CHANGES IN FEELING OF CONNECTEDNESS AMONG SENIOR ADOLESCENTS

Adolescents who have low level of social connectedness more often distinguish themselves by nonadaptive, inappropriate behaviour. This study aims to disclose changes in connectedness due to application of play therapy in the senior adolescents’ group. Research results disclosed that application of play therapy method “Game of Life”, grounded on psychodrama principles, adjusted the feeling of social connectedness among senior adolescents: changes were observed in connectedness to self, at the social level and to the close friend. Application of play therapy resulted in more signifcant changes in social connectedness in the girls’ group than in the boys’ group. Social connectedness did not change comparing ffteen — eighteen-year-old adolescent’s groups.


Introduction
Analyzing various aspects of adolescence, scientists seek to disclose and predict how various environmental aspects infuence the adolescent, his/her family and how interaction of various factors infuencing the adolescent will affect the adolescent's further development.
The research on psychological aspects of adolescence period is particularly important because it can help to identify diffculties encountered by the adolescent and ways of support in order to ensure formation of the personality that is adaptive and benefcial to the society.
At the same time, the adolescent is solving personality dilemmas related to his/her age.During adolescence particular changes take place in the structure of the personality: the adolescent is trying to fnd himself/herself looking for the self, experiencing the crisis of identity and identifying himself/herself with signifcant family members and friends.Trying to fnd himself/herself, the adolescent must cope with one more especially important task: to maintain emotional balance with parents: to achieve identity but emotionally not to distance from parents too much and maintain close emotional link (to be related to parents) (Noack & Puschner, 1999;Pinquart & Silbereisen 2002).The feeling of social connectedness experienced by the adolescent forms the adolescent's main personality constructs: the self, self-respect, self-worth, identity, which infuence further personality development of the individual (Ackard, Neumark-Sztainer, Story, & Perry, 2006), directly or indirectly infuence the adolescent's academic achievements ( Taylor, 2004;Taylor & Lopez, 2005).The adolescent's connectedness directly affects the adolescent's prosocial and challenging behaviour.It was found that adolescents who do not questions in the connectedness scale are: "I like to visit people", "My friends are really close for me and I completely trust them", "I like spending time with my parents", "I like to know people who differ from me by their culture, nationality", " Religion is important for me".
Reliability of scales is demonstrated by Cronbach's alpha coeffcient, the value of which is from 0 to 1.The closer to 1, the higher internal reliability of the scale is.Cronbach's alpha coeffcient of all four scales shows high internal reliability, enabling their application for individual diagnostics (Vaitkevičius & Saudargienė, 2006).
Cronbach's alpha coeffcients of scales of connectedness are given in Table 1: Table 1.Internal reliability of scales measuring social connectedness Cronbach's alpha values given in the table vary from 0,7 to 0,9 indicating high reliability of scales, values of several scales fuctuate between 0,6 and 0,7; values are suffcient and scales will be used for statistical calculations.
Research data were calculated employing 18.0 SPSS software.Analysing research data, the following statistical analysis methods were used: • Comparison of means of two dependent samples: the paired-samples t-test; • Comparison of means of two dependent samples (sensitive to small samples): the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
The process of the research.There was the play therapy method, based on psychodrama principles, used (Raimundo, 2002;Raimundo, 2014;Barton, 2004).
Each adolescent visited 5 hours sessions of individual work, the duration of each session was 45 minutes.They attended play therapy sessions at the time convenient for them once per week.Adolescents were introduced with the instruments of the game (stage, puppets) the procedure of session.
Every session had the different theme of game and the following themes were used (Raimundo, 2002$ Raimundo, 2014): 1. "The pillow method" (adolescent needs to show on the stage four positive memories of his/her childhood and connect the issues with the present moment) (Raimundo, cited by Barton, 2004).
2. "Social atom" (the adolescent shows on the stage interrelations with others during three periods of his/her age and discovers that positive changes are possible) (Barton, 2004).3. "The frst step method" (adolescent creates on the stage with puppets diffcult relations and develop a new stage of positive relationships) (Raimundo, cited by Barton, 2004).

Scales of social connectedness
4. "The social atom of friends" (the adolescent creates on the stage the circle of his/ her friends in the three periods of his/her development and discovers positive fndings about himself/herself and relationships with his/her friends) (Barton, 2004).
5. "The social atom of the family" (the adolescent creates on the stage the relations with family members and using change of the role with them have positive feedback from every member of the family) (Barton, 2004).
Before frst session and after the last session they flled the questionnaire.

Research Results
Further senior adolescents' feeling of social connectedness in general and at separate levels will be analysed.The analysis of adolescents' connectedness was conducted applying the paired-samples t-test and he Wilcoxon signed-rank test for small samples because connectedness scale distributions are close to normal distribution.Values of means, standard deviations and p-values are given in Table 2.

