Engagement In Prosocial Activities Research Articles

Characterizing the Clinical use of a Novel Video-assisted Dosing Protocol With Secure Medication Dispensers to Reduce Barriers to Opioid Treatment.

Distance and travel costs to opioid treatment programs (OTPs), especially in rural communities, are barriers to treatment for opioid use disorder. Retention rates at 12 months in our OTP are 55% (range 53%-61%).We piloted a novel treatment platform utilizing a video directly observed therapy (VDOT) smartphone app and a secure medication dispenser to support adherence with take-home doses of methadone or buprenorphine while enabling patients to maintain prosocial activities, reduce time and cost of travel, and increase retention. Participants (n¼58) were adults in a Vermont OTP. Inclusion criteria included travel hardship, access to Wi-Fi or cellular network, and having an iPhone 4S or Android 4.0 or greater. Patients received a dispenser, VDOT app, clinic dispensed medication, counseling, and urine drug testing. Chart reviews assessed VDOT compliance, engagement in prosocial activities, travel costs and time savings, and treatment disposition/retention. Project-associated costs were examined. Of the 15,831 expected videos, 15,581 (98.4%) were received and only 10 (0.063%) showed signs of medication noncompliance with 1 (0.0064%) showing an overt attempt at diversion. About 93% of participants engaged in prosocial activities, travel time and costs were reduced 86%, median cost saved $72 weekly, median travel time saved 5.5 hours weekly and 98% of participants were in treatment 12 months later. VDOT participants using dispensers showed high levels of medication ingestion integrity, had favorable clinical stability, and lower travel time and costs. These findings suggest that using VDOT with dispensers may hold promise as an innovative platform for supporting medication adherence.

What goes around comes around: The effect of belief in karma on charitable donation behavior

AbstractKarma is the notion that one's current actions will have consequences in the future. The present research links the belief in karma with a guilt appeal and examines how believing in karma influences the individuals' donation behaviors. The results of four studies demonstrate that for people who hold a strong belief in karma, guilt appeals can arouse the motivation to engage in prosocial activities to remedy past demerits. This “remedy demerits” motivation is the reason why individuals who hold a strong (vs. weak) belief in karma are more likely to donate time (rather than money) and donate money in lump sums (rather than in installments) when the charitable appeal is framed in terms of guilt. Our findings contribute to the literature on specific beliefs, individuals' prosocial behaviors, and the motivations of individuals who believe in karma as concerns their responses to charitable appeals. Charitable organizations can apply the findings by targeting their donor solicitations to individuals who believe in karma to enhance engagement in prosocial activities, and by using karma priming advertisements to induce individuals to think karmically, thus more efficiently promoting specific donation choices.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Perceptions of Health and Well-Being Among Sexual and Gender Minority Adolescents and Emerging Adults.

Purpose: The study purpose was to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic may be differentially impacting the well-being of sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth compared with their non-SGM counterparts. Specifically, we looked at perceptions of mental and physical health impact and relevant aspects of coping with the pandemic such as engagement in prosocial activities that might ultimately promote resilience. Methods: Survey data were collected between November 27, 2020, and December 11, 2020, from 990 adolescents and emerging adults aged 13-23 years. Participants were recruited through advertisements on Facebook and Instagram with an effort to overrecruit SGM youth. Questions asked youth about their perception of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their physical and mental health, the types of prosocial activities engaged in during the pandemic, and how they felt they were doing now versus before the pandemic. Results: SGM youth reported a significantly greater impact from the pandemic than non-SGM youth. Both SGM youth and cisgender heterosexual females reported greater impact on their mental health compared with cisgender heterosexual males, with cisgender sexual minority females and gender minority youth reporting the highest mental health impact. Gender minority youth also reported feeling less connected to their families and less safe at home as a result of the pandemic. Conclusion: Health professionals, educators, and advocates need to help assess SGM youth for negative impact from the pandemic and help them connect with other youth and support resources online as they move forward. Youth may also benefit from programs connecting them to volunteer work and neighbors.

