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Background: Information and communication technology (ICT) increases participation in life activities, and young adults are frequent users. Young adults with intellectual disability (ID) do not use ICT as much as their peers, and little is known about how ICT is used by young adults with ID. This study describes the use of ICT from the perspective of young adults with mild to moderate ID in a municipal social care context. Method: Semi-structured interviews were used to collect information from 11 young adults with mild-to-moderate ID living in residential care and analysed using a content analysis. Results: ICT was used for family relationships, daily support, interactions based on interests and amusement, and as support for offline activities. Family members were important providers of support for ICT use. Conclusion: Young adults with mild-to-moderate ID use ICT in their daily life. The social care context needs to be further investigated due to its influence on the young adults' access to ICT and need of support.

People have been interested in social cohesion and its implications in different areas of social life from the classic sociology authors until today. Besides its multidimensional nature, this complex construct also faces the issue of measurement. For this reason, the objective of this article is to adapt and validate a scale that measures in a multidimensional way social cohesion for urban areas. The results obtained through Cronbach's [alpha] coefficient, McDonald's [omega] coefficient, and confidence intervals for both coefficients show that the resulting questions have high levels of discrimination and an acceptable reliability, so the scale developed is valid methodologically.

An innovation in developing the Supports Intensity Scale--Children's Version (SIS-C) was the adoption of latent variable modeling approaches to norm development. In regard to translated versions of the SIS-C, the latent modeling approaches provided opportunities to leverage the large standardization sample generated in the United States (n=4,015) to generate translation-specific norms from data collected on smaller samples in other countries and enable future cross-cultural analyses. In this study, data were collected on children in Iceland who received special education services (as defined and delivered in Iceland), a more diverse group of children with disabilities than the U.S. sample. This provided a unique context to explore cross-cultural differences. Findings indicated the structure of the SIS-C (i.e., seven support need domains organized under an overall support needs construct), was supported in the Icelandic context. However, findings also suggested that supports planning teams in Iceland must consider specific age-related factors that differ from other cultural contexts

This research explores factors influencing Chinese overseas students' career decision-making. Based on the social cognitive career theory, a semi-structured interview schedule was devised to qualitatively investigate how Chinese students evaluated different factors and coped with career decision-making while studying abroad. The interview transcripts were addressed using thematic analysis. Family influences, overseas social life, and personal improvement were found to be the three key factors in shaping Chinese overseas students' career decision-making. Moreover, close interconnections were found among the three factors, and these had a combined impact on the decision-making process. The findings highlight the importance of a positive study abroad experience and its impact on international students' career decision-making.

Background: The National Council on Aging's Aging Mastery Program (AMP) aims to help older adults implement health behavior and lifestyle changes to promote healthy aging and social engagement. The purpose of the present community-partnered evaluation was to test the effectiveness of AMP implementation in Los Angeles County to improve participants' quality of life, global physical and mental health, and patient activation. Method: A modified randomized wait-list controlled trial design was used to examine experimental, quasi-experimental, and dose-response evidence in five senior centers. Participants completed questionnaires at baseline and after the 10-week intervention, self-reporting their overall quality of life, physical health, mental health, and patient activation. Results: Experimental, intention-to-treat analyses found AMP assignment did not affect any measured outcomes (n = 71). Quasi-experimental, "as treated" analyses (n = 106) controlling for study site and sociodemographic characteristics indicated that participants who attended AMP reported more positive changes in global mental health than the control group. Attending AMP was not associated with changes in quality of life, physical health, or patient activation. Dose-response analyses among AMP participants who attended at least one class (n = 75) found that attending more classes was not significantly associated with greater improvements in mental health. Conclusions: Experimental, intention-to-treat analyses did not support effectiveness of AMP on quality of life, physical or mental health, or patient activation; quasi-experimental analyses found attending AMP was associated with improvements in mental health. Recruitment challenges and participants' nonadherence with condition assignment decreased our ability to detect effects. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03342729?term=Aging+Mastery+Program&rank=1.

Single-parent students are predominantly female, identified as a marginalized group, and a growing population on community college campuses which poignantly suggests an opportunity for change. Single-parent students (n = 12) described angst as they balanced their roles and responsibilities between single-parent and student. Meg stated, "friends are not a priority. It's like this constant balancing act. Everything is going a million miles a minute, so fast-the teaching, homework, learning, my kids, the days, studying." Using a qualitative approach, interviews were conducted, themes generated, and needs established. The themes of "structure," "stress," and "isolation" were used to identify homework-support needs, and from the themes of "guilt" and "isolation," family-friendly social activities were considered. The meaning was clarified to implement student-parent homework support groups and family-friendly social activities. This study was conducted by a single-parent undergraduate-researcher as a freshman with her faculty mentor; as a sophomore work-study student, she coordinates the student-parent program.

