Ambitious mothers – successful daughters: Mothers’ early expectations for children’s education and children’s earnings and sense of control in adult life

Background. Mothers' expectations for their children's educational attainment are related to children's educational and occupational attainment. Studies have yet to establish, however, the long-term links between maternal expectations and offspring earnings, which are not always related to occupational attainment especially in women, or between maternal expectations and offspring sense of control and self-efficacy, which are pivotal factors in career choice and development. Aims. To explore the role of mothers' expectations for their children's educational attainment in children's earnings attainment and sense of control later in life. Method. Data from sweeps of the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70) were used. The study sample was those cohort members with complete information on all the variables of interest. The study sample (N = 3,285) was more educated and less disadvantaged than the whole sample. If cohort members of this type are more likely to have a mother who has high expectations, then our results are biased downwards, which suggests that we underestimate the effect of expectations on our two outcome variables. Results. Mothers' expectations at the age of 10 were positively related to daughters' sense of control at the age of 30 even after controlling for ethnicity, educational attainment, and concurrent partner, parent, and labour market participation status, as well as the following confounding variables (measured at the ages of 0–10): general ability and general ability squared, locus of control, emotional and behavioural problems and emotional and behavioural problems squared, socio-economic disadvantage, parental social class, parental family structure, and mothers' education, child-rearing attitudes, and mental health. Mothers' expectations had no effect on sons' adult outcomes. Conclusions. Given that women are particularly at risk for poor psychological and economic outcomes in adulthood, and that this study likely underestimated the effect of expectations on these two outcomes, this is an important conclusion.

A randomized controlled trial evaluating the quality of life and the sense of coherence in seniors wearing complete conventional dentures or mandibular two-implant overdentures

La supériorité des prothèses mandibulaires retenues par deux implants (IODs) sur les prothèses conventionnelles (CDs) nécessitent d’être éclaircies notamment en rapport à leur influence sur la qualité de vie reliée à la santé bucco-dentaire (OHRQoL) ainsi que sur la stabilité de cet effet de traitement. De plus, l’influence des facteurs psychologiques, tel que le sens de cohérence (SOC), sur l’effet de traitement reste encore inconnue. Le but de cette étude est de déterminer l’amplitude de l’influence du port des IODs et des CDs sur l’OHRQoL et d’évaluer la stabilité de l’effet de traitement dans le temps, tout en prenant en considération le niveau du SOC. MÉTHODOLOGIE: Des participants édentés (n=172, âge moyen 71, SD = 4.5) ayant reçu des CDs ou des IODs ont été suivis sur une période de deux ans. L’OHRQoL a été évaluée à l’aide du questionnaire « Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP -20) » et ce avant le traitement et à chacun des deux suivis. Le SOC a été évalué à l’aide du questionnaire « The Orientation to Life (SOC -13) » à chacun des deux suivis. Des analyses statistiques ont été effectuées pour évaluer les différences intra et entre groupes (analyses statistiques descriptives, bivariées et multivariées). RÉSULTATS: Une amélioration statistiquement significative de l’OHRQoL entre les statuts avant et après traitement a été notée dans les deux groupes (Wilks’s Lambda = 0.473, F (1,151) = 157.31, p < 0.0001). L’amplitude de l’effet du traitement IOD est 1.5 fois plus grande que celle du traitement CD. Ces résultats ont été stables pendant les deux années d’étude et ils n’ont pas été influencés par le SOC. CONCLUSION: Le traitement IOD amène une meilleure OHRQoL à long terme en comparaison avec le traitement CD et ce sans influence du niveau du SOC. Ces résultats sont cliniquement significatifs et confirment la supériorité des IODs sur les CDs.

