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Onboarding of new employees is the process that involves integrating new employees into the organization to increase the organization's productivity. Through onboarding the organization can, among other things, instruct newly hired employees their new tasks, educate them about the organization's norms and values and helping the employees to become part of the working group and the organization. The use of digital onboarding took off at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2019 and came to affect how organizations handled their onboarding in the future. As the use of digital onboarding is relatively a new phenomenon that has gained momentum since the start of the pandemic, knowledge is needed about how digital onboarding can contribute to new employees experiencing the feeling of belonging. The purpose of the study is therefore to gain a deeper understanding on how new employees’ sense of belonging is affected during digital onboarding. The study's chosen method is qualitative method and it has been inspired by a phenomenological approach. Eight semi-structured interviews were held with respondents from the selected organization. The empirical material has been analyzed with inspiration from a phenomenological analysis method and has been carried out in five steps. The result show that information, feedback, a present manager and the opportunity for digital relationship building can contribute to newly hired employees experiencing the feeling of belonging during digital onboarding.The result indicates how organizations can create better conditions for new employees during digital onboarding.

Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) are popular hobbies that may offer specific social benefits for autistic people. This study investigated the ability of TTRPGs to provide a safe space where autistic adults could develop relationships with other autistic adults while engaging in character and world-building. A group of eight autistic adults were split into two groups and taken through a short-form online Dungeons and Dragons campaign over 6 weeks run by one of the researchers. The researcher then led a series of individual semi-structured interviews discussing how participants felt interacting in and out of the TTRPG. Several key themes were identified as important aspects of why autistic people could benefit from such an environment. Analysis showed that while real-life interactions could be challenging, in TTRPG play, they felt they experienced significantly fewer struggles. Results suggested that TTRPGs can provide a safe space environment where autistic adults can engage in productive social interactions with like-minded individuals. It also may allow autistic participants to experience 'bleed' or the ability to take on a new character that changes the way they feel about themselves outside of the game. Future directions for this work are discussed.

Drivers' behaviour in intersections is not only influenced by the rules of priority in the intersection but also by the design of the intersection as well as the behaviour of other road users. If behaviours that supplement or contradict formal traffic rules become common in a particular traffic intersection, it is an indication that an informal traffic rule has been used. In the present study a sample of 1276 Swedish drivers (aged 18-74 years) responded to questions about how often they would yield to another driver in 10 hypothetical crossing situations. In all crossing situations the respondents were told that there was no major road, implying that they should always yield the right of way to traffic coming from the right (the right-hand ride). The results showed that drivers' reported behaviour varied over different intersections. As expected, the formal rule of priority (i.e., the direction from which the other driver was coming) was an important determinant for drivers' yielding behaviour. However, cues for informal rules such as the other driver's behaviour and road breadth were also of importance. Different groups of drivers could be identified according to their strategies of yielding behaviour. One group of drivers reported that they rarely yielded, whereas another group reported that they always did so. A third group complied with the right-hand rule most of the time, whereas the behaviour of a fourth group varied over intersections. The implications of the results and the appropriateness of the right-hand rule are discussed.

Även om ett flertal studier undersöker betydelsen av New Public Management (NPM) för välfärdsstatens organisationer finns det få komparativa studier av NPM inom olika verksamheter. I denna studie intervjuas kommunala chefer i syfte att jämföra hur NPM omsätts i praktiken inom en teknisk verksamhet och en omsorgsverksamhet. Resultaten visar att verksamheternas genusmärkning innebär olika förutsättningar för cheferna att hantera NPM.

A sample of 98 drivers responded to a Swedish version of the UK Driving Anger Scale [UK DAS; [Lajunen, T., Parker, D., Stradling, S.G., 1998. Dimensions of driver anger, aggressive and highway code violations and their mediation by safety orientation in UK drivers. Transport. Res. Part F 1, 107-121]. The results indicated that the Swedish version, like the British original, measures three sources of driver irritation: "progress impeded", "reckless driving", and "direct hostility". Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the relationships between the three sources of self-reported driver irritation, aggressive actions, speed, sex, age, and annual mileage. The models suggested a positive relationship between the amount of driver irritation and frequency of aggressive actions for all three sources of irritation. Female drivers tended to become more irritated than male drivers, while the male drivers tended to act aggressively more often. Surprisingly, drivers who reported that they enjoy fast speeds did not become more irritated than slower drivers when obstructed. The important conclusions are that experienced irritation often leads to openly aggressively actions, and that expression of aggressive behaviours may be a cause of other drivers' feeling of irritation. 

BACKGROUND: Depression is common in older adults and is related to reduced quality of life and functional ability as well as increased mortality and morbidity. Current guidelines recommend psychological treatments for the treatment of depression in adults. Studies show that about 30% of older adults with depression in Sweden receive pharmacological treatment and about 3% receive psychological treatment. However, a majority receive no treatment at all. There is a need for effective and scalable psychological treatment options for older adults with depression in primary care. Behavioural activation is an extensively evaluated, effective, and relatively simple treatment for depression that can be delivered by health care professionals without comprehensive training in psychological treatment.

