It is increasingly clear that pain and emotions are closely interconnected. Pain does not only cause psychological distress, but psychological distress also amplifies pain through neurological mechanisms. Treatment of both chronic and acute pain would benefit from acknowledging the psychological mechanisms of pain neurophysiology. Psychological acceptance predicts increased pain tolerance and decreased pain intensity and discomfort in experimentally induced pain and improved physical and psychosocial functioning for persons with chronic pain. The overall aim of this thesis was to evaluate acceptance-based interventions for persons suffering from pain. In Study I the effect of a manualised ACT-based self-help intervention for adults with chronic pain was evaluated in an RCT (n=90). The results showed improvements in satisfaction with life, physical functioning and pain intensity for the ACT group. Both the ACT and the control group improved regarding depression and anxiety. In Study II the mediating effect of acceptance for treatment change was evaluated, using data from Study I (n=64). The results showed indirect effects of treatment via acceptance for physical functioning but not for satisfaction with life. In Studies III and IV, instruments to measure psychological flexibility in relation to pain were developed for children with cancer, and their parents respectively, using factor analysis. The results showed that a two-factor solution for the child scale (n=61) and a three-factor solution for the parent scale (n=243), best represented the data. In Study V, an acceptance-based intervention was preliminarily evaluated in a single-subject study (n=5) for children reporting pain during cancer treatment. The intervention consisted of an approximately 15-minute long pain exposure exercise. All participants reported reduced discomfort of pain, and three of the participants reported reduced pain intensity. The results suggest that a manualised ACT-based self-help intervention is a valuable addition to the treatment repertoire for persons with chronic pain and that acceptance may mediate the effect of treatment on physical functioning. Furthermore, instruments to measure acceptance in the context of acute pain in children with cancer are now available, although further validation is needed. Lastly, the results indicate that an acceptance-based intervention may help children undergoing cancer treatment to cope with pain.

Health information technology (HIT) aims to improve healthcare services by means of technological tools. Patient centered technologies such as personal health records are relatively new HIT tools that enable individuals to get involved in their health management activities. These tools enable the transformation of health consumer behavior from one of passive health information consumers to that of active managers of their health information. This new role is more interactive and engaged, and with such tools, patients can better navigate their lives, and exercise more control over their treatments, hence potentially also leading to improvement in the quality of health services. Despite the benefits of using personal health record systems for health consumers, the adoption rate of these systems remains low. Many free and paid services have not received the uptake that had been anticipated when these services were first introduced. This study investigates some factors that affect the adoption of these systems, and may shed light on some potential reasons for low adoption rates. In developing the theoretical model of this study, social cognitive theory (SCT) and technology acceptance model (TAM) were utilized. The theoretical model was validated through a quantitative survey-based methodology, and the results were derived using structural equation modeling techniques. The key findings of this study highlight the role of individual and environmental factors as determinants of end-user behavior in the adoption of personal health records. The results show that in addition to perceptions of usefulness and ease of use, factors such as social norms and technology awareness are also significantly associated with various factors that directly and indirectly affect intention to use PHRs Based on the results obtained in this study, recommendations are offered for technology providers, and possible directions are proposed for academic researchers.

The purpose of this study was to examine effects of a Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) intervention on football performance, mindfulness, emotional regulation, performance anxiety and psychological illness (general anxiety, depression and emotional/physical fatigue) compared to an active control group over time. Effects of the intervention were measured through a quantitative survey at three measure points, pre and post (immediately after) the intervention together with a two months follow up. The participants were young elite football players (n = 44, Mage = 16.8, SD = 0.65) from the same senior high school. The participants were divided into four groups, one experiment group and one control group for each of the sexes. The intervention consisted of six sessions spread over six weeks, where the experiment group took part of the MAC intervention and the control group went through a group dynamic intervention. Mix-model ANOVA showed no significant difference in effect for any variable, thus no differences between the experiment group and the control group. This suggest that MAC has no additional effects on football performance and psychological illness compared to a group dynamics intervention.

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Personuppgifter sprids idag relativt fritt via användning av digitala tjänster och plattformar. De används bland annat som handelsvara för företag, som underlag för verksamhetsutveckling av myndigheter och som empiri i forskningsstudier. Fördelarna med att samla stora mängder personuppgifter är många, både för individen och samhället. Samtidigt finns både potentiella och verkliga risker med spridningen och användningen av personuppgifter, som att de möjliggör diskriminering och integritetskränkande profilering. I den här studien undersöks intresset för att ha större insyn i och kontroll över personuppgifter som finns hos myndigheter och företag. Metoden som används är en enkätundersökning och ett antal djupintervjuer. I resultatet av undersökningen presenteras fem teman, som tillsammans beskriver en nutidsbild av intresset för insyn i och kontroll över personuppgifter och kontexten kring intresset. Dessa teman är: Stort intresse för insyn i och kontroll över personuppgifter, Kunskapen om personuppgifter behöver höjas, högre förtroende för myndigheters hantering av personuppgifter än för företags, vilja att få betalt för sina personuppgifter, och splittrad inställning till användning av personuppgifter inom forskning utan medgivande. Analysprocessen består av tre steg. I det första steget fördjupas förståelsen för resultatets teman genom att de relateras till tidigare forskning. I det andra steget relateras varje tema till modellen Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), och i det tredje steget formuleras förutsättningar för designen av en digital tjänst med syfte att ge större insyn i och kontroll över personuppgifter som finns hos olika aktörer.

