scholarly journals Tell Me about Loneliness: Interviews with Young People about What Loneliness Is and How to Cope with It

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (22) ◽  
pp. 11904
Author(s):  
Lily Verity ◽  
Tine Schellekens ◽  
Tine Adam ◽  
Floor Sillis ◽  
Marinella Majorano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Framework Analysis ◽  
Developmental Needs ◽  
Negative Thinking ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Negative Emotional State ◽  
Friendship Expectations ◽  
Social Reconnection

Background: loneliness is a common experience for adolescents, yet the voices of adolescents are missing from current conceptualisations of loneliness. That means, measures that have been created based on current conceptualisations may miss important contexts of adolescence, such as the roles of friendships, that determine the way loneliness is experienced. The current study aims to centre adolescent voices to identify how they conceptualise loneliness and what strategies they consider to be useful for adolescents to cope with loneliness. Method: thematic framework analysis (TFA) was conducted on qualitative interviews with young people aged 8–14 years in Belgium and Italy to identify salient themes in their conceptualisations of loneliness. Results: Loneliness was conceptualised as a negative emotional state involving negative thinking patterns that occurs when an individual perceives they are missing out on a desired aspect in their social relationships. Coping strategies related to alleviating negative affect, and aiding social reconnection. Conclusions: friendships with peers were understood to be central to adolescent loneliness experiences. In line with that, loneliness was seen to be experienced at school. Age-related differences in friendship expectations were identified, highlighting how developmental needs relate to the loneliness experience.

scholarly journals Identity Formation and Developing Meaningful Social Relationships: The Role of the Polish Catholic Community for Polish Young People Migrating to Sweden

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oksana Shmulyar Gréen ◽  
Charlotte Melander ◽  
Ingrid Höjer
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Spiritual Development ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Religious Experiences ◽  
Making Sense

This article draws from a broader research project Transnational childhoods, illuminating the agency and experiences of children and young people migrating from Poland and Romania to Sweden under the age of 18. Focusing on young people born in Poland and having social relationships post-migration as central theoretical component, the article explores the role that the Polish Catholic community in Sweden plays in the lives of young Polish migrants. It does so by grounding the analysis on 23 qualitative interviews, combined with network maps and life-lines, produced by the young Polish participants. The study identifies three important dimensions in the role of the Polish Catholic community. These are comprised of the community's role for young Poles' spiritual development and religious identity, for building new friendships and making sense of common migration and religious experiences, and guidance by specifically Polish Catholic priests in the young migrants' family relationships and in future life projects. The article concludes that while practicing religion and building significant social relationships within the Polish congregations the young migrants shape feelings of belonging and inclusion, however primarily within the limits of their own ethnic community. Further research is needed on the wider implications of primarily mono-ethnic relational practices for the young Poles' lives within the increasingly ethnically heterogeneous Swedish society.

Youth Development in Europe

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katariina Salmela-Aro ◽  
Ingrid Schoon
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
Reciprocal Interactions ◽  
The Family ◽  
Key Players

A series of six papers on “Youth Development in Europe: Transitions and Identities” has now been published in the European Psychologist throughout 2008 and 2009. The papers aim to make a conceptual contribution to the increasingly important area of productive youth development by focusing on variations and changes in the transition to adulthood and emerging identities. The papers address different aspects of an integrative framework for the study of reciprocal multiple person-environment interactions shaping the pathways to adulthood in the contexts of the family, the school, and social relationships with peers and significant others. Interactions between these key players are shaped by their embeddedness in varied neighborhoods and communities, institutional regulations, and social policies, which in turn are influenced by the wider sociohistorical and cultural context. Young people are active agents, and their development is shaped through reciprocal interactions with these contexts; thus, the developing individual both influences and is influenced by those contexts. Relationship quality and engagement in interactions appears to be a fruitful avenue for a better understanding of how young people adjust to and tackle development to productive adulthood.

scholarly journals The psychosocial response to a terrorist attack at Manchester Arena, 2017: a process evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Hind ◽  
Kate Allsopp ◽  
Prathiba Chitsabesan ◽  
Paul French
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Process Evaluation ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Routine Data ◽  
Recovery Phase ◽  
Normalisation Process Theory ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Framework Analysis ◽  
Response Phase