METHODS: We will conduct a randomised controlled 2-armed parallel group multicentre trial comparing treatment as usual in primary care to a five-session telephone-delivered behavioural activation treatment as add on to treatment as usual. The current trial is open labelled. In all, 250 older adults (≥ 65 years) with depression will be recruited from primary healthcare centres in three Swedish regions. The primary outcome is depressive symptoms measured with the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale - Self rating version (MADRS-S) after treatment and at 3- and 6-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes include depression diagnoses, activity level (self-rated and measured with accelerometer), and self-rated anxiety, daily functioning, quality of life, self-efficacy, and loneliness.

DISCUSSION: There is a need for fully powered studies of brief behavioural activation for older adults with depression delivered by telephone in a primary care context. This study has the potential to improve first-line treatment of depression in older adults in primary care, consequently reducing morbidity and mortality within this population. Increasing the availability and accessibility to effective psychological treatment for depression in older adults is needed to meet future demographic changes.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT06284889 . Registered February 28, 2024.

This report compiles the results from the project Theme Environmental risks. More specifically, the project concerned how different transport related environmental risks influence different road users and how their behaviour influence the environment. The project aimed at preparing for interdisciplinary research about environmental risks at VTI. The project was divided into three parts. The first subproject aimed at compiling literature about transport related environmental risks from psychological and economic perspectives, and in the second subproject a willingness to pay study was outlined where both economic and psychological principles were considered. In the third subproject, a simulator study was outlined. The focus was to study environmental effects of driving under controlled circumstances in the driving simulator. The report is divided into two parts. In part 1, the results from the literature review and the proposal for a willingness to pay study are described (subproject 1 and 2). This part is written in English. Part 2 contains a project outline for a simulator study in the form of an research project application (project 3). This part is written in Swedish.

This pilot study aims at illuminating human visual behavior in the interaction with pictorial instructions. The study is a multi disciplinary effort and is informed by the connection between gaze and attention as well as certain aspects of the Visual Literacy field and reveals a few basic visual behavior tendencies related to certain specific pictorial instruction types. By doing so, it is also an evaluation of the usefulness of a methodological framework consisting of six measures.The analysis of this paper is primarily based on eye-tracking data. In addition, an observed assembly that generated video and sound recordings is also part of the method. In the study 12 Film/TV- production students (out of which there is complete data from 9 informants) interacted with three types of types of visual instructions of the same assembled object, a solar powered toy.

Denna studie belyser chefers möjligheter att hantera styrning inom olika kommunala verksamheter. Syftet med rapporten är att undersöka och jämföra hur styrning praktiseras inom den kvinnodominerade verksamheten ’Äldreboende’, den könsintegrerade verksamheten ’Gymnasium’, samt den mansdominerade tekniska verksamheten ’Vatten’. Analysen baseras på 30 intervjuer med linjechefer i fyra kommuner. För att förstå sammanhanget runt chefernas berättelser har även aktörer på kommunledningsnivå intervjuats. En utgångspunkt i studien är att jämförelser mellan olika organisatoriska sammanhang kan skapa lärande i arbetslivet.

De deskriptiva resultat som presenteras i rapporten visar att styrning i linje med New Public Management har inneburit att cheferna upplever sig allt mer klämda mellan organisationens styrning och medarbetarnas och verksamhetens behov. Med New Public Management betonas styrning genom ekonomi, standardiserade processer, mål och uppföljning samt värderingar. De medverkande cheferna beskriver att detta har medfört målkonflikter som kan vara svåra att hantera. Det skiljer sig dock mellan  verksamheterna hur målkonflikterna hanteras. Inom den mansdominerade verksamheten Vatten beskriver cheferna hur organisationen tar ansvar för målkonflikterna på ett sätt som möjliggör för cheferna att hantera dem. Inom Gymnasium och Äldreboende beskriver cheferna istället att de många gånger själva får hantera och ta konsekvenserna av målkonflikterna.

Vi pekar sammanfattningsvis på fyra lärdomar kring chefens möjligheter att hantera målkonflikter. Dessa lärdomar handlar om hur arbetet organiseras, snarare än om chefernas individuella strategier. Vi talar om vikten av ett nära stöd, av att dela värld, av gemensamt språk och avgränsade mål och slutligen, vikten av tillit.

Vi pekar sammanfattningsvis på fyra lärdomar kring chefens möjligheter att hantera målkonflikter. Dessa lärdomar handlar om hur arbetet organiseras, snarare än om chefernas individuella strategier. Vi talar om vikten av ett nära stöd, av att dela värld, av gemensamt språk och avgränsade mål och slutligen, vikten av tillit.