Meaning in Life Trajectories Among College Students: Differential Effects of a Mentoring Program

Cultivating a sense of meaning in life (MIL) is a critical task for emerging adults that can be fostered through engagement in prosocial activities like mentoring at-risk youth. While mentoring may promote MIL for some, the potential benefits likely vary. This study explored trajectories and predictors of change in MIL in 641 college student mentors of at-risk youth who participated in a 12-week mentoring program. Three unique trajectories were identified (1) a class exhibiting stable, high levels of MIL (high class, 86%), (2) a class exhibiting the lowest initial levels of MIL that increased over time (increasing class, 5%), and (3) a class exhibiting decreased MIL (decreasing class, 8%). Results indicated mentors’ adverse experiences, role self-efficacy, and the quality of the mentor–mentee relationship were associated with unique change trajectories. Results indicate heterogeneity in the process of deriving MIL, with certain individuals benefitting more than others from serving as a mentor.

Child maltreatment and adolescent externalizing behavior: Examining the indirect and cross-lagged pathways of prosocial peer activities

BackgroundThere is a well-established relation between child maltreatment and externalizing behaviors in adolescence. A gap in this scientific literature is the identification of pathways, particularly protective pathways, explaining this relation prior to the transition to adulthood. ObjectiveThis study examined the indirect and cross-lagged pathways of peer engagement in prosocial activities to explain the relation between child maltreatment and adolescent externalizing behaviors. Participants and settingsChildren and their caregivers (N = 1354) participated in a multi-site, multi-wave, prospective cohort study of child maltreatment in the U.S. MethodsChild maltreatment, peer engagement in prosocial activities, and externalizing behaviors were assessed at ages twelve, fourteen, and sixteen. A cross-lagged path model evaluated whether peer engagement in prosocial activities was an indirect pathway of the relation between prior child maltreatment and subsequent externalizing behaviors. Cross-lagged relations were examined to determine directionality of risk among these variables during adolescence. ResultsThe path model did not support peer engagement in prosocial activities as an indirect or cross-lagged pathway to externalizing behaviors in adolescence. Instead, prior child maltreatment had a direct relation with greater externalizing behaviors, which had indirect and cross-lagged effects with less peer engagement in prosocial activities at multiple points later in adolescence. ConclusionsThe degree of peer engagement in prosocial activities may not be a risk or protective pathway to externalizing behaviors in adolescence for those exposed to child maltreatment. In fact, externalizing behaviors appear to limit subsequent engagement with peers in prosocial activities, providing an opportunity for future research and intervention.

Helping Amid the Pandemic: Daily Affective and Social Implications of COVID-19-Related Prosocial Activities.

Background and ObjectivesThe novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may have prompted more engagement in prosocial activities, such as volunteering and support transactions. The day-to-day affective and social implications of these activities for adults of different ages are unknown. The current study examined associations of daily prosocial activities with affective and social well-being, and whether these associations varied by age.Research Design and MethodsParticipants ages 18–91 in Canada and the United States (N = 1,028) completed surveys for 7 consecutive evenings about their daily experiences of COVID-19-related prosocial activities (formal volunteering, support provision, support receipt), positive and negative affect, and satisfaction with social activities and relationships. Analyses were conducted using multilevel modeling and accounted for a range of potential confounding factors (e.g., sociodemographics, work, family, caregiving, daily stressors).ResultsOlder age predicted more frequent formal volunteering, as well as more support provision and support receipt due to COVID-19. In particular, middle-aged and older adults provided more emotional support than younger adults, middle-aged adults provided the most tangible support, and older adults received the most emotional support. All three types of prosocial activities were associated with higher positive affect and greater social satisfaction on days when they occurred. Providing COVID-19-related support further predicted lower same-day negative affect. Age did not significantly moderate these associations.Discussion and ImplicationsOlder age was related to more frequent engagement in prosocial activities during the COVID-19 crisis. These activities were associated with improved daily affective and social well-being for adults of all ages.