Abstract Background A 2017 terrorist attack in Manchester, UK, affected large numbers of adults and young people. During the response phase (first seven weeks), a multi-sector collaborative co-ordinated a decentralised response. In the subsequent recovery phase they implemented a centralised assertive outreach programme, ‘The Resilience Hub’, to screen and refer those affected. We present a process evaluation conducted after 1 year. Methods Case study, involving a logic modelling approach, aggregate routine data, and semi-structured interviews topic guides based on the Inter-Agency Collaboration Framework and May’s Normalisation Process Theory. Leaders from health, education and voluntary sectors (n = 21) and frontline Resilience Hub workers (n = 6) were sampled for maximum variation or theoretically, then consented and interviewed. Framework analysis of transcripts was undertaken by two researchers. Results Devolved government, a collaborative culture, and existing clinical networks meant that, in the response phase, a collaboration was quickly established between health and education. All but one leader evaluated the response positively, although they were not involved in pre-disaster statutory planning. However, despite overwhelming positive feedback there were clear difficulties. (1) Some voluntary sector colleagues felt that it took some time for them to be involved. (2) Other VCSE organisations were accused of inappropriate, harmful use of early intervention. (3) The health sector were accused of overlooking those below the threshold for clinical treatment. (4) There was a perception that there were barriers to information sharing across organisations, which was particularly evident in relation to attempts to outreach to first responders and other professionals who may have been affected by the incident. (5) Hub workers encountered barriers to referring people who live outside of Greater Manchester. After 1 year of the recovery phase, 877 children and young people and 2375 adults had completed screening via the Resilience Hub, 79% of whom lived outside Greater Manchester. Conclusions The psychosocial response to terrorist attacks and other contingencies should be planned and practiced before the event, including reviews of communications, protocols, data sharing procedures and workforce capacity. Further research is needed to understand how the health and voluntary sectors can best collaborate in the wake of future incidents.

scholarly journals Cocaine Rituals in Club Culture: Intensifying and Controlling Alcohol Intoxication

2021 ◽  
pp. 002204262098651
Author(s):  
Marit Edland-Gryt
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Young People ◽  
Alcohol Intoxication ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Cocaine Use ◽  
Interaction Rituals ◽  
Collective Effervescence ◽  
Drinking Culture ◽  
Cocaine Users ◽  
And Control

Clubbing is an important part of the nighttime economy, and cocaine use is, for some young people, an essential part of this clubbing culture. However, the interaction rituals around the use of powder cocaine in this context remain understudied. This study is based on qualitative interviews with young adult recreational cocaine users ( n = 28) and explores how they use cocaine in club settings, in relation to rituals and drinking culture. The analysis identified three main explanations for using cocaine: (a) unity with friends because of shared transgression, (b) the high as a “collective effervescence,” and (c) the possibility to control, extend, and intensify drinking to intoxication. These three explanations illustrate how cocaine rituals were deeply integrated in drinking-to-intoxication rituals, and how the illegality of cocaine use reinforced feelings of unity with friends. In the nighttime economy, cocaine use and its related rituals are used to intensify and control alcohol-fuelled partying.

scholarly journals Treating sleep problems in young people at ultra-high-risk of psychosis: study protocol for a single-blind parallel group randomised controlled feasibility trial (SleepWell)

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e045235
Author(s):  
Felicity Waite ◽  
Thomas Kabir ◽  
Louise Johns ◽  
Jill Mollison ◽  
Apostolos Tsiachristas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Young People ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Feasibility Trial ◽  
Psychotic Experiences ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Ultra High Risk ◽  
Randomised Controlled

