The main aim of this thesis was to longitudinally investigate the potential occurrence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among parents of children on cancer treatment (Study I). Additional aims were to describe parents’ perceptions of emotional support and satisfaction with the child’s care (II), perceptions of the child’s symptom burden (III), and parents’ stories about having a child on cancer treatment (IV). The design was prospective, longitudinal, and data was collected at: one week, two months, and four months after the child’s diagnosis and one week/six months after the end of successful treatment/transplantation. Parents (N=259) were consecutively included during the years 2002-2004 and answered questionnaires and open-ended questions over the telephone. Parenting a child with cancer is a very demanding, potentially traumatic, event. Approximately a fourth of the parents report symptoms corresponding to PTSD. The symptom level is related to being a mother, not working before the child’s diagnosis, and to previous trauma experience. Less than half of those who report a need to talk with a psychologist report having had the opportunity to do so. Parents are generally satisfied with the care and report the highest satisfaction with the technical care. Emotional distress, fatigue, nutrition, and pain are, according to parents, the most problematic symptom areas for their children. Pain is identified as especially problematic. Parents in paediatric oncology care should be acknowledged as potential care-recipients. In order to prevent development of PTSD parents of children on cancer treatment should be supported to maintain an ordinary life, for example pursue work and/or activities, and to get sufficient rest. As a means towards this parents need help with e.g. household duties and childcare. In addition to this, parents in approximately two fifths of the families need extended psychosocial support aiming at reducing posttraumatic stress.

Tidigare forskning har bland annat visat att barn som vistas i klassrum med bra kvalitet är mer engagerade och att ett bra emotionellt stöd från läraren bidrar positivt till barnets sociala anpassning och lärande. Klassrumskvalitet delas enligt CLASS upp i emotionellt stöd, klassrummets organisering, pedagogiskt stöd och barnens genomsnittliga engagemang. Syftet i denna uppsats är att ta reda på vilket av områdena; emotionellt stöd, klassrummets organisering och pedagogiskt stöd som starkast predicerar barnens genomsnittliga engagemang i. Observation valdes som metod och gjordes på 16 olika förskoleavdelningar fördelat på 4 olika förskolor. Resultatet visade att det emotionella stödet starkast predicerar barns genomsnittliga engagemang. Genom att studera klassrumskvaliteten och lära oss mer om den kan vi kanske också förbättra den.

Varje år drabbas många unga vuxna av en cancersjukdom. Den stora incidensen av cancersjukdomar i vårt samhälle medför att möten med patienter med cancer sker i hela hälso- och sjukvårdsorganisationen. Med tanke på de starka känslomässiga reaktioner som följer av en cancerdiagnos och hur ungas livssituation påverkas, ligger det hos sjuksköterskor en utmaning i att kunna ge emotionellt stöd som leder till att patienten kan uppleva större hanterbarhet.  Syftet med litteraturstudien var att belysa hur unga vuxna hanterar tankar och känslor vid en cancersjukdom och hur sjuksköterskan kan ge emotionellt stöd relaterat till att bättre kunna hantera krissituationen. Studien genomfördes som en litteraturstudie och baserades på 29 vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultatet visade på tankar och känslor relaterat till cancerdiagnosen, olika strategier för att hantera diagnosen, samt hur erhållet stöd från sjuksköterskan kan leda till bättre hanterbarhet. Det är viktigt att vårdpersonal tänker holistiskt och gör vården individanpassad, på så sätt att unga vuxnas livssituation och önskemål tas i beaktande. Vidare forskning och utbildning i framtiden bör inriktas mot att utreda unga vuxnas behov och önskemål då det gäller känslor och emotionellt stöd vid en cancersjukdom så att hälso- och sjukvårdpersonal bättre kan tillmötesgå dessa. / Many young adults get a cancer illness each year. The high incidence of cancer in our society means that patients with cancer are to be met in the entire healthcare organization. Considering the strong emotional reactions following a cancer diagnosis and how the lives of young people are affected, it is a challenge to the nurses in order to provide emotional support, which may lead to better manageability among the patients. The purpose of this study was to examine how young adults cope with thoughts and feelings at a cancer illness and how the nurse can provide emotional support to make patients better handle the crisis. The study was conducted as a literature review and was based on 29 scientific articles. The results illustrated thoughts and feelings related to a cancer diagnosis, different strategies for coping with the diagnosis, and how the support received from the nurse can lead to better manageability. It is important that health professionals think holistically and makes health care more personalized, so that the living situation and desires of young adults are to be considered. Further research and education in the future should focus on investigating needs and desires of young adults, when it comes to feelings and emotional support at a cancer illness, so that healthcare staff can better respond to them.