Qualitative and mixed methods digital social research often relies on gathering and storing social media data through the use of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). In past years this has been relatively simple, with academic developers and researchers using APIs to access data and produce visualisations and analysis of social networks and issues. In recent years, API access has become increasingly restricted and regulated by corporations at the helm of social media networks. Facebook (the corporation) has restricted academic research access to Facebook (the social media platform) along with Instagram (a Facebook-owned social media platform). Instead, they have allowed access to sources where monetisation can easily occur, in particular, marketers and advertisers. This leaves academic researchers of digital social life in a difficult situation where API related research has been curtailed. In this paper we describe some rationales and methodologies for using APIs in social research. We then introduce some of the major events in academic API use that have led to the prohibitive situation researchers now find themselves in. Finally, we discuss the methodological and ethical issues this produces for researchers and, suggest some possible steps forward for API related research.

Introduction: Australia's rural health services commonly face serious and protracted workforce shortages. To help address such shortages in rural and remote areas, a range of programs exist to support university students to undertake placements in a rural setting. In particular, University Departments of Rural Health (UDRH's) are funded to support nursing and allied health students to undertake a rural placement. As UDRH's encourage students to 'go rural' and as they coordinate and facilitate placements in rural settings, a range of enablers and barriers emerge. This study investigates the lived experiences of nursing and allied health students on placement in public health services in rural and regional Victoria. Its purpose was to identify the enablers and barriers most strongly affecting placement satisfaction and personal wellbeing. The intended outcome was to identify modifiable factors that could potentially improve the rural placement experience. Methods: Eighteen students were interviewed by a student undertaking her placement. Interviews were 45-60 minutes in length and all face-to-face. The 18 participants were from five universities and were undertaking their placement at one of seven public hospitals operating in northeast Victoria. The researcher recruited participants by attending scheduled debrief meetings at their placement organisation, briefly discussing the research and inviting students to participate. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Results: The study found that most participants were positive and enthusiastic about their rural placement, both professionally and personally. Three key enablers were identified: 1) enjoyment of the rural environment and community; 2) working in a positive, friendly and supportive workplace; and 3) exposure to broad practice and enhanced learning opportunities. Simultaneously many had also experienced significant barriers before, during or as a consequence of undertaking their placement, and these negatively affected placement satisfaction and personal wellbeing. Identified barriers were: 1) increased financial stress; 2) travel and accommodation challenges and concerns; 3) study-work-life balance and isolation issues; 4) encountering stressful work situations and/or personal events while on placement; and 5) communication issues with universities. Discussion: The findings are strongly consistent with those identified in the extant literature. The findings add to previous research by deepening understanding about the financial burden and barriers experienced by nursing and allied health students as a result of undertaking rural placements. Disruption to students' lives socially, psychologically, financially and in terms of employment were significant. Conclusion: The study identified some important aspects of the placement experience, suggesting that nursing and allied health students can be dissatisfied with increased financial stress, isolation and inflexibility from universities.

Whilst most social and educational research on friendship focuses on children at school, it remains a crucially important factor for students in higher education -- and can play a key role in the maintenance, exacerbation or subversion of dominant forms of social inequalities. This paper explores the complexities of such dynamics in relation to friendship and social life at university, utilising data from an in-depth qualitative study of HE students at a UK campus university. Students stressed the importance of friendship for comfort and a sense of 'belonging'. Nevertheless, students describe the continuation of cliques, hierarchies, and exclusions that are more commonly linked to sociality at school. Despite the conception that friendship is an individual experience, it is very much influenced by social positionings such as gender, class, age, and ethnicity -- having significant repercussions for students in relation to happiness and wellbeing at university.

Theoretical accounts and experimental data on young children have shown that executive functions (EFs) are predicted by experiential factors. However, studies on school-aged children are rare. The present study has addressed this gap using a short-term cross-lagged longitudinal design focusing on the relationship between working memory (WM), conflict inhibition (CI), and peer acceptance (PA) and rejection (PR) in middle childhood. 245 children, aged 8 to 12 years at Time 1 (M = 10.03 years, SD = 1.21 years), were tested three times over 1 year. SEM showed that (a) PA at Times 1 and 2 positively predicted WM at Times 2 and 3 and (b) PR at Time 1 negatively predicted CI at Time 2. Our findings are in line with the view that EFs are significantly affected by children's social life at school and are interpreted in light of the regulatory depletion model and of the socio-constructivist models.

