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The media is a social factor influencing suicide clusters. As a result, the AFSP and the CDC established guidelines for journalists in order to prevent suicide contagion and imitation. Compliance has been inconsistent. However, researchers have failed to explore the qualitative nature of how media reports are framed. Furthermore, research has not examined how online news reports may include features unique to the digital environment. One must also consider how other social factors affect the development of suicide clusters. Family, affluence, peers, and education may influence suicide clustering, especially amongst teens and young adults. Psychological factors, like imitation and contagion, should also be considered. This research examined online media reports and appended comments pertaining to three point suicide clusters involving teens and young adults (Cornell University 2009-2010 and Palo Alto, CA 2009-2010/2014-2015). Eighty-two online news articles and 2,500 comments were analyzed. The researcher conducted discourse analysis and a comparative case study using domains and themes derived from the data. Articles were checked for compliance to the preventative guidelines, and the qualitative nature of violations was explored. Descriptive statistics and timing of publication were used to describe the relationship between media framing and the development of suicide clusters. Comments were examined for both reflexive and oppositional responses to media frames. Data was also open coded for the consideration of other domains and themes. Findings suggested that while the media often failed to adhere to prevention guidelines, the online news reports do not seem to be a large factor in the growth of the point clusters under investigation. Instead, findings suggested that these online reports offer protective features including hyperlinks to prevention resources and scientific facts, as well as public comment spaces for coping and the creation of a collective will. Findings also suggested that other social factors including the affluent family, peer groups, and education might be equally influential. These factors alter levels of social integration and normative regulation, sometimes in an interactional manner. The researcher argued that social factors might lead community members to experience egoistic, fatalistic, and/or anomic suicidal tendencies. Furthermore, both imitation and contagion may be at play.

abstract: The primary goal of this study was to investigate whether youth from an affluent community showed elevated rates of substance use and associated problems in young adulthood relative to national norms. The secondary goal was to determine if parents’ “containment,” or stringent disciplinary action, of adolescent substance use as measured in Grade 12 could help predict substance use in senior year of college, over and above other parenting factors. The final goal was to assess trends of substance use over time for stability based on categories of participants’ overall levels of use in Grade 12, (low, medium, high). Results indicated that substance use remained elevated into young adulthood, relative to national norms, consistent with extant research involving upper middle class youth. In regression analyses, high parents’ containment was associated with low substance use in senior year of college; however, the inclusion of Grade12 use as a covariate reduced this association with containment such that it was no longer statistically significant. Such results suggest a mediated effect, with Grade 12 substance use mediating the effects of Grade 12 Containment on college senior year substance use. Finally, upper middle class youth were found to remain in their relative substance use group (low, medium, high) as determined at Grade 12 through all four years of college. Taken together, these results emphasized the importance of high school substance use behaviors as a notable risk factor for problematic substance use over time. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2015

This study tests an aspect of the environmental theory of Peter Huber outlined in his book <i>Hard Green: Saving the Environment from the Environmentalists: A Conservative Manifesto</i> (1999). Huber's thesis is that wealth leads to environmental conservation in two ways: 1) that wealthy nations develop and implement technologies to maximize the efficiency of land use, and 2) that wealthy individuals pour their wealth into the conservation of nature. Using secondary data analysis, I test the first national-level hypothesis with regressions of the variables "Gross National Income" and "ecological footprint," and test the second individual-level hypothesis with logistic regressions of the variables "income" and "donation to environmental groups," from both the General Social Survey and the World Values Survey. The results strongly refute Huber's national-level theory, with evidence that wealthy nations are actually less efficient at using land, but on an individual level the evidence suggests that the wealthy are indeed more likely to donate money to environmental groups. / Master of Science

This thesis investigates spatial patterns of income-based residential segregation at the neighborhood level in the Russian capital city Moscow within new administrative boundaries, which have received relatively little attention in prior studies. It is argued that Moscow faces high levels of income inequality exacerbated by growing levels of spatial segregation between the affluent and prestigious Center – South-West and poor industrial South – South-East. Applying a whole set of quantitative methods complemented with computer mapping techniques, based on the latest 2013 data by the City of Moscow Territorial Branch of the Federal State Statistics and 2010 Census data, this study provides new insights into spatial differentiation processes and elaborates policy solutions aimed at addressing economic disparities in the city. A key finding of this thesis is that income segregation in the study area has been driven to a larger extent by the isolation of very poor neighborhoods from middle- and upper-income areas.

Since John Ruskin and William Morris's protestations against mass production in the nineteenth century, critics of mass consumption thought that it not only reduced the necessity, but also the desire, to make things for personal use and enjoyment. The history of leisure painting in art societies and adult education, and of the amateur artist’s consumption of art materials and self-help literature, shows that, on the contrary, affluence both inspired and facilitated a quest for self-actualisation amongst the rank and file. Creative activities such as drawing and painting served this quest at little financial cost to the individual. Following the Second World War, a significant increase in the take-up of leisure painting was encouraged by the state as part of the broader postwar settlement. The pursuit of personal wellbeing through creative activity was regarded as a public good, of benefit not only to individuals but also to the communities of which they were a part. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, state support for recreational pursuits such as leisure painting was pared back: in the shift from collectivist social democracy towards individualist market liberalism, personal enjoyment was recast as a private affair for which the consumer must pay. Painting continued to grow in popularity, supported by expanding consumer markets in self-help literature and affordable art materials. Yet while consumerism sustained the popularity of amateur art-making, the ways in which amateur artists participated in the arts changed. Personal creativity emerges here as an inherently social activity: the private experience of creativity is mediated and structured by society. Consumerism was not bad for personal creativity per se, but the replacement of a communitarian approach with a consumerist model restricted the breadth and reach of creative aspiration nurtured as part of the postwar settlement. By the end of the century, most amateurs were painting alone.

