This thesis investigated the effect of exergaming versus mirror matched gym based exercise with no virtual stimuli on technology acceptance, flow and postural control in healthy young adults. Firstly a review of literature was performed analysing the effects of technology acceptance and flow on exergaming, and the effects of exergaming on postural control. Results showed the plausible nature of exergaming as an immersive environment and the potential to improve postural control. However, some major gaps in the literatures were identified. Technology acceptance had never been applied in exergaming and flow had only partly been applied to exergaming in limited studies. Additionally the effects of exergaming on postural control had shown some potential benefits, however no study had truly analysed the effects of exergaming on postural control by analysing mirror matched exercise with no virtual stimulus. The purpose of this thesis was to address these important areas of research and contribute novel evidence to the field. In two separate studies, 38 non active and 50 active young healthy adults took part in either exergaming based training or mirror matched gym based exercise with no virtual stimuli. Technology acceptance (behavioural intention), flow and postural control were measured at pre and post exercise intervention. Technology acceptance results showed that performance expectancy was significantly higher in the exergaming group in both studies, as well as being a significant predictor of behavioural intention at both pre and post exercise testing. In the second study, only, performance expectancy, social influences, and behavioural intention where statistically significantly higher for the exergaming group compared to the mirror matched gym based exercise with no virtual stimuli on technology acceptance, highlighting greater levels of acceptance into the exercise environment. Flow results showed greater levels immersion in the exergaming groups, especially in terms of clear goals, unambiguous feedback, action awareness merging, transformation of time and loss of self- consciousness. The effects of exergaming on postural control showed significant improvements in anterior- posterior standard deviation and range for the exergaming group in study one, and improvements in medio-lateral range in study two. Study two also showed significant improvement over time (pre-post exercise) for medio-lateral SD, range and centre of pressure. Evidence from both studies suggests that exergaming may offer an immersive environment for exercise which has a positive effect on behavioural intention to keep using the exergaming system in the future. With regards to postural control evidence from both studies suggest that exergaming may offer a new method of exercise to improve static postural control.

Systematic Review: Healthcare professionals work in highly emotive environments and are considered to be at high risk of developing burnout due to the nature of their roles. There has been increased interest in applying mindfulness-based interventions for stress reduction in healthcare professionals. Previous reviews have tended to include a heterogeneous mix of patients, healthcare students and healthcare professionals. The inherent differences in these roles limits the conclusions that can be drawn regarding the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions for healthcare professionals. The current review aimed to address this gap in knowledge by reviewing mindfulness-based interventions specifically for healthcare professionals. Eight studies were included in the review. It was concluded that despite some methodological weaknesses there was promising evidence of the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in reducing stress and improving well-being particularly when baseline levels of stress were high. The evidence in support of reducing burnout was less conclusive. Future studies employing larger samples using active controls and longitudinal designs will provide valuable information on the long-term efficacy of these interventions. Empirical Research Study: Several studies have identified psychological adjustment as one of the most important factors correlating with psychological distress and quality of life in people with cancer. Identifying ways to promote positive adjustment to cancer is an important goal in helping to alleviate distress and improve quality of life for this client group. This can be facilitated by identifying robust predictors of distress. Previous studies have identified a number of useful predictors, such as coping styles and psychological adjustment styles. The current study aimed to explore the predictive power of two newer constructs aligned to mindfulness-based processes: self-compassion and cognitive fusion - in determining adjustment to cancer. 114 adults with various cancer diagnoses completed the Mini Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale, Brief COPE, the Self-Compassion Scale, Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire; and two outcome measures: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Functional Analysis of Cancer Therapy – General. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to explore relationships between predictor variables: mental adjustment, coping style, self-compassion and cognitive fusion, and outcome variables: distress and quality of life. Results showed that a known predictor, emotional avoidance coping and the newer construct, cognitive fusion were significant predictors of distress over and above other known predictors. Emotional avoidance coping was the only significant predictor of quality of life over and above known predictors and the newer constructs under examination. Self-compassion did not account for any significant incremental variance in distress or quality of life after controlling for other known predictors. The results of this study indicate that interventions focused on reducing cognitive fusion and emotional avoidance are warranted and potentially beneficial in reducing distress in this population.

