Retrospective Longitudinal Studies on Lifestyle and Social Environment in North-Eastern Tribes

Abstract

Retrospective longitudinal studies are conducted on lifestyle and social environment on a sample of 270 tribal individuals from North-Eastern tribes in Tripura. The study is of relevance to the welfare of children, involving their families and the local community. Time of the status enquiry covers a span of more than 5 years, viz. 20 September 2011–30 January 2017. Lifestyle status of villagers, consisting of ‘food, shelter, and health’ at present time, 2 years back and 5 years back from the time of interview are enquired, and the status is categorised as comfortable and not comfortable. Percentage of positive response recorded indicates a general improvement of lifestyle status over time. Question on social environment in individuals’ locality of residence is asked for the present time and retrospective time of 5 years back from the date of the interview to assess the state of improvement over years. The scores assigned are peaceful (score 3), moderately peaceful (score 2), disturbed (score 1) and highly disturbed (score 0), and the scores are then added up and expressed as percentage with respect to maximum possible score at a particular year. This provides a picture of (partial) fulfilment of individuals’ expectation on social environment with respect to the highest possible state. Growth curves of lifestyle and social environment over time indicate a general improvement of tribal status over years.