According to Leahey, LaRose, Fava, and Wing (2011), nearly half of all young adults are considered overweight or obese. Further, on average, young adults gain between 1 and 2 pounds annually, making them more susceptible to yearly weight gain than any other age group. College students in particular may be vulnerable to continual weight gain over the course of their 4-year education; a review by Hellmich (2008) revealed that many students gain between 6 and 9 pounds during their freshman year alone. Despite the increased risk for weight gain during the young adult years, Leahey and colleagues report that this age group is underrepresented in behavioral weight management programs. Therefore, research must determine the psychosocial factors that are likely to influence young people in their efforts to manage their weight and health. Social support may be such a mechanism; a study by Strong and colleagues (2008) demonstrated that social support was influential in college students' decisions to participate in exercise and avoid sedentary behaviors. However, a scale measuring social support has not been developed for use with college students in regard to general health behaviors. In the current study, a 37-item self-report instrument was developed. This social support measure was administered to 466 Virginia Tech undergraduates, along with a battery of questionnaires assessing other health habits. Results revealed three possible types of social support, and indicated that social support — while unrelated to body mass index — is related to healthy eating behaviors, vigorous exercise, and health choices of significant others. / Ph. D.

The present study examined the role of religious coping efforts of children and adolescents, ages 8 to 18, following residential fire. Two types of children's religious coping, spiritually based coping and religious discontent, were examined in response to loss of resources in residential fires. The study further examined the influence and potential moderating effects of internal resources including global self-worth, as well as external resources including social support received from parents, teachers, and friends, and the family religious environment. Consistent with the general coping literature, these resources were expected to beneficially influence and predict spiritually based coping. Contrarily, the lack of these resources was expected to predict religious discontent. Children and adolescents' post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms were also assessed and compared to their coping responses. Religious discontent was found to be positively associated with greater levels of loss, PTSD symptoms and negatively associated with global self-worth and low socio-economic status. It was also significantly predicted by loss and an interaction between loss and social support, where higher social support predicted lower levels of religious discontent under high levels of loss. Post hoc analyses revealed peer social support to interact significantly with loss to buffer religious discontent. Spiritually based coping was found to be significantly predicted by loss, race, age, and family religious environment, where African Americans, and children reported greater spiritually based coping than European Americans, and adolescents. Lastly, loss was significantly and negatively associated with global self-worth and positively associated with PTSD symptoms. / Master of Science

This study investigated the relatic~mship between social support networks and their effects on sexual behavior during adolescence. The PSS-Fr and the PSS-Fa (Prociando & Heller, 1983) were used to establish the participants' overall perception of their social support networks from their friends and from their family. The Healthy Oakland Teen Survey (Ekstrand et al., 1996) was used to measure the perceived prevalence of risk behaviors among friends of the adolescents, attitudes regarding sexually active students, sexual behavior, and social networks. The predicted result of the experiment was that the strength of an adolescent's social support network would be a predictor for teenage pregnancy. A relationship was found between family support and the number of sexual partners.

No description available.

Abstrakt Vi har valt att skriva om HIV-positivas upplevelse av stöd i samhället och behovet av psykosocial stödverksamhet. Vi har undersökt hur människor i sundsvall upplever det att leva med HIV, och hur och om de upplever stigmatisering och fördomar. HIV är ett dolt handikapp eftersom att sjukdomen i sig är förknippad med, skuld skam och många fördomar. Det innebär att det är en sjukdom man inte gärna pratar öppet om. Forskning som vi har studerat har lagt fokus på att utröna med kvantitativa metoder vad människor i allmänhet ser på sin kontakt med HIV-positiva, lite har skrivits om hur den HIV-positive själv ser på sin situation. För att försöka sätta sig in i den HIV-positives situation, har vi valt en empirisk- holistisk kvalitativ forskningsansats, detta har vi gjort genom att ha semistrukturerade djupintervjuer.

Research has shown that social correlates of physical activity play an important role in individual participation in physical activity or sport, hence their link with associated health benefits. However, in spite of the health benefits associated with physical activity, many children do not meet the daily guidelines of being active for at least 30 minutes a day. This study investigated physical activity, health-related fitness and social correlates among 284 adolescents (111 boys and 173 girls) who are part of the on-going Physical Activity and Health Longitudinal Study (PAHLS). Height, weight, skinfold thickness (triceps, subscapular and calf skinfolds), waist and hip circumferences were measured through the standard procedures described by the International Standards of Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK). Body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and percentage body fat (%BF) were used as measures of body composition. Health-related physical fitness (HRPF) was determined by measuring cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle strength and endurance, and flexibility using standardised tests according to the EUROFIT (1988) test protocol. The standardised International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-Short form) and Social Support for Physical Activity questionnaire were used to gather information on participation in physical activity and social correlates for physical activity respectively. The results show that 29.6% of the adolescents were underweight and 26.4% overweight. Girls were significantly (p<0.05) fatter (%BF and BMI) and shorter than the boys. A significant gender difference (p<0.05) was also observed in WHR. Thirty four percent (34%) participated in low PA with 35% in high PA. Boys were significantly (z-4.52; p=0.000) more highly active compared to the girls. Boys measured significantly higher than girls (p<0.05) in SBJ, BAH, SUP, predicted 2max • V O . Adolescents’ participation in physical activity was affected by ‘lack of support by friends’, ‘encouragement by friends or family members’ and ‘lack of support during engagement in physical activity’. A significant difference (p<0.05) was found between boys and girls regarding ‘friends’ encouragement to do physical activity or sports’, ‘participation in physical activity or sports with friends’ and ‘friends’ confirmation that the participant is doing a good job at physical activity’. Positive correlations were found between Total Physical Activity (TPA) and all social correlates of PA, with a significant relationship between total physical activity (TPA) and ‘how often do your friends tell you that you are doing a good job at physical activity?’, and ‘has someone told you that you are doing well in physical activity?’ percentage body fat was negatively associated with social correlates of physical activity with a significant relationship in contrast with ‘friends’ encouragement that one is doing a good job at physical activity’. A significant positive correlation was observed between WC, WHR, SBJ, SUP, predicted 2max • V O and ‘friends’ encouragement in a typical week to do physical activity or sports’. Further significant positive correlations were found with WC for ‘encouragement by someone in a typical week to do physical activity or sports’; WHR, SBJ, BAH, SUP, predicted 2max • V O for ‘participation in physical activity or sports with friends’; SBJ, SUP, predicted 2max • V O for ‘friends’ encouragement that one is doing a good job at physical activity’; SBJ, SUP, predicted 2max • V O for ‘someone’s encouragement that one is doing a good job at physical activity’; BAH, SUP, predicted 2max • VO for ‘someone’s participation in sport with one’; SUP, predicted 2max • VO for ‘one’s encouragement to friends to participate in physical activity or sport’; SUP for ‘provision of transportation to physical activity or sport’; and predicted 2max • V O for ‘someone watching one participate in physical activity or sport’. SAR, on the other hand, was negatively associated with all social correlates for physical activity. It can be concluded that the adolescent boys in the study were underweight and significantly more active when compared to the relatively overweight and inactive girls. Boys also have higher health-related fitness and higher social correlates compared to the girls. Social correlates for physical activity were positively associated with participation in physical activity and healthrelated physical fitness variables. Thirty six percent (36%) of the participants indicated lack of transport as a negative factor for their participation in physical activity and sport. Based on these findings, urgent strategic public health intervention by all stakeholders dealing with adolescents, as well as more research studies in the area, is required. / PhD (Human Movement Science), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Research has shown that social correlates of physical activity play an important role in individual participation in physical activity or sport, hence their link with associated health benefits. However, in spite of the health benefits associated with physical activity, many children do not meet the daily guidelines of being active for at least 30 minutes a day. This study investigated physical activity, health-related fitness and social correlates among 284 adolescents (111 boys and 173 girls) who are part of the on-going Physical Activity and Health Longitudinal Study (PAHLS). Height, weight, skinfold thickness (triceps, subscapular and calf skinfolds), waist and hip circumferences were measured through the standard procedures described by the International Standards of Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK). Body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and percentage body fat (%BF) were used as measures of body composition. Health-related physical fitness (HRPF) was determined by measuring cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle strength and endurance, and flexibility using standardised tests according to the EUROFIT (1988) test protocol. The standardised International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-Short form) and Social Support for Physical Activity questionnaire were used to gather information on participation in physical activity and social correlates for physical activity respectively. The results show that 29.6% of the adolescents were underweight and 26.4% overweight. Girls were significantly (p<0.05) fatter (%BF and BMI) and shorter than the boys. A significant gender difference (p<0.05) was also observed in WHR. Thirty four percent (34%) participated in low PA with 35% in high PA. Boys were significantly (z-4.52; p=0.000) more highly active compared to the girls. Boys measured significantly higher than girls (p<0.05) in SBJ, BAH, SUP, predicted 2max • V O . Adolescents’ participation in physical activity was affected by ‘lack of support by friends’, ‘encouragement by friends or family members’ and ‘lack of support during engagement in physical activity’. A significant difference (p<0.05) was found between boys and girls regarding ‘friends’ encouragement to do physical activity or sports’, ‘participation in physical activity or sports with friends’ and ‘friends’ confirmation that the participant is doing a good job at physical activity’. Positive correlations were found between Total Physical Activity (TPA) and all social correlates of PA, with a significant relationship between total physical activity (TPA) and ‘how often do your friends tell you that you are doing a good job at physical activity?’, and ‘has someone told you that you are doing well in physical activity?’ percentage body fat was negatively associated with social correlates of physical activity with a significant relationship in contrast with ‘friends’ encouragement that one is doing a good job at physical activity’. A significant positive correlation was observed between WC, WHR, SBJ, SUP, predicted 2max • V O and ‘friends’ encouragement in a typical week to do physical activity or sports’. Further significant positive correlations were found with WC for ‘encouragement by someone in a typical week to do physical activity or sports’; WHR, SBJ, BAH, SUP, predicted 2max • V O for ‘participation in physical activity or sports with friends’; SBJ, SUP, predicted 2max • V O for ‘friends’ encouragement that one is doing a good job at physical activity’; SBJ, SUP, predicted 2max • V O for ‘someone’s encouragement that one is doing a good job at physical activity’; BAH, SUP, predicted 2max • VO for ‘someone’s participation in sport with one’; SUP, predicted 2max • VO for ‘one’s encouragement to friends to participate in physical activity or sport’; SUP for ‘provision of transportation to physical activity or sport’; and predicted 2max • V O for ‘someone watching one participate in physical activity or sport’. SAR, on the other hand, was negatively associated with all social correlates for physical activity. It can be concluded that the adolescent boys in the study were underweight and significantly more active when compared to the relatively overweight and inactive girls. Boys also have higher health-related fitness and higher social correlates compared to the girls. Social correlates for physical activity were positively associated with participation in physical activity and healthrelated physical fitness variables. Thirty six percent (36%) of the participants indicated lack of transport as a negative factor for their participation in physical activity and sport. Based on these findings, urgent strategic public health intervention by all stakeholders dealing with adolescents, as well as more research studies in the area, is required. / PhD (Human Movement Science), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva erfarenheter av socialt stöd bland mellanchefer i hälso- och sjukvården. Bakgrund Mellanchefer i hälso- och sjukvården har ett betydelsefullt och krävande uppdrag. Stöd i olika former kan reducera risken för ohälsa orsakad av stress i arbetet och organisationens stöd är viktigt. Genom att stärka mellancheferna erhålls en positiv effekt för både patienter och medarbetare. Metod Studien baserades på semi-strukturerade intervjuer med nio mellanchefer, vilka arbetade inom slutenvården vid två sjukhus i norra Sverige. Intervjuerna spelades in, skrevs ut ordagrant och analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat Analysen resulterade i tre huvudkategorier; Erfarenheter av fungerande stöd inom organisationen, erfarenheter av bristande stöd inom organisationen och andra faktorer av betydelse för erfarenheter av stöd. Sammanfattning De flesta mellanchefer hade goda erfarenheter av stöd i organisationen, men påtalade behovet av en tidig och mer strukturerad introduktion när de påbörjade sitt uppdrag. För att förebygga ohälsa föreslås förbättrad introduktion och tidiga utbildningsinsatser, förbättrad feedback från överordnad, samt utvecklat mentorskap. Implikationer Studiens resultat kan användas i syfte att sträva efter att bibehålla det stöd som fungerar och förbättra bristande stöd för mellanchefer i hälso- och sjukvården.

This study investigates the relationship between traumatic events and PTSD among police officers in KwaZulu-Natal and the mediating effects of coping and social support. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence of PTSD among police officers and whether coping and social support structures act as mediating variables in the stress-illness realtionship. In order to achieve this aim an assessment battery containing Biographical Checklist, the Ways of Coping Checklist, The Index of Social Support and the Dutch Post Traumatic Stress Scale was distributed to a sample of police officers in Kwazulu-Natal. The findings indicate a high incidence of PTSD, among policemen although no significant relationship was found between exposure to traumatic events and PTSD. Further, emotion­ focused coping strategies, namely, self-blame and wishful thinking, were found to be predictive of PTSD. No significant relationship was established between the availability of social support and satisfaction with social support and PTSD. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M.A. (Industrial Psychology)

Failure to engage and retain low-income, ethnic minority and immigrant families in treatment is a problem that plagues many intervention initiatives. Often, those most in need of services also experience significant barriers to treatment (e.g., logistical barriers, stress), resulting in low attendance rates. This study employed an ecological framework to examine the relationship between parents' report of stress, social support, and their engagement in a culturally sensitive, school-based intervention. Stress related to low income, minority and/or immigrant status is presented as a specific barrier that impacts treatment engagement. Additionally, social support is conceptualized as having a "buffering effect" on the potential negative impact of stress on engagement. Archival data was examined for families who participated in Connections intervention, a family focused intervention intended to strengthen family relationships, coping skills, and social support and to prevent child mental health problems. Thirty-five mothers of 3rd to 5th grade children were included in this study. Of this sample, 43% identified as Haitian, 31% as Hispanic, 14% as African American, 6 as "other," 3% as English-Speaking Caribbean, and 3% as European-American. Results indicated that maternal stress was negatively related to attendance, and satisfaction with social support was positively related to attendance. In addition, a stress by need for support interaction emerged, suggesting that attendance is most negatively impacted for mothers reporting high levels of stress and high levels of need for support. Among mothers with high stress, those indicating low need for support were able to attend almost twice as many sessions as those with high need for support. Attendance rates were also related to maternal acculturation: mothers identified as "enculturated" had the highest attendance rates (74%), followed by "assimilated" mothers(67%), "bicultural" mothers (50%), and marginalized mothers (20%). Treatment engagement is frequently conceptualized as an individual-level factor (e.g., motivation, readiness for change), but results suggest engagement also is shaped by contextual factors such as stress and social support. Future directions in research and clinical implications are discussed.