Bakgrund: Amyotrofisk lateralskleros (ALS) är en obotlig neurologisk sjukdom, där de motoriska nervcellerna bryts ner och påverkar den viljestyrda muskulaturen. Sjukdomen kan leda till förlamning och andningssvikt, vilket kan debutera inom loppet av tre till fem år. Den psykologiska delen är viktig, då människan övergår till en annan fas i livet och påverkas genom de händelseförlopp som sjukdomen medför. Med en obotlig sjukdom har begreppet lidande en stor närvaro i människans liv. För att kunna hjälpa människor måste det framgå vad det är som skapar lidande. Syfte: Att beskriva hur personer med ALS upplever lidande relaterat till sjukdomen. Metod: En kvalitativ innehållsanalys av fyra patografier. Resultat: Resultatet är baserat på fem kategorier, samt elva underkategorier. Resultatet visar på ett fysiskt lidande, ett socialt lidande, ett existentiellt lidande samt ett lidande relaterat till den maktlöshet sjukdomen medför. Men resultatet visar inte endast en negativ bild kring begreppet utan också en upplevelse av acceptans i slutskedet av livet trots lidandet. Slutsats: Att drabbas av ALS innebar en markant förändring i personernas liv. ALS upplevdes generera ett långt lidandeförlopp med många faser, som påverkade både den fysiska och den psykiska hälsan. Lidandet övergick med tiden till en acceptans över situationen. Vidare forskning krävs för att beskriva upplevelser som kan förbättra omvårdnaden. / Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a non-curable neurological disease, in which the motor neuron cells breaks down and affects the involuntary musculature. The disease can lead to paralysis and respiratory failure, which can debut in the course of three to five years. The psychological part is important, because people enters another phase in life and are influenced by events caused by the disease. With an incurable disease, the concept of suffering is a major presence in human life. In order to help people it must be shown what it is that creates suffering. Aim: To describe how people with ALS experience suffering related to the disease. Method: A content analysis of four pathographies. Results: The result is based on five categories and eleven subcategories. The result shows a physical suffering, a social suffering, an existential suffering and the suffering associated with the impotence of the disease. But the results show not only a negative image about the concept, but also a sense of acceptance in the final stages of life despite the suffering. Conclusion: To suffer from ALS has had a significant change in people’s life. ALS generates a long suffering process with many stages where ALS affected both the physical and mental health. Suffering turned over time into an acceptance of the situation. Further research is needed to describe experiences that can improve the care.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study business clients’ technology acceptance of e-commerce within business-to-business in the work wear sector. In specific, develop and test a framework in order to analyze the antecedents of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use behind business clients’ behavioral intention to the usage of e-commerce. Problem: There is not sufficient research regarding industries and companies that are categorized as laggards (Del Aguila-Obra & Padilla-Melendez, 2006), and furthermore regarding clients’ technology acceptance in a business-to-business context (Doherty & Ellis-Chadwick, 2010). Actors within the work wear sector conduct their businesses in the most traditional way, with physical stores (Ekberg, Fraenkel, Gustavsson, Hamsten & Hedin, 2014). The question is whether this traditional way remain due to skepticism among the business clients’ and their level of technology acceptance. Method: A proposed framework is developed by the authors, adapted from Technology Acceptance Model (Venkatesh & Davis, 2000) and Diffusion of Innovation Theory (Rogers, 1983). This framework is tested through quantitative research, and more specific a questionnaire. Subsequently, the empirical data gathering is assembled, analyzed and concluded into a final proposed framework.  Findings: The final proposed framework incorporates antecedents from the proposed framework, but also new influences that are identified in the empirical findings as relevant. These influences are Age, Gender, Experience and Compliance. Further, the antecedents presented in the final proposed framework are the following: Subjective norm/Opinion leaders, Job relevance/Compatibility, Output quality, Result demonstrability/Observability and Trialability.

