Serious leisure activities and well-being of senior citizens: Case of contract bridge

Mind sports such as chess, go and contract bridge are extremely suitable for elderly people who want to engage into a real competition, make social contacts and maintain sharp cognitive performances. Stebbins (1992) introduced a term “serious leisure” to describe active leisure engagement with commitment and dedication, as opposed to “passive leisure” such as watching TV. Major (2001) identified three major types of benefits of serious leisure activities: sense of accomplishment (i.e., self-confidence, power, and control), health and fitness (i.e., physical benefits and stress relief), and social affiliation. The aim of this study was to explore motivation of senior citizens to engage in contract bridge, and to analyse selfreported benefits of the game regarding Major’s classification.We conducted eight semi-structured interviews with senior bridge players (over 65) in Zagreb bridge clubs. Interviews were conducted in face-to-face manner, and they were all audio recorded. Sample consisted of both male and female players who played bridge regularly in clubs for over five years.All participants confirmed that bridge significantly improved quality of their lives. Bridge contributed to their well-being by advancing social affiliation (communicating with people of all ages, finding new friends, getting social support, recognition and status, and going out of home), enchasing sense of accomplishment (learning, solving problems, competing, advancing, and winning), and mental fitness (staying intellectually fit), confirming benefits proposed by Major (2001) serious leisure model. Additionally, retired participants argued that bridge helped them in the transition period, providing basis for time structure and remaining the stable and fulfilling part of their lives.Findings of this research strongly suggest that contract bridge has power to work as a protective mechanism in seniors, due to its social, cognitive, and competitive benefits.Aktywny wypoczynek a wyższa jakość życia seniorów na przykładzie brydża sportowegoSporty umysłowe, takie jak szachy, go czy brydż sportowy są przydatne dla osób starszych, które pragną uczestniczyć w prawdziwych zawodach sportowych, chcą spotykać innych ludzi oraz utrzymywać funkcje poznawcze na dobrym poziomie. Stebbins (1992) wprowadził termin „aktywny wypoczynek” opisujący zaangażowanie w czasie wolnym w aktywne formy wypoczynku jako przeciwieństwo „pasywnego wypoczynku”, jak np. oglądanie telewizji. Major (2001) zidentyfikował trzy podstawowe zalety aktywnego wypoczynku: poczucie spełnienia (np. wzrost pewności siebie, siły czy autokontroli), zdrowie i sprawność fizyczna (np. wzrost tężyzny fizycznej i ograniczenie stresu) oraz akceptacja społeczna. Celem tego opracowania jest wykazanie zalet uprawiania brydża sportowego przez osoby starsze i analiza gry uwzględniająca klasyfikację Majora.Przeprowadziliśmy wywiady z 8 brydżystami powyżej 65. roku życia grającym na co dzień w klubie w Zagrzebiu. Wywiady były przeprowadzane na żywo i nagrywane. Uczestnikami były i kobiety, i mężczyźni grający regularnie w naszym klubie od ponad pięciu lat.Wszyscy uczestnicy potwierdzili, że brydż znacząco podniósł standard ich życia. Brydż wspomógł ich jakość życia poprzez wzrost akceptacji społecznej (komunikacja z ludźmi w różnym wieku, spotykanie nowych przyjaciół, wzrost społecznego wsparcia, uznania i statusu oraz wychodzenie z domu), poprzez uwidocznienia odczucia spełnienia (uczenie się, rozwiązywanie problemów, rywalizacja, rozwój i wygrywanie), poprzez poprawę sprawności umysłowej (bycie w dobrej formie intelektualnej), udowadniając zalety aktywnego wypoczynku przedstawione przez Majora w 2001. Dodatkowo uczestnicy, którzy przeszli na emeryturę argumentowali, że gra w brydża pomogła im dużo lepiej znieść uciążliwości tego okresu przejściowego poprzez wprowadzenie nowej stabilizacji i wypełnienie pustki czasowej związanej z emeryturą.Podsumowując nasze badania naukowe stwierdzamy, że brydż sportowy ma wielką siłę jako mechanizm obronny dla seniorów podnosząc ich akceptację społeczną, wspomagając sprawność umysłową oraz wprowadzając pozytywne elementy rywalizacji.

