Adolescents need to feel loved and cared for and they need to share their feelings with other people in their environment. As the school plays a significant role in the life of the adolescent, emotional support is an important aspect that has to be part of any educational setting. Unfortunately, adolescents do not always feel comfortable talking to a teacher, a person in authority or even a school psychologist. In many instances they are most comfortable talking to a friend or a peer with whom they can identify. In this study, a literature review explored adolescence as a developmental stage, existing support systems in schools, and the history, key features, definition and nature of peer support groups and supervision of peer supporters. Studies revealed that peer support has potential advantages but also disadvantages for peer supporters but that the former outweigh the latter. The study also looked at research on peer support groups in the South African context. The aims of this study were to explore, in a qualitative way, the experiences, thoughts and feelings of three adolescent peer supporters and provide rich and thick descriptions of their stories. Postmodernism, social constructionism and narrative psychology were combined and identified as a framework for the research. The research material gathered by means of individual interviews, focus groups and journaling reflected the realities co-constructed by the participants and the researcher. The researcher also made use of reflexivity by including a description of her own experience of the research process. The strengths and limitations of this study are evaluated and the findings are summarized. Finally, recommendations are made on supervision, constructing roles and boundaries, training, keeping the momentum of peer support groups going and the usefulness of peer support groups. / Dissertation (MA (Counseling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Psychology / unrestricted

In this study, the impact of a structured support group programme developed for HIV-positive women in South Africa is assessed. The programme has been developed to fit the needs of HIV-positive women in South Africa, using an action research approach. The study utilises a quasi-experimental design, with an intervention group and a control group taking part in both a pre- and post-intervention interview. The participant’s experiences and the impact of the intervention were assessed using a multi-method approach. The program was assessed quantitatively in terms of its impact on the participants’ levels of depression, self-esteem, coping, social support, disclosure, personal stigma, perceived community stigma, coping and knowledge. Qualitatively, participant feedback regarding their experience of the support groups was assessed to provide complementary data to augment the results from the quantitative analyses. Participants were recruited for the study through the Serithi project, and these women were invited to take part in the support group programme. Over a period of one year, 156 women were recruited for the study, 72 of whom agreed to participate in the groups (intervention group), with the remaining 84 women declining the invitation, forming the control group. Ten support groups were implemented during this time-period. Following the implementation of the program, the results from the pre-intervention assessment were analysed and compared, so as to acknowledge any differences that may have existed between the groups prior to their involvement in the study. Post-intervention results were then analysed and compared, in order to statistically determine the impact of the structured support group programme. Participants’ qualitative feedback regarding their participation in the intervention, and their perceived personal benefits from their involvement was analysed using content analysis. Although some differences were identified between the two groups in the pre-intervention analysis, the control group did seem to be a valid comparison. Findings of the research indicate that the intervention group showed significantly higher positive coping, self-esteem, levels of positive support and HIV-related support, and disclosure compared to the control group. Interesting results were found regarding depression and knowledge levels, although these were not found to be significant. No differences were identified between the groups in terms of negative coping, negative support or the experience of stigma. It was concluded that support groups can be effective in assisting HIV-positive women in their journey toward psychosocial adjustment to their HIV infection. It is important, however, that interventions aimed at HIVpositive individuals in South Africa should be developed to fit the specific needs of the target group. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / unrestricted