Stigma Contributes to the Risk of Violence by Persons with Mental Illness

It is widely documented that persons with mental illness (MI) experience much stigma, contributing to undesirable outcomes for persons with MI and posing barriers to their psychosocial rehabilitation. It is our argument that stigma and violence have a reciprocal relationship. In particular, stigma increases the risk of violence by this population by acting as a barrier to treatment participation and by increasing criminogenic risk factors among this population. Discrimination in social relationships, housing, and employment increases the likelihood that persons with MI will experience substance abuse, unemployment, stressed family relationships, antisocial characteristics, and less engagement in prosocial activities, all of which are known to increase the risk of criminal behavior. It is well documented that family members are the most common victims of violence by persons with MI. However, many family victims do not report acts of violence to authorities due to fear of exacerbating the stigma of MI. As such, not only does stigma increase the risk of violence by persons with MI, it also decreases the likelihood that family victims will report violence, preventing them from receiving victim services and other valuable supports. Reduction in stigma may be an essential element of a comprehensive approach to decreasing the risk of violence by persons with MI and increasing reporting and service use among family members who have been victims by persons with MI.

Building Competencies to Prevent Youth Substance Use in Kazakhstan: Mixed Methods Findings From a Pilot Family-Focused Multimedia Trial

PurposeThe knowledge-based approach to substance use and HIV prevention, commonly used in Central Asia, does not equip at-risk adolescents with risk reduction skills. This pilot study aims to adapt and test the feasibility and estimate the effect size parameters of a skill-based and family-focused intervention for at-risk adolescents from communities affected by heroin trade and use in Kazakhstan, located on the major drug trafficking route from Afghanistan. MethodsThis National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded pilot trial used a mixed-methods approach and included 181 adolescents (ages 14−17) that reported at least one risk factor (e.g., substance-using family members or friends and parental criminal history). In addition to the school-based health education program, intervention-arm adolescent-caregiver dyads received three computerized pilot sessions focusing on risk reduction self-efficacy, resistance to peer pressure, and strengthening of family relationships. Adolescents completed baseline, 3- and 6-month Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview surveys in Russian and treatment group adolescents (n = 12) also participated in postintervention focus groups. ResultsSmall size effects were observed for youth-level theoretical mediators associated with lower substance use. Compared to the control group, intervention-arm adolescents showed improvement in personal and social competencies such as assertiveness (Cohen's d = .21) and self-esteem (d = .22) at 3 months and increased engagement in prosocial activities at 6 months (d = .41). Adolescents from the intervention group also reported improved self-control skills helping alleviate emotional distress (an increase in anger and tension management d = .30 at 3 months and a reduction in temper d = −.27 at 6 months) along with a lower likelihood of binge drinking at 6 months (odds ratio = .18, p = .023). ConclusionsIn middle-income countries like Kazakhstan, an intervention that utilizes interactive technologies and combines an empirically tested skills-based approach with family involvement may be an engaging, acceptable, and culturally appropriate tool for preventing substance use among at-risk youth.

Adolescents' and teachers' outlook on leisure activities: Personal values as a unifying framework

In this paper, we incorporate a personal values (Schwartz, 1992) perspective to explore adolescents' leisure activities. Focusing on prosocial and age-inappropriate activities (e.g., pornography, drinking), we explore adolescents' motivations to engage in these activities, and teachers' attitudes toward students' activities. In two studies we show that adolescents' engagement and teachers' attitudes are motivated in consistent patterns. For both adolescents' and teachers, these motivational patterns are negatively related for prosocial and age-inappropriate activities. In Study 1 (N=262), adolescents' engagement in prosocial activities was positively predicted by self-transcendence, and negatively predicted by hedonism values. Engagement in age-inappropriate activities was positively predicted by hedonism and self-enhancement, and negatively predicted by self-transcendence and conservation values. In Study 2 (N=141), teachers' attitudes toward students' prosocial activities were positively predicted by their self-transcendence, and negatively predicted by self-enhancement values. Teachers' attitudes toward students' age-inappropriate activities were positively predicted by self-enhancement values. In both studies, the level of religiosity moderated the relationships of self-enhancement values and age-inappropriate activities. Our findings provide insights for the motivational underpinnings of different leisure activities for both adolescents and their socialization agents. We also point to the potential interaction of these motivations with the level of religiosity in predicting behaviors and attitudes.