This study employed a qualitative approach to explore the factors that contribute to positive change and growth following a natural disaster. The qualitative methodology included narrative interviews and family group interviews that were conducted with six families in Florida that had experienced two or three hurricanes within six weeks in 2004. Narrative analysis and thematic analysis were used to discover what factors contributed to participants experiencing positive growth. Participants described the experience of surviving and coping with the hurricane. Participants reported that preparation before a hurricane was a three-part process that involved physical, mental, and emotional preparation. Four actions were referred to as helpful to stay positive during a hurricane: (a) drawing on family, friends, and neighbors for continual emotional support; (b) keeping occupied with a fun activity; (c) leaning on religious faith; (d) and listening to up-to-date information. Families described nine sources of support that enabled them to cope after the hurricane: (a) the government, (b) charitable organizations, (c) homeowner's insurance, (d) family, (e) friends, (f) religious faith, (g) stories, (h) life perspective, and (i) music. Participants reported eight factors that encouraged adversarial growth. Communicating emotional support within relationships was the most commonly cited factor in recovery and growth after a hurricane, followed by worldview, appreciation, religious faith, patience, self-reliance, teamwork, and creativity. A holistic approach to disaster planning that includes consideration of those elements that contribute to positive growth for the survivor is recommended. Further research is needed to understand how to facilitate adversarial growth among disaster survivors through emotional support and interpersonal networks.

Adolescence heralds a unique period of vulnerability to depressive symptoms. The current study examined relational victimization, targeting adolescents’ interpersonal relationships, as a unique predictor of depressive symptoms in a broad age range of adolescents. Past research shows that interpersonal resources—particularly emotional support—are negatively related to depression. In this study, the moderating effects of emotional support from mothers, fathers, and peers on the association between relational victimization and depressive symptoms were investigated. As expected, high levels of maternal and peer emotional support buffered the association between relational victimization and depressive symptoms. Emotional support from fathers did not moderate this relationship. Findings also suggest that while support from peers is protective against concurrent depressive symptoms, it can be detrimental to adolescent’s mental health over time. In contrast, maternal emotional support buffers future depressive symptoms associated with past experiences of relational victimization.

The current study examined psychological distress in couples coping with a cancer diagnosis. Although it is widely recognised that spouses coping with a cancer diagnosis are at risk of psychological distress, debate exists within the literature regarding the amount of distress experienced by individuals, and about who is most at risk. Fifty-five couples coping with a cancer diagnosis completed questionnaires assessing psychological distress, social support and attachment style characteristics. Results indicated that partners psychological distress levels were more influenced by social support and attachment characteristics than patients were. Partners of those with cancer, who were higher on the insecure attachment dimensions, perceived providing and receiving less support and were less satisfied with support overall compared to less insecure partners. In addition to this, partner social support was significantly related to psychological distress, and attachment style was found to moderate this relationship. Specifically, partners were more vulnerable to psychological distress when they were higher on the insecure attachment dimensions and when support satisfaction was low or when they had a perception of low support receipt. Contrary to expectations, there were no significant findings for the patient group. Explanations and implications are discussed.

Adolescence heralds a unique period of vulnerability to depressive symptoms. The current study examined relational victimization, targeting adolescents’ interpersonal relationships, as a unique predictor of depressive symptoms in a broad age range of adolescents. Past research shows that interpersonal resources—particularly emotional support—are negatively related to depression. In this study, the moderating effects of emotional support from mothers, fathers, and peers on the association between relational victimization and depressive symptoms were investigated. As expected, high levels of maternal and peer emotional support buffered the association between relational victimization and depressive symptoms. Emotional support from fathers did not moderate this relationship. Findings also suggest that while support from peers is protective against concurrent depressive symptoms, it can be detrimental to adolescent’s mental health over time. In contrast, maternal emotional support buffers future depressive symptoms associated with past experiences of relational victimization.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:31:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2003-08-29Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:42:33Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 finato_mss_dr_mar.pdf: 860914 bytes, checksum: d440e61537ff3084f32251ff6cb15df3 (MD5) / A longevidade da espécie humana tem sido pesquisada mundialmente com objetivos diversos. Com o conhecimento das implicações biológicas, psicológicas e sociais do envelhecimento, a sociedade pode melhorar as condições de saúde, lazer, cultura e educação das pessoas, além de, ao favorecer o contato intergeracional, diminuir o preconceito ao idoso permitindo que os conhecimentos da tradição cultural sejam aprendidos e multiplicados pelos jovens. Este estudo se propôs investigar se as Universidades Abertas à Terceira Idade poderiam funcionar como uma rede de apoio afetivo e social para seus alunos. Através de dois instrumentos para medir atitudes, avaliaram-se as redes que funcionariam como suporte afetivo e social. Como rede afetiva, os alunos escolheram os filhos, marido e netos e por extensão, os cunhados e irmãos. Em situações difíceis, a oração e a fé forneciam apoios importantes. Entes queridos falecidos também foram lembranças que confortavam. Como rede social, médicos, vizinhos, serviçais, amigos conquistados na UNATI, professores, monitores e a coordenação foram referidos como suportes importantes em suas vidas. Conclui-se que as UNATIS foram consideradas pela população estudada, como importantes redes de apoio social. / The longevity of human specie has been worldwide researched with different objectives. With the knowledge about the biological, psychological and sociological implications of aging, society could look up for the people health, leisure, culture and education conditions, and while improving the intergeneration contact, decrease prejudice against the elder, allowing the knowledge about the cultural tradition to be learned and multiplied by the youth. This study proposed to investigate if the Universities for the Elderly (UNATI) could work as an emotional and social support network for its students. It was evaluated, by two instruments that measure attitudes, the networks that could work as emotional and social supports. Students chose kids, husband and grandchildren as the emotional support network, and for extension, brothers-in-law and brothers. In difficult situations, prayer and faith were important supports. Deceased dear relatives were supporting memories, too. As the social network, doctors, neighbors, employees, friends from UNATI and its professors, monitors and co-ordination, were referred to be important supports in their lives. The conclusion of this research was that UNATIs were considered an important social support network.

