and attachment objects such as parents. Severe
homesickness is classified as an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed
mood according to the American Psychiatric Association taxonomy (diagnostic code
309.28).

Depression
Depression is more than just sadness. People with depression may experience a lack of
interest and pleasure in daily activities, significant weight loss or gain, insomnia or
excessive sleeping, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, feelings of worthlessness or
excessive guilt and

45 | P a g e
recurrent thoughts of death or suicide (American Psychological Association).
Adjustment
According to physiological Dictionary, Adjustment is the variations and changes and
behavior in behavior that are necessary to satisfy needs and meets demands so that one
can established a harmonious relationship with the environment.

Instruments

The instruments used in the present study included:

Homesickness Questionnaire
This Homesickness Questionnaire is developed by John Archer. This scale is used in the
scientific world to measure homesickness. He wrote about it in his study Derivation of a
homesickness scale (1998).

Depression Questionnaire
The PHQ-9 is the depression module, which scores each of the nine DSM-IV criteria as
"0" (not at all) to "3" (nearly every day). The PHQ was developed by Drs. Robert L.
Spitzer, Janet BW Williams, Kurt Koneke.
Adjustment Questionnaire
This scale was developed by Kaya and Weber (2003) and measures four different
dimensions: social adjustment, academic adjustment, institutional adjustment and
personal adjustment
Population and sample
Students studying in Islamabad and which was living in hostels are the target audience
for this particular research study. The sample of this study was comprised on 100
individuals. Both male and female students belong to bachelor, masters and postgraduate
classes are being targeted. A quantitative research methodology will be adopted.
Descriptive research is used to conduct and to finalize the research instruments

Procedure

Present study was conducted to measure the effect of homesickness and depression on
adjustment. Researcher used descriptive research approach. Data was collected from the

46 | P a g e
Arid Agricultural University, International Islamic University, and Quaid e AZ am
University. These universities located in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Before starting the
research researcher gave assurance to participants that collected participants information
would only used for research objective and remaine highly confidential. After collecting
data results were analyzed through SPSS.

Research Design

In this quantitive research which begins from extensive literature review, conceptual
modeling, developing hypothesis and generating authentic results from the help of the
study (Sekaran 2006). This research started from extensive literature review, identifying
literature gap to be targeted in this particular research study. Identify reasons why this
study is important to fill that particular literature gap. Developing problem statement,
which researcher will address. Develop research questions based on problem statement.
Identifying objectives of the study, which leads to answer research questions of the
study?

Statistical Analysis Plan

The result was analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The
main findings of this research are the effect of homesickness. The statistical analysis
includes Mean, Standard Deviation (SD), Correlation, and Reliability.

Table 1
Demographic profile of the sample (N=100)
Demographic Variable F %

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Gender
Male 69 69
Female 31 31

Age
20-25 77 77
25-30 20 20
30-35 3 3

Education

Bachelor 41 41
Master 47 47
PhD 12 12

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 CHAPTER 04

Results and Discussion

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The research was conducted to measure homesickness and depression on adjustment of
hostel students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. For this reason, information was gathered
from 100 individuals including males and females. Information gathered through
questionnaires is analyzed in SPSS by running various statistical techniques and
summarized various results in tabulations form as follows

Demographic details

Data was collected from 100 respondents through research questionnaires. For the
measure of data in which 184 were usable for data analysis it means that survey has
shown 100% response rate

Table No 2

Demographic profile of the sample (N=100)

Demographic Variable F %
Gender
Male 69 69
Female 31 31
Age
20-25 77 77
25-30 20 20
30-35 3 3
Education
Bachelor 41 41
Master 47 47
PhD 12 12

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Table no 2 described the demographic information of the respondents in relation with
their frequency and percentage. From this table it appears that in data 60 % were male
whereas 31% were female. 77 % were belonged to age group 20-25 and 20% were from
the age group 25-30 rest of 3% belonged to age group 30-35. 41% were bachelor, 47%
were masters and 12% were PhD scholars in this statistical data.

