Background: Approximately one in three Swedish people will receive a cancer diagnosis. Cancer primarily affects the elderly but also young people suffer. Young people are in a period of life that could put a strain of the ordinary when they are faced with choices and new challenges. The basic sense of security in everyday life is not so obvious and many suffer from, for example, stress and the feeling of being inadequate in relation to the requirements. It is relevant that the nurses can put themselves into what it is like to be young and afflicted with cancer, with the pressures of life itself and what the disease represents. For the nurse, it is important to try to understand what quality of life, crisis and management means, because it often is crucial for young patients with cancer. Aim: The aim is to increase the understanding of how the young people with cancer handle to live with a fatal disease. Methods: A literature review based on ten qualitative scientific articles. The articles were selected through a systematic literature search in the databases CINAHL, Pubmed and ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source. The analysis of the articles was made through comparison of the similarities and differences. Results: In the results three different themes emerged: Being normal, Having access to support and To find a positive or accepting attitude. The result illustrates the most common strategies used by young people to handle living with cancer. There are also a number of subthemes presented attached to these themes which clarifies different aspects of the strategies. Discussion: The discussion clarifies the meaning of the result's main themes. What might it mean to live normally? Barriers to support and management was The lack of information evidencing how important it was to get information, but also how this was one of the shortcomings in health care. The need for support to patient and familyreveals that support from family is not only important for the patient but also something that can sometimes burst from the family side. Age adjustment in health care is discussed as a more age-appropriate care could be beneficial for young people. Although The attitude’s importance addressed in the sense of how important it is to stay positive and how hope can get a person to live longer.

Background: An unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity are leading global risks to public health and causes of many non-communicable diseases. Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate nutritional habits and physical activity among university students in Bangkok, Thailand. Method: This is a cross-sectional study with a quantitative method using a structured questionnaire where 121 second level students from the public health program answered. Result: This study showed that the majority of the participants more or less followed the national recommendations in Thailand regarding nutrition and physical activity. A lot of the students wanted to increase their daily intake of fruit and vegetables. The students showed less interest in physical activity but still met the recommended levels of activity. The males wanted to increase their daily intake of fruit and exercised in a greater extent than the females and the females weighed themselves more often. Conclusion: The results from this study showed that the Thai public health students followed the national recommendations regarding nutrition and physical activity. From what the students have stated in the questionnaire, there is no need for further interventions among this particular population.

The aim of this study is to examine how young adults reason when it comes to mental illness among their peers and how they look upon seeking support and help for mental illness. This study is based on three focusgroupinterviews with 14 young adults in Sweden. The theoretical framework is labeling theory, which describes deviation as a process in which society forces social problems as a label onto people until they begin to identifies as deviants. Our results show that young adults are openminded when it comes to mental illness among their peers, but they are on the other hand negative towards seeking help for it. The explanation for this seems to be that many young adults have experiences of mental illness and therefor they believe it is a very important subject, although seeking help for it are strongly connected to stigma because of the prejudice that only people with severe psychological diagnoses are the ones that seek help. Most young adults with mental illness do not have psychological diagnoses and therefor associate seeking help with deviation. Other identified reasons for not wanting to seek help are lack of knowledge and bad experiences with former help-seeking.

Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht das Mobilitätsverhalten junger Erwachsener. Dies ist von besonderer Relevanz, da die heutige jüngere Generation die Mobilität der Zukunft prägen wird. Aus jenem Grund ist es von eminenter Bedeutung, dass diese Altersklasse intensiv und über einen längeren Zeitraum betrachtet wird, um Veränderungen in deren Verkehrsmittelwahlverhalten zu erkennen. Weiterhin beeinflussen neben den mobilitätsspezifischen Einflüssen auch soziodemografische Entwicklungen das genannte Verhalten, welche sowohl identifiziert, als auch bzgl. der Einflussstärke ausgewertet werden müssen. Ein Vergleich diverser Studien zeigt jedoch, dass die Altersklasse der jungen Erwachsenen eine noch relativ unerforschte Gruppe darstellt. Zudem besteht im Hinblick auf die Altersabgrenzung in der Literatur Uneinigkeit. Daraus ergibt sich die zentrale Frage dieser Arbeit, inwieweit sich die Gruppe der jungen Erwachsenen im Mobilitätsverhalten unterscheidet und ob es somit sinnvoll ist eine differenziertere Betrachtung vorzunehmen. Nach intensiver Recherche wurde hier die Altersspanne der jungen Erwachsenen wie folgt definiert: Personen zwischen 18 und 35 Jahren. Als Datengrundlage dieser empirischen Analyse wurden die großen SrV-Vergleichsstädte von 2013 herangezogen. Der Datensatz jener Stadtgruppe bezieht sich auf deutsche Großstädte mit mind. 100.000 Einwohnern. Mithilfe einer Clusteranalyse konnte zunächst eine Struktur im Datensatz aufgedeckt werden, wonach die 18-21-, 22-26- und 27-35-Jährigen homogene Cluster bilden. Diese Cluster wurden anschließend deskriptiv analysiert. Hierbei sind deutliche Unterschiede im Verkehrsmittelwahlverhalten festzustellen. Der MIV-Anteil steigt z. B. mit zunehmendem Alter an, wohingegen beim ÖPV ein entgegengesetztes Verhalten zu erkennen ist. Die Fahrradnutzung ist wiederum konstant und mit steigendem Alter werden mehr Wege zu Fuß zurückgelegt. Weiterhin werden die einzelnen Gruppen u. a. durch unterschiedliche Lebensumstände sowie neue Kommunikationstechnologie beeinflusst. Abschließend wurde eine Diskriminanzanalyse durchgeführt, um ein Modell zur Gruppentrennung der drei gebildeten Cluster zu entwickeln. Das resultierende Modell beinhaltet jeweils drei soziodemografische und mobilitätsspezifische Variablen und trennt die Gruppen sehr gut. Darüber hinaus wurden die Elemente eines Kontrolldatensatzes ähnlich optimal eingeordnet, wodurch die Anwendbarkeit dieses Modells bestätigt werden konnte. Die Analyse des Mobilitätsverhaltens der jungen Erwachsenen hat somit ergeben, dass es sich hierbei um eine heterogene Altersklasse handelt. Aus diesem Grund scheint es sinnvoll jene Zielgruppe bei zukünftigen Untersuchungen differenzierter zu betrachten und die ermittelten Cluster zu berücksichtigen.

År 2012 avled 1.5 miljoner människor till följd av diabetes och förekomsten av sjukdomen ökar i världen hela tiden. Diabetes typ 1 betraktas som den allvarligaste formen av diabetes och varje år insjuknar 400 personer i åldrarna 15–34. Individen måste själv hantera 95% av sin egen diabetesvård vilket gör att hen ställs inför många krav att utföra olika former av livsstilsförändringar. Syftet med studien var att belysa unga vuxnas upplevelser av att leva med diabetes typ 1. Studien genomfördes som en systematiskt litteraturstudie med kvalitativ metod med en induktiv manifest design. Under databearbetningen framkom fem teman: upplevd rädsla, upplevelser av bristande kunskap, upplevelser av egenvård, upplevda svårigheter samt upplevelser av relationer och stöd. Resultatet i studien belyser svårigheter med egenvård, rädslor relaterade till sjukdomen, att känna sig annorlunda, svårigheter med att avslöja sin sjukdom, att känna sig dömd av andra på grund av deras okunskap, bristen på stöd och dåligt bemötande från vårdpersonal. Dessa upplevelser är viktig kunskap för sjuksköterskor för att ge en god omvårdnad och det kan vara intressant att genomföra vidare forskning kring hur individer upplever sjuksköterskans stöd samt vad sjuksköterskan kan göra för att främja egenvård. / In 2012, 1,5 million people died due to diabetes and the prevalence of the disease increases worldwide all the time. Type 1 diabetes is considered the most serious type of diabetes and every year 400 people in the ages 15-34 sicken in the disease. The individual must manage 95% of their diabetes management which puts him or her to be faced with a lot of demands to perform different kinds of lifestyle changes. The aim of this study was to illustrate young adults’ experiences of living with type 1 diabetes. The study was performed as a literature study with a qualitative methodology and inductive manifest design. In the data analysis five categories emerged: experienced fear, experiences of lack of knowledge, experiences of self-care management and experiences of relationships and support. The result of this study highlights the difficulties of self-care management, fears related to the disease, feeling different, the difficulties of disclosing the disease, feeling judged by others because of their lack of knowledge, lack of support and bad treatment from healthcare professionals. These experiences are important knowledge for nurses to give a good nurturance and it could be interesting to do further research about how individuals experience the support from the nurse and what the nurse can do to promote self-management.