Bakgrund: Cancer är en av världens vanligaste sjukdomar och den näst vanligaste dödsorsaken. Patienters rätt till delaktighet i vård och behandling är lagstadgad och ligger till grund för medicinsk behandling och omvårdnad. Att se människan bakom patienten är viktigt för att förstå patientens livsvärld. Sjuksköterskans grundläggande omvårdnadsroll är att stötta patienter med det som de inte själva klarar av. Syfte: Att beskriva patienters upplevelse av hur sjuksköterskan kan främja en god vårdrelation, i samband med vård på en onkologisk avdelning. Metod: Studien är en litteraturöversikt, där datamaterialet utgörs av tolv kvalitativa, tre kvantitativa, samt två vetenskapliga artiklar med mixad design. Resultat: Det analyserade resultatet redovisas i fyra olika huvudteman med tillhörande underrubriker. Dessa huvudteman är: Bemötande och information som grund för vårdrelationen, Tillgodose patientens behov, Emotionellt stöd, Skapandet av en nära vårdrelation. Diskussion: Diskussionen visar att patienter behöver individanpassad information och stöd. För att det ska ske behöver sjuksköterskan kunna identidfiera patientens behov. Om inte behoven tillgodoses kan det skapa ett vårdlidande för patienten. En god vårdrelation bygger alltså på att patienten känner sig trygg och sedd i vården. / Background: Cancer is one of the world's most common diseases and the second most common cause of death. Patients' right to participate in care and treatment is statutory and underpins medical treatment and care. Seeing the person behind the patient is important to understand their life world. Nursing's basic care role is to support patients with what they do not manage. Objective: To describe patients' experience of how the nurse can promote a good care relationship, at an oncology department. Method: The study is a literature review. The data material consisted of twelve qualitative, three quantitative and two mixed designed scientific articles. Results: The analyzed result is presented in four different main themes and associated subheadings. These main themes are: Treatment and information as a basis for the care relationship, Relieving patient needs, Emotional support, Creation of a close care relationship. Discussion: The discussion shows that patients need personalized information and support. In order for this to happen, the nurse must be able to identify the patient's needs. Unless the needs are met, it can create an unnecessary care suffering for the patient. A good care relationship is therefore based on the patient feeling safe and seen in the care.

An understanding of factors that enhance empathic parenting behaviors is of considerable importance to the study of child development and to the development of parenting interventions to promote child adjustment. Moreover, gaining a better understanding of the factors that predict empathic parenting with older children is of interest since most research examining parental empathy focuses on infants. These were the goals of the current study. Guided by Belsky's 1984 process model of the determinants of parenting that impact child development, an expanded model of the determinants of parenting is proposed that includes various parent, child, and contextual factors of influence. Using data from a community sample, a partial least squares path analysis approach was employed to test the model's strength in predicting empathically attuned parenting with children ages 5 to 10 years and, ultimately, the child's psychoemotional functioning. Results support the expanded model; however, a reduced model was found to be superior and revealed unique relationships between the determinants of parenting. Specifically, a parent's psychoemotional functioning and childrearing beliefs and attitudes were found to be critical to the parent's ability to engage in empathic parenting behaviors. Other parent factors such as the parent's developmental history of abuse, maladaptive personality traits, and age, along with contextual factors and child characteristics, were found to influence parenting only indirectly through their impact on the parent's level of psychoemotional distress or childrearing beliefs and attitudes. Ultimately, the current findings support Belsky's claim that parent factors are the strongest predictors of empathic parenting. Implications of these findings are many. The results highlight the importance of assessing a parent's childrearing beliefs and attitudes and level of distress in conjunction with characteristics of the child when a family comes in for treatment. Moreover, the results identify many points of intervention to stopping the cycle of abuse.