The aim of the study was to examine the association between different life areas and youth’s engagement in gambling. The life areas focused in the study were relationships with parents, school, friends and mental health. The study used cross-sectional data from the Stockholm Survey collected in 2020 among students in the ninth grade in elementary school and in the second grade of upper secondary school in Stockholm (n=4495). The results were analyzed using Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory. The results showed that youth whose parents had more insight into their child’s life were less likely to have engaged in gambling during the past 12 months. Parental permission to gamble showed positive correlations to youth having gambled within the last 12 months. Having a more negative school environment and more experiences of psychosomatic symptoms also showed positive correlations to youth gambling within the last 12 months. The study concludes that (1) increased parental presence and restrictions regarding parent’s acceptance of gambling can reduce the risk of youth gambling, (2) creating a positive school environment could reduce youth gambling, (3) adults, such as parents and teachers, could have a key role in detecting youth gambling since gambling may manifest as psychosomatic symptoms.

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Coastal socio-ecological systems face unprecedented challenges due to climate change, with impacts encompassing long-term, chronic changes and short-term extreme events. These events will impact society in many ways and prompt human responses that are extremely challenging to predict. This dissertation employs complex systems methods of agent-based modeling and machine learning to simulate the interactions between climatic stressors such as increased flooding and extreme weather and socio-economic aspects of coastal human systems. Escalating sea-level rise and intensified flooding has the potential to prompt relocation from flood-prone coastal areas. This can reduce flood exposure but also disconnect people from their homes and communities, sever longstanding social ties, and lower the tax base leading to difficulties in providing government services. Chapter 2 demonstrates a stochastic agent-based model to simulate human relocation influenced by flooding events, particularly focusing on the responses of rural and urban communities in coastal Virginia and Maryland. The findings indicate that a stochastic, bottom-up social system simulator is able to replicate top-down population projections and provide a baseline for assessing the impact of increasingly intense flooding. Chapter 3 leverages this model to assess how incorporating heterogeneity in relocation decisions across socio-economic groups impacts flood-induced relocation patterns. The results demonstrate how this heterogeneity leads to a decrease in low-income households, yet a rise in the proportion of elderly individuals in flood-prone regions by the end of the simulation period. Flood-prone areas also exhibit distinct income clusters at the end of simulation time horizon compared to simulations with a homogenous relocation likelihood. Lastly, Chapter 4 explores relationships between extreme weather and agricultural losses in the Delmarva Peninsula. Existing research on climatic impacts to agriculture largely focuses on changes to major crop yields, providing limited insights into impacts on diverse regional agricultural systems where human management and adaptation play a large role. By comparing various multistep modeling configurations and machine learning techniques, this work demonstrates that machine learning methods can accurately simulate and predict agricultural losses across the complex agricultural landscape that exists on the Delmarva peninsula. The multistep configurations developed in this work are able to address data imbalance and improve models' capacity to classify and estimate damage occurrence, which depends on multiple geographical, seasonal, and climatic factors. Collectively, this work demonstrates the potential for advanced modeling techniques to accurately replicate and simulate the impacts of climate on complex socio-ecological systems, providing insights that can ultimately support coastal adaptation. / Doctor of Philosophy / Coastal areas are facing increasing challenges from climate change, including rising sea levels and extreme weather conditions. This dissertation explores socio-economic consequences of these adverse environmental changes for coastal communities. Disruptive repetitive flooding due to exacerbated rise in sea levels is one of these consequences that may eventually leave some highly exposed coastal communities no alternative but migrating from their residences. Focusing on coastal Virginia and Maryland, Chapter 2 develops a data-informed model that can simulate individual relocation decisions and assess how they impact population changes and migration patterns. Chapter 3 employs this model to investigate how future changes in sea levels affect diverse socio-economic groups, their relocation decisions, and the resulting collective migration flows in flood-prone areas. We found that considering demographic differences leaves highly flood-prone areas with less low-income households, higher elderly individuals, and more economic clusters compared to simulations where these differences are not accounted for. Chapter 4 uses machine learning models to simulate the economic impact of extreme weather events as another manifestation of climate change on the agriculture in the Delmarva Peninsula. Through data-based modeling techniques, we identify the climatic conditions most responsible for agricultural losses and recognize modeling choices that enhance our predictive ability. Collectively, this dissertation demonstrates how sophisticated modeling techniques can be used to better understand the complex ways in which climate change will impact human society, with the ultimate goal of supporting adaptation strategies that can better address these impacts.