När arbetsmiljö studeras i ett genusperspektiv talas i allmänhet i termer av kvinnors arbetsmiljö och förklaringar till ohälsa söks hos kvinnorna själva. Det talas sällan i termer av mäns arbetsmiljö. När det handlar om mansdominerade delar av arbetsmarknaden synliggörs istället arbetsvillkoren och ansträngningar görs för att förbättra dem. I detta bokkapitel argumenterar vi för att det är dags att sluta använda begreppet kvinnors arbetsmiljö. Arbetsmiljön är inte utformad efter kön och lösningarna hittas inte om analyser och åtgärder av arbetsmiljön baseras på särskiljande av kvinnor och män. Gör man det riskerar man att förklara arbetsmiljön med kön och riskerar att dölja att könsskillnader som syns i könsuppdelad statistik är konsekvenser av att arbetsmarknaden är segregerad och att det finns systematiska skillnader mellan typiskt kvinnliga och manliga verksamheter. För att synliggöra och förändra sådana könsskillnader i arbetsmiljön behövs ett fokus på de organisatoriska sammanhang som flertalet kvinnor och män finns i. Kapitlet handlar om hur arbetsmiljön kan förstås och studeras med ett genusperspektiv som tar fasta på den horisontella könssegregeringen och på hur de könssegregerade arbetsplatserna är organiserade.

To examine the lifetime prevalence of trauma experiences and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Questionnaire-assessed PTSD, the type of traumatic event experienced, perceived trauma impact, and trauma frequency in 1824 randomly selected men and women. PTSD lifetime prevalence was estimated at 5.6% with a 1 : 2 male-to-female ratio, in spite of men reporting greater trauma exposure. The highest PTSD risk was associated with sexual and physical assault, robbery and multiple trauma experiences. Controlling for trauma type did not account for gender differences, while controlling for experienced distress did. The conditional probability for PTSD varied as a function of trauma type, frequency and impact of the event, with increased rates associated with prevalent trauma exposure and higher perceived distress. The latter accounted for the gender effect, suggesting that gender differences in PTSD in part represent a generally greater vulnerability to stress in women.

Wheel-running and treadmill running physical exercise have been shown to alleviate parkinsonism in both laboratory and clinical studies. MPTP was administered to C57/BL6 mice using two different procedures: (a) administration of a double-dose regime (MPTP 2 × 20 or 2 × 40 mg/kg, separated by a 24-h interval), vehicle (saline 5 ml/kg) or saline (vehicle 2 × 5 ml/kg), and (b) administration of a single-dose weekly regime (MPTP 1 × 40 mg/kg) or saline (vehicle 1 × 5 ml/kg) repeated over 4 consecutive weeks. For each procedure, two different physical exercise regimes were followed: (a) after the double-dose MPTP regime, mice were given daily 30-min periods of wheel-running exercise over 5 consecutive days/week or placed in a cage in close proximity to the running wheels for 3 weeks. (b) Mice were either given wheel-running activity on 4 consecutive days (30-min periods) or placed in a cage nearby for 14 weeks. Behavioral testing was as follows: (a) after 3 weeks of exercise/no exercise, mice were tested for spontaneous motor activity (60 min) and subthreshold l-Dopa (5 mg/kg)-induced activity. (b) Spontaneous motor activity was measured on the fifth day during each of the each of the first 5 weeks (Tests 1–5), about 1 h before injections (first 4 weeks), and continued on the 5th days of the 6th to the 14th weeks (Tests 6–14). Subthreshold l-Dopa (5 mg/kg)-induced activity was tested on the 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th and 14th weeks. (b) Mice from the single-dose MPTP weekly regime were killed during the 15th week and striatal regions taken for dopamine analysis, whereas frontal and parietal cortex and hippocampus were taken for analysis of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). It was shown that in both experiments, i.e., the double-dose regime and single-dose weekly regime of MPTP administration, physical activity attenuated markedly the MPTP-induced akinesia/hypokinesia in both the spontaneous motor activity and restored motor activity completely in subthreshold l-Dopa tests. Running wheel activity attenuated markedly the loss of dopamine due to repeated administrations of MPTP. BDNF protein level in the parietal cortex was elevated by the MPTP insult and increased further by physical exercise. Physical running wheel exercise alleviated both the functional and biomarker expressions of MPTP-induced parkinsonism.

Social isolation, loss of self esteem and depression are often a consequence of incontinence. The overall aim of this interdisciplinary project was to reduce the impact of continence difficulties and, thus, assist older people in maintaining a positive identity and good quality of life. The TACT3 project was comprised of three research work packages:

Assistive technology development:

Vibrating underpants: A washable fabric underwear wetness sensor and alert mechanism has been developed to alert continence pad users of leakage. In addition, a colour change odour indicating formula has been developed to indicate the presence of the odour of urine at a just imperceptible level.

Challenging environmental barriers to continence: Two sets of stakeholders were involved, older people with continence difficulties and toilet providers. Focus groups, workshops, interviews and photographic diaries were conducted to identify key issues. A web based map locating toilets in London was developed which is called the Great British Toilet Map.

Improving continence interventions and services: 140 patients and their carers were interviewed twice within a 12 month interval from a specialist continence clinic for older people and generic continence clinic. Twenty health and social care managers and 200 practitioners were also be interviewed. Care outcomes are being analysed from each clinic and a cost benefit analysis will be carried out.