Povezanost dobi, spola i uporabe sredstava ovisnosti s percepcijom rizika i stavovima prema uporabi i legalizaciji (i)legalnih sredstava ovisnosti

The aim of this study was to determine the role of age, gender and tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use in relation to different aspects of attitudes toward (il)licit substance use. Differences in risk perception and attitudes toward substance use were assessed between groups of active substance users, ex-substance users, and non-substance users with regard to their age and gender. Respondents generally associated moderate risk with using tobacco/ alcohol/marijuana and large risk with using ecstasy/cocaine/ heroin, and they disapproved their use and legalization. Positive correlation was found between the consumption of different substances, and also between respondents\u27 opinions on substance criminalization, perception of risk associated with substance use, and (il)licit substance use disapproval. Females and older respondents typically used (il)licit substances less and were more prone toward marijuana and heroin criminalization, substance use disapproval, and associated greater risk with substance use. Active users of any substance generally held the most permissive attitudes. The strongest effect of alcohol and tobacco use on attitudes was found among the youngest respondents, and the weakest among the oldest, which indicates the need for interventions to be focused even more on the younger population.Cilj istraživanja bio je utvrditi odnos dobi, spola te uporabe duhana, alkohola i marihuane i različitih aspekata stavova prema uporabi (i)legalnih sredstava ovisnosti. Ispitivane su razlike u percepciji rizika i stavovima prema uporabi sredstava ovisnosti među skupinama aktivnih konzumenata, bivših konzumenata i nekonzumenata, a s obzirom na njihovu dob i spol. Sudionici općenito smatraju da je uporaba duhana/alkohola/marihuane povezana s umjerenim rizikom, a da je uporaba ekstazija/kokaina/ heroina povezana s visokim rizikom, te općenito ne podržavaju njihovu uporabu ni legalizaciju. Utvrđena je i pozitivna povezanost između uporabe sredstava ovisnosti, kao i između stavova o kriminalizaciji droga, percepcije rizika povezanog s uporabom te neodobravanja uporabe (i)legalnih sredstava ovisnosti. Žene i stariji sudionici u pravilu manje konzumiraju (i)legalna sredstva ovisnosti, manje podržavaju legalizaciju marihuane i heroina te su skloniji neodobravanju uporabe sredstava ovisnosti i stavu da je ona rizična. Aktivni konzumenti bilo kojega sredstva ovisnosti u pravilu imaju najpermisivnije stavove u odnosu na bivše konzumente i nekonzumente. Utvrđeno je da uporaba alkohola i duhana ima najjači učinak na stavove najmlađih, a najslabiji na stavove najstarijih sudionika, što upućuje na potrebu dodatnog usmjeravanja intervencija prema mlađoj populaciji

Estimation of milk, dairy products and calcium intake in nutrition of the celiac patients