Table 3

Reliability of HomeSickness, Depression Questionnaires

Variables Cronbachs Alpha Items

Homesickness .639 33

Depression .680 9

Adjustment .670 16

Overall .672 62

Table 3 shows the reliability results for this survey questionnaire is 0.672, researcher
supported that reliability values satisfactory (Evrardet al., 2003). The reliability values
for each variable vary from .889 between 0.6 to 0.8 are to .923. These values show that
this survey questionnaire is reliable for conducting this research.

Table 4

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 Item Total Correlations of Homesickness (N=100)

Items Correlations Items

Correlation

1 - 0.040 23 0.040
2 - 0.015 24 0.015
3 - 0.073 25 0.073
4 - 0.054 26 0.701**
5 - 0.064 27 0.713**
6 0.006 28 0.733**
7 - 0.039 29 0.689**
8 - 0.045 30 0.755**
9 - 0.006 31 0.626**
10 0.073 32 0.790**
11 0.288** 33 0.670**
12 0.280**
13 0.243*
14 0.382**
15 0.273**
16 0.357**
17 0.311**
18 0.320**
19 0.127
20 0.003
21 0.003
22 0.058

Table no 4 shows the items total correlation of Homesickness in which the highest value
is .790 and lowest value is .003. Correlation ranges from .003 and .790. It shows all items
have significant correlation with scale of homesickness.

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Table 5
Item Total Correlations of Depression (N=100)

Items Correlations
1 0.522**
2 0.458**
3 0.644**
4 0.333**
5 0.480**
6 0.492**
7 0.303**
8 0.766**
9 0.451**

Table no 5 showed that the items total correlation of Depression which have the highest
value of .766 and the lowest value of .303. Correlation ranges from .303 and .766. It
shows the strong correlation between all items of Depression.

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Table 6

Item Total Correlations of Adjustment (N=100)

Items Correlations
1 0.772**
2 0.590**
3 0.731**
4 0.725**
5 0.754**
6 0. 829**
7 0.824**
8 0.736**
9 0.792**
10 - 0.731**
11 0.319**
12 0.206*
13 0.245*
14 0.250*

_______________________________________________________________________

Table no 6 showed that the items total correlation of Adjustment which have the highest
value of .829 and the lowest value of .206. Correlation ranges from .206 and .829. It
shows the strong correlation between all items of Depression

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Table 7

Inter - Scales Correlation of Homesickness

Variables THS LTC ST

THS _

LTC 0.536** _

ST -0.240* 0.114 _

Homesickness Scales Total 0.296 0.114

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

Table 7 portrays the inter scales correlations of the homesickness, which showed
that there is positive correlation among all subscales as well as with total subscale. Total
score of home ideation is 0.296 and total score of likeness towards campus is 0.114
which shows the highest inter scale correlation exist between sub scale home ideation and
sub scale likeness towards campus among hostel students.

Table 8

Inter - Scales Correlation of Depression

Variables CGT AFT PSY

CGT _

AFT 0.314** _

PSY 0.355** 0.459** _

Depression Scale Total 0.669 0.459

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

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Table 8 portrays the inter scales correlations of the depression which shows that there is
positive correlation among all subscales as well as with total subscale. Total score of
cognitive is 0.669 and total score of affective is 0.459 which shows the highest inter scale
correlation exist between sub scale cognitive and sub scale affective among hostel
students.

Table 9

Inter - Scales Correlation of Adjustment

Variables ADJ MLD

ADJ _

MLD 0.548** _

Total 0.548

Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Total score of Adjustment in Table 9 is 0.548 which portrays the inter scales
correlations of the Adjustment which shows that there is positive correlation among all
subscales as well as with total subscale.