A high proportion of adults with intellectual disability (ID) who live in supported accommodation (i.e. group homes) engage in challenging behaviours (CB). A lack of engagement in meaningful activity, social isolation, communication difficulties, and boredom can be triggers for challenging behaviour. There is a small body of literature on staff/resident interactions in the context of challenging behaviour but even less research has addressed resident-to-resident interactions. Specific Aims: This study aims to examine the types of interactions in which residents of shared accommodation settings engage, with whom; and explore staff's understanding of residents' needs, communication abilities, and relationships. Method: Observations of interactions with 12 residents who were identified as having challenging behaviours were conducted using momentary time sampling. Direct care staff who supported the residents were also interviewed. Findings: Residents were infrequently engaged in activity or interactions and where these did occur, they were primarily with staff rather than with co-residents. Discussion: Staff play an important role in supporting and facilitating people with ID and CB to expand their social interactions and engagement in meaningful activity, which can have a significant impact on the occurrences of challenging behaviour. The implications for practice in shared accommodation sites are discussed.

The purpose of the research was to explore the characteristics of the risky sexual behavior of young people in nightlife settings in Slovenia. We used an online questionnaire to collect data on the use of psychoactive substances (PAS), risky sexual behavior and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The final sample included 1,103 respondents. The respondents are of the opinion that they lack information about STIs and testing. A third responded that getting infected with an STI was a likely possibility for them. The recommendations for upgrading preventive programs in nightlife settings include efforts toward providing information on less known STIs and testing.

Peer relationships are just as important for students with autism, intellectual disability, and other developmental disabilities. Through their interactions with peers across the school day, students develop new skills, encounter new perspectives, access needed supports, find camaraderie, develop social capital, learn prevailing norms, and elevate their future aspirations (Biggs & Carter, 2017). Yet friendships can be limited for these students. For example, only 29% of high school students with autism and 42% of students with intellectual disability reported that they got together with friends at least once per week during the past year (Lipscomb et al., 2017). Instead, so much of their school day is spent among paraprofessionals, special educators, and other adults. This article describes a time-tested and replicable schoolwide approach for creating meaningful social opportunities and fostering a school climate that is supportive of inclusion.

Increased demand for mental health services on college campuses has prompted an expansion of what it means to support mental and emotional well-being in the campus community. Although college counseling centers are vitally important, literature suggests that residence life staff already play prominent roles in promoting college students' mental health and responding to their concerns. One way that residential life departments and other student affairs offices can meet students' needs is through promotion of students' strengths. In this study, we explored the relationships between character strengths, subjective well-being, and social group participation in 253 college students. Results show a positive correlation between these variables. We discuss implications of these findings for student affairs professionals and paraprofessionals working with students. [Discussion questions developed by Hannah Hench and Denise L. Davidson.]

Faculty members with families face well-documented challenges in managing the demands of work and life. However, we know less about the experiences of single faculty members. Using agency as a theoretical framework, we assessed whether faculty members have different experiences in enacting agency in work-life balance based on their partner status, gender, and rank. We found single faculty members, particularly single, women associate professors, felt less agency in their ability to balance work and life than their partnered peers. We offer policy recommendations for institutions to more equitably support all faculty members in negotiating work-life challenges.

The UK will need a skilled IT work force to maintain its position as a world leader in computing research and development. This study investigated the experience of learning communities amongst first year undergraduate computing students at a UK university. The concept of a learning community was used to examine its influence on student academic and social integration, the issues students need to overcome and the knowledge they need to acquire to become successful. A qualitative approach was employed using the 'unfolding matrix', which was completed during group interviews. The data analysis results revealed that learning communities critically affect students' academic and social integration. Specifically, the importance of student support and guidance from academic staff was considered, as well as student relationships with other students and academic staff. Furthermore, developing a sense of personal awareness and the need to develop an effective academic skill-set to succeed were identified as critical.

Sports practice is a way to be physically active. Despite public health efforts to support it, teenagers' sport participation is declining in some European countries. One reason for the decline is drop-out from sports practice. Various analytical frameworks have been applied to this issue but little is known about how teenagers understand their own pathway in the social context, ending with a drop-out from sports practice. This study aimed to identify reasons given by teenagers about sports practice drop-out situated within the circles of their everyday lives, through 100 semi-structured interviews. The results made it possible to classify the reasons for dropping out into five themes: friendship, body, family, school, and sport. Two processes lead to drop-out: constraints which prevent access to the circle of sports practice and/or a decision-making that brings them out of it. The respondents could mention one or multiple reasons, accumulating (snowball effect) or following one another (cascade effect). Depending on the moment of drop-out, some circles of social life played a preponderant role. The family seemed to be central in the decision to drop out during primary school, whereas sport itself and school were influential in middle and high schools respectively. The results showed that the more recent the drop-out, the more the teenagers planned to resume sports practice. These data are relevant for health education policies to prevent physical inactivity through sport. It is important not only to remove the constraints that prevent access to the circle of sports practice, but also to promote the most pleasurable sports experiences.