Celijakija je bolest probavnog sustava pri kojoj dolazi do oštećenja tankog crijeva i problema s apsorpcijom hranjivih sastojaka. Oboljeli ne podnose protein gluten koji se nalazi u pšenici, ječmu, raži i zobi. Najmanja količina glutena u hrani oštećuje tanko crijevo oboljelih. U Hrvatskoj postoji vrlo malo podataka o prehrani i prehrambenim navikama ove vrlo osjetljive populacije. Jedini je lijek za oboljele od celijakije bezglutenska prehrana, tj. izbjegavanje najmanjih količina glutena u prehrani. Mlijeko i mliječni proizvodi su najvažniji izvor kalcija, a ova je populacija, zbog malapsorptivnog sindroma osobito osjetljiva te sklona oboljenjima koja nastaju kao posljedica nedovoljnog unosa kalcija (osteoporoza, osteopenija). Stoga je svrha ovog istraživanja bila odrediti udio mlijeka i mliječnih proizvoda u prehrani oboljelih od celijakije, s posebnim osvrtom na unos kalcija. Unos mlijeka, mliječnih proizvoda i kalcija utvrđen je trodnevnim dnevnikom prehrane (3DD) i upitnikom za utvrđivanje prosječnog prehrambenog unosa kalcija (FFQ) kod 15 oboljelih od celijakije. Energetski udio mlijeka i mliječnih proizvoda bio je u prosjeku 11,82 % kJ, što je gotovo dvostruko manje od preporuka. Prosječan dnevni unos kalcija također je bio manji od preporuka (62,64 % DRI), a 67 % ispitanika nije zadovoljilo niti 2/3 dnevnih potreba za kalcijem. Iz skupine namirnica mlijeko i mliječni proizvodi oboljeli koriste najviše mlijeko i puding, a nešto manje su zastupljeni jogurt i voćni jogurt. Potrebno je povećati unos kalcija osobito namirnicama iz skupine mlijeko i mliječni proizvodi koji su najbolji izvor ovog nutrijenta.Celiac disease is a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. People who have celiac disease cannot tolerate a protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, rye, barley and possibly oats. The smallest amount of gluten in food damages the small intestine of these patients. In Croatia there is no data about nutrition and dietary habits of people with celiac disease. In celiac disease there is one and only cure: a gluten-free diet. Milk and dairy products are major source of calcium, and this population, because of malapsorptive syndrome is especially sensitive and predisposed for osteoporosis and osteopenya. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to establish milk, dairy products and calcium intake in celiac patients nutrition. Milk and dairy products was determined by using 3-day-dietary record (3DD) combined with food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in 15 celiac patients. Energy share of milk and dairy products were 11,82 % kJ, twice less than recommendation. Average daily intake of calcium was also below the recommendation (62,64 % DRI), and 67 % of examinees did not achieve neither 2/3 of daily recommendation intake (DRI) for calcium. From milk and dairy group examinees use milk and pudding the most, yoghurt and fruit yoghurt less. It is necessary to increase intake of calcium from milk and dairy products group because they are the best source of this nutrient

Croatian High School Pupils’ Attitudes towards Ethnic Minorities: The Role of Multiculturality, Social Identity and School

Uslijed digitalizacije, geopolitičkih previranja i migracija u Europi danas su više nego ikada istaknuti učinci sociokulturnoga konteksta (posebice kulturne globalizacije) na naše stavove i ponašanja. Mladi su posebno osjetljivi na (multi)kulturne utjecaje kojima su svakodnevno izloženi zbog intenzivne uključenosti u aktualna društvena zbivanja i specifičnosti razvojnog perioda. Izloženost i sudjelovanje u različitim multikulturnim elementima te nacionalizam i kulturna otvorenost imaju značajne učinke po njihove stavove, odnose i ponašanja prema drugim grupama, kao i njihove interkulturne kompetencije. Školsko okruženje ima važnu i aktivnu socijalizacijsku ulogu u oblikovanju socijalnog identiteta adolescenata stvarajući normativnu okolinu koja ima potencijal promovirati kulturnu otvorenost kroz odgojno-obrazovne aktivnosti. Stoga je prvi cilj istraživanja bio ispitati stavove prema manjinama, multikulturnu izloženost i kontakt te nacionalizam i kulturnu otvorenost adolescenata, dok je drugi cilj bio ispitati odnos multikulturne izloženosti i kontakta te nacionalizma i kulturne otvorenosti, uzimajući u obzir sociodemografske karakteristike adolescenata, kao i za međugrupne odnose potencijalno relevantne karakteristike škola i zajednica. Istraživanje je provedeno u sklopu CHIEF projekta na uzorku od 2134 adolescenta (57% djevojaka) u 28 srednjih škola u Republici Hrvatskoj. Adolescenti su iskazali pozitivan opći stav prema manjinama. Procjena razine međukulturnoga kontakta je niska, dok je međukulturna izloženost umjerena, kao i izraženost kulturne otvorenosti i nacionalizma. Učenici percipiraju umjerene prilike za učenje o temama ljudskih prava i nacionalnog identiteta u okviru srednjoškolske nastave. Regresijskom analizom provedenom u sklopu strukturalnih modela potvrđena je važnost kulturne otvorenosti, nacionalizma, percepcije zastupljenosti sadržaja u obrazovanju, roda i socioekonomskog statusa zajednice u oblikovanju općeg stava o manjinama. Kontakt s pripadnicima drugih kultura nije pridonio predviđanju općeg stava o manjinama neovisno o međukulturnoj izloženosti.Amid digitalization, geopolitical turmoil, and migrations in Europe, the effects of sociocultural context (especially cultural globalization) on attitudes and behaviours have become emphasized more than ever. Young people are susceptible to (multi)cultural influences to which they are exposed on a daily basis due to intensive involvement in contemporary social events and characteristics of their developmental period. Exposure to and participation in various multicultural elements, and nationalism and cultural openness substantially affect their attitudes, relationships, and behaviours towards other groups, as well as their intercultural competencies. The school environment plays an important and active socialization role in shaping the social identity of adolescents, creating a normative environment that has the potential to promote cultural openness via educational activities. Therefore, the first goal of our study was to explore the attitudes towards minorities, multicultural exposure and contact, and nationalism cultural openness of adolescents, while the second goal was to evaluate the relationships between multicultural exposure and contact, and nationalism and cultural openness, taking into account sociodemographic characteristics of adolescents, as well as characteristics of schools and communities deemed potentially relevant for intergroup relationships. The study was conducted within the CHIEF project on a sample of 2,134 adolescents (57% female) from 28 Croatian secondary schools. Adolescents have exhibited positive general attitudes toward minorities. The quantity of their self-reported multicultural contacts was low, while the levels of multicultural exposure, nationalism and cultural openness were moderate. The possibilities of learning about human rights and national identity within the secondary school curriculum were perceived as moderate. Regression analyses conducted within the context of structural equation modelling have confirmed the relevance of cultural openness, nationalism, perception of the presence of different contents in education, gender, and socioeconomic status of the community in determining the general attitudes towards minorities. Multicultural contacts did not provide an independent contribution to the prediction of general attitudes towards minorities when controlled for multicultural exposure

