Tan Soo Yin

Adolescents' perceptions of decisional balance, task specific efficacy and stages of changes related to their gaming behavior in an Asian context were examined. A total of 414 adolescents (girls, n = 171, 41.3%) participated in the study, with their age ranged between 12 and 17 (M = 13.8, SO = 1.37) years old. The participants reported their particulars and rated three scales, i.e., decisional balance, task specific and stages of changes. Nearly all subscales had good international consistency. The precontemplation subscale was significantly related to the DBpro subscale, r( 409)=.29, p<.O 1 . Significant correlations were observed between the DB-con subscale with the contemplation r(409)=.35, p<.Ol, action r(409)=.32, p<.01, and maintenance r(409)=.34, p<.01 subscales. The action subscale was positively correlated to the task specific efficacy - school situation subscale, r( 408)= .20, p<.O l. Significantly correlations were reported between the frequency of gaming and the DB-pro r(412)=.28, p<.01, the ARC Action subscale r(409)=.13, p<.01, and the TSSE school subscale r(410)=-.14,p<.Ol.

Many well-established sociological studies pertaining to the salubrious link between social relations and mental health have been published. In particular, numerous researchers address the issue of how social isolation and lack of family support and social ties can adversely affect one’s mental well-being. In this paper, we seek to identify and explore the relationships between people who were clinically diagnosed with depression and the aspects of their social environment, namely their social and family circumstances in the UK adult population. One hundred and ten blogs mentioning depression as their main condition were selected from a mental health support website, Time to Change, for analysis. As not many studies have analyzed such narratives, we expected the analysis to provide a fresher and deeper understanding of the experiences of those afflicted with depression. We observed that there is a consistent discourse emphasizing the importance of social support from close loved ones, in particular friends and family members. There is evidence that social circumstances can be mediating factors in depression.

This qualitative study explored the experiential group learning experiences of student teachers (STs) who participated in a two-day experientially based group learning programme, as part of their curriculum at a teacher training institute in Singapore. This programme is designed as a personal growth group with an emphasis on value and character development. Thirteen groups were selected, with 12 members from each group randomly recruited to participate in the focus group interviews. A total of thirteen focus group interviews were conducted, with 109 STs participating in the sessions. The interview data was transcribed, coded and presented in themes using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The main themes were largely compatible with the therapeutic factors identified by psychiatrist Irvin Yalom that were found to improve interaction and facilitated outcome in group processes in his research. The overall results show that the dominant therapeutic factors experienced by the participants included instillation of hope, universality, imitative behaviour and cohesiveness. These findings provide us with valuable information that may help facilitate a positive and beneficial group learning experience in teacher education.