BackgroundEffective interventions, targeting key contributory causal factors, are needed to prevent the emergence of severe mental health problems in young people. Insomnia is a common clinical issue that is problematic in its own right but that also leads to the development and persistence of psychotic experiences. The implication is that treating sleep problems may prevent the onset of psychosis. We collected initial case series data with 12 young people at ultra-high-risk of psychosis. Post-intervention, there were improvements in sleep, depression and psychotic experiences. Now we test the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial, with a clinical aim to treat sleep problems and hence reduce depression, psychotic experiences, and prevent transition to psychosis.Methods and analysisA randomised controlled feasibility trial will be conducted. Forty patients aged 14 to 25 years who are at ultra-high-risk of psychosis and have sleep disturbance will be recruited from National Health Service (NHS) mental health services. Participants will be randomised to receive either a novel, targeted, youth-focussed sleep intervention in addition to usual care or usual care alone. Assessor-blinded assessments will be conducted at baseline, 3 months (post-intervention) and 9 months (follow-up). The eight-session psychological intervention will target the key mechanisms which disrupt sleep: circadian rhythm irregularities, low sleep pressure, and hyperarousal. To gain an in-depth understanding of participants’ views on the acceptability of the intervention and study procedures, 16 participants (n=10 intervention, n=6 control) will take part in qualitative interviews. Analyses will focus on feasibility outcomes (recruitment, retention, and treatment uptake rates) and provide initial CI estimates of intervention effects. Thematic analysis of the qualitative interviews will assess the acceptability of the intervention and trial procedures.Ethics and disseminationThe trial has received ethical approval from the NHS Health Research Authority. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and lay networks.Trial registration numberISRCTN85601537.

scholarly journals Men’s experiences of radiotherapy treatment for localized prostate cancer and its long-term treatment side effects: a longitudinal qualitative study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Sutton ◽  
◽  
J. A. Lane ◽  
M. Davis ◽  
E. I. Walsh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
External Beam Radiotherapy ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Localized Prostate Cancer ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
Long Term Treatment

Abstract Purpose To investigate men’s experiences of receiving external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with neoadjuvant Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) for localized prostate cancer (LPCa) in the ProtecT trial. Methods A longitudinal qualitative interview study was embedded in the ProtecT RCT. Sixteen men with clinically LPCa who underwent EBRT in ProtecT were purposively sampled to include a range of socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. They participated in serial in-depth qualitative interviews for up to 8 years post-treatment, exploring experiences of treatment and its side effects over time. Results Men experienced bowel, sexual, and urinary side effects, mostly in the short term but some persisted and were bothersome. Most men downplayed the impacts, voicing expectations of age-related decline, and normalizing these changes. There was some reticence to seek help, with men prioritizing their relationships and overall health and well-being over returning to pretreatment levels of function. Some unmet needs with regard to information about treatment schedules and side effects were reported, particularly among men with continuing functional symptoms. Conclusions These findings reinforce the importance of providing universal clear, concise, and timely information and supportive resources in the short term, and more targeted and detailed information and care in the longer term to maintain and improve treatment experiences for men undergoing EBRT.

scholarly journals Time to Work—Opposing Political Rationality with Young Peoples’ Experiences of Working in a Mandatory Activation Context in Norway

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Moen Gjersøe ◽  
Anne Leseth
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Young People ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Work Time ◽  
Temporal Dimension ◽  
Work Relations ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
Political Rationality ◽  
Employment Education ◽  
Linear Manner

AbstractThis paper argues that young people, targeted by activation policies, had several temporal experiences with work that can contribute to broadening our understanding of labour market policy for this group of young people. By drawing on qualitative interviews with young people not in employment, education, or training (NEET) in a Norwegian activation context, and by applying anthropological and sociological concepts on temporality and work time in our analysis, we question how time is constructed and reproduced in the establishment of work relations among this group of people. We argue that political discourses of work inclusion for young adults (NEETs) tend to portray work as a means to an end for inclusion. In doing so, they fail to address the complex temporal dimension of work. We find that young adults have a range of complex experiences where disparity between formal and informal aspects of work becomes visible. The temporal dimension of these experiences and the relativity of speed in getting a job are not experienced in a linear manner but as churning between getting a job, having a job, and losing a job.

scholarly journals Visual Attention and Aging: an Age-Related Cognitive Model of Positive Adaptation

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-191
Author(s):  
José Manuel Rodríguez-Ferrer
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Visual Attention ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Covert Attention ◽  
Positive Adaptation ◽  
Healthy Elderly ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Healthy Young People