This paper uses the work of Pierre Bourdieu to understand the lives of a set of young White working-class men living in a deprived urban locale in the north of England. All participants were classified as NEET (not in education, employment or training) throughout the research and had spent lengthy periods of time outside education and work before the study commenced. Although none took part in formal employment, many participants engaged in illicit activities, often for material gain, during the course of the fieldwork. The data presented is drawn from ethnographic fieldwork and deals with participants' attitudes to education, work and social life more broadly. Whilst some findings are troubling, the paper challenges dominant discourses about the attitudes, values and aspirations of NEET young people, especially those from White working-class backgrounds.

This study aims to explore the psychosocial experiences of the ageing of middle-aged people with intellectual disabilities in Korea. Data were collected through 28 face-to-face interviews with Korean individuals with intellectual disabilities, aged between 40 and 50. This study identified several key factors faced by middle-aged people with intellectual disabilities. First, they experience financial constraints due to a lack of economic self-determination. Second, they have a very narrow range of social connections. Typically, they have small and weak networks consisting of only a few social workers, personal assistants, or group home workers, or their peers at group home or workshops. This is often due to a lack of information, money, and age-appropriate services. Third, those who have jobs in middle age have positive opportunities acquired through work. Fourth, study participants experienced considerable unspecified anxiety about ageing, as well as fear of death and uncertainty regarding the future. Recommendations are made to improve active ageing in an appropriate setting for middle-aged people with intellectual disabilities. Improved training and education about economic self-determination are needed for these individuals and their families, as well as improved information about community services. Moreover, enhanced community services for them must be developed. These individuals would benefit from improved employment opportunities as well. Workshops regarding active ageing and death should be developed. Finally, future plans for living placement must be in place.

Over the last few decades there has been increased recognition that the concept of 'access' encompasses not only entry to higher education (HE) but also participation and successful completion. Despite this, very little research has been carried out in Ireland on non-traditional students' experience of university. This article explores the experiences of 16 students from lower socio-economic backgrounds at one Irish university, with particular reference to peer relationships and their sense of 'belonging'. The research identified the challenges which these students faced in the first few months, including feelings of isolation and 'class-cultural discontinuities'. For one student, from the Traveller community, the transition to university was particularly complex, leading to the 'compartmentalisation' of different elements of her life. The research also, however, highlights these students' positive experiences of university life, which often centred on peer relationships and shared interests and aspirations. Overall, the research points to a diverse range of working-class experiences of university life, and the importance of targeted supports in actively encouraging friendship development in the early stages.

Using interview and observational data in one rural southern high school, this study explores how students are organized by race and how they negotiate those arrangements in predominantly Black school context. Although predominantly Black schools can provide safe spaces for Black students to thrive socially and academically without suspicion of criminality, this study reveals that they can also contain demeaning disciplinary treatment and exclusion from predominantly White learning spaces and dances. The findings thus expose racial disparity in students' spatial, academic, and disciplinary organization, as well as the consequences for reproducing racial inequality in students' social lives. From academics to discipline, students' racially stratified positions in school reflect a historical legacy of limiting Black students' physical movement and intellectual opportunity.

Collaboration is a conceptually ambiguous aspect of open education. Given inconsistent discussion about collaboration in the open education literature, this article suggests collaboration be defined and studied as a distinct open educational practice. A theoretical stance from the discipline of computer-supported collaborative learning helps conceptualize collaboration as processes of intersubjective meaning-making. Social annotation is then presented as a genre of learning technology that can productively enable group collaboration and shared meaning-making. After introducing an open learning project utilizing social annotation for group dialogue, analysis of interview and annotation data details how social annotation enabled three group-level epistemic expressions delineating collaboration as intersubjective meaning-making and as an open educational practice. A summative discussion considers how the social life of documents encourages collaboration, why attention to epistemic expression is a productive means of articulating open learning, and how to extend the study of collaboration as an open educational practice.

Adolescents with identified orthopedic impairments are often less likely to participate in social activities outside of the school setting. However, the adolescents who are able to participate in activities have higher social skills, more academic successes, and show more satisfaction in their roles as family member or friend. The aim of this study was to look at adolescents with orthopedic impairments and their level of participation in social activities. Also looked at was the adolescent's report of a higher level of fulfillment in their family or friend role if they participated in social activities. Responses of adolescents from a national school-based survey were used in the study. The results revealed that students with orthopedic impairments were just as happy as their peers when they participated in social activities.

US universities are admitting higher percentages of international students, bringing into focus concerns with how to best support them once they are at the university. However, less attention has been paid to the preparation they undertake before matriculation. This study looks at how students are prepared before arrival and how this preparation matched their expectations and experiences in their US classes. Information was gathered through interviews of international students in different US universities, as well as from large-scale surveys conducted at the University of California, Berkeley with incoming and current international students. Results suggest the need for additional program planning to more fully support this population.

