Peer Group Programs Research Articles

Condom use increased after a peer group intervention implemented by community volunteers in Malawi

BackgroundHIV prevention remains a global priority, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Our research team previously developed an evidence-based peer group program for HIV prevention called Mzake ndi Mzake (Friend to Friend). A community-engaged collaboration adapted the program for community ownership and implementation. Here we report whether this HIV prevention program, implemented by community volunteers, increased condom use among sexually active individuals in rural Malawi.MethodsThree communities sequentially rolled out the program. Effectiveness was evaluated using a stepped wedge design. Repeated surveys 11–13 months apart were conducted between 2016 and 2019. At Time 1, no community had offered the intervention. At Time 2, the first community had offered the intervention and two had not (control group). At Time 3, two communities had offered the intervention and one had not (control group). We used two condom use indicators; condom use frequency in the last 2 months (N = 771) and condom use at last sex (N = 880). The analytical sample included all sexually active persons answering that question at one or more time points. Mixed-effects cumulative logit and Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) models were used to model the two condom indicators over time, controlling for demographic factors, UNAIDS HIV knowledge, safer sex self-efficacy and partner communication.ResultsThis peer group intervention implemented by trained community volunteers increased both condom use indicators at Times 2 and 3. In the final adjusted models with non-significant factors removed, condom use in the last two months increased for the intervention group vs. control group [Time 2: Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 1.59 (1.15, 2.21); Time 3: AOR 2.01 (1.23, 3.30)]. Similarly, condom use at last sex increased for the intervention group vs. control group [Time 2: AOR = 1.48 (1.08, 2.03); Time 3: AOR 1.81 (1.13, 2.90)]. Other significant predictors of greater condom use were also described. Although the intervention increased UNAIDS HIV knowledge, knowledge did not predict condom use.ConclusionsIn this community-engaged implementation study, an evidence-based peer group program for HIV prevention increased condom use when delivered by trained community volunteers. Community ownership and program delivery by trained volunteers offer an innovative and cost-effective strategy to address ongoing HIV prevention needs without overburdening healthcare systems in sub-Saharan Africa.Trial registrationClinical Trials.gov NCT02765659 Registered May 6, 2016.

School-Based Nursing Interventions for Preventing Bullying and Reducing Its Incidence on Students: A Scoping Review.

Incidents of bullying have increased on students in schools. This has a negative impact such as mental health problems and risk of suicide. Interventions related to bullying are still focused on being carried out independently. Meanwhile, collaborative interventions between nurses and the school are needed to acquire maximum results in preventing and reducing the incidence of bullying. The purpose of this study is to describe school-based nursing interventions in preventing and reducing the incidence of bullying among students at school. This study used scoping review with a search strategy using the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Review process to find the articles. The PubMed, CINAHL, and Scopus electronic databases were searched. We found 12 articles from 594 articles in 3 databases which discussed nursing interventions based on school to prevent and reduce incidence of bullying in students. The studies included are design randomized control trials and quasi experiments. The samples with the range of 40-7121 respondents. We classified the school-based nursing interventions being three methods, there are Game programs, physical activity programs, training programs, and peer-group programs. The content of interventions are psychoeducation, empathy training, counseling, and self-management. This study shows that school-based nursing interventions can be an option in preventing and reducing the incidence of bullying among students at school.

"A reinstilled hope that they can change": Facilitator perspectives on a self-care and health promotion peer group program for veterans.

This study assessed the relevance, value, and effectiveness of "Taking Charge of My Life and Health" (TCMLH), a patient wellbeing peer group program for U.S. veterans focused on empowering them to identify what really matters in their lives and to work toward health goals that align with their mission, aspirations, or purpose in life. The potential of TCMLH to empower veterans to engage in self-care behaviors, make health behavior changes, and participate in health care decision making is important, as veterans are more likely than the general population to suffer from multiple chronic conditions that require ongoing self-management. We conducted individual semi-structured interviews with 19 TCMLH facilitators serving in eight U.S. Veteran's Health Administration medical centers. Data were analyzed using an inductive approach to identify salient themes in facilitators' experiences. Facilitators reported that TCMLH participants demonstrated positive attitude changes (e.g., greater confidence and hope) and behavior changes (e.g., making healthcare appointments and implementing self-care practices) by program completion. Further, findings show that mindful awareness practices, the peer group setting, Whole Health assessment tools, and goal setting tools were perceived as the most impactful program elements leading to positive health behavior change. Overall, findings suggest that this non-clinical peer group program can enhance patient wellbeing, and that there are certain program elements of TCMLH that are driving key attitudinal and behavioral changes.

