RELATIONSHIP OF ADJUSTMENT PROBLEMS WITH QUALITY OF LIFE: A SURVEY AMONG STUDENTS LIVING IN HOSTEL SETTINGS

The current research was carried out to check the relationship of adjustment problems of university students who are living in hostel setting. Furthermore, the study also highlighted its relationship on their quality of life. For that purpose, a sample of (N=140) students was collected by using convenience sampling technique. The overall study was quantitative in nature and a cross-sectional research design was used to carry out the study. The variables under study were quantified or assessed by using two scales. The adjustment problems of university hostel students were assessed by using College Adjustment Test (1990) developed by Pennebaker and Quality of Life was measured by using World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL). Both of measures were valid and reliable. The collected data was analyzed by using SPSS. The results of the study revealed that overall adjustment levels were higher in male students as compared to female students. Similarly, the quality of life was disturbed in female hostel students. Conclusively, the results revealed that adjustment problems are correlated with quality of life. On the basis of results, it was revealed that females are more vulnerable and prone to adjustment issues in transitional challenges and have lower quality of life. Moreover, hostel life also imposed many responsibilities on student’s lives therefore the study suggested to address the factors associated with poor adjustment and low quality of life among students in order to improve their overall adjustment in hostel settings.


INTRODUCTION
Aristotle said that human beings are social animal by nature.This concept highlights that all human beings are social creature that strives for learning and adjusting within their social boundaries.It is a fact that the environment shapes the personality of human beings and the personality of human being is shaped by the environment.In this regard many researches claimed that the personality of individuals is shaped by socio-cultural and developmental context (Iftikhar& Ajmal, 2015).The social system has a significant role in the development of personality and behavior.It has been observed that those students who are getting their education are belongs to different cultures or areas.They are living in hostel settings in different institutions.Due to isolation from families or adjustment problems in new environment they suffer from different mental problems that affect on their personality, educational attainments and on their quality of life.It is also obvious that the students who are residing in hostels have to face multiple challenges as compared to those who are living with their families.In this connection, homesickness is one of the common prevailing issues among students.Many researchers reported that 80% students usually experience psychological distress and the reason is homesickness (Uran, Miller & Johoson, 2003).Similarly, some researchers also highlighted that the students living with their families are less mentally sick or they are enjoying good quality of life (Dahmann& Anger, 2014).
Hostels are residential places in school, colleges and universities where students come from multicultural backgrounds and live in groups.Numerous challenges and obstacles confront students who live in hostels settings, including financial crises, adjustment problems, feelings of helplessness, distress, changes in eating and sleeping habits, and many others (Iftikhar& Ajmal, 2015).A study reported that in hostel life, poor adjustment to the environment lower the quality of life of residents.Both objective (life circumstances) and subjective (life satisfaction) indicators relates with quality of life (Wrosch& Scheier, 2003).

Theoretical Argues About Adjustment Issues
Recent studies have revealed that a variety of cross-cultural factors, including the quantity of contact with host country citizens, the length of residence, finances, and housing, have an impact on how well international students acclimatize (Mustafa &Lias, 2013).Among different aspects of adjustment there are differences in gender with respect to different aspects.According to Kurt Lewin's theory of Stageenvironment stated that an individual's behavior is influenced by their inner personality characteristics and the surroundings they operate in (Muuss, 1996).A study conducted by the Mtshweni in (2021) in South Africa, reported that a gender plays a remarkable role in determining student adjustment at universities, which has an impact on dropout rates because girls face more difficulty in adjusting than boys.Moreover, According to Inman, (2017) University students' attitudes toward their mental health and how they react to their environment are influenced by their gender.
Moreover, adjustment is a behavioral process of balancing conflicting needs.Abdullah et al, (2009) stated that both humans and animals are continuously engaging in adjusting between environmental and personal demands from birth to death.Successful adaptation leads to a healthy personality and those who are unable to mitigate the effects of conflicting needs can become prey to anxiety and depression and toward the low quality of life and satisfaction.Hence, there is a dire need to discuss the quality of life of the students living in hostel settings.

Quality of Life of Students Living in Hostel Settings
To enjoy good quality of life the student must have a good level of resilience.To tackle the adjustment issues and boost the good quality of life the students must have a quality to bouncing back from a dreadful circumstances and to have a significant strengths to deal with and possess the capability to think about the things through the end.In this connection, the researchers claimed that resilience is considered a good trait that leads to the survival, endurance and adjustment from situation to situation.The ability of resilience enables the students to cope, fight or deal with the challenges and difficulties in new environment and enhance the quality of life with hopes and optimistic thoughts and ultimately contribute to the healthy adjustment in hostel settings (Bonanno, 2004).
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines quality of life (QoL) as an individual's view of their situation in life in relation to their objectives, expectations, standards, and worries, as well as the culture and value systems in which they live.It serves as a comprehensive gauge of each person's perception of their overall physical, mental, and social wellbeing.It constitutes both the individual's experience and their living conditions (Nayak et al., 2014).