Problem Statement: With the increasing importance of information and research, the importance of education and training has also increased. Especially in higher education institutions, educators have started to instruct students in accordance with the requirements of the modern era, and universities have influenced the international and national competitive powers in the educational domain. Nowadays, universities in developed countries are not only the organizations that execute education and training services, but they are also the institutions that produce more academic studies to enhance their environments, contribute to society through their projects, and integrate with business and industry organizations. In connection with these goals the higher education sector can improve the performances of many universities and reconstruct them by changing and improving conditions. These changes can only be possible with appropriate strategies. Purpose of the Study: This study reveals the present situation regarding education in public universities and aims to determine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Within the framework of Turkey's higher-education strategy, the current state of the universities is discussed and certain suggestions were made. Method: Considering that the main field of activity in universities is "training and education", the public universities in Turkey have been evaluated in this study via a content analysis of the strategic plans of "training and education activities". In total, the plans of 90 out of 103 state universities were analyzed according to a qualitative analysis. The dataset obtained was converted into numbers by means of the SPSS 15.0 program using frequency analysis. Results and Findings: Assessing the dataset obtained, one third of the universities stated that "maintaining a diversity of programs, enhancing social activities, achieving a close interaction between the students and academicians, and increasing quality and accreditation" were among their strengths. As for their weaknesses, "inadequacy of interaction with graduates; inadequacy of social fields; inadequacy of health, culture, and sport facilities; inadequacy of foreign language education; inadequacy of library opportunities; scarcity of graduate programs; inadequacy of psychological counseling and guidance services; inadequacy of scholarship support; scarcity of application-oriented studies; and inadequacy of educational material" were listed. Nearly half of the universities regard "exchange programs" as opportunities, and they focus on the "Bologna Process and Exchange". On the other hand, "increasing the number of public and private universities" is seen as a threat. Conclusions and recommendations: As a result of the study, the categories for strengths in the higher education strategy include "education field, social activity, life culture, and communication". The weaknesses mentioned by the universities, as stated in the higher-education plan, can be strengthened with the strategies involving "physical opportunities, communication, social activities, life culture, scholarship and part-time work opportunities, student satisfaction, and educational implementations". For the eradication of the threats, one of which is the increasing number of public and private universities, educational strategies can be implemented at the correct times within the framework of the Bologna Process".

In Ethiopia, female students' participation at all levels of education is increasing at an alarming rate. On the other hand, the numbers of female students who graduate from higher learning institutions are still less as compared with their male counter parts due to different factors. This study was conducted with the objective of assessing major factors affecting the academic performance of female students' in Bahir Dar University. This case study adopted both qualitative and quantitative research approaches and the data were collected from students, teachers, management bodies, student's dean and council, and gender office. The result of this study indicated that university related factors such as university academic and administrative rules and regulations, peer pressure, lack of female role model teachers, department choice of students and providing different supportive trainings and tutorial classes by the university impacts female students' academic performance. In addition, socio-cultural factors such as female students' background area, educational status of parents, the perception towards their academic performance influencing factor and how these affect the academic achievement of female students. Furthermore, socio-economic factors such as economic status of parents, the expansion of khat ("Catha edulis," a green stimulant plant leaf) shops, tourist centers and night clubs around the university affect female students' academic performance. Therefore, the government, ministry of education and the university should give due attention to promote female students academic achievement. The university should start working with regional government, city administration and community to promote female students academic achievement.

Individuals are socialized by embracing material and spiritual cultural characteristics that a society possesses. This process is put into practice with socialization factors such as family, peers, school and media. Interaction and communication in social life have started to carry socialization factors to different levels with contribution by virtual environments in our day. Since determination of the level of interaction and relationships shifting from real life to virtual life is not yet a sufficiently discussed issue in the body of literature, we could not come across an instrument of measurement, whose reliability and validity have been proved, for measuring levels of what sort of transformations, advancements and developments have been experienced in terms of socialization factors after society's beginning of turning to virtual environments. In this respect, the research objective is to develop a scale for determining levels for relationships of individuals in social life shifting to virtual environments. 294 individuals constitute the research study group. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, item-factor total correlation, adjusted correlation and distinguishing features of items were calculated for investigating validity of the scale. Internal consistency coefficient and stability levels of the scale were calculated for investigating reliability of the scale. As a result, the SVPS is a 5-point Likert scale that can be grouped under three factors and consists 30 items. Analyses put forward that this scale is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring levels of socio-virtualization perception of a society's individuals in virtual environments.

In Canada, there is a dearth of research on school climate for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) students. Using social networking, 60 students from high schools in Saskatchewan participated in a climate survey. Results indicated that anti-LGBQ speech was widespread, as were other forms of harassment. The more victimization that was reported by students known, or perceived to be, LGBQ, the more deleterious were the consequences for their academic performance, social lives, participation in sports and extracurricular activities, and overall enjoyment of school. Limitations associated with the study and directions for future research are detailed.

