What gets in the way of social engagement in schizophrenia?

BACKGROUND Social engagement-important for health and well-being-can be difficult for people with schizophrenia.Past research indicates that despite expressing interest in social interactions,people with schizophrenia report spending less time with others and feeling lonely.Social motivations and barriers may play an important role for understanding social engagement in schizophrenia.AIM To investigate how people with schizophrenia describe factors that impede and promote social engagement.METHODS We interviewed a community sample of people with(n=35)and without(n=27)schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder about their social interactions with friends and family over the past week and planned social activities for the coming week.We reviewed the interview transcripts and developed a novel coding system to capture whether interactions occurred,who had initiated the contact,and frequency of reported social barriers(i.e.,internal,conflict-based,logistical)and social motivations(i.e.,instrumental,affiliative,obligation-based).We also assessed symptoms and functioning.RESULTS People with schizophrenia were less likely than people without schizophrenia to have spent time with friends[t(51.04)=2.09,P=0.042,d=0.51)],but not family.People with schizophrenia reported more social barriers than people without schizophrenia[F(1,60)=10.55,P=0.002,ηp2=0.15)]but did not differ in reported social motivations.Specifically,people with schizophrenia reported more internal[t(45.75)=3.40,P=0.001,d=0.83)]and conflict-based[t(40.11)=3.03,P=0.004,d=0.73)]barriers than people without schizophrenia.Social barriers and motivations were related to real-world social functioning for people with schizophrenia,such that more barriers were associated with more difficulty in close relationships(r=-0.37,P=0.027)and more motivations were associated with better community functioning(r=0.38,P=0.024).CONCLUSION These findings highlight the importance of assessing first person accounts of social barriers and motivations to better understand social engagement in schizophrenia.

Travel Motivation of Domestic Tourists to the Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve in Northeastern China: A Comparative Study

This article seeks to develop a fuller understanding of the social and attraction motives of domestic tourists who visit the Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve(CMBR) in Northeastern China. To do so, ecotourists are compared to general travelers visiting this area. A questionnaire was employed to collect data on visitor characteristics and motivations, responses to which were then analyzed via descriptive statistics, T-tests and principal component factor analysis. Results showed that 16% of the visitors to this area were classified as ecotourists, while the remainder general travelers. Five motivations displayed significant differences(P<0.05) between these two types of tourists. Three social motives – boosting self-confidence, feeling at home away from home and being together with family – and two attraction motives – indoor sports and viewing unique landscapes of the CMBR(crater lake, waterfall, gorge and hot spring) – were significantly more important for general travelers(P<0.05); while two social motives of experiencing the tranquility of the natural setting and the natural beauty of the landscape were relatively more important for ecotourists(P<0.1). Results suggest that ecotourists have distinct and complicated attraction and social motives compared to general travelers visiting the CMBR. Results have useful implications for researchers interested in tourist motivations and behavior, as well as for managers who wish to focus their marketing strategies more effectively. National Park of South Africa. Uysal et al.(1994) assessed the travel motives of Australian tourists to U.S. national parks and nature areas and formed five groupings including ‘relaxation/hobbies', ‘novelty', ‘enhancement of kinship relationship', ‘escape', and ‘prestige'. Tao et al.(2004) analyzed motivations of Asian tourists travelling to Taiwan's Taroko National Park using a self-defined approach and found that the most significant benefits sought by self-defined ecotourists are ‘learning about nature' and ‘participating in recreation activities'. Beh and Bruyere(2007) analyzed visitor motivations in three Kenyan national reserves, identifying the three most prominent kinds of tourists as escapers, learners and spiritualists. Pan and Ryan(2007) used factor analysis to reveal five motivational dimensions –‘relaxation', ‘social needs', ‘a sense of belonging', ‘mastery skills', and ‘intellectual needs' – of visitors to the Pirongia Forest Park in New Zealand. Kruger and Saayman(2010) did a comparative study on travel motivations of tourists to Kruger and Tsitsikamma National Parks in South Africa and found that common motives of tourists were ‘escape and relaxation' as well as ‘knowledge seeking', ‘nostalgia' and ‘park attributes'. Despite these efforts, on an overall basis past literature on why visitors travel to national parks and nature areas is still rather limited. In China, a number of empirical studies on tourist motivations have been conducted since the early 1990s(Chen and Miao 2006; Dong 2011; Huang et al. 2011; Jeffrey and Xie 1994; Lu 1997; Ma et al. 2013; Zhang 2012). Some studies have focused on motivations of visitors to nature reserves(Li 2007), geological parks(Chen and Qiao 2010), world heritage sites(Su et al. 2005), and seismic memorial sites(Tang 2014). However, most previous research findings on tourist motivations are not comparable, reflecting the fact that visitors to different parks have quite different motives due to the attributes of particular destinations, the geographic locations of these parks, types of available activities, marketing strategies, and the complexity of travel motives(Chen and Qiao 2010; Pan and Ryan 2007). While it is true that certain motivations were shared in varying degrees by most tourists to these places – i.e., ‘appreciating natural landscapes', ‘family and education', ‘social needs', and ‘perceived prestige of visit' – most previous research has not focused on natural settings as destinations. Thus travel motivations of tourists to these areas must be further explored and clarified in relation to impacts on particular natural areas and patterns of market segmentation. As one of the earliest and largest natural reserves established in China, the Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve(CMBR) has long been a draw not only for domestic tourists but also for international visitors, and tourism to the area has been growing steadily since 1980. With the number of visitors to the reserve having climbed to 2.44 million in 2010(Statistical Communiqué of the Changbai Mountain Protection and Development Zone of Jilin Province 2011), it has become imperative for local government officials and reserve wardens to understand tourists' desires and interests when identifying tourism development opportunities. However, the existing literature still suffers from a lack of empirical studies that investigate why people travel to the CMBR and whether tourist motives differ between groups such as ecotourists and general travelers. The target population for this study consists of domestic visitors to the CMBR. The goals of this research include:(1) to identify the social and attraction motives of domestic tourists that influence decisions to visit the CMBR;(2) to explore whether there are any differences between the motivations of these two types of tourists; and(3) to provide some useful management implications for local government and tourism marketers.