Key findings from this three year interdisciplinary project are highlighted. Prototypes of the vibrating underpants and the odour sensor will be on display. This research was funded by the UK New Dynamics of Ageing Programme.

This study explored new ways of finding knowledge about violent men’s pathways toward their status as violent criminals and the mechanisms that underlie their violent behavior. The empirical data were gathered through biographical interviews with 10 men sentenced to therapy against violence and drugs at a Swedish treatment center. The men who had experienced violence and childhood maltreatment tended to bypass shame with uncontrolled anger and violence when reliving childhood traumas. Conversely, men without extreme childhood experiences seemed to exhibit more controlled violence mechanisms. Two men who had experienced brutal physical school bullying might have been expected to bypass shame with immediate violence; however, these men described their violence as controlled, suggesting that they had learnt to take cognitive control over their bypass mechanisms in order to escape the bullying.

BACKGROUND: Procrastination is common among university students and associated with adverse outcomes such as physical and mental health problems. According to the Temporal motivation theory procrastination may vary over time depending on the temporal proximity to goals and deadlines.

AIMS: To determine if mean procrastination levels among university students varies over an academic year, and if trajectories of procrastination are moderated by gender identity, perfectionistic strivings, and/or perfectionistic concerns.

SAMPLE: Swedish university students (n = 1410).

METHODS: The cohort was followed with web-surveys at four time-points over one academic year (Late semester, Mid semester, After semester, and Early semester). Generalized Estimating Equations were used to estimate mean levels of self-rated procrastination at the different time-points.

RESULTS: We found only small fluctuations in mean procrastination levels over the academic year. Participants with high perfectionistic concerns demonstrated higher mean procrastination levels at all time-points, but neither gender identity, perfectionistic concerns nor perfectionistic strivings affected the slope of the mean procrastination trajectories.

CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of Swedish university students, self-rated procrastination levels were stable over the academic year. Perfectionistic concerns, but not gender identity or perfectionistic strivings, was associated with higher levels of procrastination.

Ackermann et al. treat both genetic and paleoanthropological data too superficially to support their conclusions. The case of FOXP2 and Neanderthals is a prime example, which I will comment on in some detail; the issues are much more complex than they appear in Ackermann et al.

The study of Neanderthal cognition is difficult, because of the archaeological invisibility of cognition, and because of the methodological issues that arise both from that invisibility and from their being close to modern humans. Nevertheless, fair progress has been made in gathering relevant evidence. There is now good evidence that Neanderthals were cognitively sophisticated, displaying many of the cognitive traits that were traditionally regarded as proxies for modern human cognition, notably including language. It can neither be proven nor excluded that they were our cognitive equals, but they were close enough to us, biologically and cognitively, to interbreed successfully and leave a genetic legacy in our DNA. 

BACKGROUND: Intrusive memories of psychologically traumatic events bring distress both sub-clinically and clinically. This parallel-group, two-arm randomised controlled trial evaluated the effect of a brief behavioural intervention on reducing intrusive memories in frontline healthcare workers exposed to traumatic events during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS: Participants with at least two intrusive memories of work-related trauma in the week before recruitment were randomised 1:1 to an imagery-competing task intervention (n = 73) or attention-based control task (n = 71). The number of intrusive memories was assessed at baseline and 5 weeks after the guided session (primary endpoint).

RESULTS: The intervention significantly reduced intrusive memory frequency compared with control [intervention Mdn = 1.0 (IQR = 0-3), control Mdn = 5.0 (IQR = 1-17); p < 0.0001, IRR = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.17-0.53] and led to fewer post-traumatic stress-related symptoms at 1, 3 and 6 month follow-ups (secondary endpoints). Participants and statisticians were blinded to allocation. Adverse events data were acquired throughout the trial, demonstrating safety. There was high adherence and low attrition.

CONCLUSIONS: This brief, single-symptom, repeatable digital intervention for subclinical-to-clinical samples after trauma allows scalability, taking a preventing-to-treating approach after trauma.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: 2020-07-06, ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04460014.

The aim of the study was to explore forcibly displaced parents' experiences of how an online attachment-based parenting program (eConnect) impacted their relationships with their teens. Data was collected from four focus group discussions with 28 parents who participated in the eConnect program. Data was analyzed using network thematic analysis. A global theme emerged from the analysis: Strengthened Parent-Teen Relationships. Four underpinning organizing themes described the process through which the parent-teen relationship was strengthened: Knowledge Served as the Foundation for Change, Increased Parental Self-Efficacy, Improved Emotional Attunement Facilitates Dyadic Affect Regulation, and Shifted Power Dynamics and Emerging Mutual Parent-Teen Partnership. Findings suggest that eConnect is promising intervention for strengthening parent-teen relationships and supporting forcibly displaced families.