The following study examines the background of users’ decisions about their behavior concerning online identity, specifically looking at the acceptance or rejection of self-sovereign identity solutions and the technologies that support them: blockchain and asymmetric encryption. A qualitative analysis is presented of typical user narratives concerning online behavior, while exploring the cultural values underlying users’ decisions about accepting or rejecting new, potentially emancipatory technologies. The results include inventories of values and beliefs that played a key part in informing the respondents’ behaviors, and presents four distilled narratives of reasoning about online identity in the form of the archetypes of the ​Pragmatist, the Self-doubter, the ​Cyber-conscious and the ​Futurist user, each representing a specific set of values, beliefs and their interplay resulting in specific intentions and behaviors, along with design guidelines for innovative blockchain technologies based on the user expectations in these narratives. The research concludes with relating the findings to existing theory, and proposing a number of quantitatively testable hypotheses for the refinement of technology acceptance research in the specific domain of online security and identity.

Welche E-Learning- und Social Web-Anwendungen nutzen Studierende innerhalb ihres Studiums und aus welchen Gründen tun sie dies? Die folgende Masterarbeit widmet sich dieser Fragestellung. Unter der Einbeziehung des Technology-Acceptance-Models (TAM) und dem Uses-and-Gratification Ansatzes werden Nutzungsmotive aus dem Forschungsstand herausgearbeitet und empirisch getestet (Studierende der TU Dresden, n=1242). Studierende nutzen demnach Anwendungen für das Studium, die sie auch schon im alltäglichen Leben verwenden. Besonders im Bereich der Zusammenarbeit sowie zur Kontaktaufnahme zu Kommilitonen werden Anwendungen aus der Freizeit genutzt. Unverzichtbar für das Studium ist für die meisten Studierenden die Nutzung des Lernmanagementsystems, welche zumeist von Dozenten vorgeschrieben ist. Nur so ist es den Studierenden möglich, auf bestimmte Lerninhalte, die für das Bestehen des Studiums notwendig sind, zuzugreifen. Die Arbeit leistet einen Beitrag zur Beforschung des Mediennutzungsverhalten von Studierenden. Die Ergebnisse können wiederum für die Strategieentwicklung im Bereich des Einsatzes von Lehr- und Lerntechnologien in der Hochschule nützlich sein.

Artificial Intelligence is an area that has developed radically in recent years and is constantly evolving in several industries. In this thesis, a qualitative case study is conducted which addresses student nurses' attitudes regarding Artificial Intelligence in Swedish healthcare and its use in the future. Through interviews conducted with Uppsala University student nurses, the empirical material is analyzed using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) theory to finally produce a result regarding the future use of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare. The analysis resulted in two evident areas regarding AI usage: decision-making AI and non-decision-making AI where the participants’ attitudes differed between the two divisions. The attitudes towards decision-making AI were rather negative partly because of the lack of responsibility and accountability together with the reduced patient contact it would entail. The attitudes towards non-decision-making AI were, in contrast, considered positive, partly because of the efficiency it would imply using AI technology as an appliance and the areas of improvement it would entail in the profession. For example by creating time for more care and attention, something that nursing students imply is the main focus in health and social care. Finally, the results of the analysis are discussed based on various aspects such as ethics and morals, the profession itself and further research. / Artificiell Intelligens är ett område vilket utvecklats radikalt senaste åren och som konstant fortsätter att utvecklas inom flera branscher. I denna uppsats utförs en kvalitativ fallstudie, vilken behandlar studerande sjuksköterskors attityder gällande Artificiell Intelligens inom sjukvården och dess användning i framtiden. Genom utförda intervjuer av Uppsala Universitets studerande sjuksköterskor, analyseras det empiriska materialet med hjälp av teorin Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), för att slutligen ta fram ett resultat vad det gäller ett framtida användandet av Artificiell Intelligens inom sjukvården. Analysen resulterade i två tydliga områden gällande användningen av AI inom sjukvården: beslutsfattande AI respektive icke-beslutsfattande AI, där intervjudeltagarnas attityder urskiljdes mellan de två indelningarna. De studerande sjuksköterskornas attityder gentemot beslutsfattande AI var tämligen negativ, dels på grund av de bristande faktorer som identifierades gällande ett ansvarsutkrävande, samt den minskade patientkontakten systemet kan komma att medföra. Attityderna gentemot icke-beslutsfattande AI ansågs i kontrast mycket positiva. Dels på grund av den effektivisering systemet möjligtvis kan medföra genom att använda AI-teknik som ett hjälpmedel eller komplement samt de förbättringsområden som inträder relaterat till arbetsrollen. Ett exempel på förbättringsområde som framkom var att skapa mer tid för vård och omsorg, något som sjuksköterskestudenterna menar på att yrket faktiskt är till för. Avslutningsvis diskuteras resultatet från analysen vilket intressanta resonemang om etik och moral, arbetsrollen i fråga samt vidare forskning förs på tal.

