Enhancing Friendship Making Skills in Retired Men with Higher Education Kendra Oglesbee Introduction In addition to death and illness, men often lose relationships when they retire, leading to social isolation. Social isolation is a contributing factor in depression and overall reduced quality of life. A significant amount of research exists on the impact of friendship making skills coaching on populations with schizophrenia, autism, alcohol dependence, depression, and traumatic brain injury. This study considers development of friendship making skills as an educational issue, not a pathological issue (Lehenbauer, et al., 2013). Little attention has been directed toward the study of friendship as an on-going, developmental process (Wall, et al., 1984). Erickson’s theory of lifespan development provides evidence of the need for on-going personal growth in healthy individuals (Martin, 1999). The relational needs of adults change as they age and some people may benefit from assistance as they navigate these transitions (Martin, 1999). The research question to be considered here is whether friendship making skills coaching could benefit retired men who are otherwise considered normally functioning adults. Conclusions Implications. A p-value less than 0.05 would indicate a statistically significant relationship between the LSR means for subjects completing the intervention and those in the control group. Accepting the research hypothesis would suggest that retired men with higher education might benefit from friendship making skills coaching. Further research Further refinement of intervention. Impact of intervention on depression. Impact of social media on male friendships. Identify evidence-based programs for retired men. There is very little recent research on the characteristics of heterosexual friendships between older men. Limitations Timeframe of intervention prevents subjects from fully implementing new knowledge and introduces possibility of confounding variables. Validity of educational intervention cannot be confirmed. Findings not generalizable to all retired men. References Greif, G. L. (2009). Understanding older men and their male friendships: A comparison of African American and white men. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 52 (6), Lehenbauer, M., Kothgassner, O. D., Kryspin-Exner, I., & Stetina, B. U. (2013). An online self-administered social skills training for young adults: Results from a pilot study. Computers & Education, 61, Retrieved from e4-9d64-c9c4e6a6b678%40sessionmgr110&vid=10 &hid=112 on September 23, Martin, J. (1999). Communication and interpersonal effectiveness: Skills training for older adults. Educational Gerontology, 25(3), Neugarten, B. L., Havighurst, R. J., & Tobin, S. S. (1961). Life Satisfaction Rating Scales. doi: /t Retrieved from login?url= &site=ehost-live on Nov. 15, Wall, S. M., Pickert, S. M.,& Paradise, L. V. (1984). American men’s friendships: Self-reports on meaning and changes. Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 116(2), Methods Hypothesis The life satisfaction scores of retired men with higher education will change after completion of a friendship making skills coaching intervention. Independent Variable Educational intervention: Friendship making skills coaching Dependent Variable Life satisfaction Study Population Retired men with higher education levels. Study Sample Beginning with approximately 6,987 retired male clergy in the Presbyterian Church (USA), obtain a systematic random sample of 300 subjects. Geographically dispersed. All hold master’s degrees or higher. Social contacts closely tied to profession. Official and unofficial policy discourages maintaining those relationships post-retirement. Procedures for Data Collection Approval needed from IRB. Approval needed from Presbyterian Church (USA). Informed consent will be obtained from each participant. LSR and educational intervention will be administered via Internet. Measurement of Variables Life Satisfaction Rating Scales Index: Measures 5 factors contributing to well-being and life satisfaction in successful aging on a five point scale. (Neugarten, et al., 1961). Friendship Making Skills Intervention: Develop new instrument to accommodate electronic delivery with older learners. Use of a highly educated study population may assist in further developing this instrument. Research Design This study uses a pretest-posttest control group design where one group will be randomly selected to participate in a friendship making skills intervention. G1 R O1 X O2 G2 R O1 O2 An independent sample t-test will be used to verify the equality of the two pretest groups. An independent sample t-test will be again used to determine the mean of the posttest results. A paired sample t-test will be used to analyze the responses of G1 and G2 between O1 and O2. The study analysis will then compare any variation between the two groups.