Studier har visat att äldre personer i behov av vård ökar vilket kan leda till att vårdpersonalen upplever högre krav. Detta kan i sin tur resultera i arbetsrelaterad stress och ohälsa hos personalen. Utifrån Robert Karasek och Töres Theorells modell om krav, kontroll och socialt stöd kan man undersöka hur den psykosociala arbetsmiljön upplevs på en arbetsplats. Enkäter delades ut i samarbete med enhetschefer på de båda äldreboendena. 40 undersökningsdeltagare ingick i studien. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att försöka urskilja om det finns skillnader mellan personalen på offentligt och privat äldreboende gällande den psykosociala arbetsmiljön utifrån modellen krav, kontroll och socialt stöd samt upplevelsen av arbetsrelaterad stress. H1, Det finns en relation mellan upplevelse av krav och upplevd arbetsrelaterad stress. H2: Det finns en relation mellan upplevelse av kontroll och upplevd arbetsrelaterad stress. H3: Det finns en relation mellan upplevelse av socialt stöd och upplevd arbetsrelaterad stress. H4: Det finns en signifikant skillnad i upplevelsen av krav mellan offentlig och privat personal. H5: Det finns en signifikant skillnad i upplevelsen av kontroll mellan offentlig och privat personal. H6: Det finns en signifikant skillnad i upplevelsen av socialt stöd mellan offentlig och privat personal. H7: Det finns en signifikant skillnad i upplevelsen av stress mellan offentlig och privat personal. H1-4 kan godtas. H5-7 kan förkastas. Resultaten diskuteras utifrån Robert Karasek och Töres Theorells modell.

Few studies have explored older people’s expected future quality of life (QoL), despite evidence that perceptions of one’s future influence healthy ageing. Research on this topic should embrace a range of potential influences, including perceptions of one’s neighbourhood and region. This study examined expected QoL in a random sample of the population of Dalarna, a Swedish region. A self-completion questionnaire assessed demographic characteristics, current neighbourhood and regional evaluations, self-evaluations, expectations for the future, and current and expected QoL.  In total, 786 people aged ≥ 65 years participated. Current QoL was favourably evaluated, and while expected QoL also received a positive assessment, the mean value for expected QoL was notably lower than that for current QoL (t(755)=24.06, p<.05). Indeed, only 3.6% (n=27) of participants rated their expected QoL higher than their current QoL. A sequential multiple regression model explained 44% of the variance in older people’s expected QoL. Nine IVs were significant (p<.05) in the final model of expected QoL: current QoL (1% unique variance explained), age (1%), education level (1%), Regional Development Beliefs (1%), Perceived Regional Status (2%), self-reported health (3%), social influence (1%), Expected Regional Opportunity (3%) and expected change in housing need (1%). Our findings establish the significance of an older person’s perception of their locality for their expected future QoL. Policies that focus only on individual and relational factors for the promotion of healthy ageing are overlooking the potential contribution of an older person’s connection to their neighbourhood and region.

Few studies have explored older people’s expected future quality of life (QoL), despite evidence that perceptions of one’s future influence healthy ageing. Research on this topic should embrace a range of potential influences, including perceptions of one’s neighbourhood and region. This study examined expected QoL in a random sample of the population of Dalarna, a Swedish region. A self-completion questionnaire assessed demographic characteristics, current neighbourhood and regional evaluations, self-evaluations, expectations for the future, and current and expected QoL. In total, 786 people aged ≥ 65 years participated. A sequential multiple regression model explained 44% of the variance in older people’s expected QoL, with self-reported health (sr²=.03), Expected Regional Opportunity (sr²=.03), and Perceived Regional Status (sr²=.02) having the strongest associations with expected QoL. Research on the importance of one’s neighbourhood to QoL in older people should encompass people’s perceptions of their region, to better inform social policy for healthy ageing.

Working life continues to undergo rapid change. This change creates greater demand and sophistication and causes employees to experience more pressure, professionally and personally. Thus, absences from work due to sickness and injuries increase. In Sweden, this problem has become serious. This article argues that psychological empowerment and individual control are two key factors that minimize the many perils faced by the modern worker and those seeking to return to the work force through the vocational rehabilitation process. The findings show that a shift in ideology is needed. Specifically, there must be a shift from scientific management and Weberian bureaucracy towards organizational structures, routines, and cultures that support and increase individual worker psychological empowerment and control.

Ett ökande antal individer rapporterar idag oro och ångest på grund av hur de upplever miljö- ochklimatmässiga problem. Detta utan att vara direkt drabbad av dessa. Samtidigt är kunskapen ombehandlingsinsatser för klimatrelaterad ångest generellt låg hos terapeuter.

Syftet med denna uppsatsär att undersöka hur klimatångest kan beskrivas ur ett psykologiskt perspektiv samt identifiera hurKBT-terapi kan vara hjälpsamt för att hantera detta tillstånd.

Den metod som användes var enlitteraturstudie där fem vetenskapliga artiklar söktes fram i databaserna PsycInfo, PubMed,ScienceDirect och GoogleScholar. För analysen användes en tematisk analys.

Resultatet visar attklimatångest karaktäriseras av negativa känslor som vanligtvis är kopplade till framtida scenarion som väcker olika hanteringsstrategier (coping) och varierar från individ till individ. Hjälpsamma KBT-interventioner vid klimatångest behöver ses i ett vidare sammanhang bortom individen eftersom olika interventioner ger olika utfall beroende på om syftet är att gagna individ, samhälle och/ellerklimat/miljö.