This article is concerned with ways in which children's social lives appear to have meaning and with children's subjective orientation in the transition from kindergarten to school. The article presents the development of theoretical concepts for ways in which we can understand children--by the aid of the analysis of empirical data dealing with children's subjective views of the life they are living and participating in. In other words, if we wish to understand children and children's actions, we also have to conceptualise the world in which they live just as that world is seen by children at the place where they stand and where they participate. The article covers on the one hand the presentation of the principal findings of a major research project and on the other a more detailed exploration of the concept of communities, including definitions of what children share and of how what they share links to what adults arrange for them. It also presents arguments for how a social approach to children's issues paves the way for more productive measures than an individual approach offers.

The present study examined how a multicomponent intervention embedded in a high school's extracurricular framework impacts students' acceptance of peers with intellectual disability (ID). Data were collected from eight high schools, three of which implemented the Special Olympics Unified Champion Schools (UCS) program involving inclusive sports, clubs, and schoolwide events, and five of which did not. A pretest-posttest survey design was used to measure students' attitudes, perceptions, and interactions (n = 1,230). Lagged dependent variable modeling revealed that UCS participation significantly predicted improved attitudes toward peers with ID and perceptions of school social inclusion, as well as increased social interactions with peers with ID. Unified extracurricular activities may be the next step forward in promoting an inclusive school culture.

The present study assesses the factor structure, psychometric adequacy, and invariance across sex and age of the Relational Provisions Loneliness Questionnaire (RPLQ). Discriminant validity with an external criterion was also tested. In a sample of Portuguese adolescents, from 7th to 9th grade (N = 817), Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) were conducted to test a four-factor model of loneliness (lack of integration and/or intimacy in peer group and/or family). Results evidenced empirical support for the structure of the RPLQ loneliness scale, which fitted very well the proposed model, and provided adequate fit to the Portuguese data. There was substantial support for the construct validity (factorial, convergent, and discriminant) and reliability of the RPLQ. Measurement invariance (configural, metric, and scalar) was established across sex and age. Finally, it was assured discriminant validity, provided by the contrast with the social functioning dimensions in peer group. Overall, our findings support the conceptualization of loneliness in adolescence by peer- and family-related loneliness through lack of integration and intimacy. In a single instrument, the RPLQ loneliness scale combines measures of four important aspects of adolescents' social life. This seems to be an adequate instrument to be used in the study of adolescents' loneliness, in its different forms and across relational contexts.

Being able to play the guitar and sing one's favorite songs is often an unrealized adolescent dream. Guitar Express is a group music making approach that aims to enable people to realize this dream and develop an identity of amateur musician regardless of age. This is achieved through the use of an alternate tuning of the guitar and a variety of 'tricks' that are being constantly developed to address individual and group needs. The following paper is informed by arts-based research and attempts to provide a general impression of the Guitar Express group approach. Based on the expressions of adults and senior aged adults who have participated in one or more of its groups--as well as the verbal contributions and interpretations of two teachers, a collaborating psychologist, and myself as initiator and supervisor of the program--the major benefits for the Guitar Express participants are, that (a) it functions as a means for them to express and regulate their emotions, (b) it counteracts feelings of isolation, (c) it allows them to experience deeply personal and shared group moments, (d) it provides opportunities for dealing and preparing for various kinds of losses, (e) it helps people accept personal limitations while searching for alternative solutions, (f) it improves the quality of everyday life through its infusion with collective musicking, and (g) acts as motivator for involvement in a social music activity. At a more general level, the Guitar Express group experience may be seen as a musically driven journey into the linearity and circularity of time; it may revitalize the participants' memories of their 'songs of deserts', transforming them to oases in personal life-stories, re-enabling connections with the past and augmenting meaningfulness in the present.

Leisure participation is important for well-being and has been attributed to improved quality of life for autistic individuals. Rigorous studies exploring the leisure participation of autistic adults are sparse. This study aimed to compare the type of leisure activity and frequency of participation between autistic adults and neurotypical adults as well as compare and identify factors associated with their leisure satisfaction. Data for 145 autistic and 104 neurotypical adults were obtained from time point one of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Adults with Autism. The primary outcome measure used was the Leisure Satisfaction Scale. Autistic adults were less satisfied with their leisure overall (mean = 3.29, standard deviation = 0.75) compared with neurotypical adults (mean = 3.69, standard deviation = 0.55). Multiple linear regression revealed being younger and reporting less depressive symptoms were significantly associated with higher leisure satisfaction in autistic but not neurotypical adults. Engagement in solitary leisure activities was comparable across participants, but socialising in person was predominated by neurotypical adults. Leisure activity preferences of autistic adults' and the frequency of their leisure participation are important factors for clinicians to understand when working with this population and tailoring well-being interventions.