Rationale of the Study
This is an acknowledged fact that the transition of students from school to college and from college to university has significant effects on their quality of life and overall academic achievement.In fact there are multiple reasons but one of the most reported is the issue of adjustment with new hostel life in which the student suffer from loneliness, isolation, conflict, and homesickness.This study is basically designed to address the issues and challenges faced by the students in hostel settings.There are rare researches in Pakistan to explore such issues in connection with hostel students.Therefore to fill the gap in research this study was carried out among university students to explore the adjustment issues and their impact on quality of life.

Significance of the Study
The results of this research will give a message to the administration about the challenges and adjustment issues that their students are facing and how they deal with them.This will provide an assessment of problems to the counselors to provide necessary intervention to reduce their mental or social issues so that they can live a better life and can achieve their goals.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Usually the adjustment issues began when the learner's feel them unable to cope with societal, or educational pressure.It has been noticed that the students reside in hostel settings they experience many adjustment issues.This is because they are very far away from their relatives, friends and social affiliated individuals.They have to adjust as a new member of the society.They missed their loved ones and their homesickness leads them many other issues such as stress, confusion, and low mood.Many researchers reported this issue such as Hassan et al. ( 2017) conducted a study to check the gender differences with respect to facing adjustment issues.The results of their study reported that female students were more resilient to cope with adjustment issues as compared with male students.Another study claimed that the student personality play a very crucial role in coping and adjusting the life challenges.A qualitative study conducted by Iftikhar and Ajmal (2015) reported that the students who are assertive, introvert and socially isolated are more prone to mental health problems while living in hostel settings.On the other hand the students with extrovert or socially friendly feelings are able to adjust in new environment.Padmaja et al. (2018) reported that self-efficacy and quality of life of university students were significantly influenced by both place of residence and gender.Student living in hostels has lower self efficacy and quality of life In comparison to the students who lived in home.Additionally, it was shown that women who resided in hostels were more prone to mental health problems.People absorb social information differently depending on how comfortable or unsecure they feel about their connection to other people (Dykas & Cassidy, 2011).
Another study reported that the individuals with secure attachments interpret the information positively, whereas those with insecure attachments.The findings also reported that the students with higher level of homesickness usually interpret the events adversely and remain in a mentally sick condition that leads them to the generalized anxiety disorder and they cannot study due to this they have to face failure in many subjects.
When adjusting to their new environment, overseas students are more likely to experience physical and psychological problems (Mori, 2000;Leong & Low 2004).In addition, The health and wellbeing of international students are directly impacted by the quality of their accommodations.Another research reported that First-year students more often struggled with different kinds of social and academic adjustment (Mudhovozi, 2012).Farris (2010) conducted a study to check the psychosocial and adjustment issues among the students living in hostel settings and reported a higher level of stress and social issues.The results of his study also reported a lower academic grade among those students who reported sever psychosocial issues.
The researchers reported that the international university students who are struggle with severe homesickness cannot achieve good academic grades due to their worsen pre-existing mental health conditions including anxiety and mood disorders that lead to the development of new ones, and even force a student to stop attending classes (Thurber & Walton, 2012).According to Kelly et al, (2007) in the United States, 40% of college students leave off due to adjustment-related reasons.
A mental health survey reported that the students who were living in hostel settings score higher on depression and anxiety as compared to students who live with their parents, In Pakistan, 16% to 31% university hostel students are facing severe mental health issues (Saleem et al., 2013).Furthermore, Pakistani students experience comparable concerns with money issues, poor motivation, and issues with learning, academic challenges, teachers, and peers all contributing to adjustment problems (Kazmi & Muazzam, 2017).

Objectives of the Study
1. To check and compare the adjustment problems among the students living in hostel settings.2. To check and compare the quality of life among the students living in hostel settings.3. To compare the adjustment problems among married and un married students 4. To check and compare the quality of life among married and unmarried students.5. To check and compare the quality of life among married and unmarried students.

Hypotheses of the Study
1.There will be a higher rate of adjustment issues among the students living in hostel settings.2. Female students will face more adjustment problems as compare to male students.
3. The quality of life would be significantly disturb or low among the students with adjustment issues 4. The quality of life would be significantly satisfactory among adjusted students 5.There will be a significant relationship of adjustment problems with quality of life among students

METHODOLOGY
The research methods used to measure the variables of the study undergoes different stages and procedures.The detail is as under:

Problem Statement of the Study
Adjustment relates to the quality of life which human beings experience subjectively.Balancing and overcoming the transitional challenges make life worth living and ensure the quality of life.Now a day due to hostels trend, students face many difficulties in adjusting their institutional environments which cause academic failures, mental health problems and poor quality of life.This research was carried out to check the adjustment issues and quality of life among hostel students.

Participants of the Study
The participants of the study were the university students who live in hostels belonging from different cultures, socio-economic status and age groups

Research Design of the Study
This was a quantitative in nature.Participants in this study were the adults with multicultural backgrounds and with different demographic characteristics.Therefore a cross-sectional research design was employed to conduct research.The initial data collected consisted of (N=250) students.
Only the data of (n=140) students met inclusion criteria.