The aim of this dissertation is to examine the implementation of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) in social services and how it affects the encounter between the clients and their social workers. As structured interviews are unusual in social service based addiction care there is concern that they will have negative consequences on the relation between the social workers and their clients. The first study therefore investigates the clients’ acceptance of the ASI. The results show that 95 % of the clients accepted the ASI and that 85% viewed it in positive terms. Approximately 8% reported feeling violated by one question without this having any negative effect on the relation to the social workers or confidence in the social services. The results did not give empirical support for negative effects of the ASI. In the second study a comparison was made between a group that had participated in an assessment session using the ASI and a group with which the ASI had not been used. The results show that there is no difference in perception of “the alliance” or “negative experiences” with or without the ASI, but that the clients’ feeling of “own competence” is lower when the ASI is employed. The question of whether the reduced feeling of own competence among the clients is an expression of greater realism and reduced denial or only the negative effect of increased helplessness on the clients’ self-esteem can not be resolved in this study. In the third study, based on the same groups participating in the second study, the social workers were also asked to judge how the clients experienced such assessment sessions. The results show that the social workers’ assessment of the clients’ experiences differed from the clients’ own experiences regarding the “alliance” and “clients’ own feelings of competence”. However, the social workers made a correct assessment of the clients’ “negative experiences” of the sessions. The two different forms of session, with or without the ASI, did not influence the social workers’ assessment of the clients’ perceptions. The fourth study presents the results of a national questionnaire completed by 555 members of staff in social services, the prison service, and addiction services. The results show that supervisors and bosses take an increasingly greater responsibility for ASI training and that opportunities for using the ASI varied according to the place of work. Differences can probably be explained by different services being in different phases of implementation at the time of the study. The ASI has primarily been used in direct client work and only to a minor extent for follow-ups and evaluation. The number of ASI interviews carried out is small especially for those trained prior to 1999.

ackground Previous research has shown that parents of children with learning disabilities (LD) and/ or autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are more psychologically distressed than parents of neuro‐typical children. The literature suggests that there is significant variation in the rates of maladjustment within this population, and the research into factors that influence parental adjustment is developing. This study aims to add to the research into the factors influencing adjustment to parenting a child with LD/ ASD. In particular, relatively under‐researched concepts such as parental acceptance, time since diagnosis, and the influence of informational support to understand a child’s needs, will be explored. Method Two hundred and thirty five parents of children aged 4‐19 participated in a questionnaire study, conducted through local additional support needs (ASN) schools and bases. Measures of psychological adjustment were gathered alongside measures of acceptance, positive gains, level of child’s challenging behaviour and demographic information. Results Along with other variables, psychological acceptance and was found to account for significant variance in parental adjustment. There were no observed relationships between adjustment and time since diagnosis, or level of informational support. Conclusions The results have implications for the understanding of the role of acceptance in parent adjustment. Implications for intervention development and future research directions are discussed, in addition to the methodological limits of the study.