Method of Nursing Interventions to Reduce the Incidence of Bullying and Its Impact on Students in School: A Scoping Review.

The bullying of students in schools can have a negative impact on students. The impact of bullying can take the form of anxiety, low psychological well-being, low social adjustment, psychological distress, and risk of suicide. Incidents of bullying are still considered normal, and there has not been a focus on reducing their incidence and impact. The purpose of this study is to describe nursing interventions to reduce the incidence of bullying and its impact on students at school. This study used the scoping review method and literature reviews via CINAHL, PubMed, and ProQuest databases. The keywords used in English were “bullying OR cyberbullying OR aggression” AND “students OR school students” AND “school OR schools” AND “nursing intervention”. The criteria for articles in this study were: full texts, student populations and samples, randomized control trials or quasi-experiment research designs, use of the English language, and the publication period of the last 10 years (2013–2022). We found 11 articles discussing nursing interventions to reduce the incidence of bullying and its impact on students in schools. There are four types of interventions that can be provided to students, namely, prevention programs, activities programs, peer group programs, and resilience programs. Most of the articles used randomized control trials and quasi-experiment designs. The samples in the articles analyzed were in the range of 50–7121 students. These four types of interventions can reduce the incidence of bullying and its impact on students at school, and in addition, they can improve the social skills and mental health of students, for example, by increasing their self-efficacy, resilience, and adaptive coping. There are four nursing interventions to reduce the incidence of bullying and its impact on students in schools, namely, the prevention program, activities program, peer group program, and resilience program.

Saving more in groups: Field experimental evidence from Chile

We test the impact of a peer group program on savings in a sample of microcredit clients. We conduct two randomized trials among these 2687 microcredit clients. The first finds that a Savings Group Treatment, which combines public goal setting, monitoring in the group and non-financial rewards, increases savings in a new savings account significantly. The number of deposits grows 3.7-fold and the average balance almost doubles. In contrast, a more classical measure, a substantially increased interest rate, has no effect for most participants and raises the savings balance only for the very top of the distribution. A second experiment, conducted a year later, tests an alternative delivery mechanism and shows that effects of similar size can be achieved through feedback text messages, without meetings, rewards, or peer pressure. Given that participants are borrowing at 90% APR, we discuss how and when saving more could be harmful or beneficial.

Should we talk? Co-rumination and conversation avoidance in job search

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to adopt an approach/avoidance coping framework to examine the relationships of job search co-rumination (i.e. engaging in repeated and excessive conversations with a friend about job search problems) and job search talk avoidance (i.e. persistently seeking to escape conversations about the job search) on job search intensity and job search procrastination.Design/methodology/approachThe authors surveyed 196 new labor market entrants (i.e. graduating students) at two points in time during their last semester in college.FindingsThe authors found that job search co-rumination is positively related to job search intensity, while job search talk avoidance is positively related to job search procrastination. Interestingly, though, the expected negative relationships between job search co-rumination and job search procrastination and between job search talk avoidance and job search intensity were not significant.Practical implicationsThis study has implications for both job seekers and career counselors. For job seekers, understanding how their communication patterns influence their behaviors (and ultimately their success) can help them to see the benefits of a balanced approach to sharing about their job search. Furthermore, career centers could organize either job search mentoring or peer group programs to help job seekers navigate the intricacies of the job search process.Originality/valueThis study contributes to understanding whether and how talking (or not) with others (i.e. friends and relatives) about one’s job search influences one’s job search behaviors, such as intensity and procrastination.