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Table 10

Total Inter - Scales Correlation of Adjustment, Homesickness and Depression

Variables ADJ HMS DPN

ADJ _

HMS 0.219* _

DPN 0.168 0.001 _

Total 0.387 0.001

correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

The above table shows the correlation among the Adjustment, Homesickness and
Depression. The results show that there is a highly positive relationship among the above
variables.

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Table 11

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Home sickness Scale in relation with

Variable Age

______________________________________________________________________________
_______
Subscales of Home Sickness 20-25 25-30 30-
35

(N=77) (N=20)
(N=3)

M SD M SD M
SD

Home ideation 37.89 5.36 35.60 3.87 37.66

2.88
Negative feeling about Campus 28.79 3.25 26.60 3.05 28.33
2.08
Stress 46.97 7.83 46.70 5.16 52.66
2.51

Table no 11 shows the Mean and SD of respondents score on homesickness in

relationship with the variable age from the table it proves that 77% belonged to age group
20-25, 20% belonged to age group 25-30 and 3% belonged to age group 30-35.

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Table 12

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Depression Scale in relation with

Variable Age

______________________________________________________________________________
Subscales of Depression 20-25 25- 30 30-35

(N=77) (N=20} (N=3)

M SD M SD M SD

Depression at Cognitive level 9.85 1.29 10.00 1.12 10.66

0.57
Depression at Affective level 9.20 1.77 9.00 1.62 8.33
1.52
Depression at Motor level 9.97 1.66 9.85 1.75 10.33
2.08
______________________________________________________________________________

Table no 12 shows the Mean and SD of respondents score on depression in

relationship with the variable age from the table it proves that 77% belonged to age group
20-25, 20% belonged to age group 25-30 and 3% belonged to age group 30-35.

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Table 13

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Adjustment Scale in relation with

Variable Age
______________________________________________________________________________
_______
Subscales of Adjustment 20-25 25-30 30-35

(N=77) (N=20) (N=3)

M SD M SD M
SD

Adjustment 24.29 6.19 21.45 3.88 21.00

4.58
Maladjustment 15.92 2.72 16.65 2.03 16.33
1.15

Table no 13 shows the Mean and SD of respondents score on adjustment in

relationship with the variable age from the table it proves that 77% belonged to age group
20-25, 20% belonged to age group 25-30 and 3% belonged to age group 30-35.

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Table 14

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Home sickness Scale in relation with

Variable Gender

______________________________________________________________________________
_______

Subscales of Home Sickness Male Female

(N= 69) (N=31)

M SD M SD

Home ideation 37.30 4.53 37.70 6.24

Negative feeling about Campus 27.92 3.31 29.25 3.07
Stress 47.32 7.06 46.32 7.86

Table no 14 illustrates the Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Home sickness

Scale in relation with variable Gender shows 69 males and 31 females were taken into
the study.

Table 15

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Depression Scale in relation with

Variable Gender

______________________________________________________________________________
_______
Subscales of Depression Male Female
(N=69) (N=31}

M SD M SD

Depression at Cognitive level 9.91 1.22 9.90 1.32

Depression at Affective level 9.13 1.67 9.16 1.88
Depression at Motor level 9.98 1.69 9.90 1.68

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 Table no 15 illustrates the Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Depression Scale
in relation with variable Gender shows 69 males and 31 females were taken into the
study.

Table 16

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Adjustment Scale in relation with

Variable Gender

______________________________________________________________________________
_______
Subscales of Adjustment Male Female
(N=69) (N=31)

M SD M SD

Adjustment 22.89 5.48 25.25 6.40

Maladjustment 16.13 2.28 15.96 3.15

Table no 16 illustrates the Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Adjustment

Scale in relation with variable Gender shows 69 males and 31 females were taken into the
study.

