Studien undersöker om elever som tränar mycket i skolan och på sin fritid presterar bättre betygsmässigt på gymnasiet än de elever som inte är lika aktiva. Kan dessa olikheter mellan de elever som tränar mycket och en kontrollgrupp skilja sig åt i avseende på LOT, PANAS, SE och HAD. Hypotesen som testas är: Träning korrelerar positivt med bra betyg. För att utreda om hypotesen stämmer har elever på gymnasiet fått fylla i en enkät. Enkäten innehåller dels flera psykologiska test, PANAS, LOT, SE och HAD, men även ett formulär där deras betyg ska skrivas in. Resultatet för studien visar att hypotesen stämmer. Det är signifikant att elever som tränar mycket får högre betyg än de som inte tränar. Förutom betygen visar resultatet även att de idrottande eleverna mår bättre, de hade mindre grad av depression, ångest, ilska, skuld, nervositet och stress än eleverna i kontrollgruppen.  De hade även högre energi, högre grad av optimism, entusiasm och koncentration än kontrollgruppen.  Slutsatsen för denna studie blir alltså att träning korrelerar positivt med bra betyg och bättre upplevd hälsa. Nyckelord: PANAS, LOT, SE, HAD, Betyg, Träning

Yes / Background: The study aim was to determine if state and trait intra-individual measures of everyday affect predict cognitive functioning in healthy older community dwelling European adults (n = 387), aged 55-87 years. Methods: Participants were recruited from centres in France, Italy and Northern Ireland. Trait level and variability in positive and negative affect (PA and NA) were assessed using self-administered PANAS scales, four times a day for four days. State mood was assessed by one PANAS scale prior to assessment of recognition memory, spatial working memory, reaction time and sustained attention using the CANTAB computerized test battery. Results: A series of hierarchical regression analyses were carried out, one for each measure of cognitive function as the dependent variable, and socio-demographic variables (age, sex and social class), state and trait mood measures as the predictors. State PA and NA were both predictive of spatial working memory prior to looking at the contribution of trait mood. Trait PA and its variability were predictive of sustained attention. In the final step of the regression analyses, trait PA variability predicted greater sustained attention, whereas state NA predicted fewer spatial working memory errors, accounting for a very small percentage of the variance (1-2%) in the respective tests. Conclusion: Moods, by and large, have a small transient effect on cognition in this older sample.

Syfte Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilken träningsintensitet som var mest gynnsam för akutförändring av sinnesstämning i positiv riktning och vilka faktorer som skulle kunna modererasambandet. Studiens hypotes var att intensitet nära ventilatoriska tröskeln leder till störstförändring av sinnesstämning i positiv riktning för Positive and Negative Affect Schedule(PANAS) positiva skala, vilket motsvarade medel och hög intensitet i den här studien.Hypotesen var medelhög och hög träningsintensitet leder till större förändring avsinnesstämning i positiv riktning än lågintensiv träning. Metod Studien använde en experimentell inom-individs design där positiv och negativ sinnesstämningmättes före och efter träning med PANAS skala. Deltagarna genomförde cykelträning utifrånsin estimerade maximala syreupptagningsförmåga (VO2max) under 20 minuter på en avföljande intensitetsnivåer per tillfälle: lågintensiv (ca 40% av VO2max), medelintensiv (ca 60%av VO2max), högintensiv (ca 80% av VO2max). Resultat 12 friska unga vuxna deltagare slutförde studien. Det fanns ingen signifikant interaktion mellanträningsintensitet (låg, medel, hög) och tid (före träning, efter träning) på positivsinnesstämning, och därmed hittades inget stöd för hypotesen. Variabeln tid visade däremot ensignifikant huvudeffekt, där positiv sinnesstämning ökade efter träning, oberoende avträningsintensitet. Deltagarnas konditionsnivå hade en signifikant modererande effekt. Varkenstress, ångest eller kön hade en signifikant modererande effekt. Slutsats Det fanns inget stöd för studiens hypotes att sinnesstämning skulle förändras mest i positivriktning på medel och hög intensitet. Däremot fann vi att sinnesstämning förändradessignifikant och i positiv riktning efter träning oberoende av träningsintensitet. Framtidaforskning bör inkludera en fysisk passiv kontrollgrupp för att utröna om positiv sinnesstämningverkligen gynnas likvärdigt av låg, medel och hög träningsintensitet. / Aim The purpose of the study was to investigate which exercise intensity was most favorable forchanging mood acutely in a positive direction and which factors that could moderate this effect.The study’s hypothesis was that intensity close to the ventilatory threshold leads to the greatestchange in mood in a positive direction for Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)positive scale, which corresponded to medium and high intensity in this study. The hypothesiswas that medium and high intensity leads to a greater change in mood in a positive directionthan low intensity exercise. Method The study used an experimental within-individual design where positive and negative moodwas measured before and after exercise with the PANAS scale. Participants performed cyclingexercise based on their estimated maximum oxygen uptake capacity (VO2max) for 20 minutesat one of the following intensity levels per session: low-intensity (approx 40% of VO2max),medium-intensity (approx 60% of VO2max), high-intensity (approx 80% of VO2max). Results 12 healthy young adult participants completed the study. There was no significant interactionbetween exercise intensity (low, medium, high) and time (pre-exercise, post-exercise) onpositive mood, thus no support for the hypothesis was found. In contrast, the variable timeshowed a significant main effect, where positive mood increased after exercise, independent ofexercise intensity. The fitness level of the participants had a significant moderating effect.Neither stress, anxiety nor gender had a significant moderating effect. Conclusion There was no support for the study’s hypothesis that mood would change most in a positivedirection at medium and high intensity. However, we found that mood change significantly andin a positive direction after exercise, regardless of exercise intensity. Future research shouldinclude a physical passive control group to ascertain whether positive mood is indeed equallybenefited by low, medium and high exercise intensity.