Table 2. Mean and standard deviation of social connectedness due to application of play therapy
The results given in Table 2 show that means of social connectedness before and after play therapy differ.After play therapy there were statistically signifcant changes in children's social connectedness to self and at the social level (p<0,005 and p<0,005; p< 0,01).
The analysis of means demonstrates that in general adolescent's feeling of social connectedness increased in various domains.Analysing separate scales, it can be observed that the feeling of connectedness to others, to the family and at the social level increased but connectedness to society decreased; it slightly decreased at the academic level.
Further social connectedness in separate domains will be analysed.See Table 3.

Table 3. Mean and standard deviation of social connectedness to application of play therapy
The more detailed scale analysis disclosed that after application of play therapy adolescents' feeling of social connectedness to self (p<0,000) and to the close friend (p<0,029) increased.
Slight increase of the feeling of social connectedness in other domains is also observed but the change is statistically insignifcant.Social connectedness strengthened in relationships with neighbours, friends, siblings, teachers, culturally different children, mother and father.Connectedness decreased in reading and did not change with regard to religion.After application of play therapy, senior class pupils' social connectedness changed only in the girls' group: connectedness to self (p<0,001) and at the social level (p<0,011) increased.In the boys' group statistically signifcant change is not observed.Analysis of changes in means shows strengthening of the feeling of social connectedness to others, the family and society in the girls' group.In the boys' group the feeling of social connectedness increased in relationships with others, the family and at the social level but connectedness to society and at the academic level decreased.

Connectedness
Analysing remaining ffteen connectedness scales by sex, the statistically signifcant change is observed only in a few scales.Data of these scales will not be given in the table but they will be discussed in the brief review of signifcant changes.
In the girls' group the feeling of social connectedness strengthened to: self (p<0,001) and to the close friend (p<0,05).Girls' social interest increased in other domains too: interacting with neighbours, at school, with teachers, with culturally different people and with the father but decreased with peers and did not change with regard to religion (analysis of means).
In the boys' group social connectedness signifcantly decreased with regard to school (p<0,05).Boys' feeling of connectedness strengthened interacting with friends, culturally different children, with the close friend, the mother, particularly with the father but decreased communicating with neighbours, with peers and did not change with regard to reading and religion.
After application of play therapy the feeling of social connectedness intensifed in ffteen-year-old children's group, compared with sixteen -eighteen-year-old adolescents.Junior adolescents' feeling of social connectedness strengthened to self (p<0,05) and at the social level (p<0,05).The analysis of means disclosed that the general feeling of connectedness strengthened as well as connectedness to others, society and family but it decreased at the academic level.

Connectedness
The analysis of means in the senior age adolescent's group demonstrates strengthening of the general feeling of social connectedness like of the feeling of social connectedness to others, the family, at the academic and social level but social connectedness to society decreased.
A more detailed analysis of social connectedness scales disclosed that in ffteen-year-old children's group connectedness strengthened to self (p<0,001), slightly less strengthened to neighbours, friends, school, culturally different children, the close friend, the mother, siblings and decreased to peers, parents, teachers and religion.
In sixteen-eighteen-year-old children's group the feeling of connectedness to self, friends, the close friend, the teacher, the mother and the father, religion strengthened but connectedness to neighbours, siblings, the school, peers decreased; social connectedness to parents, culturally different children did not change.

Discussion of Results
The adolescents' changing attitude to themselves encourages to go deep into existing relationships with parents and friends and to try out different ways of social communication (Karcher et al., 2006;Ackard et al., 2006).Application of play therapy among senior adolescents helps them to slightly enhance the feeling of social connectedness to self and at the social level.
The age of adolescence is characterized by seeking independence from the family and other adults.Often the adolescent's social relationships with parents and teachers distance.

CHANGES IN FEELING OF CONNECTEDNESS AMONG SENIOR ADOLESCENTS Albina Kepalaitė
These relationships become important for them in another sense: they want their support, understanding and freedom in communication with peers (Ackard et al., 2006;Demaray et al., 2005).In general, due to application of play therapy the feeling of social connectedness with self and at the social level strengthened.Researchers' opinion that adolescents slightly distance from parents is confrmed: research results showed that the feeling of social connectedness at the family level did not change.A more detailed scale analysis demonstrates particularly strengthened feeling of connectedness to the close friend.
In the girls' group more signifcant changes in connectedness are observed than in the boys' group.Among girls the feeling of connectedness strengthened with self, the close friend and in general at the social level.In the boys' group strengthening of the feeling of connectedness is very small and statistically insignifcant.The opposite change is observed with regard to the school: the feeling of social connectedness decreased.
In the junior age children's group the feeling of connectedness increased to self and at the social level but no changes took place in senior age children's group.It could be assumed that social relationships, the feeling of connectedness are much more signifcant for junior age children than for senior class pupils.
Summarizing the obtained research results, it can be confrmed that Raimundo's play therapy method "Game of Life" can be effectively applied to senior age pupils because it is short and effective.
This research can be important for further researches that will analyse effectiveness of play therapy and its applicability for senior age pupils.It would be purposeful in further researches to compare the impact of this play therapy method in case of more serious emotional disorders, such as depressiveness, anxiety and fear disorders; assess its applicability adjusting children's emotional and behavioural disorders as well as communication, adaptation diffculties.Researches would help to better understand what methods are most appropriate for solving certain problems.
According to scientifc literature, both group and individual play therapy are effectively applied to help children dealing with the various problems and diffculties (Homeyer, 2000).It would be purposeful to apply this play therapy method in a small group of two-three children, in which the children could help each other.
Raimundo's play therapy method could be applied at school and at children's homes for adjustment of emotional and behavioural diffculties.Further researches that would more extensively evaluate effectiveness of Raimundo's play therapy method "Game of Life" in senior class pupils' therapy would enable to apply this short-term and effective play therapy in children's consulting.