Mobile technology has evolved drastically over the years, and so has the customer’s perception of and expectations on mobile services. Mobile phones have become the essential part of customer’s life style and they expect consumer services to be available on mobile phone. In this saturated market, providing better customer experience through the channel preferred by customers is as important as selling the actual product or services. In the quest to retain existing customers as well as attracting new, companies are developing innovative mobile customer relationship management (mCRM) strategies to strike a balance between its investments and fulfilling of customers need to generate maximum profit. However, not all mCRM strategies succeed leaving customers dissatisfied and switching to competitors providing better mobile services. The purpose of this study is to understand the dynamics between the customer acceptance, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the context of mCRM services. Thus, answering the following research questions: a) What are the factors behind customer acceptance? b) Do mCRM services have any effect on customer loyalty? Qualitative research method were utilized to closely study two different mCRM strategies from different industries with costumer in focus. Data for the study was gathered from a costumer survey as well as from interviews with informants within the company. In addition, external data from public domain was used to validate the findings of the study. Furthermore, a research model was developed by identifying the constructs adopted from literature study of technology acceptance model (TAM3) and customer loyalty. The research model was the basis for developing the customer feedback survey. In addition, the constructs helped in identifying the impact on customer acceptance and customer loyalty for the respective mCRM strategy. This study confirms previous findings and contributes to our understanding of technology acceptance as well as customer loyalty. The study reveals that mCRM services are mostly useful to urban customers with busy and on-the-go lifestyle. Furthermore, the study shows that through well practice use behavior customer develops a habit based on the prior evaluation of perceived usefulness and perceived value. In addition, the study indicates that customers build up a new trust towards the mCRM services through the usage of the service. Finally, the results of the study indicate that the mCRM services have an impact on company’s net customer loyalty.

Revision har förekommit under tusentals år och professionen har utvecklats mycket under tiden som gått även om grundläggande drag förblivit det samma. Revision handlar om att granska finansiella rapporter och har därför en viktig roll i samhället, vilket medfört krav på trovärdighet och oberoende i revisionsarbetet. Samtidigt som grunderna måste hållas konstanta så påverkas revisionen av olika omvärldsfaktorer. En av dessa omvärldsfaktorer är digitalisering som är en världstrend som även spridit sig till revision. Tidskrävande och monotona moment ersätts med digitala verktyg för att effektivisera och höja kvalitén på revisionen. Digitaliseringen av revision gör det även möjligt att arbeta på distans, vilket blev aktuellt under våren 2020 då Covid-19 pandemin drabbade världen. Covid-19 pandemin skapade en global kris som bland annat påverkade revisionsbranschen. Syftet med denna studie är att skapa förståelse för revisionsbyråers och revisorers uppfattningar av Covid-19 krisens inverkan på digitaliseringen inom revisionen i Sverige. Studien har utgått från institutionell teori och Unified Theory of Acceptance and use of Technology och har med hjälp av tidigare forskning inom digitalisering av revision kunnat identifiera fem olika digitaliseringsområden Artificiell intelligens, Big data, Teleworking, datainsamling & kundutveckling och alternativa medel för kontrollinventering. Dessa har satts i förhållande till studiens empiri för att skapa förståelse om hur covid-19 krisen påverkat digitaliseringen inom revisionen i Sverige. Studiens empiri utgörs av tre semistrukturerade intervjuer med revisorer och en dokumentstudie där årsredovisningar för 2018/2019 och 2019/2020 studerats från fem revisionsbyråer i Sverige. Studiens slutsatser är att ett institutionellt tryck lett till att digitalisering inom revision ökat främst med anledning av ökat på grund av de regleringar och restriktioner som förelegat. Dessa förändringar är bland annat teleworking som har såväl negativa som positiva upplevelser, nya granskningssätt vid inventering som också har blandade upplevelser, övergång till digitala möten, vilket upplevs som positivt. Samt en ökad möjlighet att använda analysverktyg vilket upplevs som positivt.