The study examined the relationship among students' focus in urban schools and three educationally relevant psychological factors: school engagement, achievement goals, and possible future self. A 1-year study at two urban high schools with a total of 212 participants suggested that academically focused students are more highly engaged with mastery-approach goals, whereas students with a social focus had less optimal engagement and more performance goal orientations. Both academic and social focus indicated strongest relationships with academic future self and social future self, respectively.

Background: This study investigated the psychocultural perspectives concerning family quality of life among Brazilian families with children who have severe or profound intellectual disability. Methods: Individual in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 mothers, selected by convenience, were analysed using a categorical thematic analysis technique. The themes were examined to allow for an interpretative approach of the results. Results: Mothers revealed that their children with disabilities had insufficient access to services and support related to health care, transportation and recreation. Family quality of life was negatively affected by financial restrictions and social interaction difficulties. Caring for a child with disabilities seemed to be centred on the mother and religious coping appeared as a common psychological adjustment strategy. Conclusions: Improving emotional and psychological cares, as well as social and practical measures comprising income support and access to appropriate health care, were inferred to be the mothers' priorities to improve their families' quality of life.

Two non-U.S. quasi-experimental studies reported Active Support training was associated with increased engagement in individuals with IDD, but no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) exist. We evaluated effects of Active Support training on staff assistance, and social and nonsocial engagement in 75 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in U.S. group homes. We detected no significant effects of active support training. Individuals with more skills and less challenging behavior engaged more in nonsocial activities. Younger individuals with more skills living in homes with fewer staff changes were more socially engaged. Factors associated with nonsocial engagement mirrored those reported in Qian, Tichá, Larson, Stancliffe, & Wuorio, (2015). Staffing-related implementation challenges and statistical power limited our ability to detect differences.

Background: Earlier studies show that to gain more understanding of the concept of social inclusion, the views and experiences of people with intellectual disabilities are needed. The aim of this study was to investigate their perspective on neighbourhood social inclusion from an ecological point of view. Method: We carried out a photovoice study with 18 people with intellectual disabilities in three neighbourhoods in the Netherlands. Participants took photographs in their neighbourhood they considered relevant, and these photographs were discussed during an interview. Results: Six themes emerged from qualitative analysis: attractiveness of the neighbourhood, social contacts in the neighbourhood, activities in the neighbourhood, social roles in the neighbourhood, independence and public familiarity. Conclusions: As regards neighbourhood social inclusion, participants were often focused on small and informal activities and situations. Public familiarity proved very important. Framing the concept of neighbourhood social inclusion within an ecological approach may help to better understand processes of social inclusion.

Domains of quality of life in children with autism spectrum disorder have not previously been explored and there has been no quality of life measure developed for this population. Our study investigated parent observations to identify the domains important to children with autism spectrum disorder who also had an intellectual disability. In all, 21 parents (19 mothers, 2 fathers) of children with autism spectrum disorder (aged 6-17 years) participated in a qualitative study to discuss their child's quality of life. Thematic analysis using a grounded theory framework was conducted and 10 domains emerged in relation to health and well-being, capacity to perform and develop skills in daily life, and connections with the community and environment. Unique aspects of quality of life included varying levels of social desire, consistency of routines, and time spent in nature and the outdoors, which are not comprehensively captured in existing measures. Parent observations provide an initial framework for understanding quality of life in autism spectrum disorder and support the development of a new measure for this population.

A reinvigorated commitment to the study of religion, spirituality, faith, secularism, meaning-making, purpose, and interfaith dialogue in higher education is evidenced through the production of various scholarly texts. The pendulum among higher education scholars seems to swing toward finding ways to explicitly engage with what has been described as the "Big Questions" by some, but also described as taboo territory by others. More central to my own research agenda is the work done by scholars examining the various ways religion matters in the lives of Black college students. In part response to the race-less treatment of college students' spiritual and religious lives as well as an attempt to attend to a phenomenon that has remained significant for Black diasporic communities, these scholars produced empirically rich and sensitive work that demonstrated the relevance of faith, religion, and spirituality among Black college students. In this manuscript, I situate my previous and ongoing research in relation to this body of scholarship and make explicit how I think through race, gender, sexuality, and nationality with religion. Next, I highlight the work of several scholars whose work is pushing us towards more expansive and necessarily heterogeneous notions of Blackness (that is not US centric) and religion (that is non-Christian and non-theistic). In conclusion, I discuss how the collective research can improve educational practice related to supporting diverse Black college students' spiritual, secular, and religious needs.

Research has shown that consistent family support improves higher education (HE) students' chances for adjustment and graduation but family over-involvement negatively affects students' well-being. We theoretically bridge three largely disjointed bodies of literature (namely, family 'support', 'involvement' and 'over-involvement') and show that families of undergraduate students very often engage in roles traditionally reserved for lower levels of education. Through a large-scale, quantitative university student survey in two universities in Cyprus, we empirically show that the three bodies of literature should be unified, because family involvement in HE is better conceptualised and operationalised as a continuum. We further suggest that family involvement in HE can be split into two qualitatively different and empirically not significantly related constructs: rearguard and front line family involvement. In addition, the students seem not only to approve, but also encourage more family involvement (even 'over-involvement'), and state that they would like their families to provide them not just with more financial help, but with more emotional support as well. The discussion extends to include an analysis of students' perceptions of university actors' attitudes towards family involvement.

