Mark Mierzwinski

The Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls: Tackling Teenage Disengagement report presented survey data from 2291 girls and 2024 boys aged 11–18 (Women in Sport, 2022). Teenage girls reported lower leve...

Background: Abdominal Wall Hernia (AWH) is a structurally and functionally disruptive condition often assessed through objective clinical variables such as position, size, reducibility, skin changes, and symptoms of obstruction suggesting the need for urgent treatment. However, little attention has been given to explore all the symptoms experienced. Many Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) tools fail to capture the nuances of lived experience, especially around pain, restriction, and behavioural response. This study provides a qualitative examination of the symptomatology and functional impact of AWH as described from the patient’s perspective. Methods: This phenomenological study draws on 15 semi-structured interviews with patients living with AWH. Participants were sampled purposively across a spectrum of hernia complexity (VHWG grades 1–4). Transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to generate superordinate and subordinate themes concerning symptoms and functional impact. Data analysis was triangulated between qualitative and surgical researchers. Results: The analysis revealed a superordinate theme of “Symptoms and Function,” with three distinct but overlapping subordinate domains: management of pain, freedom of movement, and restriction and adaptation. Participants described persistent background pain, episodic sharp exacerbations, and visceral sensations (e.g., bloating and urinary urgency). Anticipatory vigilance shaped movement planning, with participants choreographing basic tasks and progressively surrendering valued activities across both leisure and employment. Restriction triggered inventive adaptations, including custom abdominal binders and adjusted routines. Conclusions: AWH imposes a diffuse, dynamic and difficult burden on patients’ bodies and lives, extending far beyond the anatomical boundaries typically measured in clinical practice. Participants described a constellation of physical symptoms, including pain, visceral discomfort, and movement restriction. Our findings highlight that functional limitation in AWH is a biopsychosocial phenomenon. These experiences resonate with pain-psychology frameworks and demonstrate the limitations of reductionist surgical assessments. Effective interventions must match the complexity of lived experience, combining surgical, psychological, and rehabilitative strategies.

Background: Abdominal Wall Hernia (AWH) impacts interpersonal relationships, which are vital to human wellbeing [1, 2], however social and sexual dimensions of AWH remain underexplored. This study investigates the impact of AWH on social disconnection and sexual intimacy challenges, and how this could be viably assessed in health related quality of life (HRQoL) assessment tools. Methods: A qualitative approach using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was employed [3]. Fifteen participants (8 men and 7 women, aged 36–85 years) were purposively sampled. Data collected via semi-structured interviews was analysed iteratively until no new themes emerged [4]. Results: AWH significantly impacted participants' interpersonal relationships, mainly through ‘difficulties in connecting socially’ and ‘changes in sexual relationships’. Participants' social withdrawal was driven by physical limitations, altered self-perception, and stigma, leading to loneliness and reduced engagement. Changes in sexual relationships were shaped by pain, body image concerns, and perceived sexual pressure, often diminishing physical intimacy. Despite these challenges, emotional intimacy frequently persisted, largely due to empathetic and supportive partners. Postoperative improvements were highlighted as pivotal in restoring body confidence and intimacy. Conclusions: This study illustrates the profound social and sexual disruptions AWH causes. These effects should be included in holistic and patient centred care, and incorporated into HRQoL assessment tools. Preoperative counselling should include issues of social connection and intimacy, whilst postoperative care should integrate structured support networks, psychoeducational interventions, and psychosexual counselling. Future research should pilot, revise and test the effectiveness of such measures.

Despite growing research concerning banter in educational settings, this article is the first to examine how primary‐school aged children conceptualise, engage in, and navigate banter in England. This focus is important given this impressionable phase of childhood development and teachers and policymakers concerns regarding possible links between banter and bullying. Key findings from eight focus groups with 32 children (aged 9–10 years) are thematically analysed using theoretical concepts of individual civilising process, habitus, and figuration. Whilst being able to differentiate ‘good’ from ‘bad’ banter, pupils conceptualised banter in a prosocial manner, reported regularly engaging in banter for enjoyment and social bonding purposes. Furthermore, pupils navigated banter by appraising content, relationships between those involved, and how comments were received. The figurational dynamics within the school day meant that banter most often took place within breaktimes, whereby pupils mostly engaged with like‐minded same‐sex peers. To differentiate good from bad banter and navigate such banter, pupils had to exhibit relatively sophisticated cognitive, emotional, and social intelligence. To substantiate and develop our findings, ethnographic research is needed to gather observations of pupils' (and possibly teachers') engagement in banter and the extent that banter is self‐regulated and/or socially constrained by peers and teachers.

This article provides ethnographic insights from one state-funded secondary school in the north of England detailing gendered differences within changing room procedures and practices when changing attire for physical education (PE). Attained through participant observations, focus groups with pupils and individual interviews with PE teachers, the school's changing rooms were found to encompass multiple spaces, which served dual intended and unintended functions and social consequences. Applying the concepts of figuration ( Elias, 1978 ), [gendered] civilised bodies ( Elias, 2012 ), habitus ( Elias, 1978 ) and emotions ( Elias, 2001 ) as theoretical prisms revealed how PE teacher-informed procedures and expectations were gendered. Furthermore, with age, boys’ and girls’ diverging changing room behaviours and emotional navigations became increasingly gendered. This article demonstrates how changing rooms not only serve practical functions, but also evoke social and emotional processes which impact peer-group dynamics and pupils’ experiences of PE. Given this, participatory action research could be undertaken aimed at creating more equitable, inclusive and effective localised changing room policies, procedures and practices. This study could also be expanded into investigating policies, practices and experiences within other similar spaces, such as toilets and swimming pools.

Background Abdominal wall hernias (AWH) are frequently large and deforming. Despite this, little is known about how AWH impact upon body image. This study is the first study to qualitatively examine patients’ subjective lived experiences of how AWH affects their body image. Methods Fifteen patients were interviewed from a purposive sample of AWH patients awaiting surgery until no new narrative themes emerged. Interviews explored patient thoughts and experiences of AWH and body image. Data were examined using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Results Two key themes pertaining to body image were identified: “Changes to perceptions of self” and “Fears concerning other’s perceptions of them”. Both themes were often interrelated and displayed detrimental effects AWH had on patients’ body image. Conclusions Our findings illustrate that AWH detrimentally affected patients’ body image. This aspect of patient care can be treated and managed through better pre-operative information, including on body image as part of a holistic needs assessment (HNA), and ensuring the results are addressed in a patient care package. These development suggestions may positively affect the AWH patient’s experience and outcomes in terms of Quality of Life (QoL) by preparing patients better for realistic results regarding what can be achieved in terms of form, function thus making a more holistic recovery from surgery.