Slutsatsen är att klimatångest inte bör ses som en klinisk patologisk åkomma som skabehandlas bort. Den bör istället ses som en adekvat reaktion på ett reellt hot. De förstahandsval avKBT-interventioner som väljs i terapisammanhang bör i första hand vara hjälpsamma för "alla", detvill säga både individen, samhället och miljö/klimat.

While test anxiety has been studied extensively, little consideration has been given to the cultural impacts of children's experiences and expressions of test anxiety. The aim of this work was to examine whether variance in test anxiety scores can be predicted based on gender and cultural setting. Three hundred and ninety-eight pupils in Grade 3 in China, Finland, and Sweden, each of which has different testing realities, completed the Children's Test Anxiety Scale (CTAS). Exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) results indicated that the Chinese sample scored more highly on the autonomic reactions component, whereas the Nordic sample scored higher on the off-task behaviors component. Significant interaction effects between gender and culture were also observed: The Nordic girls exhibited higher levels of autonomic reactions, but the opposite was seen in the Chinese sample, with boys reporting higher levels of the cognitive component. The conceptualization of test anxiety encompassing the off-task behaviors component does not appear to be universal for children. It is also suggested that gender differences vary as a function of culture.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Fear of childbirth is a common problem that affects women's health and wellbeing. A variety of interventions have been used in research and clinical settings, but it remains unclear how interventions should be designed to be as effective and acceptable as possible. Additionally, the experiences of psychologists working to support women fearing childbirth are sparsely documented and therefore unavailable for researchers and clinicians. This qualitative study aimed to bridge this gap by exploring and describing the experiences of perinatal psychologists working clinically with women suffering from fear of childbirth.

METHODS: Focus group interviews with eleven psychologists, analysed with reflexive thematic analysis with an inductive and semantic approach.

RESULTS: We identified four main themes, with three to four subthemes each. It was described as essential to meet the woman where she stands: to listen, validate, explore, and tailor interventions. Depending on the needs of each woman, the psychologists had a smorgasbord of core interventions to offer. They also described how they could help the woman and her partner or support person to prepare for childbirth. Finally, they addressed the importance of multiprofessional engagement and cooperation. A list of recommendations based on the findings is presented.

CONCLUSION: The findings add to the existing literature on how to treat and support women with fear of childbirth and should be considered as one of many sources of information guiding the development of future interventions, care strategies, and clinical pathways for women fearing childbirth.

Many real-life situations require flexible behavior in changing environments. Evidence suggests that anticipation of conflict or task difficulty results in behavioral and neural allocation of task-relevant resources. Here we used a high- and low-interference version of an item-recognition task to examine the neurobehavioral underpinnings of context-sensitive adjustment in working memory (WM). We hypothesized that task environments that included high-interference trials would require participants to allocate neurocognitive resources to adjust to the more demanding task context. The results of two independent behavioral experiments showed enhanced WM performance in the high-interference context, which indicated that a high-interference context improves performance on non-interference trials. A third behavioral experiment showed that when WM load was increased, this effect was no longer significant. Neuroimaging results further showed greater engagement of inferior frontal gyrus, striatum, parietal cortex, hippocampus, and midbrain in participants performing the task in the high- than in the low-interference context. This effect could arise from an active or dormant mode of anticipation that seems to engage fronto-striatal and midbrain regions to flexibly adjust resources to task demands. Our results extend the model of conflict adaptation beyond trial-to-trial adjustments by showing that a high interference context affects both behavioral and biological aspects of cognition.

The county of Västernorrland and Jämtland, like most of the remote and rural areas in the Northern Periphery, face common challenges consisting of limited economic resources, high sickness rates and major recruitment needs in the future. Developed eservice may be one of the solutions to these problems: a solution especially well-suited to sparsely populated areas. In this paper, we have summarized the exciting current challenges and opportunities in the domain of e-governmental services and indicated some areas of special interest for promoting the transition to an information society with enhanced e-services for the rural citizens. There are increased interest in e-service and the will to improve the services offered to citizens and the business community.

Background: Research on recovery from mental illness and the influence of compulsory psychiatric institutional care has revealed the complexity of this concept. There is also limited knowledge regarding the impact of gender-role expectations in these contexts, and how such expectations may influence both the care and individuals’ recovery processes.

Aim: To explore women’s and men’s perceptions of the impact of compulsory inpatient care on recovery from severe mental illness.

Method: Grounded theory was used to analyse 30 first-person accounts of recovery from mental illness, elicited via interviews with individuals who had been compulsorily treated in hospital and diagnosed with a severe mental illness.

Results: Inpatient care at an early stage was crucial for the informants’ recovery. However, there was ambivalence in their perceptions of the impact of compulsory inpatient care. The narratives confirmed gender differences as well as gender stereotypes.

Conclusions: The results have implications for recovery research, in that they emphasise the importance of understanding recovery as a gender-influenced process.

