Role Of Significant Others Research Articles

The influence of significant others upon participation in cardiac rehabilitation and coronary heart disease self-help groups

Aims: Despite identified benefits, many people do not participate in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programmes and coronary heart disease (CHD) self-help groups when recovering from myocardial infarction (MI). Little is known about the influence of ‘significant others’ regarding participation, their role, and the significant others’ experience of rehabilitation without these resources. This article describes research aiming to explore the role of significant others in such non-participation, and their experiences and perspectives, and, from this, identify implications for policy and practice. Methods: A qualitative study was carried out in Lothian, Scotland. In-depth interviews were carried out with 27 people who had not participated in CR and/or a CHD Group after discharge from hospital 6–14 months previously following myocardial infarction, and 17 of their nominated significant others. Findings: Significant others are influential regarding their family members'/friends' use/non-use of rehabilitation resources. However, there are important limitations upon this influence. Conclusions: Significant others should be an essential consideration in post-MI rehabilitation, as influences on rehabilitation resource participation, potentially key providers of support, and regarding their own wellbeing.

Myths, misinformation, and communication about family planning and contraceptive use in Nigeria

Myths, misinformation, and communication about family planning and contraceptive use in Nigeria Augustine Ankomah1, Jennifer Anyanti1, Muyiwa Oladosu21Society for Family Health, Abuja, Nigeria; 2MiraMonitor Consulting Ltd, Abuja, NigeriaBackground: This paper examines myths, misinformation, factual information, and communication about family planning and their effects on contraceptive use in Nigeria.Methods: A nationally representative sample of 20,171 respondents from two waves of a multiround survey (one in 2003 and the other in 2005), was analyzed at the bivariate level using Chi-square tests and at the multivariate level using logistic regression.Results: Key myths and misinformation about family planning having significant negative effects on contraceptive use included: “contraception makes women become promiscuous”, “it is expensive to practice family planning”, and “family planning causes cancer”. Factual information having significant positive effects on contraceptive use includes the messages that family planning methods are effective and not against religious teaching. The type of people with whom respondents discussed family planning had a significant effect on use of contraception. Respondents who discussed family planning with their spouse, friends, and health workers were more likely to use contraception than those who discussed it with religious leaders. Other significant predictors of contraceptive use were region of residence, gender, and socioeconomic status.Conclusion: Family planning programs should focus on eliminating myths and misinformation, while strengthening factual information. Contraception programs should factor in the role of significant others, particularly spouses and friends.Keywords: contraceptive use, family planning, logistic regression, misconceptions, myths

Digging it out of the Dirt: Ben Hogan, Deliberate Practice and the Secret

Simon Jenkins paints a vivid picture of the golfing legend Ben Hogan as a man consumed by the pursuit of excellence. Hogan is presented as a perfectionist, continually striving to reach his own exceptionally high standards. Hours spent engaged in practice, reflecting, experimenting and refining his game, appear to fit neatly with Ericsson’s work on expertise [1]. As Jenkins points out, there is substantial evidence to support the theoretical explanation of expertise offered by Ericsson. Few would argue against the importance of deliberate practice and the importance of practice at an early age. Expertise is quantified into Ericsson’s notion of 10 years minimum or 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. There is a significant relationship between accumulated hours of practice and expertise, but this potentially provides an over simplified view of how and why champions like Ben Hogan succeed. Ericsson’s work also reinforces the notion that hard work is the key ingredient to success. Clearly champion athletes work hard, but what about the role of inherited abilities, psychological traits, environmental factors, or the role of significant others?

Exploring Mental Toughness in NCAA Athletes

The purpose of the current study was to explore National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 athletes’ perceptions of mental toughness. Specifically, three areas of mental toughness were explored including attributes, the role of significant others, and strategies used to build mental toughness. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 athletes from a variety of sports. Lower and higher-order themes were developed to capture the main ideas of mental toughness. Various psychological attributes emerged including performing under pressure, being motivated, being a hard worker, and anticipation. In addition, all athletes referred to coaches as being critical in developing mental toughness (i.e., coaches’ support, coaches’ attributes, coaches’ practices). Creating a positive but tough practice environment emerged as a dominant theme to build mental toughness. In addition, the themes of teaching mental toughness and enhancing athletes’ psychological skills emerged. Findings offer implications for aspiring collegiate athletes and their coaches, as well as current NCAA athletes and coaches.

