This study was conducted to examine the relationship between smartphone addiction, sleep quality, and academic performance. The study presented quantitative research on 323 students in a public university in Sabah to explore the relationship between smartphone addiction, sleep quality, and academic performance. A simple random sampling was used in the study. The Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version (SAS-SV) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used in this study. SPSS was used as a tool of analysis for descriptive and inferential analysis. Pearson correlation was involved to test the hypothesis of the study. The result indicated that the greater the smartphone addiction, the lower the academic performance of university students. The finding also proved that students with poor sleep quality might exhibit low academic performance. Smartphone addiction was found to be associated with sleep quality where overusing smartphones was related to poor sleep quality in university students. On this basis, the problem of smartphone addiction and sleep quality should be tackled in order to improve the academic performance of university students and their overall health.

In addition to social and environmental factors, individual personality traits have intricately linked with maladaptive behaviour. Thus, the purpose of this article was to review the link between individual personality traits and criminality. A systematic review was conducted to obtain information regarding the link between individual personality traits with criminal behaviour in the Sage, Web of Science, APA PsycNet, Wiley Online Library, and PubMed databases. The results indicate that individual personality traits that contribute towards criminality are (i) psychopathy; (ii) low self-control; and (iii) difficult temperament. As an overall impact, the review is expected to provide in-depth understanding of the link between individual personality traits and criminality; hence, greater consideration will be given to the dimension of personality as a notable risk factor of criminal behaviour.

Child sexual abuse is a public health issue that has been associated with a variety of negative health outcomes. Child sexual abusers constitute a heterogeneous population of individuals. This review lays out an overview of the current understanding of typologies and psychological profiles of child sexual abusers. Typologies of child sexual abusers in general and online child sexual abusers are reviewed to summarise the existing knowledge. Psychological traits including personality traits, cognitive distortion, empathy, and impulsivity are examined to provide a wider perspective of the psycho-criminogenic factors of child sexual abuse. Although past research on child sexual abusers has provided insights into the organisation and classification of different types of child sexual abusers, the classification of these typologies has drawn widespread criticisms. In this review, we discuss the challenges and limitations pertaining to the existing typologies and studies related to the psychological profile of child sexual abusers.

The escalating trend of murder victim concealment worldwide appears worrying, and literature does not reveal any specific study focusing on victim concealment amongst convicted male Malaysian murderers. Therefore, this study was aimed at investigating the psychological traits that may underlie the act of murder concealment in Malaysia via mixed method approaches. Male murderers (n = 71) from 11 prisons were selected via purposive sampling technique. In the quantitative analysis, a cross-sectional study design using the validated questionnaire was used. The questionnaire contained murder concealment variables and four Malay validated psychometric instruments measuring: personality traits, self-control, aggression, and cognitive distortion. The independent sample t-tests revealed the significantly higher level of anger in murderers who did not commit concealment acts (8.55 ± 2.85, p < 0.05) when compared with those who did so (6.40 ± 2.64). Meanwhile, the Kruskal–Wallis H test revealed that anger and the personality trait of aggressiveness-hostility significantly varied across the different groups of murder concealment acts (p < 0.05). The qualitative data obtained via the in-depth interviews revealed two important themes for the murderers to commit murder concealment acts: (1) fear of discovery and punishment and (2) blaming others. These findings discussed from the perspectives of the murderers within the context of criminology and psychology may provide the first ever insight into the murder concealment acts in Malaysia that can benefit the relevant authorities for crime prevention and investigation efforts.

The datasets in this article provides supplementary information related to: (1) demographic profile of young offenders and (2) perpetrator experience in committing a crime. A quantitative approach based on a cross-sectional survey design was employed to collect data among 306 young offenders undergoing Community Service Order initiated by the Malaysian Social Welfare Department. The resultant data were analysed descriptively using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The result stipulates that the majority of respondents are consist of male young offenders aged 20 years old, Malays, single in marital status, and unemployed. Based on the crime involvement aspect, the result indicates that young offenders involved in stealing (26.1%), does not carry any weapons while committing a crime (50.0%), and entangled in criminal activity due to peer influence (40.0%). Moreover, unfavorable luck contributes to the failure in executing crime (52.6%) which subsequently leads them to be arrested by the police (52.0%).

Protective and risk factors are important in reducing vulnerability towards drug abuse among adolescents. This study, therefore, aims to explore gender differences in such vulnerability in high-risk areas identified by the National Anti-Drugs Agency Malaysia. The study employs a survey design, with questionnaires distributed to 213 adolescents who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The researchers developed the questionnaire and comprised five parts: the demographic profile, interpersonal conflict, negative emotions, social support, and mental health. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results show no significant gender differences in interpersonal conflict, negative emotions, and mental health. However, there was a significant difference in social support based on gender, with females showing a higher mean than males. These findings imply the importance of identifying the relevant factors to prevent early involvement in drug abuse.