Addressing the mental health needs of healthcare staff exposed to psychologically traumatic events at work during the COVID-19 pandemic is a pressing global priority. We need to swiftly develop interventions to target the psychological consequences (e.g., persistent intrusive memories of trauma). Interventions for healthcare staff must be brief, flexible, fitted around the reality and demands of working life under the pandemic, and repeatable during ongoing/further trauma exposure. Intervention delivery during the pandemic should be remote to mitigate risk of infection; e.g., here using a blend of digitalized self-administered materials (e.g., video instructions) and guided (remote) support from a researcher. This parallel groups, two-arm, randomised controlled trial (RCT) with healthcare staff working during the COVID-19 pandemic is the first evaluation of whether a digitalized form of a brief cognitive task intervention, which is remotely-delivered (guided), reduces intrusive memories. Healthcare staff (target N = 130 completers) who experience intrusive memories of work-related traumatic event(s) during the COVID-19 pandemic (≥2 in the week before inclusion) will be randomly allocated (1:1) to receive either the cognitive task intervention or an active (attention placebo) control, and followed up at 1-week, 1-month, 3-months, and 6-months post-intervention. The primary outcome will be the number of intrusive memories reported during Week 5; secondary and other outcomes include the number of intrusive memories reported during Week 1, and other intrusive symptoms. Findings will inform further development and dissemination of a brief cognitive task intervention to target intrusive memories.

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate whether classroom reverberation influences second-language (L2) listening comprehension. Moreover, we investigated whether individual differences in baseline L2 proficiency and in working memory capacity (WMC) modulate the effect of reverberation time on L2 listening comprehension. The results showed that L2 listening comprehension decreased as reverberation time increased. Participants with higher baseline L2 proficiency were less susceptible to this effect. WMC was also related to the effect of reverberation (although just barely significant), but the effect of WMC was eliminated when baseline L2 proficiency was statistically controlled. Taken together, the results suggest that top-down cognitive capabilities support listening in adverse conditions. Potential implications for the Swedish national tests in English are discussed.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate patterns of parenting stress and access to sufficient informal and formal support among parents of children with disabilities. To explore whether child cognitive level, conduct problems and the need of language interpretation in contacts between parents and professionals are associated with patterns of parenting stress and support.

METHOD: Parents (N = 140) of children with disabilities in Sweden completed a questionnaire about parenting stress and support. Patterns of three variables-parenting stress and access to sufficient informal and formal support-were investigated using cluster analysis. The relationship of child cognitive level, level of conduct problems and of language interpretation needs between parents and professionals to cluster membership was explored using multinomial logistic regression.

RESULTS: Five different clusters of parenting stress and support emerged. Parents in cluster 1 had lower than sample mean ratings on all three variables. Cluster 2 had elevated parenting stress, cluster 3 had elevated insufficient informal support and cluster 4 had elevated insufficient formal support. Cluster 5 had elevated ratings on all three variables. Greater child cognitive difficulties increased the likelihood of parent membership in cluster 2 (elevated stress), cluster 3 (elevated insufficient informal support), or cluster 5 (elevated ratings on all variables). Child conduct problems increased the likelihood of membership in cluster 2 (elevated stress) or cluster 5 (elevated ratings on all variables). No relationship between language interpretation needs and cluster membership was found.

CONCLUSIONS: Patterns of parenting stress and sufficiency of support, and their associations with child characteristics, vary substantially. However, families of children with conduct problems experiencing elevated parenting stress in combination with insufficient informal and formal support, may be particularly vulnerable. The results of the current study highlight the clinical importance of exploring and identifying individual parenting stressors and perceived levels of support, to be able to adapt services to better suit a variety of needs, and thus promote equitable care.

In this presentation, I will address a glitch that has been largely overlooked in the study of religious cognition; namely cross-generational differences in the attribution of non-ordinary powers. Contemporary popular culture is permeated by magical and occult narratives, and Christopher Partridge argues that such ”occulture” has become ordinary among younger generations. While occult narratives may not be labelled as spiritual or religious, they yet appear to function as existential anchors in secularized contexts. Empirical examples are provided from a study on supernatural and parasocial relations among young adults on the autism spectrum, who are using the term ”supernatural” to make sense of anomalous experiences. Such experiences moreover seem to provide a path towards non-empirical beliefs in a sample that grew up highly secularized Sweden. 

We hypothesise that differences in people's attitudes and personality traits lead them to attribute varying importance to environmental considerations, safety, comfort, convenience and flexibility. Differences in personality traits call be revealed not only in the individuals' choice of transport, but also in other actions of their everyday lives-such as how much they recycle, whether they take precautions or avoid dangerous pursuits. Conditioning on a set of exogenous individual characteristics, we use indicators of attitudes and personality traits to form latent variables for inclusion in an, otherwise standard, discrete mode choice model. With a sample of Swedish commuters, we find that both attitudes towards flexibility and comfort, as well as being pro-environmentally inclined, influence the individual's choice of mode. Although modal time and cost still are important, it follows that there are other ways, apart from economic incentives, to attract individuals to the, from society's perspective, desirable public modes of transport. Our results should provide useful information to policy-makers and transportation planners developing sustainable transportation systems.