Psicólogo / Objetivo: la presente investigación pretende apoyar la validación de la Escala de Auto-compasión (EAC), aportando evidencias de validez convergente mediante un análisis correlacional entre ésta y la afectividad positiva y negativa, medidas mediante la Escala de Afectos Positivos y Negativos (PANAS). Método: el estudio posee un enfoque cuantitativo, de tipo no experimental, transversal y correlacional. En primer lugar, se llevó a cabo, la traducción y adaptación de la EAC, para luego realizar una aplicación piloto de ésta. Finalmente, se aplicó junto al PANAS a 268 estudiantes universitarios chilenos. Resultados: se observaron correlaciones significativas entre auto-compasión y afectividad positiva y negativa. Los puntajes totales entre auto-compasión y afectividad positiva arrojaron una correlación moderada, positiva y significativa (r = 0,570; p<0,01), y entre auto-compasión y afectividad negativa, una correlación moderada, negativa y significativa (r = -0,558; p<0,01). Conclusiones: se encontraron propiedades psicométricas adecuadas para apoyar la validación de la EAC en Chile

I denna studie undersöktes om känsligheten för stress varierar mellan olika ångestsyndrom. Respondenterna utgjordes av 36 män och 47 kvinnor, samtliga medlemmar i Svenska ångestsyndromsällskapet, som fick besvara 15 bakgrundsfrågor samt PANAS, SE-formuläret och Locus of Control. Några skillnader i stresskänslighet kunde inte påvisas. Dock uppvisade kvinnor högre grad av extern Locus of Control än män, medan män hade fler sömnproblem än kvinnor. Bortfallet i undersökningen är betydande eftersom del av respondentgruppen föll bort. Vidare forskning behövs för att klargöra om skillnader i stresskänslighet finns och om ångestdrabbade är känsligare för stress än normalbefolkningen.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the usefulness of a 20-minute brief mindfulness meditation in positively affecting mood and attention. Its effects were compared with the effects from a period of distraction and a control condition. The sample consisted of 63 veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Pre-post test of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule were used to assess levels of state anxiety and mood. The Stroop Task was employed as a measure of selective attention. A one-way analysis of variance and split-plot analysis of variance were conducted. To control high comorbidity within this sample, sub-analyses were conducted excluding participants with other psychological or physical conditions. The results revealed that meditators without sleep problems indicated greater selective attention levels. A negative mood decrease was found in all participants regardless of the intervention group assignment. Implications for research and practice were discussed.

A 12-month longitudinal study assessed the emotional reactions of an intercollegiate athletic team to a near fatal bus incident. PANAS-X and the Brief COPE, administered on five occasions, indicated NA declined over time. Most coping strategies showed significant changes in trajectory. Acceptance and Positive Reframing were high across waves. In October 2010, an intercollegiate athletic team and coaching staff were traveling by sleeper bus to an out-of-state match. The team members and coaches were in the back of the bus when they felt the bus swaying and heard the tires hit the rumble strips. The head coach went forward to find the bus driver unconscious and slumped over the steering wheel. Although the bus swerved into the oncoming lane of interstate traffic and back onto the other shoulder, the coach was able to steer the bus and stop it safely on the side of the road. The bus driver had suffered a fatal heart attack; fortunately, the coaches and players survived with only minor injuries. This study is a longitudinal follow up assessing the emotional reactions of the coaches and team to the bus incident across a twelve-month time frame. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule - Expanded (PANAS-X; Watson & Clark, 1994) and the Brief COPE (Carver, 1997) were administered on five occasions. Negative affect declined over time, with a larger drop in waves more proximal to the incident. Positive affect demonstrated a curvilinear pattern showing increases on the second and third wave but dropped off at the end of the spring semester 2011 and the beginning of the fall semester 2011. There were significant changes in the coping trajectories for 10 of the 14 coping strategies from the Brief COPE. These data are of particular interest as we could locate no other studies in the published literature of individual athlete or team reactions to traumatic travel incidents, although ESPN (Lavigne, 2010) noted that bus safety should be a concern for team travel.