This theses focuses on lifestyle of teachers at chosen primary and high schools. The thesis deals with issue of teacher's lifestyle at primary and high schools in two parts. The first part focuses on the theory related with healthy and unhealthy lifestyle and the second one deals with the practice research. The theory focuses on these terms: the health, the determinants of health, the lifestyle, the moves-activity, the nourishment, the psychic hygiene and the lifestyle diseases. The practical part contains the research which is accomplished using questionnaire survey. The main target is getting information about teacher's lifestyle at chosen schools It was fulfilled and we discovered the teachers at schools in Vlašim, Domažlice, Prague and Bělá nad Radbuzou are trying to live healthy, even though not all of them like this lifestyle. On the basis of these results was created a special lecture intended for the participants of our questionnaire survey.. KEY WORDS: Lifestyle, diet, sport, obesity, teacher, diseases of affluence

American youth are facing a mental health crisis. Rates of depression and suicide continue to rise among all children ages 12-17. While there is considerable research on the mental health of underserved children, much less is known about the mental health status of youth from affluent communities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of community health assessment (CHA)-driven mental health interventions on the youth of affluent communities. Using a pre and post evaluation model, this study compared the frequencies of self-reported depression and suicide ideation for students in Grades 8, 10, and 12, and geographic location of the youth of affluent communities before and after implementing CHA-driven interventions. The diffusion of innovation theory guided this study and a quantitative quasiexperimental research design was used. The Utah Student Health and Risk Prevention survey provided 2,973 responses from students attending public high school during the 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017 school years. Acting as the control, survey responses for depression and suicide ideation from 2011, prior to CHA-driven interventions, were compared to postCHA intervention efforts in 2013, 2015, and 2017. Statistical analyses indicated that the change in self-reported frequencies of depression and suicide ideation were not statistically significant for grade level or geographic location before and after CHA-driven mental health interventions. The results of this study might help local public health agencies working in affluent communities understand how the mental health status, especially among the youth demographic, might shape the future of public health and the role of public health practitioners in promoting social change.

Even if they do not realize it, readers are perpetually in a condition that is strikingly similar to that of the Good Samaritan. Right now they have access to a vast network of communication that both enhances their senses and increases their sphere of influence. They can, for example, sit down at a computer and click on a certain combination of "sites" and the result will be that, in two weeks (or sooner), a DVD will arrive on their doorstep. Or, they can choose another combination, and the result will be that, in about two weeks (or less), a child will be saved from starvation and dehydration in some distant and destitute nation. Like the Good Samaritan, a reader of this thesis can see the desperate need of others and they have the ability to affect their condition. This perpetual Good Samaritan condition is directly a result of the recent changes the world has undergone as a result of technological advancement. This thesis is an exploration of the ethical implications of the potential perpetual good Samaritan. I will argue that (1) affluent individuals are able to affect positively the global poor and that they have a moral obligation to do so, (2) that this moral obligation is limited insofar as fulfilling the obligation requires a moral agent to sacrifice something of substantial significance (i.e., something that would cause a long term decrease in happiness), and (3) fulfilling this obligation requires specific actions on political, social, and individual levels.

Yes / Young people choose energy-dense, nutrient-poor diets, yet understanding of potential determinants is limited. Associations between food choices, mental wellbeing, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and family affluence were explored to identify targets for intervention to promote dietary health and wellbeing in young people. Adolescents were recruited via post-primary schools in the UK and surveyed at two time-points when aged 13-14 years and 15-16 years. The questionnaire enquired about mental wellbeing using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, HRQoL using the KIDSCREEN-10, socio-economic status using the Family Affluence Scale and food choice by Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). With missing and anomalous cases excluded, the sample comprised 1208 cases. Factor analysis on the FFQ indicated five food choice factors: ‘Junk Food’; ‘Meat’; ‘Healthy Protein’; ‘Fruit/Vegetables’; ‘Bread/Dairy’. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that frequent consumption of Junk Food was associated with being male and lower mental wellbeing. Frequent Meat intake was associated with being male and with lower HRQoL. Frequent choice of Bread/Dairy foods was more common among males and associated with higher wellbeing and greater affluence. Those who consumed Fruit/Vegetables frequently were more likely to be female, have higher HRQoL, higher mental wellbeing, and greater family affluence. These direct associations endured between time points. The dietary factors were not mutually exclusive. Those who frequently chose Junk Food were less likely to choose Fruit/Vegetables. Frequent choice of Meat was associated with more frequent choice of Junk Food and Healthy Protein. Intervention to improve dietary and psychological health in young people should target males, those in less affluent households, seek to reduce consumption of ‘junk’ food, and increase fruit and vegetable intake. / This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. This ma-terial is based upon work conducted as part of the Wellbeing in Schools (WiSe) study which was financially supported by the Centre of Excel-lence for Public Health (Northern Ireland), and the Centre of Evidence and Social Innovation, at Queens University Belfast.