Browsing by Subject "loneliness"
Now showing items 1-6 of 6
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(2015)Objectives: This thesis examined the relationship between disordered gambling (DG) with mental health, loneliness, perceived general health, risky alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking and computer gaming frequency by age and gender among adolescents and emerging adults. Gambling types were also examined for their association to DG, mental health, loneliness, perceived health, risky alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking. DG is conceptualized as a behavioural addiction, and its development is influenced by the availability of gambling opportunities, prevalence of other addictive behaviours, and psychological well-being. Previous studies have indicated that specific types of gambling are more strongly associated to DG that others. The purpose of the present study was to identify the strength of the various risk factors of disordered gambling, examine whether specific risk factors are associated to certain gambling types and if there are age and gender related differences in regards to the associations between disordered gambling and its risk factors. Methods: A cross-sectional population based random sample (n = 822, 49.3 % female) of individuals aged 15 to 28 from the self-reported Finnish Gambling Survey 2011 was utilized. DG was assessed with the Problem Gambling Severity Index, such that a score of 2 or more indicated DG. Mental health was measured with the five item Mental Health Inventory and risky alcohol consumption was assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test -Consumption. The remainder of examined variables were assessed with single Likert-scaled items. The correlates of DG and gambling types were examined with logistic regression models. Results and conclusions: Male gender, risky alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, and frequently feeling lonely were significantly associated to DG. Slot machine gambling, online gambling other than poker, private betting, and casino betting were strongly associated to DG. The aforementioned gambling types were strongly associated to risky alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking along with sports betting. Feeling lonely was associated to online poker, casino betting and private betting. There were indications of gender differences in regards to the gambling types associated to feeling lonely. Risky alcohol consumption seemed to be a stronger risk factor for DG among males, and tobacco smoking stronger among females. Current findings warrant further investigation of DG in regards to loneliness, and reconsideration of national gambling policies.
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(2021)In recent years, loneliness has been talked about in the media relatively often. There are multiple studies about harmfulness of loneliness for one's health and safety both nationally and internationally. The aim of this master's thesis is to find out how the loneliness discourse has changed in the Finnish parliamentary discussions and why. The main research questions are: How often has loneliness been brought up between the years 1980 and 2019 in the Finnish governmental documents and which actor groups and themes can be identified in the discussion. In addition, the thesis will look at by whom have the actor groups and themes been brought up. The data of this thesis are governmental documents: governmental proposals, expert opinions and debate initiatives. The used methods are both quantitative and qualitative. In the first part, the data is analyzed using quantitative content analysis, more specifically categorization. By processing the data this way, one gets an answer to the first two research questions: how often has loneliness been brought up and which actor groups and themes can be identified in the discussion. In the second part of the thesis, the findings are analyzed using narrative analysis as a qualitative method. This reveals what kind of narratives are linked to findings and in which context and by whom they have been brought up. In the third part of the thesis, there is a brief review on the wider Finnish (socio)political environment and how it might have affected the results. The most important findings in this thesis are that the loneliness discussion has increased and peaked only in the 2010s. The most often mentioned group is child loneliness. Loneliness as a subjective feeling is relatively new topic in the parliamentary discussions. It started to emerge only in the 2000s and peaked after 2015. In the 2000s, organizations used the prevention of loneliness as an argument to get funding or to justify the importance of their work. This proves that in the 2000s loneliness had become something that is considered harmful. Security is a new viewpoint in the loneliness discussion: in 2010s it has started to emerge in the media as a security problem, partly because of school shootings and radical lone operators. In the 2020, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) mentions that lone operators are among the biggest security threats in Finland. While the demands towards the state has increased, loneliness in the Parliament has always been talked about through something else, or as a "side effect" of another problem.
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(2021)In recent years, loneliness has been talked about in the media relatively often. There are multiple studies about harmfulness of loneliness for one's health and safety both nationally and internationally. The aim of this master's thesis is to find out how the loneliness discourse has changed in the Finnish parliamentary discussions and why. The main research questions are: How often has loneliness been brought up between the years 1980 and 2019 in the Finnish governmental documents and which actor groups and themes can be identified in the discussion. In addition, the thesis will look at by whom have the actor groups and themes been brought up. The data of this thesis are governmental documents: governmental proposals, expert opinions and debate initiatives. The used methods are both quantitative and qualitative. In the first part, the data is analyzed using quantitative content analysis, more specifically categorization. By processing the data this way, one gets an answer to the first two research questions: how often has loneliness been brought up and which actor groups and themes can be identified in the discussion. In the second part of the thesis, the findings are analyzed using narrative analysis as a qualitative method. This reveals what kind of narratives are linked to findings and in which context and by whom they have been brought up. In the third part of the thesis, there is a brief review on the wider Finnish (socio)political environment and how it might have affected the results. The most important findings in this thesis are that the loneliness discussion has increased and peaked only in the 2010s. The most often mentioned group is child loneliness. Loneliness as a subjective feeling is relatively new topic in the parliamentary discussions. It started to emerge only in the 2000s and peaked after 2015. In the 2000s, organizations used the prevention of loneliness as an argument to get funding or to justify the importance of their work. This proves that in the 2000s loneliness had become something that is considered harmful. Security is a new viewpoint in the loneliness discussion: in 2010s it has started to emerge in the media as a security problem, partly because of school shootings and radical lone operators. In the 2020, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) mentions that lone operators are among the biggest security threats in Finland. While the demands towards the state has increased, loneliness in the Parliament has always been talked about through something else, or as a "side effect" of another problem.