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Table 17

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Home sickness Scale in relation with

Variable Education level

______________________________________________________________________________
_______
Subscales of Home Sickness Bachelor Masters PhD

(N=41) (N=47)
(N=12)

M SD M SD M
SD

Home ideation 37.37 5.13 37.12 5.32 37.58

4.33
Negative feeling about Campus 27.56 3.30 29.08 3.32 28.08
2.53
Stress 45.56 7.55 47.68 7.13 50.00
6.28

The above tables show the mean and standard deviation of the homesickness and
demographics variables of educations. The table describes mean and standard deviation
of demographic variables with sub scales of homesickness which is home ideation,
negative feelings about campus and stress. From this table it appears that in data 41%
were bachelor, 47% were masters and 12% were PhD.

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Table 18

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Depression Scale in relation with

Variable Education level

Subscales of Depression Bachelor Masters PhD

(N=41) (N=47} (N=

12)

M SD M SD M
SD
Depression at Cognitive level 9.92 1.10 9.89 1.37 9.91
1.31
Depression at Affective level 9.12 1.56 9.14 1.87 9.16
1.85
Depression at Motor level 9.95 1.70 9.97 1.68 9.91
1.72
______________________________________________________________________________
______
Table 18 shows the mean and standard deviation of the depression and
demographics variables of educations. The table also describes mean and standard
deviation of demographic variables with sub scales of depression which is cognitive,
affective and motor level. From this table it appears that in data 41% were bachelor, 47%
were masters and 12% were PhD.

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Table 19

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Adjustment Scale in relation with

Variable Education level

______________________________________________________________________________
_______
Subscales of Adjustment Bachelor Masters PhD
(N=41) (N=47) (N=12)

M SD M SD M
SD

Adjustment 23.42 5.52 24.25 6.37 21.83

4.72
Maladjustment 16.75 2.40 15.80 2.73 14.83
1.89

Table 19 shows the mean and standard deviation of the adjustment and demographics
variables of educations. The table describes mean and standard deviation of demographic
variables with sub scales of adjustment which is cognitive, affective and motor level.
From this table it appears that in data 41% were bachelor, 47% were masters and 12%
were PhD.

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Table 20

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Home sickness Scale in relation with

Variable Occupation

______________________________________________________________________________
_______
Subscales of Home Sickness Student J0b
Business

(N=61) (N=31) (N=8)

M SD M SD M
SD

Home ideation 37.45 4.73 37.70 6.24 36.12

2.53
Negative feeling about Campus 28.09 3.16 29.25 3.07 26.62
4.34
Stress 47.50 7.30 46.32 7.86 46.87
5.24

Table no 20 demographic variables show that 61% individuals are taken from students, 31%
individuals are taken from job and 8% individuals are taken from business.

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Table 21

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Depression Scale in relation with

Variable Occupation

Student J0b Business

(N=61) (N=31) (N=8)

M SD M SD M
SD

Depression at Cognitive level 9.90 1.27 9.90 1.32 10.00

0.75
Depression at Affective level 9.13 1.71 9.16 1.88 9.12
1.45
Depression at Motor level 10.04 1.67 9.90 1.68 10.33
1.85

Table no 21 demographic variables show that 61% individuals are taken from students, 31%
individuals are taken from job and 8% individuals are taken from business.

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Table 22

Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Adjustment Scale in relation with

Variable Occupation
______________________________________________________________________________
_______
Subscales of Adjustment Student Job
Business
(N=61) (N=31) (N=8)

M SD M SD M
SD

Adjustment 23.06 5.78 25.25 6.40 2 1.62

1.92
Maladjustment 16.06 2.28 15.46 3.15 16.62
2.38

Table no 22 described the demographic information of the respondents in relation

with their occupation. From this table it appears that in data 61 % belonged to students,
31% belonged to job and 8 % belonged to business.

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 CHAPTER 04

SUMMARY

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The research was correlation study in which there are three variables named as
homesickness, depression and adjustment. The study was conducted to explore the
effect of homesickness and depression on adjustment of hostel students. The theme of the
study was to inquire the effect of homesickness and depression on adjustment of hostel
students and to measure the intensity of its impact on study surrounding of hostel
students. The role of demographic variables including as gender, age, occupation and
education, was also inquired in order to check the dimensions of homesickness,
depression and adjustment.