The primary aim of this thesis was to make an initial evaluation of the cognitive-oriented treatment programs “A New Direction” for young people and ”New Challenges” for adult men. The treatment programs were examined in two studies mainly aimed at measuring treatment effects on criminal thought patterns and sense of coherence. In the study of the Youth Program (Paper I), pre- and post-measurements were made with the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) and the shortened version of Sense of Coherence (SOC-13). In addition, recidivism over a two-year period was analysed. The results show that the criminal thinking clearly decreases for participants in individual treatment for 9-30 weeks and that the rate of recidivism is lower compared with the control group. In the Adult Program (Paper II) study, pre- and post-measurements were made with PICTS, SOC-13, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Quality of Program Delivery (QPD). The result shows that criminal thinking is clearly reduced, and positive affect is increased for participants in cognitive treatment that included one-week group treatment, four weeks individual treatment and finally one-week further group treatment. The individual treatment for four weeks was combined with 12-step treatment. No significant results were shown for either control participants who received 12-step treatment or no treatment.  There is also a positive correlation between QPD and sense of coherence and between QPD and positive affect. The main conclusions are that the programs can reduce criminal thinking and improve salutogenic resources, which can help reduce criminal behaviour. / Licentiatuppsatsen representerar ett pilotprojekt som förväntas ge en första bild av effekterna av behandling med kriminalitetsprogrammen ”Ett nytt vägval” för ungdomar och ”Nya utmaningar” för vuxna män. Det övergripande syftet har varit att bidra till evidensforskningen av kriminalitetsprogram som kombinerar både ett risk- och skyddsfokus och som utvärderats inom missbruksvården. I studie I (ungdomsstudien) visade resultatet att flerveckors individuell behandling minskar det kriminella tänkandet, ökar känslan av sammanhang och minskar brottsåterfallsfrekvensen. Studiens resultat är valida för individuell behandling under 9 till 30 veckor för målgruppen svenska pojkar med en medelålder på 17 år i förkriminell och tidig fas av kriminalitet. I Studie II (vuxenstudien) undersöktes den behandlingsform som kallas Valbo modellen som kombinerar ”Nya utmaningar” med tolvstegsbehandling. Efter att tolvstegsbehandlingens inverkan på resultatet analyserats antas den största direkta förändringsfaktorn vara behandlingen med ”Nya utmaningar”. Tolvstegsbehandlingen antas ha en mer indirekt och långsiktig verkan och vara av betydelse för den känslomässiga förankringen och hållbarheten i ett förändrat normsystem och ny livsstil. Studiens resultat är valida för svenska män i 30 års-åldern i avancerad fas av kriminalitet. Studierna utgör ett första steg mot att programmen ”Ett nytt vägval” och ”Nya utmaningar” kan sägas motsvara dagens begrepp för evidens.

Depression und Angst treten nicht nur in der klinischen Population, sondern auch in der normalen Bevölkerung häufig gemeinsam auf. Die gemeinsame Symptomentwicklung der Depression und Angst wird bezüglich der Modulationsannahmen der PSI-Theorie erklärt, die den unterschiedlichen Emotionskomponenten zugrunde liegt.

The Wim Hof Method (WHM) is a contemporary combination of techniques including a breathing exercise, mindset and cold exposure. Interest in the method has blossomed in recent years as scientific studies has presented promising results on the methods impact on the autonomic nervous system (ANS) as well as the immune system. However, although biological factors have been demonstrated as a result of the method, psychological measures are lacking. In this study Subjective Well Being (SWB) was measured which refers to psychological attributes such as happiness, fulfilment and enrichment. As a biological marker Heart Rate Variability (HRV) was measured as it is theorised to be an indirect measure of the ANS which in turn often have been associated to reflect mental health. Measures of SWB and HRV were assessed pre- and post-intervention. Thirty-two participants met the inclusion criteria and were randomised into an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group was asked to do 10 days of WHM home practice after an initial introductory training. Meanwhile the control group were asked to live life as usual. Twenty-six participants completed the post assessments, and the collected data were analysed across time. It was found that participants in the intervention group reported a significant decrease in negative affect from pre-intervention to post-intervention in comparison to those in the control group. The present study adds to the existing research on the WHM by assessing new measures that reflect psychological well-being, namely SWB and HRV.