Orientador: Rosely Palermo Brenelli / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-14T12:59:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cassiani_Simone_M.pdf: 2063323 bytes, checksum: ab3913f853b2a7a1b1188b089621f91e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Os objetivos centrais da presente investigação foram descrever a atuação psicopedagógica em grupos de apoio para alunos com dificuldade de aprendizagem numa rede municipal de ensino do interior do Estado de São Paulo e verificar se esses alunos encaminhados apresentaram evolução no rendimento escolar. Por ser uma pesquisa documental foram utilizados documentos e registros de 07 (sete) escolas de Ensino Fundamental, referentes a 128 (cento e vinte e oito) alunos de 1ª e 2ª séries que freqüentaram o Grupo de Apoio, em 2006 (dois mil e seis), por no mínimo três bimestres, cujas dificuldades se centravam nas áreas de Língua Portuguesa e de Matemática. Os documentos e descrições permitiram realizar uma análise sobre a forma de os professores encaminharem seus alunos com dificuldades de aprendizagem aos Grupos de Apoio, caracterizando as dificuldades como genéricas e específicas. Os registros dos documentos possibilitaram considerar a atuação psicopedagógica de forma geral na rede de ensino, o acompanhamento específico aos professores do Grupo de Apoio e as capacitações oferecidas a eles. Com os documentos relativos às atas finais, o desempenho dos alunos e o resultado de promoção e retenção foram analisados. Os dados demonstraram que houve uma redução significativa nas dificuldades apresentadas pelos alunos nos aspectos referentes à leitura e escrita e ao lógico-matemático, além de outras habilidades subjacentes ao ato de aprender. A atuação psicopedagógica analisada revela as atribuições da psicopedagoga frente às escolas, o enfoquedado à formação continuada dos professores que atuam com os alunos nos Grupos de Apoio e o acompanhamento direcionado junto ao professor destes grupos. O índice de promoção não alcançou a totalidade dos alunos encaminhados ao Grupo de Apoio, sendo 48,1% e 59,2% na 1ª e 2ª série respectivamente. Nesse sentido, não houve resultado estatisticamente significativo na recuperação de todos os alunos, entretanto as dificuldades de aprendizagem foram reduzidas na maioria das categorias quando comparadas entre o diagnóstico inicial e avaliação final do desempenho dos alunos, na perspectiva do professor da sala regular. Esses resultados revelam a importância do psicopedagogo institucional na orientação conjunta das atividades escolares. / Abstract: The main objectives of the present work were to describe the psycho educational performance of students with learning difficulties, attending support groups in a chain of municipal schools located in the country side of the state of São Paulo, as well as verifying whether such students showed any improvement in their academic performance. As a documental research, it was used reports and records from seven primary schools concerning one hundred twenty-eight students in first and second grades who had attended the support groups in 2006 for at least one semester and a half, whose difficulties were mainly in Portuguese Language and Mathematics. After analyzing the documents and descriptions, the teachers sent their students with learning difficulties to the support groups, pointing out as generic and specific difficulties. The reports also allowed to consider the psycho educational performance in a general way in the teaching chain, the specific follow up of the teachers working in the support groups as well as the professional qualifications offered to them. With the documents concerning the final minutes, the students' performance and the results of promotion and retention were analyzed. The data showed a significant decrease regarding the students' difficulties in reading and writing as well as in the logic of mathematics, apart from other learning skills. The psycho educational performance analyzed, shows the psycho educationalist' work on the face of schools, the importance given to the constant education of the support group teachers as well as the follow up of the teacher in such groups. The promotion rate did not reach all the students who attended the support groups being 48,1% and 59,2% in first and second grades respectively. This way, one cannot statistically state that all the students overcame their difficulties however, the learning difficulties were significantly reduced in most of the categories when comparing from the initial diagnosis to the final evaluation of the students' performance, from the view of a regular class teacher. The results show the importance of the institutional psycho educationalist working along in the school activities. / Mestrado / Psicologia Educacional / Mestre em Educação

In this study, autism parent-led support groups and the contribution these groups had in creating parental advocacy were studied. The primary purpose of the study was to determine if autism parent-led support groups promoted advocacy skills of parents of children with autism. The secondary purpose of the study was to evaluate the level and extent of support provided by parent-led support groups. The qualitative data collection was done through individual interviews of parents of children with autism whose children were of any age. Through data analysis 6 major themes were identified: advocacy, emotional support, difficulty with funding, informational support, instrumental support, and appraisal support. Parents indicated that parent-led support groups assisted them in acquiring advocacy skills and provided good emotional support, informational support, and appraisal support. This research was important because parents of children with autism have greater problems with treatments than parents of children with other chronic developmental disorders, and many parents felt they needed to obtain advocacy skills in order to find the best interventions for their child. The social change implication of this study is that people can better understand the impact that parent-led support groups can have in facilitating advocacy among parents who participate in the groups. This study also brings to light the support these groups provide, and how this support impacts their lives.

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In 2007, an estimated 22.3 million people in the United States, aged 12 or older, were classified as meeting the criteria for either substance dependence or abuse. Therapists have long sought to discover the most effective way to address these disorders in therapy; though short-term gains are often seen following inpatient or outpatient treatment, these gains often dissipate over time. Individuals who attend support groups such as Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous or SMART Recovery show much better prognoses over time than those who receive formal treatment alone. The current research is a secondary analysis of data collected by the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study. A path analysis is conducted to examine the relationships between symptoms of depression, symptoms of anxiety, and motivation for treatment as they relate to post-treatment support group attendance. These variables form a path model which is analyzed so that each individual regression takes into account the other regressions in the model. Symptoms of depression are found to be significantly positive predictors of motivation for treatment, and motivation for treatment is found to be a significantly positive predictor of support group attendance. Implications of these findings for clinical practice and future directions for research are included in discussion of the results. / Master of Science

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Chemical dependency in the health profession is a growing concern. With easy access to controlled substances, many nurses divert prescription drugs and even work while under the influence. Nurses who are under the influence and working with patients are an obvious public hazard. Many states in the USA have non-punitive programs to offer recovery to nurses with chemical dependency and return them to work. In California this program is named the Diversion Program. Part of the requirements of successful completion of the Diversion Program is to attend weekly meetings called support groups. These support groups are facilitated by other nurses experienced in the field of chemical dependency. This study explored the experiences of nurse facilitators of support groups for nurses with chemical dependency in the California, USA, Diversion Program. Data were collected through twelve individual interviews selected through purposeful, non-probability convenience sampling. A phenomenological research design was used that was descriptive, explorative, and contextual. The data analysis revealed four major themes: (1) experience of communication within the Diversion Program; (2) experience of the structure of the Diversion Program; (3) experience of their role within the Diversion Program; and (4) experience of facilitation of support groups. The study revealed that even though many of the nurse facilitators‟ experiences were positive with respect to the support groups they expressed concern about the communication patterns within the Diversion Program. To offer support for the nurse facilitators, guidelines and a conceptual framework were created to enhance their experience and mitigate their feelings of marginalization from the Diversion Program. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)