As individuals age, their likelihood of experiencing mental and physical problems increases, as does their risk of developing social isolation. Behavioral, physiological, and/or psychological changes are common manifestations of social isolation. Increased morbidity and mortality are the outcome. Ecological systems theory and social baseline theory provided the framework to explore 10 older individuals' perceptions of risk for social isolation and their perceived barriers to social integration. Data for this interpretive phenomenological study were collected from participant diaries, interviews, the 6-item de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGLS-6), the Lubben Social Network Scale 6 (LSNS-6), a demographic survey, and a social support profile. The Colaizzi method and interpretive phenomenological analysis were used to analyze diaries and interviews. Participant demographics, DJGLS-6, LSNS-6, and social support profile data were used to enrich descriptions of the participants and find other themes. Results indicated that most participants like living alone. However, more than half reported periods of loneliness and 4 reported estrangement from an offspring. Experiences of negative age-related treatment were described by many participants and most reported that transportation and mobility issues were the biggest barriers to social integration. Additionally, many participants reported that access to planned social activities would alleviate social isolation. Implications for positive social change arise from this research in the form of increased awareness of the experiences and perceptions of older individuals at risk for social isolation. Additionally, these findings can inform future research, policy change, and strategies for social isolation interventions and prevention.

The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of low birth weight among non-Hispanic Blacks and non-Hispanic Whites along the rural/urban continuum, as well as the combined effect of being both non-Hispanic Black and residing in a completely rural county. Degree of social isolation and lack of support are proposed mechanisms for explaining disparities in low birth weight for Blacks in rural counties. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 Child (NLSY79-C) datasets, logistic regression models were used to estimate the odds of low birth weight. Key variables employed in these models include race/ethnicity, a five category measure of counties by degree of rural versus urban residence, interaction terms for race by county categorization, measures of the degree of community level support or isolation, household composition as a measure of the family support structure, access to medical care, maternal SES, birth characteristics, and maternal pregnancy behavior. Results demonstrate that Blacks have much higher odds of low birth weight than Whites and living in a completely rural county exacerbates disadvantage in birth weight outcomes for non-Hispanic Blacks but not for non-Hispanic Whites. The community and household level support measures have little mediating effect on the magnitude of the negative birth weight outcomes found for non-Hispanic Blacks in the most rural counties. However, the first order effect for non-Hispanic Blacks was almost completely explained by the presence of the father in the household when interaction effects for race and place of residence were also included in the model.

Students with internalizing behaviors are often overlooked in terms of receiving interventions that could change academic outcomes and prevent problems that could have serious implications, including social withdrawal, social isolation, and suicidal ideation. Recent research has found the use of social emotional learning (SEL), school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS), and social skill instruction, to be effective in treating students with both internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The use of peers has also shown promise in helping students with behavior problems. In this study, a multiple baseline across participants' design was used across two playgrounds to evaluate a buddy bench intervention, which utilized peers to help socially withdrawn students increase social engagement and peer interactions and decrease social isolation. All students (N = 448) in grades 1st through 6th were observed during the pre-lunch recess period. Results revealed that from baseline to intervention phases there was a decrease of between 19% (on the 4th to 6th grade playground) and 24% (on the 1st to 3rd grade playground) in the number of students engaged in solitary behavior on the playground. The majority of students reported positive attitudes towards the intervention. Teachers reported mixed feelings about the social validity of the Buddy Bench. Limitations and implications are discussed.