The study consisted of statistical results to examine the hypothesis. Research tools were
used to gather the data. The population was students so the sample was 100 students both
male and female from hostel students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The sampling
technique was convenient sampling technique and data was collected by visiting
university and hostels.

Homesickness scale composed of 33, 3 sub-scales which are home ideation, likeness
towards campus, stress. The main study was designed to check the research hypothesis
through the measurement of the effect of homesickness and depression on adjustment of
hostel students. The sample was 100 students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Data was
collected from hostel students.

The cronbachs Alpha coefficient of homesickness was 0.639 for entire items, depression
was 0.680 and adjustment was 0.670 for entire items. The correlation of homesickness
with all the sub scales were correlated with the total scale of correlation .790, the
correlation of HI with all subscales were positively linked with the total scale.

The depression total correlation shows .766 highest correlations. The inter scale
depression showed positive results with the sub scales. The correlation of adjustment
with all the sub scales were correlated with the total scale of correlation .829, the
correlation of AI with all subscales were positively linked with the total scale.

In order to achieve the objectives of this study, hypothesis was formulated to test with
different statistical methods such as, mean, SD and correlation.

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The first hypothesis stated that there is a relationship between homesickness and
adjustments in the context of university students living in hostels. The result analysis
proved that there is a strong relationship between homesickness and adjustment. So it is
proved that our hypothesis is significantly supported by the findings.

Homesickness could be a critical factor affecting adaptation and adjustment and should
require greater attention than it currently receives. Expatriation is significant corporate
investment whose high cost has been consistently argued. It is imperative to take every
little step to safeguard such crucial investment. Van Tilburg et al., (1996, p.909) argue
that the possibilities of interventions appear to be limited. Some realistic modes of
interventions center on the stress management approach (Fisher, 1989). It is designed
to help the affected people to accept the feeling of homesickness, be involved in the new
environment, do physical activities (sports, games, visits), eat and sleep well, go onto
training programmers (Van Tilburg et al., 1996). In discussing culture shock, a concept
related to homesickness, Selmer (1999) argues that there is no way to prevent it.

Attempts can be made to reduce the impact of homesickness on expatriates and

organizations; such attempts are deeply rooted in the ability of organizations to ensure
adequate expatriate preparation before departure and during the assignment. Deresky
(2010) emphasizes the importance of preparation and training, arguing that such activities
reduce culture shock,

disorientation and anxiety. Preparation should largely be concerned with informing the
expatriate about the circumstances in the host country and the potential for social and
psychological isolation for some time before acquaintance with the new environment.
This process is normal and requires time and personal or family effort for a positive and
gradual adjustment. Important family problems could result from homesickness;
members could turn against each other and this could lead, on occasions, to the
disintegration of the family and a large number of people do not pass this stage, causing
the expatriate to return earlier. As part of prevention, expatriate packs could include plans
for frequent return visits back home. Although this may add to the overall cost of the
expatriate assignment, it will still remain more economical than failed expatriation.
Finally, reducing homesickness could take into account an attempt to rebuild a socio-

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cultural network, however artificial it may be. In many places several multinational
companies work in juxtaposition and their staff may share cultural norms. For instance,
there could be concerted effort by MNCs to establish an expatriate network that could
include host country nationals (HCNs). Cultural practices such as nightclubs, religious
institutions, schools or childcare facilities could be drawn in to provide a more cultural
sensitive network for the expatriates.
The second hypotheses of this research are that there is a relationship between the
depression and adjustments in the context of university students living in hostels. This
hypothesis is tested on SPSS. The researcher analyzed the correlation between the
depression and adjustments. Through the analysis hypotheses was proved correct.
According to a study of college students receiving counseling services between the years
of 1988 and 2001, a 20% increase occurred in the number of students seeking help for
depressive symptoms during that time period of hostel lives (Benton, Robertson, Tseng,
Newton, & Benton, 2003). In an observation of university counseling center directors
completed in 2006, it was explained that 91.6% of the expatriates reported that they had
examined an increase in the strength of students experiencing psychological problems in
the recent years (Blanco, et. al, 2008). The development of depressive identifications may
have a powerful impact on the ability of college students to successfully achieve
academic requirements.