The aim of this study was to examine drivers’ view on their own speeding behaviour by focusing on belief based measures as suggested by the theory of planned behaviour. A sample of car owners (N = 162) completed a questionnaire including both direct and belief based measures of the latent variables in the theory of planned behaviour. The results showed that indices constructed with direct measures of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control made a larger contribution to the prediction of drivers’ intention to exceed the speed limits in both urban and rural environments, than did indices constructed with belief based measures. An extensive set of belief composites was produced and standard multiple regressions showed which of these contributed to the prediction of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control, as well as intention. The use of these findings is discussed.

Using structural equation modeling (LISREL 8.71), drivers' everyday speeding behavior was predicted using the theory of planned behavior as a frame of reference. One hundred and twelve test drivers had a device installed in their vehicles that continuously logged their speeding behavior in a large area under an extended period of time. The test drivers also completed a questionnaire including questions inspired by the theory of planned behavior. It was found that the independent variables stipulated in the theory afforded a level of prediction of drivers' self-reported speeding as well as of their logged speeding. Attitude towards speeding, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control were significant determinants of self-reported speeding. Self-reported speeding, and subjective norm, but not perceived behavioral control, did then contribute to the prediction of drivers' logged speeding. The fact that perceived behavioral control did not directly contribute to the prediction of drivers' logged speeding may be due to the possibility that drivers with several years of experience already take into account the actual control they have over the target behavior. As the theory of planned behavior can be used as a frame of reference to predict drivers' everyday speeding behavior, it is suggested that the drivers might decide on a target behavior and in living up to this decision they continuously monitor their target speed during everyday driving. 

Different systems of intelligent speed adaptation (ISA) have already been tested in the field and large-scale implementation is being discussed. But do we really know how these systems affect drivers during long-term use?Between 2000 and 2003 a total of 61 test drivers had an ISA speed warning device installed in their vehicles. Data from these trials show that,initially, the device greatly reduced the amount of time the majority of test drivers spent above the speed limit, and to some extent also reduced their mean speeds, but this effect decreased with time. Further analyses of 27 of the 61 test drivers then showed that the activation of the warning system affected different drivers in quite a homogenous way, with regards to attitude, subjective norm and self-reported behaviour, but not with regards to perceived behavioural control. After activation,long-term use did, however, affect the test drivers in a homogenous way with regards to attitude, subjective norm and self-reported behaviour, as well as perceived behavioural control. When considering these results it must be remembered that the device tested was a first generation ISA speed-warning device and with more research we think that different ISA-systems could be improved and the effects made more stable during long-term use.

Barbara Held (2020) discusses the claim that mainstream psychology tends to exert epistemic violence on so-called “othered” groups. Held shows, however, (a) that the idea of different epistemologies underpinning some such arguments is a difficult matter, (b) that folk notions (and theories) sometimes hailed as an antidote to the alleged othering might themselves at times be oppressive, and (c) that so-called mainstream psychology in fact can well serve progressive and critical purposes. Thus, Held problematizes the distinction made between psychology about (from above) and psychology of and from (from below); that is, she finds the distinction unconvincing and rather problematic as it stands. Yet, she does not seem to wish to do away with it all together. In this comment, I relate her discussion to a wider scientific debate on othering, and, by way of an ending, offer an alternative metaphor: psychology from the flank.

The aim of this study is to attain a better understanding of the relationship between competing or complementary scientific explanatory claims. First, six different ways of approaching explanatory claims are briefly described and found, in part, to be unsatisfactory. It is argued that they should be supplemented by an analysis of underlying and sometimes partly unacknowledged causal presuppositions. This approach could be termed a causal analytical investigation, and in order to demonstrate its potential, it is applied to a concrete example: research into dental anxiety. The analysis shows that seemingly competing or complementary explanatory claims here neither compete with nor complement each other; instead, the analysis demonstrates that they explain different things. We then broaden the picture by discussing the relationship between aetiology and treatment. Finally we argue in favour of the general applicability of the approach and its relevance to science in general and to science-based practice.

This study investigates usage and knowledge of musical narrative functions in contemporary multimedia. A group of young adolescents were given the task of adapting musical expression, using the non-verbal research tool REMUPP, to fit different visual scenes shown on a computer screen. This was accomplished by manipulating seven musical parameters: instrumentation, tempo, harmonic complexity, rhythmic complexity, register, articulation and reverb. They also answered a questionnaire giving information about their musical training and media habits. Numerical data from the manipulation of the musical parameters were analysed to search for tendencies within the group with regard to the musical expression in relation to the different visual scenes shown. The results showed a large degree of in-group consensus regarding narrative functions of music, indicating knowledge about musical narrative codes and conventions. Also, the results were clearly influenced by factors such as the participants' musical training, gender and habits of music listening, playing computer games and watching movies — highlighting the complexity of learning and pointing to the impact of the increasing availability of narrative media on our attitudes and knowledge.