Skogberg, N. (2016). Young adults’ experiences and opinions of health information. A survey study. Bachelor thesis in Public Health Science. Department of Occupational and Public Health Science. Faculty of Health and Occupational Studies. University of Gävle, Sweden. Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the experiences and opinions of health information among 40-100 young adults, aged 18-25 years. Method: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted, using a questionnaire in paper form as well as using a web questionnaire. Results: The results showed that the social media (for example Facebook and Instagram) was both the most used and preferred source of information. Most of the respondents thought that the information they found was useful and that the information was appealing and/or interesting. However, the majority of the respondents did feel that the information they found was lacking something. Conclusions: Social media can be a useful tool to reach out with health information to young adults. It is important that the information is perceived as accessible, reliable and credible. It is also important to make sure that young adults have access to information which has a scientific basis. / Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka unga vuxnas (18-25 år) erfarenheter av och åsikter om hälsoinformation. Studien rörde information som unga vuxna stött på under de senaste två månaderna före studiens genomförande. Faktorer som källor till hälsoinformation, informationens användbarhet samt om informationen ansågs vara tilltalande och/eller intressant undersöktes. Metoden var en enkätundersökning som genomfördes på en högskola i Mellansverige och som även skapades i webbform och delades på det sociala mediet Facebook. Huvudresultatet av studien visade att sociala medier (till exempel Facebook och Instagram) var den främsta källan till hälsoinformation bland unga vuxna och att sociala medier även var den mest föredragna källan i denna åldersgrupp. Anledningar till detta var bland annat att informationen ansågs vara lättillgänglig, att den når ut till många, att sociala medier används mycket för information och att källan är miljövänlig. Resultatet visade även att de flesta respondenter ansåg att informationen de funnit var användbar och att informationen var tilltalande och/eller intressant. Det kunde bero på att informationen kändes inspirerande och motiverande, användbar i ett framtida yrke, trovärdig, att funderingar besvarades, att svar var konkreta och direkta samt att layouten var bra. Majoriteten av respondenterna kände dock att något saknades i informationen de funnit. Det som ansågs saknas i en del av informationen var till exempel bakgrund, statistik, undersökningar, primärkällor och spårbara källor, tillförlitlighet och relevans samt praktiska råd. Slutsatserna av studien var bland annat att sociala medier kan vara ett användbart verktyg för att nå ut till unga vuxna med en tillförlitlig och vetenskapligt baserad hälsoinformation. Det är även viktigt att informationen är lättillgänglig och trovärdig och att unga vuxna kan finna den information de söker.

Young adults are most at-risk for the non-medical use of prescription drugs (NMUPD) and many of its associated negative consequences. Understanding this population’s motivations for use can help to inform efforts to reduce NMUPD. Past research has been limited in scope, consisting primarily of cross-sectional work with college students focusing on prescription stimulants. The current study researched how motivations for NMUPD changed over young adulthood using three waves of data from a longitudinal, nationally representative sample of 14,990 19 to 24 year olds in the Monitoring the Future study cohorts collected between 1976 to 2013. Prescription stimulants, central nervous system (CNS) depressants, and opioids were investigated, along with sex and college attendance as potential moderators. Differences in NMUPD motivations for young adults who initiated NMUPD in high school versus in early young adulthood were studied. Additionally, motivation patterns of new users were investigated. Analyses indicated that both recreational and self-treatment motivations commonly were reported over time and across drug classes, with four to five popular motivations acknowledged in each class. In general, generalized estimated equations repeated measure analyses found that NMUPD motivations remained relatively stable across young adulthood, with some reductions for the motivations of experimentation and boredom, and an increase in select self-treatment motivations. Overall, men were more likely to endorse recreational motivations, while women were more likely to endorse self-treatment motivations, though this varied somewhat by prescription drug class. Young adults not enrolled in college courses were more likely to endorse using stimulants non-medically for different reasons than their peers who were enrolled. There also were differences in motivations based on if young adults initiated NMUPD in high school compared to when they were 19/20 years old. However, motivations were fairly consistent across young adult development regardless of when NMUPD was initiated. These data suggest that efforts aimed at preventing or reducing NMUPD in young adult populations should include targets to reduce both self-treatment and recreational motivations; may need to be tailored by prescription drug class, sex, and college attendance status; could start in high school; and can be used for new and continued users across young adulthood.