We have studied the effects of normal aging on visual attention. Have participated a group of 38 healthy elderly people with an average age of 67.8 years and a group of 39 healthy young people with average age of 19.2 years. In a first experiment of visual detection, response times were recorded, with and without covert attention, to the presentation of stimuli (0.5º in diameter grey circles) appearing in three eccentricities (2.15, 3.83 and 5.53° of visual field) and with three levels of contrast (6, 16 and 78%). In a second experiment of visual form discrimination circles and squares with the same features as in the previous experiment were presented, but in this case subjects only should respond to the emergence of the circles. In both age groups, the covert attention reduced response times. Compared to young people, the older group achieved better results in some aspects of attention tests and response times were reduced more in the stimuli of greater eccentricity. The data suggest that there is a mechanism of adaptation in aging, in which visual attention especially favors the perception of those stimuli more difficult to detec

scholarly journals Reported infant feeding practices and contextual influences on breastfeeding: qualitative interviews with women registered to MomConnect in three South African provinces

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zara Trafford ◽  
Sara Jewett ◽  
Alison Swartz ◽  
Amnesty E. LeFevre ◽  
Peter J. Winch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health System ◽  
South African ◽  
Infant Feeding ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Feeding Practices ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Infant Feeding Practices ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Framework Analysis ◽  
Younger Women

Abstract Background Global guidelines recommend exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first 6 months of life. South African EBF rates have steadily increased but still only average 32% for infants below 6 months of age. Malnutrition and developmental delays continue to contribute substantially to the morbidity and mortality of South African children. MomConnect, a national mHealth messaging system used to send infant and maternal health messages during and after pregnancy, has a specific focus on improving rates of breastfeeding and has achieved high rates of population coverage. Methods For this qualitative study, we interviewed women who were registered to MomConnect to investigate their breastfeeding and other infant feeding practices, decision-making pre- and post-delivery, and the role of the health system, family members and the wider community in supporting or detracting from breastfeeding intentions. Data were collected from February–March 2018 in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and Gauteng provinces. Framework analysis was conducted to identify common themes. Results Most women interviewed had breastfed, including HIV-positive women. Even when women had delivered by caesarean section, they had usually been able to initiate breastfeeding a few hours after birth. Understandings of EBF varied in thoroughness and there was some confusion about the best way to cease breastfeeding. Most women felt well-equipped to make infant feeding decisions and to stick to their intentions, but returning to work or school sometimes prevented 6 months of EBF. Advice from the health system (both via clinics and MomConnect) was considered helpful and supportive in encouraging EBF to 6 months, although family influences could thwart these intentions, especially for younger women. Mothers reported a range of breastfeeding information sources that influenced their choices, including social media. Conclusions Efforts to improve EBF rates must include consideration of the social and economic environment surrounding women. Interventions that focus only on improving women’s knowledge are valuable but insufficient on their own. Attention should also be paid to infant behaviors, and how these affect women’s breastfeeding choices. Finally, although there is strong local policy support for EBF, more rigorous implementation of these and other broader changes to create a more enabling structural environment ought to be prioritized.

scholarly journals The Positive Legacy of Vision Loss: Pathways to Posttraumatic Growth

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 616-617
Author(s):  
Corinna Tanner ◽  
Michael Caserta ◽  
Jia-Wen Guo ◽  
Margaret Clayton ◽  
Paul Bernstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Posttraumatic Growth ◽  
Cognitive Processing ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Vision Loss ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Age Related Macular Degeneration ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Severe Vision Loss ◽  
Age Range

Abstract This mixed method study describes posttraumatic growth (PTG) accruing form experience with vision loss caused by severe age related macular degeneration (AMD) and explores relationships between depression, social support, and cognitive processing, on the path to PTG. Research describing the psychological and social issues surrounding AMD has focused on negative outcomes. However, learning from highly challenging experiences, such as vision loss, can offer benefits. In this study, these included an increased sense of personal strength, increased spirituality, and empathy for others (all domains of PTG). 89 participants with severe vision loss (mean age = 85.3 years, age range = 74–98 years) completed the interviewer-administered composite questionnaire, which identified elements of Tedeschi and Calhoun’s model of PTG. Relationships between variables were examined using path analysis. Findings were contextualized with data from 15 qualitative interviews. Findings underscored the importance of supportive others and deliberate cognitive processing in the path to PTG.

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