AUTONOMY AS A PERSONAL RESOURCE FOR STUDENTS OCCUPATIONAL WELL-BEING

Background. The awareness of resources that help to overcome life challenges and flourish even in the conditions of uncertainty is critically important for young individuals transitioning from school to labor market. Autonomy, as self-governance, based on the basis of personal interests, integrated goals and values, is linked with a number of positive constructs. Those include performance, creativity, greater sense of personal reward and energy, engagement in pro-social activities and etc. Thus, autonomy might be a promising personal resource for successful functioning and occupational well-being manifested as satisfaction with life, engagement and academic major satisfaction. Purpose. The purpose of the study was to analyze the role of students“™ autonomy when predicting satisfaction with life, engagement and academic major satisfaction. Method. The sample consisted of 148 college students (97.3% male, 2.7% female; mean age 19.69 ± 1.30). The Short version of Utrecht Work Engagement Scale ““ student version (Schaufeli et al., 2002), Satisfaction With Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985), Academic Major Satisfaction Scale (Nauta, 2007) and Dis- positional Index of Autonomous Functioning scale (Weinstein et al., 2012) were used in the study. Results . Only one of the components of autonomy, authorship/self-congruence in particular, had significant positive relationship with study variables and was a significant predictor of study engagement, satisfaction with life and academic major satisfaction. Conclusion. Our findings suggest that at least to some extent au- tonomy might serve as an important resource of students“™ well-being while struggling in academic settings.Â

Stress mitigation to promote development of prosocial values and school engagement of inner‐city urban African American and Latino youth.

Studies of predictors of development of young men of color have been primarily focused on factors that impede positive development rather than factors that promote it. There are also few examples of longitudinal studies of positive development of this population and few that consider multiple protective factors simultaneously. Little is also known about how such positive outcomes might relate to prediction of problematic functioning. This study tests a developmental-ecological framework of positive and risky development among a sample of young men of color growing up in high-risk urban environments. African American and Latino adolescent males (148 African American, 193 Latino) were followed from early to late adolescence. Stress in early adolescence was related to school engagement and prosocial values as well as depressive symptoms and problems assessed 2 years later. The role of family and individual protective factors as direct effects and as mitigating the stress-outcome relation were also tested. Stress predicted problem outcomes but not positive functioning. Early engagement in prosocial activities and coping skills did predict positive outcomes. In contrast, problem outcomes were predicted directly by stress, with some indication of interaction with some protective factors for both such outcomes. Overall results suggest value in focusing on positive outcomes along with negative outcomes, as they are not the antithesis and have some shared but some different predictors. Implications for supporting positive development are presented.

Highlighting Relatedness Promotes Prosocial Motives and Behavior

According to self-determination theory, people have three basic psychological needs: relatedness, competence, and autonomy. Of these, the authors reasoned that relatedness need satisfaction is particularly important for promoting prosocial behavior because of the increased sense of connectedness to others that this engenders. In Experiment 1, the authors manipulated relatedness, autonomy, competence, or gave participants a neutral task, and found that highlighting relatedness led to higher interest in volunteering and intentions to volunteer relative to the other conditions. Experiment 2 found that writing about relatedness experiences promoted feelings of connectedness to others, which in turn predicted greater prosocial intentions. Experiment 3 found that relatedness manipulation participants donated significantly more money to charity than did participants given a neutral task. The results suggest that highlighting relatedness increases engagement in prosocial activities and are discussed in relation to the conflict and compatibility between individual and social outcomes.

The Role of Autonomy Support and Autonomy Orientation in Prosocial Behavior Engagement

Two studies examined individual and environmental forces that affect engagement in prosocial behavior. Self-determination theory was used to derive a model in which autonomy orientation and autonomy support predicted satisfaction of three core psychological needs, which in turn led to engagement in prosocial activities. In Study 1, college students reported their engagement in various prosocial activities, and completed measures of autonomy orientation, parental autonomy support, and general need satisfaction. In Study 2, volunteer workers completed measures of autonomy orientation, work autonomy support and need satisfaction at work. The number of volunteered hours indicated the amount of prosocial engagement. Results across the studies showed that autonomy orientation was strongly related to engagement in prosocial behavior, while autonomy support was modestly related. Need satisfaction partially mediated the effect of autonomy orientation, and fully mediated the effect of autonomy support. Interestingly, autonomy support predicted lower volunteer turnover. Implications for how prosocial behavior can be motivated are discussed.