The aim of the thesis was to explore the impact of sex education in the family on own intimate life of the individual. The work is divided into theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part describes issues that affect the content of thesis - human sexuality, sex education at school and in family, and individual family surrounding. The practical part describes the implemented research. The research aim was formulated in four hypotheses. The first aim was to verify whether young people perceive sex education in the family as something that affects their intimate lives. The second aim was to verify the connection between points of view that parents present to their children about contraception, abortion and the beginning of sexual life and the view that in adulthood these children hold. Next aim was to determine whether there is the coherence between the way how parents talk to their children about sexuality and by how much is at the beginning of children own sexual life affected by these councils. And lastly, the work seeks to map the way how parents talk with children about sexuality and whether that affects children own experience of sexuality. In research took part 137 respondents - 80 women and 57 men, all respondents had secondary or university education and were aged from 21 to 30 years....

In this two-manuscript dissertation, framed through queer and minority stress theories, I focus on heteronormative pressures and their impact on sexual identity fluidity and health of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth and young adults. Heteronormativity, or the expectation to meet heterosexual norms in relationships, may be stressful for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) youth and be linked to poorer health. In particular, I focus on bisexual young people because bisexual people can enter into either same- or different-gender relationships; these young people could experience pressure from family members and religious communities to conform to heterosexual norms, resulting in sexual identity transitions that could explain health differences between sexual minority groups. In the first manuscript, I conducted life history narratives interviews with 14 racially and ethnically diverse youth and young adults between the ages of 18-24 on how LGB youth make sense of expectations to conform to heterosexual norms and how their experiences vary based on youths’ characteristics. In the second manuscript, I used structural equation modeling analysis of one of the largest community samples of LGB youth and young adults between the ages of 15-21 in the U.S. to examine youths' current and future relationship desires in a broader system of heteronormative expectations and how these expectations operate as mechanisms to influence the mental health of sexual minority youth. Qualitative results from the first manuscript show that for many youth and youth adults, gender and sexuality intersect to influence their experiences of heteronormativity: Gender and sexuality were conflated for gay men who stated that their gender nonconformity meant that family members already knew their sexuality before they came out as gay. Many bisexual women described their experiences being gender conforming in which they struggled to legitimize their sexuality to others because they were feminine. Though gay and lesbian identities were present in discussions of gender, an expression of gender that signaled and was named as bisexuality was fundamentally missing in the interviews. That is, participants did not describe a gender presentation that would indicate someone attracted to more than one gender. Participants consistently considered childbearing, but not marriage, to be highly desirable. Latino participants discussed heteronormativity through the racialized lens of machismo. However, religion was a greater source of pressure to conform to heterosexuality for Latino participants than were racial communities. My quantitative results from the second manuscript showed that gay men, lesbian women, and bisexual men are more likely to desire same-gender marriages later in life compared to bisexual women, who are more likely to desire different-gender marriages. Participants who desired different-gender marriage were more likely to identify as a different sexual identity over time. However, neither relationship desires nor sexual identity transitions related to depressive symptoms. The findings of this manuscript suggest that initial transition to a sexual minority identity may be the most vulnerable time for youth. After this initial transition, lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth may be inoculated to stress related to identity transitions, even in the context of heteronormativity. This research informs queer and minority stress theories: Gender, sexuality, and family norms intersect to structure how youth understand heteronormativity and predicts whether youth maintain their sexual identity, but such norms might not be stressors that influence health after youth first identify as LGB.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Nancy Muturi / Cigarette smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in the U.S. and a global public health concern. The health effects have been severe among the youth. Smoking among the youth has been attributed to media. Movie in particular, is perhaps the most successful advertising on cigarette. Research shows that greater exposure to smoking in movies predicts increased likelihood of trying smoking. The purpose of this experimental study was to explore the relationships of smoking exposure in movies and young adults’ attitude, intention, and risk perception toward smoking. The theory of reasoned action (TRA) and the Attitude Accessibility Concept served were used in the study. The experiment was conducted at 70 Kansas State University students and examined the extent to which young adults’ memory/experience on smoking are triggered by watching smoking scenes; and whether young adults had different reactions based on the level of dosages of onscreen smoking. The results showed that the relationship of onscreen smoking and young adults’ memory/experience on smoking is not significant, as well as the relationship of media exposure and young adults’ attitude to smoke. However, the study found that nonsmokers contain considerable anti-smoking attitude and significant risk perception to smoke. The anti-smoking attitude is highly associated with the risk perception. The study presented theoretical implications, which includes the proposal to incorporate risk perception in the model of TRA, made recommendations to future anti-smoking campaigns targeted on young adults, and suggested areas of further research.