Services based on the Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) are present more and more in the lives of people. The advancement of ICT in technical and social acceptance terms has led the creation of new models of service provision. These provision models involve further integration with people's activities so that are not only present in their professions or civic space but also in a more intimate areas related to their own identity. So it is now common to find services aware of user's health, their domestic habits, ideology, etc. Therefore, the analysis of existing services must be open out to include other aspects related to the way of being and feeling of their members. This way is possible to ensure both the technical correctness of its features as promoting safe and respectful solutions both of civic rights as the way of being and feeling of its members. From the engineering point of view, the user perspective has historically encompassed under the concept of technological acceptance. Within this field can be interpreted as friendly solutions adapted to users will encourage the acceptance by them. Solution acceptance is desirable although it is difficult to ensure. This difficulty is due to the lack of the number of variables that affect the acceptance of technological solutions and the difficulty of optimizing the known variables. In this thesis it is studied and characterized one of the variables that affect the acceptance of existing services: confidence. Confidence is defined in psychological terms, providing its characterization with the aim of be used in typical methods of engineering. Also different tools are proposed to facilitate the optimization of this confidence in services whose complexity establishes this variable in a basic issue to improve acceptance. Health services deployed in a home have been chosen as working context for this thesis. This scenario presents a number of acceptance restrictions on the technology used to create services and how they manage the acquired user information. It comes to highly sensitive and delocalized services that can affect to the user's perception of the environment, the home, and generate fear or rejection to prevent final adoption as a valid solution. Once defined the generic framework, the main objective of this dissertation is focused on promote the acceptance of new pervasive and personalized health services and their deployment in domestic intelligent environments through a layout that promotes a psychological state of confidence in users. To achieve this goal, a set of results, both conceptual, technological and experimental, have been provided. In particular, it has offered a complete characterization of the feeling of confidence from a viewpoint of engineering and a definition of sensitive or delocalized pervasive service. Furthermore, a method for the inclusion of the Interaction Design discipline in engineering processes of such services through a set of patterns of interaction is offered. Finally, this thesis provides the development of a software architecture to ensure proper deployment of these pervasive sensitive services in intelligent environments in a confident way. Discussion of the results suggests the extension of the deployment model to different services of the Information Society that handle sensitive data both in the context of the digital home and other settings where the user perform everyday activities such as work spaces or schools. The future work lines include the imminent need to apply the results to ongoing developments, within research projects in those the author takes part, and the development of new research lines aimed at creating new spaces and interaction technologies as advanced accessible interfaces, toys of the future, confident visualization systems or security systems based on the condition of the user. / Tjänster baserade på informations- och kommunikationsteknik (IKT) blir allt mer vanligare i människors liv. För att främja acceptansen för IKT i både tekniska och sociala aspekter av människors liv har nya modeller för dessa tjänster skapats. Dessa modeller har en närmare knytning till människors verksamhet så att de inte bara förekommer i deras yrken eller fritid men också i mer intima områden som anknyter till individens egen identitet. Det är nu därför vanligt att hitta tjänster som tar hänsyn till användarens hälsa, vanor, ideologi, etc.  En analys av befintliga tjänster måste inkludera dessa aspekter men även användarnas känsla av identitet och medlemskap. På detta sätt är det möjligt att säkerställa den tekniska riktigheten hos dessa funktioner som i sin tur borgar för säkra och respektfulla lösningar som tar hänsyn till medlemmarnas medborgerliga rättigheter likväl som deras känsla av identitet och medlemskap. Historiskt sett, och ur ett tekniskt perspektiv, har användarperspektivet omfattats under begreppet teknisk acceptans. Inom detta område har användarvänliga lösningar anpassade till användarna själva uppmuntrat acceptans av dem. Acceptans av lösningar är önskvärt även om det är svårt att säkerställa. Denna svårighet beror på avsaknaden av antalet variabler som påverkar acceptansen av tekniska lösningar och svårigheten att optimera de kända variablerna. I denna avhandling studeras och karaktäriseras en av de variabler som påverkar acceptansen av befintliga tjänster: förtroende. Förtroendet definieras i psykologiska termer med syftet att kunna använda termen i typiska metoder för