Supervisor: Nina Lindén Åkerlund Examiner: Staffan Bengtsson This study aims to investigate the impact of screen use on children and young adults. Previous research regarding screen use among children and young adults is compiled in a literature review in the form of a scoping review. The results have been thematically analyzed with the help of the SOC-theory (sense of coherence) and ecological systems theory. The results show that screen use has both positive and negative aspects that can be understood through factors of risk and protection which are prevalent on individual, group and societal levels. The study contributes to the understanding of the impact that screen use has on children and young adults and is particularly relevant in relation to social work.

This dissertation explores how student support services (SSS) within the K-12 ecosystem's relationship with technology, or cyberpsychology, has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic grounded in the ecological systems theory (EST) framework. The first article investigated professional school counselors' use of technology for communication to meet student needs while upholding the American School Counseling Association's (ASCA) high ethical standards. The study examined how professional school counselors navigated using technology for communication amidst school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The second article explored the learning experiences of emergent bilingual (EB) educators in virtual settings. This study gained insight into the unique experiences of EB educators during and after COVID-19 working with students in virtual learning environments. The third article took a more personal approach by conducting individual interviews to gain insight into the challenges in technology use by the K-12 student support services (SSS) ecosystem throughout the pandemic. Participants shared their celebrations and their struggles of their personal experiences with technology during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. A story is found in these works as the three manuscripts come together to illustrate the impact of the pandemic on the cyberpsychology of the K-12 SSS ecosystem, nested in the overarching K-12 ecosystem.

Included in the challenges possibly faced by those with dyslexia, is the acquisition of literacy skills. Despite 21st century advancements made in technology, literacy skills remain central to education and day-to-day living. Therefore, it is essential to meet the learning needs of those with dyslexia, as failure herein could impact negatively on their lived experiences and on the attainment of their needs. The main aim of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore, and describe the first-hand lifelong experiences of adults living with dyslexia. The study utilised the theoretical and conceptual frameworks of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Following a multistage procedure, a criterion-based sampling strategy was used to select study participants, comprising of eight South African adults between the ages of 18 and 40, who were formally diagnosed with dyslexia. Data collection included semi-structured one-on-one in-depth interviews and the researcher’s reflective journal. Data analysis, following the principles of phenomenology, resulted in the formation of five themes. Findings reveal that dyslexia is viewed positively by adults diagnosed with it, and used as a driving force to succeed and obtain set goals. Various professionals were consulted with the aim of obtaining a diagnosis; however, obtaining a diagnosis and hence an explanation for their learning challenges, was a stressful experience for both the participants and their parents. Families provide much assistance with school work, although all participants revealed negative schooling experiences caused by schools not acknowledging dyslexia and not meeting their specific learning needs. Although living with dyslexia presents challenges, coping mechanisms are in place for overcoming anticipated challenges. Whilst self-confidence is not negatively affected, dyslexia appears to negatively affect the self-esteem of some. This study found that the dyslexia label is preferred to that of having additional learning needs, as the dyslexia label is viewed as referring to specific challenges and not to entire learning abilities. Finally, this study hopes to provide a deeper understanding of the experiences of those living with dyslexia and fill the existing gap in South African literature. / Psychology / Ph. D. (Psychology)

In this study, the use of hypnotherapy in high-risk pregnancy is explored from an ecological systems perspective through two case studies. Each case study is described in detail. They explore the experiences of two women during their pregnancy and giving birth, with specific reference to the pregnancy risks and their use of hypnotherapy. The study provides the reader with an in-depth understanding of the use of hypnotherapy before, during and after birth. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)