Mental illness is often associated with social isolation, unemployment and limited community participation. Mental health rehabilitation services aim to decrease these psychosocial effects of illness and encourage better community integration for mental health consumers. Volunteer work is one avenue in which consumers can become actively involved with their local communities. However whilst often supported clinically, limited empirical evidence exists which supports the use of volunteer work as a potential mode of rehabilitation for consumers. The overall aim of this study was to document consumer perceptions and experiences with volunteer work and to identify if participation in volunteer work has a positive impact on their mental health. Phase one of this study involved in-depth interviews with nine consumers currently volunteering. Themes identified from these interviews supported the notion that volunteer work is a meaningful occupation for consumers and one which promotes community integration and supports consumer recovery. Findings from the interviews also guided the development of a volunteer scale for later use within the study. Phase two involved the development and pilot testing of a volunteering questionnaire which measured consumer attitudes and experiences with volunteer work. This scale was combined with other standardised tests which measured the mental health variables of personal empowerment and quality of life. Phase three involved the administration of the questionnaire battery developed in phase two. The battery was distributed and completed by thirty consumers, including both those who were and were not volunteering. Analysis conducted identified that overall consumers held a positive view of volunteer work, believing it was a way of developing work skills, friendships and promoting positive mental health. / Analysis comparing the volunteering to the non volunteering group indicated that those volunteering experienced better quality of life, specifically within the psychological health, social relationships and personal environment domains. This provides support for the hypothesis that participation in volunteer work promotes consumer recovery. However, age was identified as a potential confounding variable and so the significant results should be viewed with caution. Cost, stigma and becoming unwell during volunteering were identified as barriers to consumer participation. It is argued that mental health services are in a good position to support consumers not only to access but also to maintain ongoing volunteer participation. To date minimal evidence has existed that supported this intervention. This study has begun to fill this research void, however, small study numbers and the cross-sectional, descriptive design make establishing a cause and effect relationship impossible. It would thus be beneficial to conduct a larger study investigating the impact further, including measuring the influence of any interventions that promote consumer participation in volunteer work, such as supported volunteering.

Thesis (M.Sc. (Pharmacology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Abstrakt Syftet med denne undersökelsen var å se om det fantes et samband mellom lönn og vekt og utenforskap og vekt inom kriminalvården og det ble sjekket om extroversion, kjönn og alder hadde noen påvirkning på dette. Det ble brukt en delvis selvkonstruert enkät med 22 av  Eysenck´s extraversionsspörsmål (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975). Det ble konstruert spörsmål om utenforskap og fysikk og stilt spörsmål om lönn, vekt og alder. Dette ble gjort  for å se om det fantes et  samband mellom disse faktorene. Personene som var med i denne studien jobbet alle inom kriminalvården (n=48), 21 kvinner og 27 menn med en middelalder på 42,91 år (sd=12,46). Studien er gjort på grunnlag av ulike studier som viser at det finnes et signifikant  samband mellom lönn og vekt, vekt og extraversion og vekt og utenforskap, og at det finnes utpregede negative stereotyper om overvektige personer. Funnene i denne studie viste ikke det samme som  andre studier viser når det gjelder lönn og vekt; det fantes ikke noen signifikant samband mellom disse variablene. Det fantes derimot et signifikant negativt samband mellom vekt og utenforskap. Dette kan indikere at inom kriminalvården ses det ikke  på som noe negativt om man har höyere vekt men kanskje mer som en styrke i den daglige interaksjonene med intagna. Nökkelord: Ekstraversion, utenforskap, stereotyper, overvekt, diskriminering / Abstract The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between salary and weight and social isolation and weight for prison officers and to see if extraversion, gender and age had any influence on these. The instrument that was used was a partly self-designed questionnaire with 22 of Eysenck´s questions about extraversion (Eysenck &  Eysenck, 1975).  Questions were designed to measure the feeling of social isolation and physical condition, questions were asked about wages, weight and age to see if there were any significant relationship between these factors. The  people who worked in  treatment of offenders (N=48) were part of this study, 21 women and 27 men with a mean age of 42,91 years (std=12,46). This study was done on the basis of different studies that show a significant relationship between salary and weight, weight and extraversion and weight and the feeling of social isolation, and that larger people are stereotypically viewed negatively. The findings in this study however show something else than the other studies show concerning salary and weight; it was no significant relationship  between these variables. Between weight and the feeling of social isolation however, a negative significant relationship was found. This can indicate that it doesn´t  have to be negative to be large bodied when working with prisoners but maybe it is seen as an asset in the daily intervention with the inmates. Keywords: Extraversion, social isolation, stereotyping, overweight, discrimination.