Summary
The main purpose of this research was to measure and explore the effect of homesickness
and depression on adjustment of hostel students. Data was gathered from hostel students
of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The second purpose of the study was to measure the differences among demographic
variations such as gender, age, education and occupation.

The population of this study was based on hostel students both male and female from
university. For the collection of data the convenient sampling technique was used on 100
students masters, bachelors and PhDs from the universities located in Rawalpindi and
Islamabad.

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Findings were obtained from different statistical analysis of homesickness, depression
and adjustments.

Findings:

1. The alpha reliability of the homesickness is 0.639 with the total item of 33,
reliability of depression is 0.680 with total item of 9 and reliability of adjustment
is 0.670 with total item of 16.
2. Item total correlation of homesickness ranges from .003 and .790 which shows
strong relationship.
3. Item total correlation of the depression inventory ranges from .303 and .766 which
shows positive correlation.

4. Item total correlation of adjustment scale ranges from .206 and .829 with shows
positive correlation with sub scales.

5. Using Pearson Product Moment Correlation, the inter correlation between two
scales. The scales show positive correlation each other at the 0.01 significance
level.

6.The Mean and SD of respondents score on homesickness in relationship with the

variable age from the table it proves that 77% belonged to age group 20-25, 20%
belonged to age group 25-30 and 3% belonged to age group 30-35.

7. The Mean and SD of Respondents Scores on Depression Scale in relation with

variable Gender shows 69 males and 31 females were taken into the study.

8. The mean and standard deviation of the adjustment and demographics variables of
educations. The table describes mean and standard deviation of demographic
variables with sub scales of adjustment which is cognitive, affective and motor
level. From this table it appears that in data 41% were bachelor, 47% were masters
and 12% were PhD.

CONCLUSIONS

The study was conducted on university students of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The
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sample size of the research is 100. The main findings of this research are the effects of
homesickness and depression on adjustment of hostel students. The results show that all
three variables are highly correlated. If the homesickness and depression increases then
the adjustments also do increase. All scales of homesickness, depression and adjustments
are reliable.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Future researches will be able to use the outcomes of this analysis of homesickness and
depression on adjustment of hostel students. The students interested in exploring and
further enlightening themselves about homesickness, depression and adjustment will also
find this analysis useful. Through this study the different strategies for homesickness,
depression and adjustment strategies can be learned. This analysis additionally serves the
factors dealing with the students background and household. Following are
recommendations for homesickness, depression and adjustment of hostel students.

1. Hostel students are able to create initiate advanced strategies on further

development of homesickness, depression and adjustment.
2. Counselling and guidance can be provided to students for coping in different
emotional situations.
3. Hostel in charges are also provided with counselling and guidance so they
may manage different study tasks regarding hostel schedule.
4. This research is also beneficial for parents to motivate and support their child
in hostel life which is helpful for students in daily life tasks as well as improve
study skills that will help in their education throughout academic career.
5. Public and private sectors may develop plans of students interest and also
calculate the time for study and extra activities by which students remain
active and motivated.

LIMITATIONS & SUGGESTIONS

There are some important methodological limitations to this research study. First, the
reality that the collected data is dependent on single, self-explained questionnaire at only

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on a single point is challenging. Therefore, self-reported questionnaire at only on a single
point might be highly influenced. Secondly, the sample population selected for this study
was limited to hostel students based in Islamabad as it will not be possible to cover a
larger number of population spread nationwide because it will require considerable time,
resources and other logistics. The sample however is similar in nature to the population
that work on different projects in different organization in Pakistan and can thus be
generalized.

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