Political (Dis)Trust as a Determinant of Voting and Protest Participation

Polazeći od dvodimenzionanog razumijevanja povjerenja u političke institucije, u radu provjeravamo prediktivnost povjerenja u vladu i predstavničke institucije i povjerenja u provedbene institucije za objašnjenje glasanja te prosvjednog sudjelovanja, kao i moguću posredujuću ulogu zadovoljstva funkcioniranjem političkog sustava. Rad se temelji na hrvatskim podatcima petog vala Europskog istraživanja vrednota – EIV (European Values Study – EVS, 2017). Pojedinačne povezanosti dvaju oblika povjerenja i dvaju tipova sudjelovanja pokazuju da je izraženije povjerenje u vladu i predstavničke institucije povezano s češćim glasanjem te manjom sklonošću prosvjednom sudjelovanju, dok je povjerenje u provedbene institucije povezano samo s manjom sklonošću prosvjednom sudjelovanju. Ujedno, oba su oblika političkog povjerenja snažno međusobno povezana te praćena većim zadovoljstvom funkcioniranjem političkog sustava, a koje je u slaboj pozitivnoj vezi s glasanjem te u negativnoj sa sklonošću prosvjedima. Multivarijatnom analizom potvrđen je samo samostalan pozitivni doprinos povjerenja u vladu i predstavničke institucije za pojašnjenje glasanja. Rezultate raspravljamo u kontekstu visoke povezanosti dvaju oblika političkog povjerenja u hrvatskim uvjetima te dosadašnjih nalaza o odrednicama glasanja i prosvjednog sudjelovanja kao dvaju oblika političkog sudjelovanja.Starting from a two-dimensional understanding of trust in political institutions, the paper examines trust in the government and representative institutions and trust in executive institutions as predictors of voting and protest participation, as well as the possible mediating role of satisfaction with the functioning of the political system. The paper is based on the Croatian data from the fifth wave of the European Values Study (EVS, 2017). Individual associations between the two forms of trust and the two types of participation indicate that greater trust in government and representative institutions is associated with more frequent voting and a lower propensity for protest participation. In contrast, trust in executive institutions is only associated with a lower propensity for protest participation. At the same time, both forms of political trust are strongly interconnected and accompanied with greater satisfaction with the functioning of the political system, which is weakly positively associated with voting and negatively associated with the propensity for protest participation. The multivariate analysis confirmed only the trust in government and representative institutions as a unique positive predictor of voting. The results are discussed in view of the high association between the two forms of political trust in the Croatian context, and the findings to date regarding the determinants of voting and protest participation as two forms of political participation