Career motivation in nursing students and the perceived influence of significant others

This paper is a report of a study investigating the motivation of nursing students, their reasons for entering nursing and the perceived influence of others in their decision-making. There is an abundance of research into why students drop out of nursing education, but less well-studied is their motivation for entering it in the first place. In addition, little is known about the role of significant others in their decisions. The participants were a convenience sample of 68 undergraduate nursing students in the second year of their programme. They provided answers to essay topics and the data were analysed using the principles of grounded theory. The data were collected in 2007. Whilst altruism was a major theme in the essays, the opportunities nursing presented were also deemed influential. Personal/self development was viewed as equally important as the desire to care. Family members in the healthcare profession were perceived to be great sources of both emotional and instrumental support. The diversity within nursing and the reported opportunities that nursing presents are important motivators for nursing students, and recruitment campaigns should aim to make these more explicit. There is a need for more qualitative research into indicators of successful nursing students if we are to address not only student dropout, but also to recruit those most likely to complete their education and remain in the nursing profession.

The principle of justice in patient priorities in the intensive care unit: the role of significant others

Background:Theoretically, the principle of justice is strong in healthcare priorities both nationally and internationally. Research, however, has indicated that questions can be raised as to how this principle is dealt...

The role of significant others in the intercultural learning of teachers

This article examines intercultural learning as a lifelong process. The data on which the article is based consist of 10 biographical interviews in which Finnish teachers were asked to talk about their lives from the perspective of intercultural learning. The analysis of the interviews showed that other people were involved in many of the experiences being referred to, and that these individuals played an important role in the stories. This article, therefore, focuses on the role of significant others in the intercultural learning of teachers. Three roles of significant others that arose from the data are introduced: transforming attitudes towards diversity; awakening and developing intercultural awareness; and developing ethical orientation.

Interpersonal Relationships, Motivation, Engagement, and Achievement: Yields for Theory, Current Issues, and Educational Practice

In this review, we scope the role of interpersonal relationships in students’ academic motivation, engagement, and achievement. We argue that achievement motivation theory, current issues, and educational practice can be conceptualized in relational terms. Influential theorizing, including attribution theory, expectancy-value theory, goal theory, self-determination theory, self-efficacy theory, and self-worth motivation theory, is reviewed in the context of the role of significant others in young people’s academic lives. Implications for educational practice are examined in the light of these theoretical perspectives and their component constructs and mechanisms. A trilevel framework is proposed as an integrative and relationally based response to enhance students’ motivation, engagement, and achievement. This framework encompasses student-level action (universal programs and intervention, targeted programs for at-risk populations, extracurricular activity, cooperative learning, and mentoring), teacher- and classroom-level action (connective instruction, professional development, teacher retention, teacher training, and classroom composition), and school-level action (school as community and effective leadership).

An IF–THEN theory of personality: Significant others and the relational self

In our work on the relational self [Andersen, S. M., & Chen, S. (2002). The relational self: An interpersonal social-cognitive theory. Psychological Review, 109, 619–645], which is grounded in research and theory on the social-cognitive process of transference [Andersen, S. M., & Cole, S. W. (1990). “Do I know you?”: The role of significant others in general social perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 383–399], we build on advances in IF–THEN models of personality [Mischel, W. & Shoda, Y. (1995). A cognitive-affective system theory of personality: Reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure. Psychological Review, 102, 246–268] and their lineage in early work [Mischel, W. (1968). Personality and assessment. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.] to demonstrate that the self is inherently interpersonal. Because we have shown that mental representations of significant others are activated by immediate triggering cues in a situation and that this activation influences the nature of self and personality as experienced and expressed, the work expands the IF–THEN approach to the dyadic level of interpersonal relations. Moving beyond Mischel’s early work (Mischel, 1968) our model also integrates social cognition and learning theory with psychodynamic thought, bringing the latter into the realm of this contemporary conceptualization of personality that highlights the importance of the situation.

Dietary Change: What Are the Responses and Roles of Significant Others?

Objective This study examined the impact of one person’s dietary change on the experiences of a significant other with whom they regularly shared meals. Design Qualitative constant comparison approach using semistructured interviews. Setting Community-based. Participants Forty-two participants were recruited using a stratified purposive sampling strategy. Analysis Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using NUD*IST, version 4.0 software (Qualitative Solutions and Research, Melbourne, Australia, 1997) and manual coding. Results Most dietary changers had modified their diets in response to a disease diagnosis (eg, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, hypoglycemia, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), ulcer, allergies). Others had changed their diets for personal reasons (eg, weight loss, vegetarian diets). The dietary changes included dietary fat reduction, conversion to vegetarian or vegan diets, restriction of total kilocalorie intake, and elimination or reduction of specific food items. Significant others described a range of emotional responses to the dietary change, including cooperation, encouragement, skepticism, and anger. Significant others’ descriptions of the roles that they played in the dietary change were positive (enabling), neutral (neither enabling nor inhibiting), or negative (inhibiting). Most significant others played positive roles; few played neutral or negative roles. Conclusions and Implications Understanding dietary change from the perspective of significant others can enable nutrition professionals to develop strategies to promote dietary modifications as a shared activity.

Understanding dropout and prolonged engagement in adolescent competitive sport

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to gain understanding of training patterns and roles of significant others (i.e. coaches, parents, peers, and siblings) in adolescent swimmers’ sport participation patterns. Design: The developmental model of sport participation [Côté, J., Baker, J., & Abernethy, B. (2003). From play to practice: A developmental framework for the acquisition of expertise in team sport. In J. Starkes, & K. A. Ericsson (Eds.), Recent advances in research on sport expertise (pp. 89–114). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; Côté, J., & Fraser-Thomas, J. (2007). Youth involvement in sport. In P. R. E. Crocker (Ed.), Introduction to sport psychology: A Canadian perspective (pp. 266–294). Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall] was used as a framework. Method: Ten dropout and 10 engaged swimmers, matched on key demographic variables participated in a semi-structured qualitative interview. Results: Groups had many similar experiences (e.g. early training, supportive and unsupportive coaches, involved parents). However, only dropouts spoke of early peak performances, limited one-on-one coaching, pressuring parents during adolescence, lack of swimming peers during adolescence, and sibling rivalries. In contrast, only engaged athletes spoke of clubs’ developmental philosophies, coaches’ and parents’ open communication, school friends’ support, and siblings’ general positive influences. Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of appropriately structured programs and the fragility of athletes’ relationships with significant others during the adolescent years. Implications for sport programmers, coaches, and parents are discussed.

The role of significant others in the care of women with breast cancer

This study seeks to gain knowledge of how significant others experience the nursing care of women with breast cancer and what their own caring needs might be. The overall research design is a clinical application research within the hermeneutic tradition. Thirty-seven significant others have contributed their own narratives about the care on the basis of open, structured questions. The narratives have been submitted to an analysis of contents. The result shows that significant others have no given place in nursing care. Their place in nursing care is to look on, be present or be ignored. No matter what their place is, the significant others feel a need for caring conversations and information in an ethical manner. The faith and trust of significant others, the sharing, sense of communion and the information about woman's illness strengthen the significant others' own vitality. Their inmost desire concerns the sensitiveness of caregivers with regard to the woman's as well as the significant others' personal needs. If space is allowed and this desire meets with response, significant others can constitute a source of strength in the care of the woman suffering from breast cancer.

Explanatory Models and Help-Seeking Behavior: Pathways to Psychiatric Care Among Patients Admitted for Depression in Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda

In this article, the authors present findings from a qualitative study exploring how people diagnosed with depression conceptualize their condition and how their conceptualization shaped their efforts to seek help. They used an interview guide based on an explanatory model framework for data collection. Four major themes emerged from the analysis: (a) somatization, social meaning of illness, and help seeking; (b) meaning and perceived consequences of illness; (c) How did I get here? Making sense of psychiatric admission; and (d) variations in the causal attribution and the role of significant others in help seeking. Somatization of emotional problems, variations in causal attribution between patients and their significant others, the nature of the available health care system, and burden of infectious disease complicate access to care. These findings suggest the need to raise the awareness of primary care providers on how to recognize and help people with depression appropriately in this setting.

The social and emotional toll of chemotherapy ? patients' perspectives

The aim of this paper is to briefly describe the unique methodology employed by nine nurse researchers who conducted research into the social and emotional effects of chemotherapy from the patient's perspective, and to present four dominant themes. The research developed from discussions at a local UK Nurses Oncology Forum, during which nurses voiced their concern about the social and emotional implications for people receiving chemotherapy. It was anticipated that understanding the issues from the patient's perspective would assist nurses to reconsider and reshape the care provided, particularly in the chemotherapy clinic. Using principles of phenomenology, the nurse researchers collected data from participants using conversational-style interviews. Some participants kept diaries of chemotherapy experiences. These data were subsequently analysed using a modified phenomenological analysis framework. Nineteen people were recruited to the study, resulting in 98 interviews and seven diaries. Eight major themes emerged from the data: striving for normality, the role of significant others, feeling up - feeling down, flagging, being sociable, anxiety, the chemotherapy process, and participating in the research. Relationship dynamics, the perceived role of significant others and the frustrations associated with lack of concentration and memory loss are important findings that should influence nursing care and management.

The Role of Significant Others in Adolescent Diabetes

The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of how diabetes influences adolescents' perceptions of quality of life in general and their relationships with parents, peers, school, and their physician. The authors recruited adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18 years living with type 1 diabetes mellitus from a midwestern metropolitan area. Qualitative analysis of the focus group data followed a set procedure: (1) audio review of the tapes, (2) reading through the transcriptions, (3) discussions among investigators, (4) determination of conceptual themes, and (5) assignment of relevant responses to appropriate thematic constructs. The 5 focus groups involved 31 adolescents. From the discussions that occurred within the 5 focus groups, the following themes were identified: personal perceptions of living with diabetes (which included living with diabetes, testing and injections, and blood sugar fluctuations), impact on relationships (which included relationships with their parents, their friends/peers, and their physician), and impact on school. Diabetes in adolescence is fraught with equal and opposite demands. One consequence of this internal push/pull is that adolescents become more afraid to do appropriate developmental activities. This can have a significant impact on their normal progression to independence and adulthood, ironically at odds with the increased responsibility they have had to assume throughout their lives to care for their disease. Much of the clinical time and research still focuses on the devices of diabetes care: testing and treatment. While these are important tools in improving the outcomes of people with diabetes, they will have little impact on the adolescent until the developmental consequences of diabetes on their lives are simultaneously addressed.

Influences on the socialisation of South African elite athletes

Within the different phases of being socialised into the formation of an athletic identity, socialisation agents (including the ‘self\') make significant contributions. A self-constructed questionnaire was completed by 123 South African elite athletes who competed in the 8th All Africa Games in Abuja (2003). They represented 17 different sports codes, the majority (n=74, 60%) of which competed in team sports and 49 (40%) competed in individual sports. The gender composition of the sample consists of 69 (56%) men and 54 (44%) women. The findings reflect the shifting nature and dominant role of significant others as socialising agents, the influence of environmental factors, and socio-cultural and economic aspects. The social worlds and career paths of elite athletes is further constructed through ideological and subjective schemes, which translate into needs and perceptions that should be understood and addressed in the development of elite athletes in the South African context. Keywords : elite athlete, socialization, sport, South Africa South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation Vol. 27(1) 2005: 21-34

