Giving social support to others: psychosocial and ambulatory blood pressure correlates

The relationship between the social network and physical health has been studied extensively. Research suggests that individuals live longer, have fewer physical symptoms of illness, and have lower blood pressure when they are a member of a social network than when they are isolated. However, much of the research to date has focused on the benefits of receiving social support from the network and the effects of giving to others within the network have been neglected. Limited research of the elderly and volunteers suggests that giving to others is beneficial to the giver. However, research has not been done to investigate the effects of giving on cardiovascular health. The present research explores the effects of giving to others on ambulatory blood pressure, reported physical health, and mental health. Participants completed a questionnaire packet that measured one\u27s level of giving to others, receipt of support from others, self esteem, self efficacy, perceived stress, mood, and depression. Additionally, participants wore an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for 24 hours. Systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and heart rate were recorded every thirty minutes during the day and every sixty minutes at night. Analyses revealed that males who reported a high tendency to give social support to others had lower blood pressure at night than males who reported a low tendency to give social support to others. Furthermore, male and female participants who reported a high tendency to give social support to others had significantly more nighttime dipping of blood pressure (daytime levels minus nighttime levels) than participants who reported a low tendency to give social support to others. Correlational analyses revealed that participants with a higher tendency to give social support reported greater received social support, self efficacy, vigor, and self esteem than participants with a lower tendency to give social support to others. These individuals with a higher tendency to give support also reported less depression and less stress than those with a lower tendency to give support. The relationship between reported physical symptoms of illness and tendency to give social support was marginally significant with those reporting a higher tendency to give social support reporting fewer physical symptoms of illness than those with a lower tendency to give support to others. Therefore, it seems that having a high tendency to give support to others is related to physical and mental health

Materials and innovative methodologies for restoring fair faced concrete

This paper presents a part of the results of broader research conducted on exposed concrete. While the knowledge and contemporary materials used in the restoration of reinforced concrete works guarantee the initial mechanical performances with significant improvements in terms of the durability of the works, when the project involves reinstating the original architectural quality, for example by redesigning the veining of the wood impressed into the façade or by adjusting the original color tones on smooth and polished surfaces, the expertise and products available to us do not always appear adequate. The research, moreover, seeks to systematize the materials and innovative methodologies used in the renovation of quality exposed concrete facings

Innovative processes for social housing. The multiannual funding programmes of L 338

Law 338/00 emerges from the structural absence of programming aimed at social housing and is used to programme and implement, thanks to state funding, processes aimed at satisfying a specific housing demand of university residences. The importance of the law is due to multiple aspects, including the experimental nature, the definition of dimensional standards and procedural clarity. , Thanks to the collection and processing of data unique in quantity and originality, the contribution aims to describe the innovative process, reporting some results from twenty years of research, both methodological and applicative, aimed at identifying the virtues and criticalities of the multiyear funding programme and comparing expected and achieved results

A Comparative Analysis of Mississippi Rural Schools’ Abstinence-Only and Abstinence-Plus Programs

Mississippi responded to high teenage pregnancy rates by enacting a law requiring school districts to choose between an abstinence-only or abstinence-plus program. However, there is limited research on Mississippi’s sex education policies, creating a research gap that inhibits developing successful programs. There is a need to compare the two programs with a focus on rural areas. This study compared programs by examining students’ abstinent sexual attitudes, social norms, self-efficacy, sexual abstinence behaviors, and perceived effectiveness of sexual education and decision making to address whether those variables differed by programs and if there was an interaction between programs and students’ sex. Guided by the health belief model, social cognitive theory, and theory of reasoned action, data was collected from 366 students by way of a demographic survey and the Sexual Risk Behavioral Belief and Self-Efficacy, Sexual Abstinence, and Effectiveness of Sexual Education Scales. Abstinence-plus program students had higher levels of abstinent sexual attitudes, social norms, self-efficacy, and decision-making self-efficacy than abstinence-only program students, with a small effect size for abstinent social norms. Sexual abstinence behavior scores did not differ by programs, and there was no interaction between programs and students’ sex. Results indicate future studies should include a pretest and posttest evaluation