Measures and Covariates
To quantify the study's variables, two scales were used.The adjustment issues were measured by using the College Adjustment Test developed by Pennebaker (1990).This scale has total 19 items with 0.79 reliability.On the other hand, quality of life was checked by using scale QOL-BREF developed by WHO.This scale has 26 items with 0.84.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
The students (both male and female) who live in hostels were included in the study and those who were university students but not availing hostels are excluded from the study.

RESULTS
The data of the study was statistically analyzed by using SPSS (26.00 version).The results from the collected responses are given below.with standard deviation 3.179.In case of social relationships, the average score is 9.36 with standard deviation 2.123.For environment average score is 26.08 with standard deviation 4.292.For actual raw score the average score is 84.69 with standard deviation 9.813.For positive effects the average score is 27.69 with standard deviation 5.615.For negative effects the average score is 37.52 with standard deviation 9.974.For home sickness the average score is 27.52 with standard deviation 6.699 and the average score of overall adjustment 75.11 with standard deviation 12.288.Same as the minimum and the maximum value of all the clinical variables are calculated for the range score of all variables.The table shows comparison of overall adjustments between males and females' respondents to check the significance of difference.From the analysis researcher concluded that male respondents having mean score 79.73 having standard deviation 12.33 and the average score of female respondents is 70.99 and standard deviation is 10.76The comparison shows that male respondents having higher level of overall adjustment in comparison with female respondent students.The significance of the difference is examined using the T-test, and the test is highly significant at the 1% level of significance when the t-score is 4.481 and the p-value is 0.000.between males and females' respondents to check the significance of difference.From the analysis researcher concluded that male respondents having mean score 85.27 with standard deviation 10.39 and the average score of female respondents is 84.18 with standard deviation is 9.31.The comparison shows that male respondents having slightly higher level of quality of life as compared to female respondentstest is used to determine the significance of differences, and the test is not significant at the 5% level of significance when the t-score is -0.659 and the p-value is 0.511.The table shows comparison of overall adjustments according to marital status of the respondents between unmarried and married respondents to check the significance of difference.From the analysis researcher concluded that male respondents having mean score 74.91 with standard deviation 13.09 and the average score of female respondents is 76.00 with standard deviation is 7.71.The comparison shows that female respondents having slightly higher level of overall adjustment as compared to male respondent students.The significance of the difference is assessed using the T-test, and the test is not significant at the 5% level of significance when the t-score is -0.401 and the p-value is 0.690.The table shows comparison of quality of life (WHOQOL) variable according to marital status i.e. between unmarried and married respondents to check the significance of difference.From the analysis researcher concluded that unmarried respondents having mean score 85.44 and having standard deviation of 10.36 and the average score of female respondents is 81.24 having standard deviation is 5.71.The comparison demonstrates that respondents who are not married have a greater level of life quality than those who are married.The significance of the difference is evaluated using the T-test, and the test is significant at the 5% level of significance when the t-score is 1.961 and the p-value is 0.041.The table shows comparison of quality of life (WHOQOL) variable according to the age groups of respondents to check the significance of difference.From the analysis researcher concluded that the respondents having age group from 20 to 30 years having mean score 85.16 with standard deviation 10.05 and the average score of respondents with age 30 to 40 years is 79.75 with standard deviation is 4.69.The comparison shows that lower age group has higher level of quality of life in comparison with respondents of higher level of age.The significance of the difference is assessed using the T-test, and the test is significant at the 1% level of significance when the t-score is 3.337 and the p-value is 0.003.The above table shows bivariate correlation among all the clinical variables under study in this research.The correlation (-.187*) between age and gender is negative and significant at 5%.The correlation between quality of life and gender is (.056) positive but not significant.And the correlation between overall adjustments and quality of life is (.085) positive but not significant.

Table No . 1 Demographic variable information (n=140) Table No. 2Descriptive Statistics of overall clinical variables under study (n=140)
This table shows the descriptive statistics of all the variables under study in the research.From the results the average general health score is 7.31 with standard deviation 1.527.For Physical health average score is 22.77 with standard deviation 3.686.For Psychological health average score is 19.74

Table No .
3Showing the comparison of Overall Adjustments variable between males and females

Table No .
4Showing the comparison of WHOQOL variable between males and females The table shows comparison of quality of life (WHOQOL) variable according to gender i.e.

Table No .
5 Showing the comparison of Overall Adjustments variable for Marital Status of respondents

Table No . 6
Showing the comparison of WHOQOL variable for Marital Status of respondents

Table No .
7Showing the comparison of Overall Adjustments variable for age of respondentsThe table shows comparison of overall adjustments according to age group of the respondents to check the significance of difference.From analysis the researcher concluded that respondents from age 20 to 30 years having mean score 74.84 with standard deviation 12.73 and the average score of respondents with age 30 to 40 years is 77.92 with standard deviation is 5.16.The comparison shows that respondents having higher age level also will have the high level of overall adjustments.To determine whether a difference is significant, a T-test is utilized.The t-score is -1.646 and the p-value is 0.112, indicating that the test is extremely close to being significant.Table No. 8Showing the comparison of WHOQOL variable for Age of respondents