Quality of life and sense of coherence in people with arthritis

This study investigated the physical and psychological impact of arthritis on people's quality of life. A range of variables were examined in a sample of 375 participants who comprised three groups: people with arthritis receiving a support-based service from the Arthritis Foundation of Victoria, people with arthritis receiving standard treatment, and a group of people from the general population. The results revealed that the two arthritis groups reported a significantly higher level of functional impairment, pain, and negative affectivity, and lowered mood, positive affect, and Sense of Coherence, compared to the general population group. They also reported normal levels of importance, but lower levels of satisfaction on various life domains. After statistically controlling for pain however, group differences were eliminated on all variables except for functional impairment and for all satisfaction domains except health. These data are interpreted as evidence that the combination of low domain satisfaction coupled with high domain importance yields a negative psychological state. This, then suggests the possibility of a therapy based on reducing the perceived importance of health.

A framework for exploring the sense of community and social life in residential environments

Sense of community and social life are two key concepts related to social cohesion, which have been the subject of extensive studies in several disciplines including sociology, psychology and built environment. Social life studies have been mostly conducted in the built environment discipline focusing on city centres; while sense of community studies were mostly the target of sociologists and psychologists focusing on neighbourhoods. As a result, the role of the built environment on the sense of community and social life of neighbourhoods is considered as a missing gap in the literature. This paper, through defining the concepts of social life and sense of community, aims to develop a conceptual framework for further implementation in future research. Accurate implication and interpretation of the concepts show that neighbourhoods can include the sense of community in the residential environment and the social life in the commercial environment. This is because residential environments are where residents' requirements can be met through their commitment to the community and commercial environments are the fulcrum of interaction and communication.

Career adaptability development in adolescence: Multiple prdictors and effect on sense of power and life satisfaction

This longitudinal panel study investigated predictors of career adaptability development and its effect on development of sense of power and experience of life satisfaction among 330 Swiss eighth graders. A multivariate measure of career adaptability consisting of career choice readiness, planning, exploration, and confidence was applied. Based on Motivational Systems Theory four groups of predictors were assessed: positive emotional disposition, goal decidedness, capability beliefs and social context beliefs. Influence of gender, age, immigration background, parental educational level, and college-bound or vocational education plans were also assessed. Perceived social support and positive emotional disposition, non-immigration background, and continuing to vocational education were single significant predictors of more career adaptability development over the school year. Supporting the connection of career adaptability and positive youth development, increase in career adaptability over time predicted increase in sense of power and experience of life satisfaction.

Quality of life, sense of coherence and levels of sedentarism of faculty and staff from the Presbítero Benjamín Núnez, U.N.A.

The aim of this study was to analyze the quality of life of faculty and staff of the Presbítero Benjamín Núñez Campus of Universidad Nacional (UNA, Costa Rica) as well as to assess the influence of two factors, sense of coherence and physical exercise, in the quality of life of the subjects.  A group of 37 faculty members and 30 staff members participated in the study.  The SF-36 Questionnaire, the Sense of Coherence Scale, and a survey to measure physical exercise habits were used.  In general, results showed a relatively good quality of life and similar scores were found in the Sense of Coherence Scale.  Additionally, significant connections were found between certain factors related to sense of coherence and quality of life.  Data confirmed that persons who practice physical exercise have a better quality of life than those who are not physically active.  It was concluded that, although quality of life and sense of coherence were relatively good, new proposals must be designed and implemented to improve both aspects.  In this sense, physical exercise proved to be one of the pillars in the development of innovative proposals aimed at bettering health in university employees, all of this within the “Healthy Universities” concept.

Making sense of an everyday science text : linguistic, visual and spatial design

In this article, we take a close look at the literacy demands of one task from the ‘Marvellous Micro-organisms Stage 3 Life and Living’ Primary Connections unit (Australian Academy of Science, 2005). One lesson from the unit, ‘Exploring Bread’, (pp 4-8) asks students to ‘use bread labels to locate ingredient information and synthesise understanding of bread ingredients’. We draw upon a framework offered by the New London Group (2000), that of linguistic, visual and spatial design, to consider in more detail three bread wrappers and from there the complex literacies that students need to interrelate to undertake the required task. Our findings are that although bread wrappers are an example of an everyday science text, their linguistic, visual and spatial designs and their interrelationship are not trivial. We conclude by reinforcing the need for teachers of science to also consider how the complex design elements of everyday science texts and their interrelated literacies are made visible through instructional practice.