teknik. Det föreslås också olika verktyg för att underlätta optimering av detta förtroende inom tjänstesektorn. Hälso- och sjukvård i hemmet har valts som scenario för denna avhandling. Detta scenario presenterar ett antal restriktioner med avseende på acceptansen av den teknik som används för att skapa tjänster och hur dessa tjänster hanterar den förvärvade användarinformationen. För användaren är situationen mycket känslig och de erbjudna tjänsterna kan påverka användarens uppfattning av miljön och hemmet och/eller generera rädsla eller avsmak för att acceptera lösningen. När den generiska ramen är etablerad är det huvudsakliga syftet med denna avhandling att främja acceptans av nya tjänster för personlig hälsovård och deras användning i hemmet. Detta skall uppnås genom en layout som främjar ett psykologiskt förtroende hos användarna. För att uppnå detta mål har en uppsättning resultat, både begreppsmässiga, tekniska och experimentella, analyserats. Framför allt har en fullständig karaktärisering gjorts av känslan av förtroende från en teknologisk synvinkel och en definition av en känslig och allomfattande tjänst. Dessutom framläggs en metod för införandet av interaktionsdesign i de aktuella tjänsterna genom ett antal interaktionsmönster. Slutligen behandlar denna avhandling utvecklingen av en mjukvaruarkitektur för att säkerställa en korrekt användning av dessa känsliga tjänster. Resultaten pekar på att distributionsmodellen även kan användas för andra tjänster i informationssamhället där användaren utför vardagliga sysslor, såsom i det digitala hemmet eller andra miljöer (t.ex. skolor och arbetsplatser), där känsliga uppgifter hanteras. De framtida arbetsuppgifterna omfattar det överhängande behovet av att tillämpa resultaten på den pågående utvecklingen av forskningsprojekt som författaren är involverad i. Detta omfattar även utveckling av ny forskning som syftar till att skapa ny interaktionsteknik t.ex. avancerade gränssnitt, framtida leksaker, säkra visualiseringssystem eller säkerhetssystem baserat på användarens hälsa/tillstånd. / <p>This PhD research has been conducted under a double PhD agreement degree between the School of Telecommunications Systems and Engineering (ETSIST) at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) in Spain and the School of Technology and Health (STH) at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden.</p><p>QC 20160129</p>

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study aimed to create an elaborate model that can shed light on the intra- and interpersonal functioning of middle childhood and early adolescent South African girls in child care. Data used included: 1) measures of self-concept that was measured by The Beck Youth Inventories: Self-concept inventory for Youths (Beck, Beck & Jolly, 2001), 2) a qualitative indication of perceived attachment towards a mother figure and 3) biographical data provided by the social workers associated with the children's homes that participated in the study. Participants included 70 girls between the ages of 9 and 14, of which 35 were assigned to the Children's Home Group. The Control Group comprised of the rest of the participants. Regression analysis, correlation measurement and the calculation of the significance of the differences between groups were used to test hypotheses. Results indicated that perceived attachment to a mother figure is a significant mediator of selfconcept, but that factors related to age seemed to have the most significant mediating effect during the developmental stages of middle childhood and early adolescence. The results were used to combine and elaborate on existing theories of intra- and interpersonal functioning in order to suggest a model that attempts to explain the functioning of South African girls in child-care in more depth. Implications for these findings are discussed. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie ondersoek was om 'n gedetailleerde modelop te stel wat lig kan werp op die intra- en interpersoonlike funksionering van middel-kinderjarige en adolessente dogters in kindersorg in Suid-Afrika. Die data wat gebruik is, sluit in: 1) meetings van selfkonsep wat gemeet is deur die Beck Youth Inventories: Self-concept inventory for Youths (Beck, Beck & Jolly, 2001), 2) 'n kwalitatiewe indikasie van dogters se persepsie oor die binding tussen hulle en hulonderskeie moeders, asook. 3) biografiese data wat verskaf is deur die maatskaplike werkers wat geassosieer was met die kinderhuise wat deelgeneem het. Die deelnemers het bestaan uit 'n groep van 70 dogters tussen die ouderdomme van 9 en 14 jaar. Die helfte van die deelnemers het vanuit die kinderhuise gekom terwyl die res van die deelnemers die kontrolegroep gevorm het. Regressie analises, korrelasie metings en die berekening van die beduidendheid van verskille tussen groepe is gebruik om hipoteses te toets. Die resultate het daarop gedui dat dogters se persepsie van die kwaliteit van die binding tussen hulle en hul moeders, wel 'n beduidende mediator van self-konsep is gedurende middle-kinderjare en adolessensie is, maar dat faktore wat verband hou met ouderdom, die grootste mediërende effek het op self-konsep gedurende hierdie ontwikkelingsfases. Op grond van die resultate is 'n model saamgestel wat 'n voortbouing is op bestaande teorie, maar poog om meer lig te werp op die intra en interpersoonlike funksionering van Suid-Afrikaanse dogters in kindersorg te verduilik. Die implikasies hiervan word bespreek.