Determinants of Attitudes towards Mentally Ill Offenders

Cilj je istraživanja bio ispitati povezanost i veličinu doprinosa socio-demografskih karakteristika sudionika, njihova iskustva i stavova objašnjenju procjena opasnosti, (ne)ubrojivosti i kazni počinitelja kaznenih djela (KD). Podaci su prikupljeni online, anketnim upitnikom na prigodnome uzorku od 257 punoljetnih sudionika prosječne dobi 29 godina (23.7 % muškaraca). Općenito, nakon kontrole učinka ostalih varijabli procijenjena odgovornost počinitelja/počiniteljice KD-a pokazala se najkonzistentnijim i najvažnijim prediktorom ubrojivosti i opasnosti počinitelja/počiniteljice KD-a, kao i primjerene kazne za počinjeno KD. Pripisivanje veće odgovornosti počinitelju/počiniteljici za počinjeno KD značajno pridonosi višoj procjeni ubrojivosti, opasnosti i tendenciji strožemu kažnjavanju. Veća sklonost pripisivanja kriminalnoga ponašanja vlastitomu izboru te slabije vjerovanje u učinkovitost psihijatrijskih tretmana psihički oboljelih osoba također značajno pridonose predviđanju veće ubrojivosti i veće opasnosti počinitelja/počiniteljice KD-a.The study aimed to examine the relationship and effect size of socio-demographic characteristics of participants, their experiences, and attitudes to the explanation of assessments of offenders’ dangerousness and (in)sanity, and sanctions’ severity for their criminal behaviour. Data were collected online on a sample of 257 adult participants with an average age of 29 years (23.7% of men). Generally, after controlling for other variables, assessed offenders’ responsibility was the most consistent and the most important predictor of assessed dangerousness and (in)sanity as well as sanctions’ severity. Attribution of higher responsibility to offender significantly contributes to higher assessment of sanity, dangerousness, and stricter sanctioning. Tendency to attribute criminal behaviour to personal choice and lower belief in the effectiveness of psychiatric treatment of mentally ill persons were also important predictors for attributing higher sanity and dangerousness to criminal offenders

Values as Risk and Protective Factors of Socialization of the Youth

U radu se, na temelju podataka o vrijednostima mladih, prikupljenima 1998. te 2006. godine , govori o hijerarhiji vrijednosti mladih, povezanosti vrijednosnih orijentacija sa stavovima i ponašanjima mladih te opravdanosti pristupanja vrijednostima i vrijednosnim orijentacijama kao zaštitnim i rizičnim čimbenicima socijalizacije mladih. Podatci o važnosti vrijednosti pokazuju da mladi u obje godine u prosjeku najveću važnost pridaju samoaktualizacijskoj vrijednosnoj orijentaciji, potom konvencionalnoj, a relativno najmanje hedonističkoj orijentaciji, iako sve tri procjenjuju važnima. Na temelju utvrđenih povezanosti vrijednosnih orijentacija sa stavovima i ponašanjima mladih zaključuje se da je opravdano razumijevanje vrijednosti kao zaštitnih i rizičnih čimbenika socijalizacije. Pritom se, u kontekstu razmatranih stavova i ponašanja, konvencionalna orijentacija, i dijelom samoostvarujuća, mogu smatrati zaštitnim čimbenicima, a hedonistička orijentacija rizičnim čimbenikom razvoja mladih.The article, based on the statistics on young people’s values collected in 1998 and 2002, depicts the hierarchy of young people’s values, the correlation of value orientations with both attitudes and behavior of young people, and the justifiability of the approach to these values and value orientations as to protective and risk factors of socialization of the youth. The specifics on the importance of the values demonstrate that in both the above mentioned years young people, on an average, attached most importance to the self-actualization value orientation, then to the conventional one, while relatively least importance was given to the hedonistic orientation, although all the three orientations were considered as important. Based on the identified connections of the value orientations with the attitudes and behavior of young people, it can be concluded that the perception of the values as protective and risk factors of socialization is justified. In this manner, within the context of the considered attitudes and behaviors, the conventional orientation, and to a certain extent the self-realizing one, can be considered as protective factors, whereas the hedonistic orientation is regarded as the risk factor of the development of young people