Measuring and supporting quality of life

It is widely acknowledged that “quality of life” (QoL) is an imprecise concept, which is difficult to define (Arnold, 1991; Ball et al., 2000; Bury & Holme, 1993; Byrne & MacLean, 1997; Guse & Masesar, 1999; McDowell & Newell, 1996). McDowell and Newell (1996) described the term as “intuitively familiar” (p.382), suggesting that everyone believes that they know what it means; while, in reality its meaning differs from person to person. Recent years, have seen steadily increasing interest in the study and measurement of QoL related to human services, which reflects greater importance being attached to accountability in its widest sense. Anecdotally, many care staff will indicate that ensuring good QoL for their clients is important to them, but how can we ascertain whether we are achieving positive QoL outcomes, and given the complexities of the concept and its measurement, how can we best incorporate QoL assessment into everyday practice? This chapter will explore the issues of QoL definition and measurement, particularly as they pertain to aged care. It will consider many measurement tool options, and provide advice on how to choose an appropriate instrument for your circumstances. Issues of quality of care and their relationship to QoL will also be considered, and the chapter will conclude with a discussion on the integration of QoL assessment into practice. Because residential aged care constitutes a living environment as well as a care environment, QoL is considered particularly pertinent in this context, and as such, it will provide much of the focus for the chapter

A sense of control : virtual communities for people with mobility impairments

The purpose of this book is to show why we should be concerned about virtual communities for people with physical, or more particularly mobility, impairments. The well-being model through a virtual community introduced here goes towards advancing the work begun by others, by adding for example a socio-political component. The model presented here provides practical insights into how strategic community investment can support people with disabilities and their families. Virtual communities are about engagement, quality of life and support, not just about information. The role of information technology in building and raising community capacity and social capital in socially and economically disadvantaged communities is also examined. Practical insights are offered into community support for people with chronic illness.

Designing and evaluating mobile multimedia user experiences in public urban places : Making sense of the field

The majority of the world’s population now lives in cities (United Nations, 2008) resulting in an urban densification requiring people to live in closer proximity and share urban infrastructure such as streets, public transport, and parks within cities. However, “physical closeness does not mean social closeness” (Wellman, 2001, p. 234). Whereas it is a common practice to greet and chat with people you cross paths with in smaller villages, urban life is mainly anonymous and does not automatically come with a sense of community per se. Wellman (2001, p. 228) defines community “as networks of interpersonal ties that provide sociability, support, information, a sense of belonging and social identity.” While on the move or during leisure time, urban dwellers use their interactive information communication technology (ICT) devices to connect to their spatially distributed community while in an anonymous space. Putnam (1995) argues that available technology privatises and individualises the leisure time of urban dwellers. Furthermore, ICT is sometimes used to build a “cocoon” while in public to avoid direct contact with collocated people (Mainwaring et al., 2005; Bassoli et al., 2007; Crawford, 2008). Instead of using ICT devices to seclude oneself from the surrounding urban environment and the collocated people within, such devices could also be utilised to engage urban dwellers more with the urban environment and the urban dwellers within. Urban sociologists found that “what attracts people most, it would appear, is other people” (Whyte, 1980, p. 19) and “people and human activity are the greatest object of attention and interest” (Gehl, 1987, p. 31). On the other hand, sociologist Erving Goffman describes the concept of civil inattention, acknowledging strangers’ presence while in public but not interacting with them (Goffman, 1966). With this in mind, it appears that there is a contradiction between how people are using ICT in urban public places and for what reasons and how people use public urban places and how they behave and react to other collocated people. On the other hand there is an opportunity to employ ICT to create and influence experiences of people collocated in public urban places. The widespread use of location aware mobile devices equipped with Internet access is creating networked localities, a digital layer of geo-coded information on top of the physical world (Gordon & de Souza e Silva, 2011). Foursquare.com is an example of a location based 118 Mobile Multimedia – User and Technology Perspectives social network (LBSN) that enables urban dwellers to virtually check-in into places at which they are physically present in an urban space. Users compete over ‘mayorships’ of places with Foursquare friends as well as strangers and can share recommendations about the space. The research field of Urban Informatics is interested in these kinds of digital urban multimedia augmentations and how such augmentations, mediated through technology, can create or influence the UX of public urban places. “Urban informatics is the study, design, and practice of urban experiences across different urban contexts that are created by new opportunities of real-time, ubiquitous technology and the augmentation that mediates the physical and digital layers of people networks and urban infrastructures” (Foth et al., 2011, p. 4). One possibility to augment the urban space is to enable citizens to digitally interact with spaces and urban dwellers collocated in the past, present, and future. “Adding digital layer to the existing physical and social layers could facilitate new forms of interaction that reshape urban life” (Kjeldskov & Paay, 2006, p. 60). This methodological chapter investigates how the design of UX through such digital placebased mobile multimedia augmentations can be guided and evaluated. First, we describe three different applications that aim to create and influence the urban UX through mobile mediated interactions. Based on a review of literature, we describe how our integrated framework for designing and evaluating urban informatics experiences has been constructed. We conclude the chapter with a reflective discussion on the proposed framework.