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(2015)Objectives: This thesis examined the relationship between disordered gambling (DG) with mental health, loneliness, perceived general health, risky alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking and computer gaming frequency by age and gender among adolescents and emerging adults. Gambling types were also examined for their association to DG, mental health, loneliness, perceived health, risky alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking. DG is conceptualized as a behavioural addiction, and its development is influenced by the availability of gambling opportunities, prevalence of other addictive behaviours, and psychological well-being. Previous studies have indicated that specific types of gambling are more strongly associated to DG that others. The purpose of the present study was to identify the strength of the various risk factors of disordered gambling, examine whether specific risk factors are associated to certain gambling types and if there are age and gender related differences in regards to the associations between disordered gambling and its risk factors. Methods: A cross-sectional population based random sample (n = 822, 49.3 % female) of individuals aged 15 to 28 from the self-reported Finnish Gambling Survey 2011 was utilized. DG was assessed with the Problem Gambling Severity Index, such that a score of 2 or more indicated DG. Mental health was measured with the five item Mental Health Inventory and risky alcohol consumption was assessed with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test -Consumption. The remainder of examined variables were assessed with single Likert-scaled items. The correlates of DG and gambling types were examined with logistic regression models. Results and conclusions: Male gender, risky alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, and frequently feeling lonely were significantly associated to DG. Slot machine gambling, online gambling other than poker, private betting, and casino betting were strongly associated to DG. The aforementioned gambling types were strongly associated to risky alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking along with sports betting. Feeling lonely was associated to online poker, casino betting and private betting. There were indications of gender differences in regards to the gambling types associated to feeling lonely. Risky alcohol consumption seemed to be a stronger risk factor for DG among males, and tobacco smoking stronger among females. Current findings warrant further investigation of DG in regards to loneliness, and reconsideration of national gambling policies.
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(2020)Mental health problems are increasing, and adolescents are particularly sensitive to the development of psychological complaints. The aim of this thesis was to find out if the experience of psychological complaints among Finnish-Swedish adolescents can be explained by their experience of family support, peer support, classmate support and loneliness. It was also examined whether associations between social support and psychological complaints can be explained by loneliness. In addition, it was investigated if there are differences in experiences of psychological complaints, social support and loneliness between Finnish-Swedish youth living in the city and in the countryside. A sample of 599 Finnish-Swedish youth from grades 5, 7 and 9 completed the Health Survey of School-aged Children (HBSC) in 2018. As statistical analysis methods of this thesis, Spearman's rank correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, mediation analysis, independent t-test and chi2 test were used. The results showed that family support and classmate support significantly and negatively predicted psychological complaints, that is, lower levels of family and classmate support was associated with higher levels of psychological complaints. Loneliness predicted psychological complaints significantly and positively, which means that higher levels of loneliness was associated with higher levels of psychological complaints. Peer support was not directly related to psychological complaints. Girls experienced psychological complaints to a significantly greater extent than boys according to several analyzes, and one of the analyzes also indicated that pupils in grade 9 experienced significantly higher levels of nervousness than pupils in grade 5. Among pupils in grades 7 and 9, those who lived in rural areas experienced more irritability or bad mood than those living in urban areas. Perceived socioeconomic status predicted psychological complaints significantly and negatively among pupils in grades 7 and 9. According to the results, the relationship between social support from family, peers and classmates, and psychological complaints could partly be explained by loneliness. There were no significant differences between Finnish-Swedish youth living in cities and those living in rural areas in terms of psychological complaints, social support or loneliness when pupils from all three grades were included in the analyzes. This thesis contributes to new knowledge about the well-being of Finnish-Swedish youth and could encourage development of health-promoting activities. Longitudinal research is needed in order to gain a deeper understanding of whether lower levels of social support and experiences of loneliness may be risk factors for the development of mental health problems.
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(2020)Mental health problems are increasing, and adolescents are particularly sensitive to the development of psychological complaints. The aim of this thesis was to find out if the experience of psychological complaints among Finnish-Swedish adolescents can be explained by their experience of family support, peer support, classmate support and loneliness. It was also examined whether associations between social support and psychological complaints can be explained by loneliness. In addition, it was investigated if there are differences in experiences of psychological complaints, social support and loneliness between Finnish-Swedish youth living in the city and in the countryside. A sample of 599 Finnish-Swedish youth from grades 5, 7 and 9 completed the Health Survey of School-aged Children (HBSC) in 2018. As statistical analysis methods of this thesis, Spearman's rank correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, mediation analysis, independent t-test and chi2 test were used. The results showed that family support and classmate support significantly and negatively predicted psychological complaints, that is, lower levels of family and classmate support was associated with higher levels of psychological complaints. Loneliness predicted psychological complaints significantly and positively, which means that higher levels of loneliness was associated with higher levels of psychological complaints. Peer support was not directly related to psychological complaints. Girls experienced psychological complaints to a significantly greater extent than boys according to several analyzes, and one of the analyzes also indicated that pupils in grade 9 experienced significantly higher levels of nervousness than pupils in grade 5. Among pupils in grades 7 and 9, those who lived in rural areas experienced more irritability or bad mood than those living in urban areas. Perceived socioeconomic status predicted psychological complaints significantly and negatively among pupils in grades 7 and 9. According to the results, the relationship between social support from family, peers and classmates, and psychological complaints could partly be explained by loneliness. There were no significant differences between Finnish-Swedish youth living in cities and those living in rural areas in terms of psychological complaints, social support or loneliness when pupils from all three grades were included in the analyzes. This thesis contributes to new knowledge about the well-being of Finnish-Swedish youth and could encourage development of health-promoting activities. Longitudinal research is needed in order to gain a deeper understanding of whether lower levels of social support and experiences of loneliness may be risk factors for the development of mental health problems.
Now showing items 1-6 of 6