Mental Health and Disclosure of HIV Status in Zambian Adolescents With HIV Infection

To examine emotional and behavioural difficulties in HIV positive Zambian adolescents and to determine the relationship between disclosure of HIV status and mental health. A cross-sectional survey. Participants were 127 HIV positive adolescents aged 11 to 15 years recruited through clinics in the Lusaka region. Mental health was assessed using the youth report version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Caregivers completed the parent SDQ. Sixty-two participants were invited for a semi-structured interview which probed views on attending a peer support group. Compared to a British community sample participants had increased mental health problems (OR, 2.1), particularly emotional symptoms (OR = 3.6) and peer problems (OR = 7.1). The majority of children (n = 94) were receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, but only 48 children (37.8%) had their HIV status disclosed. Those who had not had their HIV status disclosed were younger (P < 0.001) and less likely to be receiving ARV treatment (P < 0.001). Controlling for these factors they were also more likely to score in the abnormal range of the emotional difficulties subscale (OR = 2.63, 95% CI: 1.11 to 6.26). Of 38 interviews transcribed, content analysis showed that only 3 children were opposed to participation in a peer-group program, with the majority (23/38) expressing reasoned and positive responses, regardless of disclosure status. High rates of emotional and peer problems were found in this sample but disclosure of HIV status did not have a negative effect on mental health. Interventions to promote disclosure could facilitate access to emotional and peer support.

Developing the helping skills and prosocial motivation of aggressive adolescents in peer group programs

Peer-group and skills-training treatment approaches are integrated in EQUIP, an innovative group program for aggressive and other antisocial adolescents. Peer group programs such as Positive Peer Culture generally have had only mixed success, perhaps because they do not sufficiently counteract the negative youth culture and the helping-skill limitations of antisocial youth. These helping-skill limitations include: (a) delay or immaturity in moral judgment and egocentric bias, (b) social information-processing deficits and distortions, and (c) social skill deficiencies. Single-component skills-training interventions addressing one or another of these limitations have also had only mixed success. EQUIP introduces “equipment meetings” to remediate these limitations by incorporating into a peer-group treatment approach multicomponent skills training (cf. Aggression Replacement Training, cognitive therapy). Equipment meetings also promote the development of a positive youth culture and hence the prosocial motivation of group members. A recent favorable study encourages continued evaluation research for multicomponent group programs that are designed to motivate and equip aggressive youth to help one another.

Attitudinal Changes as Measured by the Jesness Behavior Checklist in a Residential Peer Group Program

ABSTRACT One hundred and thirty young men, between the ages of thirteen and seventeen, were among the participants in a residential treatment program at Elk Hill Farm in Virginia, U.S.A. This program included a peer group model based upon Vorrath and Bendtro's Positive Peer Culture. A major goal of peer group models is to bring about attitudinal change. A self report instrument, the Jesness Behavior Checklist, was chosen to ascertain how the youths perceived themselves. Changes in attitude were measured by difference in the Jesness Behavior Checklist scores on two administrations, once upon admission to the program and again at the time of termination from the program. All 14 of the factor scores on the checklist were reported as having a statistically significant change (at the .001 level) in the direction of healthy growth.

The social climates of peer group and other residential programs

Some presumed strengths and weaknesses of peer group approaches are discussed as the basis for this study, in which students' and staff members' perceptions of social climates in two peer-group and two non-peer-group residential treatment agencies were compared. Students from the peer group agencies sampled reported significantly greater satisfaction with their social climates than their non-peer-group contemporaries, and staff/student perceptions were more congruent in the peer group agencies than in the non-peer-group agencies. The results suggested that peer group programs can provide healthy, responsible therapeutic communities, and other implications are discussed as well.

Integrating Affective Change

This past decade there have been many efforts to evaluate the behavioral and affective outcomes of peer group and other residential treatment programs. This investigation sought to extend that literature by examining how affective changes are integrated into the general personality structure of peer group program participants. The study supports the hypothesis that self concept enhancement may be a by-product of a more general cognitive restructuring: An offender's active endorsement of socially appropriate values as well as personal and interpersonal competence may precede improved feelings of self worth. These findings are discussed in relation to both the theoretical assumptions of peer group treatment and individual personality development.

Treatment compliance of older alcoholics: an elder-specific approach is superior to "mainstreaming".

A sample of 24 alcoholics (mean age, 58.8 years) treated in typical mixed-age outpatient groups, is compared to a sample of 25 alcoholics (mean age, 60.2 years) treated in special elderly peer groups. Patients treated in the special peer group program remained in treatment significantly longer and were more likely to complete treatment than those treated in mixed-age groups. These findings support the continued development and evaluation of elder-specific treatment approaches for older alcoholics.

Initiating a High School Health‐Related Student Peer Group Program

Initiating a High School Health‐Related Student Peer Group Program