published_or_final_version / Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Objective: Numerous studies trying to find the causes and implications of binge drinking on college campuses have focused their attention on the heavy drinkers. The purpose of this study was to understand why and how college students choose to abstain from drinking. The study also examined the experiences of the abstaining college students on a campus where 83% of the student body drinks. Methods: Twelve undergraduate students from the University of Richmond participated in this qualitative study. Individual interviews using open-ended questions were conducted to ascertain the reasons for their abstinence and their experiences as college students. After the interviews, the 12 students were assigned to focus groups to discuss and compare their experiences and to test emergent themes.Results: The three most often mentioned reasons for the decision to abstain were (a) they wanted to maintain control over their body and environment, (b) it is illegal to drink under age 21 and (c) they did not want to disappoint their parents. The students described needing strong personal convictions about the decision to abstain in order to stand up to social pressures to fit in. Most of the students (11) made the decision during their high school years. A supportive network of peers and high parental expectations helped solidify the decision to abstain throughout high school. The transition period into college and the development of a social network is the most difficult time to be an abstainer, since most social activities revolve around drinking. The meaning they gave to their experience on campus was that it is more difficult to develop a social network as an abstainer, but the relationships are deeper and more genuine than those developed over nights of drinking. Conclusions: The choice to abstain from drinking is often made during high school and maintained through social support. The transition into college and the lack of a social network is a tenuous period during which the decision to abstain is challenged. University administrators need to look into alternative ways in which new students can develop their social network where drinking is not the primary focus.

Alkohol används ofta av ungdomar och kopplas med skadliga hälsorelaterade utfall (t ex skada, beroende). Denna uppsats undersökt unga kvinnors attityder till alkoholkonsumtion. Valet av unga kvinnor som studiegrupp motiverades av det faktum att unga kvinnor börjar vanligtvis att konsumera alkohol vid en tidigare ålder än unga män i samma åldersgrupp. Studien bestod av två fokusgrupper med totalt nio unga kvinnor i nionde klass från en kommunal skola i en liten stad i södra Sverige. Resultatet visade att de unga kvinnorna ansåg att konsumtionen av alkohol med andra unga kvinnor inträffade på grund av en kombination av grupptryck och effekten av föräldrars påverkan på sina barn. De unga kvinnorna tänkte att om det fanns tydliga regler i hemmet barnen skulle veta vad som förväntades från själva. Resultatet visade också att ett behov av att bli accepterad av andra jämnåriga ansågs utgöra ytterligare en viktig orsak bakom alkoholkonsumtion. Sammanfattning utav denna studie är att både tidigare forskning och denna studies resultat visade att föräldrars påverkan på sina ungdomar och grupptryck har stor påverkan på hur ungdomar väljer att agera kring olika hälsorelaterade val. / Alcohol are commonly used by adolescents and linked with harmful health-related outcomes (e.g. injury, dependence). This study explored young women’s attitudes to alcohol consumption. The choice of young women as a study group was motivated by the fact that young women typically start to consume alcohol at an earlier age than young males in the same age group. The study consisted of two focus groups with a total of nine young women in ninth class from a public school in a small town in the south of Sweden. The result showed that the young women believed that the consumption of alcohol with other young women occurred due to a combination of peer pressure and the effect that parents have on their child. The young women thought that if there were clear rules in the home the children would know what was expected from themselves. The result also showed that a need to be accepted by other peers were believed to constitute an additional important reason behind alcohol consumption. In sum, both previous research and the results of this study converge to indicate that parents' influence on their youth and peer pressure have a major impact on how young people choose to act on various health related life-style choices.

The current study examined the process by which adolescents choose who to dislike in a sample of Finnish 10th graders. Information was available for the adolescents on their victimization, bullying behavior, problem behavior, school burnout, school grades, and their depressive symptoms. The initial analysis consisted of assessing which characteristics made individuals more likely to dislike someone, after taking into account the characteristics of the individual being nominated. This analysis found that individuals form antipathy for dissimilar others. This process is hypothesized to be a result of mechanisms of threat. The secondary analysis compared the characteristics of unilateral and mutual antipathies. This analysis found that mutual antipathies are characterized by elevated differences between individuals on victimization. These results identify and describe important aspects of the adolescent peer environment. / by Christopher A. Hafen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