An Empirical Study on Codeswitching of Chinese English Teachers on Tertiary Level

The paper explores the universal laws of codeswitching among the three language varieties, namely, English, the Standard Chinese, and dialects on the part of Chinese English teachers at tertiary level on the basis of the questionnaire data derived from thirty-one doctoral graduate teachers. The Chi-square test results confirm American sociolinguist J. Fishman＇s Domain Theory. However, the author holds that the theory should be revised when applied to the study of codeswitching by Chinese English teachers at tertiary level, the original church domain is to be deleted, a novel public affairs domain is to be added to. Meanwhile the author further points out that the SC acquires linguistically functional reversibility whereas English and dialects are functionally irreversible. Finally the. author interprets that the nature of codeswitching turns out the reestablishment of social situation attempting to bring about intended social status and distance to the interlocutors.

Estrogen and oxytocin involvement in social preference in male mice:a study using a novel long-term social preference paradigm with aromatase,estrogen receptor-αand estrogen receptor-β,oxytocin,and oxytocin receptor knockout male mice

Certain aspects of social behavior help animals make adaptive decisions during encounters with other animals.When mice choose to approach another conspecific,the motivation and preference behind the interaction is not well understood.Estrogen and oxytocin are known to influence a wide array of social behaviors,including social motivation and social preference.The present study investigated the effects of estrogen and oxytocin on social preference using aromatase(ArKO),estrogen receptor(ER)α(αERKO),ERβ(βERKO),oxytocin(OTKO),oxytocin receptor(OTRKO)knockout and their respective wild-type(WT)male mice.Mice were presented with gonadally-intact versus castrated male(IC),intact male versus ovariectomized female(IF),or intact male versus empty cage(IE)stimuli sets for 5 days.ArWT showed no preference for either stimuli in IC and IF and intact male preference in IE,but ArKO mice preferred a castrated male or an ovariectomized female,or had no preference for either stimulus in IC,IF and IE stimuli sets,respectively,suggesting reduced intact male preference.αandβWT mice preferred a castrated male,showed no preference,and preferred an intact male in IC,IF and IE,respectively.αERKO mice displayed similar modified social preference patterns as ArKO,whereas the social preference ofβERKO mice remained similar toβWT.OTWT preferred a castrated male whereas OTKO,OTRWT and OTRKO mice failed to show any preference in IC and none showed preference for either stimuli in IF.Collectively,these findings suggest that estrogen regulates social preference in male mice and that impaired social preference in oxytocin-deficient mice may be due to severe deficits in social recognition.