Playing with Technology: Young Children Making Sense of Technology as Part of Their Everyday Social Worlds

Games and activities, often involving aspects of pretence and fantasy play, are an essential aspect of everyday preschool life for many young children. Young children’s spontaneous play activities can be understood as social life in action. Increasingly, young children’s games and activities involve their engagement in pretence using play props to represent computers, laptops and other pieces of technology equipment. In this way, pretend play becomes a context for engaging with matters from the real world. There are a number of studies investigating school-aged children engaging in gaming and other online activities, but less is known about what young children are doing with online technologies. Drawing on Australian Research Council funded research of children engaging with technologies at home and school, this chapter investigates how young children use technologies in everyday life by showing how they draw on props, both real or imaginary, to support their play activities. An ethnomethodological approach using conversation analysis is used to explore how children’s gestures, gaze and talk work to introduce ideas and activities. This chapter contributes to understandings of how children’s play intersects with technologies and pretend play.

Sense of Community in Web Environment

The study of social phenomena in the World Wide Web has been rather fragmentary, andthere is no coherent, reseach-based theory about sense of community in Web environment. Sense of community means part of one's self-concept that has to do with perceiving oneself belonging to, and feeling affinity to a certain social grouping. The present study aimed to find evidence for sense of community in Web environment, and specifically find out what the most critical psychological factors of sense of community would be. Based on known characteristics of real life communities and sense of community, and few occational studies of Web-communities, it was hypothesized that the following factors would be the most critical ones and that they could be grouped as prerequisites, facilitators and consequences of sense of community: awareness and social presence (prerequisites), criteria for membership and borders, common purpose, social interaction and reciprocity, norms and conformity, common history (facilitators), trust and accountability (consequences). In addition to critical factors, the present study aimed to find out if this kind of grouping would be valid. Furthermore, the effect of Web-community members' background variables to sense of community was of interest. In order to answer the questions, an online-questionnaire was created and tested. It included propositions that reflect factors that precede, facilitate and follow the sense of community in Web environment. A factor analysis was calculated to find out the critical factors and analyses of variance were calculated to see if the grouping to prerequisites, facilitators and consequences was right and how the background variables would affect the sense of community in Web environment. The results indicated that the psychological structure of sense of community in Web environment could not be presented with critical variables grouped as prerequisites, facilitators and consequences. Most factors did facilitate the sense of community, but based on this data it could not be argued that some of the factors chronologically precedesense of community and some follow it. Instead, the factor analysis revealed that the most critical factors in sense of community in Web environment are 1) reciprocal involvement, 2) basic trust for others, 3) similarity and common purpose of members, and 4) shared history of members. The most influencing background variables were the member's own participation activity (indicated with reading and writing messages) and the phase in membership lifecycle (from visitor to leader). The more the member participated and the further in membership life cycle he was, the more he felt sense of community. There are many descreptions of sense of community, but the present study was one of the first to actually measure the phenomenon in Web environment, and that gained well documented, valid results based on large data, proving that sense of community in Web environment is possible, and clarifying its psychological structure, thus enhancing the understanding of sense of community in Web environment. Keywords: sense of community, Web-community, psychology of the Internet