<p><em><p>Syfte:</p>Syftet med undersökningen var att beskriva vad som formar ungdomars attityd till rökning. <em><p>Metod:</p>Sex kvalitativa intervjuer genomförds med ungdomar i åldern 14-15 år. Kategorier utarbetades genom analys av intervjuutskrifterna. <em><p>Resultat:</p>Det framkom att ungdomarnas attityd formas dels av yttre faktorer som närståendes rökvanor och dels av inre faktorer som nyfikenhet. Ungdomarna ansåg även att om cigaretter varit så ohälsosamma som det påstås så hade de varken tillverkats eller sålts. Ungdomarna beskrev rökare med ord som tuffa och coola. <em><p>Konklusion:</p>Resultatet antyder att ungdomarnas attityd till rökning formas dels av vännernas uppfattningar och dels av föräldrarnas attityd. Ungdomar lever i nuet och väger därför inte in hälsoriskerna i sitt beslut att röka. <em><p>Implikation:</p>Informera föräldrarna att ha en hårdare attityd emot tobak. Skapa ett informationsmaterial som förklarar varför det är politiskt svårt att förbjuda tobaksprodukter. Ytterligare forskning behövs om hur föräldrars rökvanor påverkar ungdomars attityd till rökning. </em></em></em></em></em></p> / <p><em><p>Objective:</p>The aim of our study was to describe how young people's attitudes towards smoking emerge. <em><p>Method:</p>Six qualitative interviews were conducted with adolescents aged 14-15. Categories were developed through an analysis of interview transcripts. <em><p>Results:</p>It was found that young people's attitude is shaped partly by external factors such as smoking habits by related parties and partly by internal factors such as curiosity. Young people also felt that if cigarettes were as unhealthy as it is claimed they had neither manufactured nor sold. Young people described the smokers with words like tough and cool. <em><p>Conclusion:</p>Young people's attitude to smoking is shaped partly by their friends’ views and partly by their parents' attitude. Young people are living in the moment and therefore they do not consider the health risks when deciding to start smoking. <em><p>Implication:</p>Inform the parents that they should have a tough stance against tobacco. Create information material which explains why it is politically difficult to ban tobacco products. Further research is needed on how parents' smoking habits affect young people's attitudes to smoking. </em></em></em></em></em></p>

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Julie A. Hubbard, Dept. of Psychology. Includes bibliographical references.

Namibia, as most countries on the African continent, is facing a high rate of teenage pregnancies. It is one of the biggest social issues challenging contemporary society, contributing to social problems such as illegal abortions, baby dumping and suicide attempts. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to focus on young women and their experiences of being pregnant teenagers and young mothers. During this research process young mothers have elaborated on their own life situation discussing ideas that could have helped them during the pregnancy. They also give ideas on what could be helpful for them today. The research also pays attention to the attitudes that the young mothers face in their communities. The town were this research was carried out, Rundu, is situated in the Kavango region, which has the far highest rate of teenage pregnancies in the country. This is a qualitative research and data was collected through daily observations, conversations and semi-structured interviews. In the understanding of my results, I have used gender theory, social exclusion, social construction, stigmatisation and an intersectional perspective. According to the results six of my seven respondents were struggling during pregnancy and still do today. They struggle/struggled mainly due to lack of resources and money as well as not having enough people helping them taking care of the baby. Most of the young women left school at an early stage of the pregnancy. This either because school policies would not let them proceed or because school uniforms and shoes were getting too small. Attitudes present and the discourse on pregnant teenagers among young and old people in Rundu prevented some of the pregnant girls from taking part of a social life. They got blamed for falling pregnant. Some of them were feeling very ashamed over their condition and started living more isolated lives, not going in to town anymore and thereby missing health controls at the hospital. / Namibia har, som de flesta afrikanska länderna, en hög grad av tonårsgraviditeter. Tonårsgraviditeter är ett av landets största sociala bekymmer, eftersom det leder till andra sociala problem så som illegala aborter, ”baby dumping” och självmordsförsök. Syftet med denna kandidatuppsats är att lägga fokus på de unga mödrarna och deras upplevelser av att vara gravida tonåringar och unga mammor. I uppsatsen får de unga mammorna möjlighet att resonera kring sina egna livssituationer och kring vad som hade kunnat hjälpa dem under tiden då de var gravida. De berättar också om vilken sorts stöd de behöver idag. Uppsatsen lägger vidare fokus på attityder som de unga mammorna möter i de olika sammanhang där de befinner sig. Staden Rundu, som är platsen där empirin har samlats in, är belägen i Kavangoregionen, som har den absolut högsta siffran tonårsgraviditeter i hela landet. Detta är en kvalitativ studie och empiri har samlats in genom dagliga observationer, samtal och semi-strukturerade intervjuer. I analysen av resultaten har teorier kring genus, social exklusion, social konstruktion, stigmatisering samt ett intersektionellt perspektiv använts. Resultaten visar att sex av de sju informanterna hade det svårt under sin graviditet och fortfarande har det svårt idag. De har det kämpigt främst på grund av att de saknar ekonomiska tillgångar och människor omkring dem som kan hjälpa dem att ta hand om barnet. De flesta av informanterna lämnade skolan vid ett tidigt stadium av graviditeten. Det berodde antingen på att policies på de olika skolorna inte lät dem fortsätta eftersom de var gravida eller för att deras skoluniformer och skor blev för små. Attityder mot tjejerna och diskursen kring tonårsgraviditeter i Rundu hindrade en del av informanterna från att ta del av ett socialt liv. De fick skulden för att ha blivit gravida och vissa av dem skämdes väldigt mycket över sin situation. Detta ledde till att de började leva mer isolerat och inte gärna vistades inne i centrum. Vissa av tjejerna missade därmed kontroller på mödravården.

Disputats, Stockholm 2007.

published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy