scholarly journals Characteristics of influential peers in the eyes of secondary school students: a mixed method study

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (05) ◽  
pp. 429-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Y. Loke ◽  
Yim-wah Mak ◽  
Cynthia S.T. Wu
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Risk Behaviors ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
At Risk Students ◽  
Health Risk Behaviors ◽  
Mixed Method Study ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
School Students ◽  
Group Interviews

Aim It is the aim of this study to explore the characteristics of influential peers identified by schoolmates, and the mechanism by which they exert their influence on their peers. Background Adolescent crowds are a salient influence on the health-risk behaviors of peers, contributing to adolescent substance use such as drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and taking drugs. Methods A mixed method study. Three schools granted us access to students and those who had been nominated as influential by their peers. The students were asked to nominate and indicated the characteristics of peers whom they considered influential in a quantitative study. Those peers whom they considered influential were invited to take part in focus group interviews. A total of six focus group interviews were conducted, comprised of two groups from each school, with an average of seven participants in each group. Findings Students considered caring and friendliness (91.0%), being a buddy (88.5%), and entertaining/humor (86.8%) as the top three characteristics of influential peers. The interviews revealed that the students believed that they are influential because of their cheerfulness and humor, considerateness, ability to communicate, popularity and sociability, sincerity and trustworthiness, and because they possess the characteristics of a leader. They also believed that their power to influence came about through their helpfulness, accommodation, and the closeness of their relationships. Their influence was manifested in both positive and negative ways on the academic pursuits and health-risk behaviors of their peers. In order to engage at-risk students in health promotion programs, it is important to identify their influential peers, and to understand how adolescent friends may help one another to resist behaviors that pose a risk to their health.

scholarly journals Preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia—a mixed-method study to find behavioral leverage for better protocol adherence

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 1222-1229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline Wolfensberger ◽  
Marie-Theres Meier ◽  
Lauren Clack ◽  
Peter W. Schreiber ◽  
Hugo Sax
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Mixed Method Study ◽  
Ventilator Associated Pneumonia ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Protocol Adherence ◽  
Group Interviews

AbstractObjectivePreventing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is an important goal for intensive care units (ICUs). We aimed to identify the optimal behavior leverage to improve VAP prevention protocol adherence.DesignMixed-method study using adherence measurements to assess 4 VAP prevention measures and qualitative analysis of semi-structured focus group interviews with frontline healthcare practitioners (HCPs).SettingThe 6 ICUs in the 900-bed University Hospital Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland.Patients and participantsAdherence to VAP prevention measures were assessed in patients with a device for invasive ventilation (ie, endotracheal tube, tracheostomy tube). Participants in focus group interviews included a convenience samples of ICU nurses and physicians.ResultsBetween February 2015 and July 2017, we measured adherence to 4 protocols: bed elevation showed adherence at 27% (95% confidence intervals [CI], 23%–31%); oral care at 41% (95% CI, 36%–45%); sedation interruption at 81% (95% CI, 74%–85%); and subglottic suctioning at 88% (95% CI, 83%–92%). Interviews were analyzed first inductively according a grounded theory approach then deductively against the behavior change wheel (BCW) framework. Main behavioral facilitators belonged to the BCW component ‘reflective motivation’ (ie, perceived seriousness of VAP and self-efficacy to prevent VAP). The main barriers belonged to ‘physical capability’ (ie, lack of equipment and staffing and side-effects of prevention measures). Furthermore, 2 primarily technical approaches (ie, ‘restructuring environment’ and ‘enabling HCP’) emerged as means to overcome these barriers.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that technical, rather than education-based, solutions should be promoted to improve VAP prevention. This theory-informed mixed-method approach is an effective means of guiding infection prevention efforts.

scholarly journals Social streaming? Navigating music as personal and social

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 643-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja N Hagen ◽  
Marika Lüders
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Social Awareness ◽  
Mixed Method Study ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Self Reports ◽  
Social Features ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Music Streaming

Music-streaming services embed social features that enable users to connect to one another and use music as social objects. This article examines how these features are experienced within negotiations of music as personal and social through the acts of sharing music and of following others. The analysis relies on 23 focus-group interviews with 124 Spotify and/or Tidal users and a mixed-method study including music-diary self-reports, online observation and interviews with 12 heavy users. Our findings suggest that users incorporate social awareness in non-sharing, selective-sharing and all-sharing approaches with strong, weak and absent ties. These ties are characterized by different configurations of social and music homophily. Negotiations of music as personal and social shape how music-streaming services are experienced.

scholarly journals The Benefits of Spiritual Diaries: A Mixed-Method Study in Korea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suk-Sun Kim ◽  
Yeounsoo Kim-Godwin ◽  
Minji Gil ◽  
DaEun Kim ◽  
Yeon Kum Cheon
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Spiritual Growth ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Self Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Wellbeing ◽  
Mixed Method Study ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Group Interviews

AbstractThis mixed study examined the benefits of spiritual diaries in Korea. Quantitatively, differences in spiritual growth and psychological well-being were examined in relation to the frequency of writing spiritual diaries among 385 participating adults. The group who wrote spiritual diaries ‘5–7 times a week’ had significantly higher scores relating to spiritual growth and psychological wellbeing than other groups across the outcome variables. Qualitatively, the study also explored the benefits of writing spiritual diaries among 37 adults. Three major themes using four focus group interviews, were identified: (a) the acquisition of godly habits, (b) a closer walk with Jesus, and (c) the fullness of God’s presence. These findings are particularly important for healthcare providers who want to facilitate patient self-care.

Association of health-risk behaviors and depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms: a school-based sample of Chinese adolescents

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. e189-e198
Author(s):  
Xiaomin Luo ◽  
Yu Zhou ◽  
Ruimin Zheng ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Yue Dai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Risk Behaviors ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Health Risk Behaviors ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Chinese Adolescents ◽  
School Students ◽  
Epidemiological Characteristics ◽  
Multiple Health

Abstract Background Depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms of adolescents not only affect youth but also have wide-ranging impacts on the health of adults. The study was carried out to determine the epidemiological characteristics of depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms and the associations between the two and health-risk behaviors in Chinese adolescents. Methods Participants were recruited from the junior and senior high schools in China. Data were collected by self-designed questionnaires. The questionnaires included questions about demographic characteristics, depressive symptom scales, anxiety symptom scales and nine categories of health-risk behaviors. Descriptive analysis and binary logistic regression were performed by SPSS 21.0 software. Results There were 4.4% of the participants with depressive symptoms. Approximately 32.0% of the participants had anxiety symptoms. Girls and general senior school students were risk factors for depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms. Multiple health-risk behaviors were associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms in Chinese adolescents. Conclusion Depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms were prevalent in Chinese adolescents. Their distribution was affected by certain health-risk behaviors. Multiple health-risk behaviors were associated with depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms in Chinese adolescents.

Gender Differences in Health Risk Behaviors and Physical Activity Among Middle School Students

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsu-Yin Wu ◽  
Sherry E. Rose ◽  
Joanna M. Bancroft
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Middle School ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Health Risk ◽  
Risk Behaviors ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Health Risk Behaviors ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
School Students

Adolescence is a period of accelerated growth and change, bridging the complex transition from childhood to adulthood. This period offers adolescents an opportunity to begin planning for their futures and to adopt healthy attitudes about risk behaviors that can continue into adulthood, thus setting the stage for a lifetime of desirable health behaviors. This study used the Youth Risk Behavior Survey on middle school students and examined the gender differences of health risk behaviors among 674 8th-graders from an urban setting. The results showed that males were more likely to be involved in fights, to initiate alcohol use, and to participate in physical activity; whereas females were more likely to try to lose weight with unhealthy practices, such as fasting and laxatives. School nurses are in a prime position to promote adolescent health in the school setting by providing health-related services and teaching to help students initiate and maintain healthy lifestyles.

scholarly journals Perceived Parental Monitoring and Health Risk Behavior among Public Secondary School Students in El Salvador

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 1810-1814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew E. Springer ◽  
Shreela Sharma ◽  
Alba Margarita de Guardado ◽  
Francisco Vázquez Nava ◽  
Steven H. Kelder
Keyword(s):  
Health Risk ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
Risk Behaviors ◽  
Sexual Behaviors ◽  
Parenting Practices ◽  
Parental Monitoring ◽  
Health Risk Behaviors ◽  
Multilevel Regression ◽  
School Students ◽  
Adolescent Risk

Although parental monitoring has received considerable attention in studies of U.S. adolescents, few published studies have examined how parents' knowledge of their children's whereabouts may influence health risk behaviors in adolescents living in Latin America. We investigated the association between perceived parental monitoring and substance use, fighting, and sexual behaviors in rural and urban Salvadoran adolescents (n = 982). After adjusting for several sociodemographic covariates, multilevel regression analyses indicated that students reporting low parental monitoring were between 2 to 3.5 times more likely to report risk behaviors examined. The promotion of specific parenting practices such as parental monitoring may hold promise for reducing adolescent risk behaviors in El Salvador.

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