Conclusions
Generalisation of research fndings resulted in the following conclusions: 1. Application of play therapy among senior adolescents helps to slightly strengthen the feeling of social connectedness.Application of play therapy among senior adolescents resulted in strengthening of the feeling of social connectedness to self and at the social level.A more detailed scale analysis demonstrates particular strengthening of the feeling of connectedness to the close friend.
2. In the girls' group more signifcant changes in connectedness are observed, compared with the boys' group.Among girls the feeling of social connectedness to self, to the close friend and in general at the social level strengthened.In the boys' group the increase of the feeling of social connectedness is very small and statistically insignifcant but the feeling of connectedness with regard to school decreased.

CHANGES IN FEELING OF CONNECTEDNESS AMONG SENIOR ADOLESCENTS
Albina Kepalaitė

Albina Kepalaitė Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
Analyzing various aspects of adolescence, scientists seek to disclose and predict how various environmental aspects infuence the adolescent, his/her family and how interaction of various factors infuencing the adolescent will affect the adolescent's further development.The research on psychological aspects of adolescence period is particularly important because it can help to identify diffculties encountered by the adolescent and ways of support in order to ensure formation of the personality that is adaptive and benefcial to the society.During adolescence particular changes take place in the structure of the personality: the adolescent is trying to fnd himself/herself looking for the self, experiencing the crisis of identity and identifying himself/herself with signifcant family members and friends.Trying to fnd himself/herself, the adolescent must cope with one more especially important task: to maintain emotional balance with parents: to achieve identity but emotionally not to distance from parents too much and maintain close emotional link (to be related to parents) (Noack & Puschner, 1999;Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2002).The feeling of social connectedness experienced by the adolescent forms the adolescent's main personality constructs: the self, self-respect, self-worth, identity, which infuence further personality development of the individual (Ackard, Neumark-Sztainer, Story & Perry, 2006), directly or indirectly infuence the adolescent's academic achievements (Demaray, Malecki, Davidson, Hodgson & Rebus, 2005; Gregory & Weinstein, 2004).Thus, researches into adolescents' feeling of connectedness, identifying its dynamics in adolescence both due to general maturity and due to applied psychological impact could be particularly relevant and productive.However, there is a lack of such studies, although their results would help to provide psychological support more effectively.
The feeling of social connectedness is the ability to interact, cooperate, feel that you belong to the group, that you adjust to it and that you are its member (Kottman, 1999).Barber (2004) and Karcher et al. (2006) present social connectedness as an emotional/cognitive condition, sensuous expression or dynamic process.In this study, social connectedness is understood both as a state and as a dynamic process, since the aim is to explore changes in connectedness due to applied psychological impact.
The aim of this study is to disclose changes in connectedness due to application of play therapy in the senior adolescents' group.Assessing the feeling of social connectedness among senior adolescents, M. J. Karcher's (2002) social connectedness scale Hemingway Measure of Adolescent Connectedness was applied.There was the play therapy method, based on psychodrama principles, used (Raimundo, 2002(Raimundo, , 2014;;Barton, 2004).
It was found that: Application of play therapy among senior adolescents helps to slightly strengthen the feeling of social connectedness.Application of play therapy among senior adolescents resulted in strengthening of the feeling of social connectedness to self and at the social level.A more detailed scale analysis demonstrates particular strengthening of the feeling of connectedness to the close friend.
In the girls' group more signifcant changes in connectedness are observed, compared with the boys' group.Among girls the feeling of social connectedness to self, to the close friend and in general at the social level strengthened.In the boys' group the increase of the feeling of social connectedness is very small and statistically insignifcant but the feeling of connectedness with regard to school decreased.
Changes in the feeling of connectedness also depend on age: in the junior age adolescent's group the feeling of connectedness to self and at the social level enhanced while in the senior age adolescent's group changes did not take place.

Table 4 .
Comparison of means of social connectedness scales in boys' and girls' groups

Table 5 .
Comparison of means of social connectedness scales in ffteen-year-old and senior age adolescents' groups