A Motivational Psychology for the Education of Indigenous Australian Students

Abstract This article explores an integrative framework for a motivational psychology for the education of Indigenous students. Drawing on and adapting Graham’s (1994) taxonomy for motivational psychology, it is suggested that enhancing the educational outcomes of Indigenous students involves addressing factors relevant to the self (positive identity, academic self-concept, and academic resilience), cognitive and affective factors (that facilitate motivation, engagement, achievement, and enjoyment of school), socialisation and child-rearing antecedents (the role of the family), failure dynamics (fear of failure and shame), the role of significant others and their contexts (peers, community, teachers, schools, and the scope for pastoral pedagogy), and the issue of young people’s pathways and transitions. Values, attitudes, and approaches to school and schoolwork that are common across Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students and the role of positive psychology are also explored as a means of contributing to a better general understanding of human behaviour.

Resistance and Persistence: An Expectancy-Value Approach to Understanding Women’s Participation in a Male-Defined Sport

Achievement choices emanate from a variety of individual and contextual factors, including the influence of significant others and gender-role socialization. An understanding of these factors is important for promoting participation in sport, particularly for women engaged in masculine-typed sports. Five members of the USA women’s wrestling team were interviewed regarding the personal and contextual variables that influenced their choice to wrestle. Questions focused on the athletes’ expectations of success and value for wrestling, their identity as a wrestler, the role of significant others, and the cultural context of wrestling for women. Results revealed that each woman had a strong wrestling identity, had high perceptions of ability, and placed high value on achieving in wrestling. Parents and coaches were the main providers of wrestling opportunities; however, negative interpretations of their involvement from a variety of significant others outnumbered positive influences. While the individual factors confirm sources that would lead a person to select and persist at an achievement task, societal messages did not support these choices. Discussion centers on issues of resistance, persistence, and applied messages.

Qualitative adolescent health research — focus groups: a rural South African example

This paper introduces nine steps that are recommended in conducting focus group discussions in rural communities and gives an example of how they can appropriately and fruitfully be employed in adolescent health behavioural research. The paper also reviewed issues related to methods of data collection, data analysis, reliability and validity in qualitative research. Focus group discussions took place in classrooms in three schools in Mankweng, Limpopo Province of South Africa. Three groups (boys only, girls only and mixed) took part in each school. Participants were selected from the pool of standard seven (grade 9) students from the chosen schools. The nine steps that were involved in using focus group discussions as a research method and the Mankweng experience is discussed. These steps include: (1) conducting a social influence analysis; (2) identifying the specific information to collect; (3) designing focus group discussion guide; (4) choosing the participants for the focus group discussion; (5) selecting focus group discussion moderators; (6) training focus group discussion moderators; (7) conducting the focus group discussion; (8) analysing the data collected; (9) formulating study conclusions and policy recommendations. Little adolescent health research in South Africa has been based upon methods that can capture the complexity of the role of significant others in adolescent health and development and the powerlessness of rural communities in dealing with the 'new morbidity' of adolescent risk behaviours. Understanding what sort of power relations, for example, that are involved in being relatively disadvantaged and how the power of such social groups can be increased is common concern of development managers and other individuals and institutions engaged in policy changes and implementation and deserve to be an essential component of child and adolescent health research. Well-collected and well-analysed qualitative data is needed in order to clearly understand some of the underlying predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors that could account for adolescent risk behaviours in rural communities. Qualitative research method is important in that they capture the complexity of life, rather than trying to 'reduce' this complexity, and the potential for gaining an understanding of what is going on in the situation with the phenomenon is greater. Focus group discussions, a qualitative research methodology, can yield valuable data.

Generalization and Maintenance of Social Skills of Children with Visual Impairments: Self-evaluation and the Role of Feedback

A multiple baseline design across behaviors was used with two visually impaired girls to establish the effectiveness of self-evaluation and the role of feedback. In both cases, self-evaluation was effective in increasing the girls’ social skills and social interaction. Implications of the role of significant others in providing feedback are discussed.