Purpose: Social contact is known to be vital for older adults' mental and physical health but, because communication impairments often co-occur with other types of disability, it is difficult to generalize about the relative impact of a communication impairment on the social relationships of older adults. Specific aims of the study were to examine whether the severity of a communication impairment was associated with a range of social measures and to examine the association between these characteristics and psychological well-being. Method: Community-dwelling older adults ranging in age from 65 to 94 were recruited for the study of Communication, Health, Aging, Relationship Types and Support. The sample included 240 participants with communication disorders arising from a variety of etiologies including hearing impairment, voice disorders, head and neck cancer, and neurologic disease, as well as older adults without a communication disorder. Results: Communication impairment was a significant independent predictor for key characteristics of social relationships, including the number of friends in the social network, two types of social support, the frequency of social participation, and social self-efficacy. Communication impairment was also a significant predictor for higher levels of loneliness and depression. In addition, two distinct pathways between communication impairment and psychological well-being were identified, with social self-efficacy and reassurance of worth as mediators. Conclusions: Even after controlling for age, gender, health, and disability, communication impairment is a significant independent predictor for key aspects of the social function of older adults and demonstrates two distinct pathways to loneliness and depression.

Background: After 21 years of age, adults with a profound intellectual disability (PID) have limited access to specialised services. An important concern that emerges is the potential decrease in their social participation. Knowing the benefits of social participation for adults with PID, it is relevant to address this issue. Method: This scoping review examined the literature on the social participation of people with PID in young adulthood and its influential factors. Results: Results suggest a significant lack of information concerning social participation of these adults. During adulthood, people with PID have currently two main choices to occupy their days: activities in daily activities centre and leisure in community organisation. Few options to maintain their capabilities are available, and this situation has significant impacts on young adults and their families. Conclusion: Future studies focusing specifically on adults with PID and their caregivers are needed to understand their reality when entering adulthood.

The goal of this study was to examine differences in university success between first-year students by analyzing three domains simultaneously: students' academic achievement, critical thinking disposition, and social-emotional adjustment to university life. Participants were 307 students who completed an online questionnaire. Latent class cluster analysis revealed three patterns of success: (1) average-achieving well-adjusted students (64%), (2) high-achieving average-adjusted students (14%), and (3) low-achieving low-adjusted students (22%). Follow-up ANCOVAs indicated that low-achieving low-adjusted students most strongly experienced that their social life hindered their study, whereas average-achieving high-adjusted students experienced the least interference from their study on their social life. These results indicated that student success is a multi-domain concept, with subgroups of first-year students showing specific patterns of success. The results of this study help to understand the feasibility of and tensions between domains of student success and provide suggestions for universities to adjust their support to specific student needs.

Objective: To examine the relationship between race, gender, and pre-hookup relationship intentions and college students' participation in condomless vaginal sex. Participants: 3,315 Black and White college students who participated in the Online College Social Life Survey (OCSLS). Methods: Secondary data analysis of the OCSLS using Chi-square and multiple logistic regression analyses. Results: The model revealed that students who did not want a relationship with their hookup partners and students unsure of their relationship intentions were more likely to use condoms during their last vaginal hookup. Further, White and Female students were less likely to have used condoms during their last vaginal hookup. Conclusions: White and female students, as well as students desiring romantic relationships with hookup partners may be at risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) due to decreased condom use. However, more research is needed to explore the factors driving STI disparities facing Black students despite higher condom use.

This paper focuses on the power dimension of social practices. The study sought to understand the literacy-related practices of a retired woman without a high-school diploma in everyday life and community activities. It drew on social practice theories, the New Literacy Studies, and transformative learning. The ethnographic approach chosen to provide a thick description of practices, involving participant observation and interviews, allowed the power dimension to surface. The study contributed an in-depth analysis of the singular experience of an adult faced with literacy challenges in power-embedded contexts, as defined in three main findings. First, it revealed unexpected empowering achievements from an adult with little formal education not usually captured in standardised evaluations. Second, it outlined three intermingled practice categories that evolved during a lifelong project: resourceful literacy, self-directed learning, and ambivalent participation in the community. Third, the participant's ambivalence provided a strong means to uncover the power dimension of social practices in the form of a dialectic between solidarity and domination relationships. Experiences of solidarity encouraging participation in literacy, learning, and community activities and of domination inhibiting participation are described. Implications point to emancipatory approaches in adult literacy, learning, and education, as well as prior learning recognition.