Meaning of public space and sense of community: The case of new neighbourhoods in the Kathmandu Valley

This paper examines the meaning of public space and sense of community among neighbourhood residents in the changing urban context of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. Two new neighbourhoods were selected for the purpose of this study with data collected from interviews with the residents. The study has found that most residents of the new neighbourhoods have an understanding of the significance of public space in community life. However, such understandings are based less on the actual use of public space. The existing public spaces in these neighbourhoods are less successful in offering a meaning to the residents, due to their poor development and the lack of active use. Despite these changes, some residents believe they have developed a sense of community, which is an outcome of other individual factors than the use of public space. It is argued that the role of contemporary neighbourhood public space in fostering a sense of community appears to be less significant in the valley’s present context.

Sense of Coherence : Determinants and consequences

ABSTRACT Sense of coherence (SOC) is a core concept within Antonovsky s salutogenic theory and is argued to be a psychological determinant of health. The present social-epidemiological study explores the associations between a wide range of generalized resistance resources of SOC among Finnish- and Swedish-speaking women and men with a view to gaining deeper insight into its developmental circumstances and determinants. Secondly, a five-year follow-up study was conducted in order to assess the stability of SOC in difficult life events. Finally the role and effect of SOC in the intentions to retire early was investigated in a prospective study. The above studies were based on two data sets: the Finnish 'Survey on Living Conditions' (ELO-94) conducted in 1994 by means of personal face-to-face interviews (N=6506), and a prospective postal survey of the 15-year Health and Social Support (HeSSup) study for which the baseline data was collected in 1998 (N=25 898) and the follow-up in 2003. The present study reveals that the level of SOC in adulthood is strongly dependent on close and successful social relationships during both childhood and adulthood, and that there is a strong association with qualitative work features. Not having a partner as well as being unable to use one s skills at work proved to threaten men s SOC in particular, whereas a lack of social support did the same for women. Otherwise, the association with generalized resistance resources turned out to be quite similar in both genders. Swedish-speaking Finns appear to have a slightly stronger SOC due to the better psycho-emotional circumstances in the childhood home and work circumstances in adulthood, in other words higher levels of generalized resistance resources compared to Finnish speakers. These language group differences did not concern any social-life factors included in the present study. The results of the five-year follow-up study suggest that SOC is not stable, and that the level clearly decreases after a negative life event. Even a strong SOC decreased during the follow-up period and, furthermore, was no more stable than a mediocre or weak SOC. There seems to be a clear and independent association with the intentions to retire early among both men and women following full adjustment. Swedish speakers appear to be less inclined to retire early than Finnish speakers. In the light of the present study, it seems that SOC is determined not only by socio-economic factors but also by close and successful social relationships during both childhood and adulthood. This applied to both genders and language groups. Interventions aimed at promoting the health of the disadvantaged should therefore focus on families with children, and extend later also to other than socio-economic spheres of life. SOC theory could also be applied in efforts to inhibit early retirement: management practices aimed at providing employees with a work environment and tasks that are comprehensible, manageable and meaningful could potentially decrease the intentions to retire early.