Internships are commonly used by firms for training and recruiting talents. Yet, research overlooks which factors are influential in job acceptance for interns. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship of influencing factors such as task goal clarity, autonomy, mentorship and learning to job acceptance of interns after an internship program. A total of 150 copies of questionnaires were distributed online among university and graduate school students in Taiwan. 120 questionnaires were returned. The statistical methods used in this study were reliability test, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis. Based from the results shown, it was found that task goal clarity and mentorships influences the learning of interns. Furthermore, autonomy affects the relationship of task goal clarity and learning. The relationship of task goal clarity and learning is expected to be stronger when autonomy is high and weaker when it is low. Lastly, learning influences the willingness of job acceptance. The recommendations from the conclusions are proposed as references for relevant organizations and future studies Keywords: task goal clarity, mentorship, autonomy, learning, job acceptance, internships / Internships are commonly used by firms for training and recruiting talents. Yet, research overlooks which factors are influential in job acceptance for interns. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship of influencing factors such as task goal clarity, autonomy, mentorship and learning to job acceptance of interns after an internship program. A total of 150 copies of questionnaires were distributed online among university and graduate school students in Taiwan. 120 questionnaires were returned. The statistical methods used in this study were reliability test, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression analysis. Based from the results shown, it was found that task goal clarity and mentorships influences the learning of interns. Furthermore, autonomy affects the relationship of task goal clarity and learning. The relationship of task goal clarity and learning is expected to be stronger when autonomy is high and weaker when it is low. Lastly, learning influences the willingness of job acceptance. The recommendations from the conclusions are proposed as references for relevant organizations and future studies Keywords: task goal clarity, mentorship, autonomy, learning, job acceptance, internships

Sleep is essential for survival but a significant minority of the adult population are dissatisfied with their sleep, and 6-10% meet the criteria for insomnia disorder, characterised by difficulties falling asleep at bedtime, waking up in the middle of the night or too early in the morning, and daytime symptoms. Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), an evidence-based sleep-focused intervention, has been suggested as the treatment of choice for chronic insomnia. However, access to specialised sleep therapists is sparse, and a service delivery model based on the principles of ‘stepped care’ has been proposed. Even though CBT-I is shown to be effective, there is a need to continue the development of cognitive behavioural treatments for insomnia. As a complement to traditional interventions, the potential value of acceptance, that is, to make an active choice of openness towards psychological experiences, has been recognized. However, it has not yet been systematically investigated, and specific instruments for studying acceptance in insomnia are lacking. The present thesis is based on three studies: Study I showed that manual-guided CBT for insomnia delivered by ordinary primary care personnel has a significant effect on perceived insomnia severity, sleep onset latency and wake time after sleep onset. Study II demonstrated that non-responders in Study I reported shorter sleep time at baseline than did responders, a notion that may help select patients for this type of low-end intervention in a stepped care treatment approach. Study III aimed to develop a new assessment instrument for studying acceptance of insomnia, the Sleep Problem Acceptance Questionnaire (SPAQ), resulting in an eight-item questionnaire with two factors; the first being Activity Engagement, persisting with normal activities even when sleep is unsatisfactory, and the second involving Willingness, avoiding fighting and trying to control sleep problems. In conclusion, the present thesis demonstrates that it is feasible to treat patients with insomnia using CBT-I administrated by ordinary primary care personnel in general practice, and that those with relatively longer initial sleep duration benefit most from treatment, enabling allocation to relevant treatment intensity. In addition, acceptance of sleep difficulties may be quantified using the SPAQ.