<p>Abstrakt</p><p>Syftet med denne undersökelsen var å se om det fantes et samband mellom lönn og vekt og utenforskap og vekt inom kriminalvården og det ble sjekket om extroversion, kjönn og alder hadde noen påvirkning på dette. Det ble brukt en delvis selvkonstruert enkät med 22 av  Eysenck´s extraversionsspörsmål (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975). Det ble konstruert spörsmål om utenforskap og fysikk og stilt spörsmål om lönn, vekt og alder. Dette ble gjort  for å se om det fantes et  samband mellom disse faktorene. Personene som var med i denne studien jobbet alle inom kriminalvården (<em>n</em>=48), 21 kvinner og 27 menn med en middelalder på 42,91 år (<em>sd=</em>12,46<em>)</em>. Studien er gjort på grunnlag av ulike studier som viser at det finnes et signifikant  samband mellom lönn og vekt, vekt og extraversion og vekt og utenforskap, og at det finnes utpregede negative stereotyper om overvektige personer. Funnene i denne studie viste ikke det samme som  andre studier viser når det gjelder lönn og vekt; det fantes ikke noen signifikant samband mellom disse variablene. Det fantes derimot et signifikant negativt samband mellom vekt og utenforskap. Dette kan indikere at inom kriminalvården ses det ikke  på som noe negativt om man har höyere vekt men kanskje mer som en styrke i den daglige interaksjonene med intagna.</p><p><em>Nökkelord: Ekstraversion, utenforskap, stereotyper, overvekt, diskriminering</em></p><p> </p> / <p>Abstract</p><p>The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between salary and weight and social isolation and weight for prison officers and to see if extraversion, gender and age had any influence on these. The instrument that was used was a partly self-designed questionnaire with 22 of Eysenck´s questions about extraversion (Eysenck &  Eysenck, 1975).  Questions were designed to measure the feeling of social isolation and physical condition, questions were asked about wages, weight and age to see if there were any significant relationship between these factors. The  people who worked in  treatment of offenders (N=48) were part of this study, 21 women and 27 men with a mean age of 42,91 years (<em>std</em>=12,46). This study was done on the basis of different studies that show a significant relationship between salary and weight, weight and extraversion and weight and the feeling of social isolation, and that larger people are stereotypically viewed negatively. The findings in this study however show something else than the other studies show concerning salary and weight; it was no significant relationship  between these variables. Between weight and the feeling of social isolation however, a negative significant relationship was found. This can indicate that it doesn´t  have to be negative to be large bodied when working with prisoners but maybe it is seen as an asset in the daily intervention with the inmates.</p><p><em>Keywords: Extraversion, social isolation, stereotyping, overweight, discrimination.</em></p>

Environmental experiences play a critical role in an individualʼs risk of becoming addicted. Positive experiences may mitigate addiction vulnerability, whereas adverse experiences, particularly during adolescence, have been shown to increase addiction risk. Social isolation in rodents is a model system used to study the effects of such experiences, yet its impact on the learning and memory processes that underlie addiction remains elusive. Although social isolation is known to alter the functioning of the dopaminergic system, as well as reward processing and learning, its effect on dopamine (DA) neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is unknown. The data presented in this dissertation demonstrate that social isolation of rats during a critical period in adolescence (postnatal days 21-42) enhances long-term potentiation (LTP) of N-methyl D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-mediated glutamatergic transmission in the VTA. Activation of NMDARs is critical to the generation of DA neuron bursts that encode rewards and reward-predictive cues, and NMDARs are necessary for associative reward learning. The isolation-induced enhancement of NMDAR LTP results from augmentation of metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR)-dependent calcium (Ca²⁺) signaling via an increase in inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate(IP3) sensitivity. Isolation-mediated effects on Ca²⁺ signaling and NMDAR plasticity were not reversed by a subsequent period of resocialization. Furthermore, social isolation during this critical period occludes the effect of repeated amphetamine exposure on mGluR/IP₃-mediated Ca²⁺ signaling and synaptic plasticity. Although corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) further facilitates mGluR/IP3-mediated Ca²⁺ signaling in DA neurons, alterations in CRF receptors are not responsible for the effects of isolation on Ca²⁺ signaling and synaptic plasticity. In addition, the learning of associations between environmental stimuli and drug rewards is acquired more quickly and is more resistant to extinction in isolated animals. Data presented in this dissertation lend support to the theory that enhanced mGluR/IP₃-mediated Ca²⁺ signaling and NMDAR plasticity facilitate the learning and memory of drug-associated stimuli. This dissertation provides the first demonstration of a cellular basis for the critical time window of social isolation during adolescence. NMDAR plasticity in the VTA may thus represent a neural substrate by which early life experiences regulate addiction vulnerability. (Note: Behavioral data were acquired by Mickael Degoulet) / text

M. Tech. Comparative Local Development / After two decades of democratic transition in South Africa, social exclusion continues to persist in the country. Research studies, thus far, have given little attention to the correlation between social exclusion and pre-tertiary education failures in South Africa, yet the two are closely linked. The objective of this study is to assess whether social exclusion is impacting pre-tertiary education success in South Africa, and as such perpetuating the social exclusion cycle for the poor in the country.

No description available.