Samhället uppmuntrar individer att se över sina hälsovanor för att öka välbefinnandet. Syftet var att undersöka om val av fysisk aktivitet hade effekt på den generella hälsan i ökat subjektivt välbefinnande samt om det fanns könsskillnader i dessa. Sextio män och kvinnor mellan 25-50 år valdes slumpmässigt ut från träningsanläggningar för att besvara the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) samt Swedish Core Affect Scale (SCAS). Resultatet visade på signifikant ökning av välbefinnande efter fysisk aktivitet samt inga könsskillnader. Dock fanns en signifikant interaktionseffekt mellan kön och fysisk aktivitet, de män som promenerade och kvinnor som konditionstränade hade högst välbefinnande och generell hälsa. Slutsatsen blev att välbefinnandet ökade oavsett kön efter fysisk aktivitet dock gav olika aktiviteter varierande ökningar mellan könen. / The society encourages individuals to promote their health habits in order to improve their well-being. The aim was to investigate the effect of different types of physical activity on experience of general health in well-being in men and woman. Sixty men and women in ages 25-50 years old were randomly chosen from training facilities to answer the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and Swedish Core Affect Scale (SCAS). The results showed a significant increase in positive well-being due to the practice of physical activity, but there were no gender difference. However, it was found a significant interaction effect of age and physical activity on health, the men who walked and women who conditioning trained showed highest well-being and general health. The conclusion was that the well-being increase regardless of sex after physical activity, however, different activities gave varying increases between the sexes.

<p>Ångestsyndrom tillhör den vanligaste psykiatriska problematiken hos barn. Ångestsyndrom börjar ofta i tidig ålder, medför stort lidande och predicerar psykiatrisk problematik senare i livet. Det är viktigt att undersöka hur ångestsyndrom kan förebyggas eftersom få barn med denna problematik kommer i kontakt med behandling. Syftet med studien var att undersöka om FRIENDS, ett preventionsprogram från Australien, fungerar i en svensk kontext. Femtio barn i nioårsåldern undervisades i FRIENDS under tio lektioner. Barnens ångestsymptom, depressionssymptom och generella psykiska hälsa mättes vid tre tillfällen med formulären SCAS, CDI och SDQ. Mätningarna skedde tio veckor innan interventionen, veckan innan och veckan efter interventionen. Resultaten visade att FRIENDS minskade barnens depressionssymptom samt minskade ångest hos barn med förhöjd risk för ångestproblematik. Efter FRIENDS skattade lärarna lägre tendens till psykisk ohälsa hos barnen. Enligt utvärderingen var barn och föräldrar nöjda med programmet. Sammantaget visar studien att FRIENDS är en lovande intervention i en svensk kontext.</p>

Ångestsyndrom tillhör den vanligaste psykiatriska problematiken hos barn. Ångestsyndrom börjar ofta i tidig ålder, medför stort lidande och predicerar psykiatrisk problematik senare i livet. Det är viktigt att undersöka hur ångestsyndrom kan förebyggas eftersom få barn med denna problematik kommer i kontakt med behandling. Syftet med studien var att undersöka om FRIENDS, ett preventionsprogram från Australien, fungerar i en svensk kontext. Femtio barn i nioårsåldern undervisades i FRIENDS under tio lektioner. Barnens ångestsymptom, depressionssymptom och generella psykiska hälsa mättes vid tre tillfällen med formulären SCAS, CDI och SDQ. Mätningarna skedde tio veckor innan interventionen, veckan innan och veckan efter interventionen. Resultaten visade att FRIENDS minskade barnens depressionssymptom samt minskade ångest hos barn med förhöjd risk för ångestproblematik. Efter FRIENDS skattade lärarna lägre tendens till psykisk ohälsa hos barnen. Enligt utvärderingen var barn och föräldrar nöjda med programmet. Sammantaget visar studien att FRIENDS är en lovande intervention i en svensk kontext.

Lane change or "Side" Crash Avoidance Systems (SCAS) technologies are becoming available to help alleviate the lane change crash problem. They detect lane change crash hazards and warn the driver of the presence of such hazards. This thesis examines driver lane change behavior and evaluates the potential effectiveness of five warning onset rules for lane change or "side" crash avoidance system (SCAS) technologies. The ideal SCAS should warn the driver only when two conditions are met: (1) positive indication of lane change intent and (2) positive detection of a proximal vehicle in the adjacent lane of concern. Together, these two conditions create a crash hazard. The development of SCAS technologies depends largely on an understanding of driver behavior and performance during lane change maneuvers. By quantifying lane change behavior, real world crash hazard scenarios can be simulated. This provides an opportunity to evaluate potential warning onset rules or algorithms of driver intent to change lanes. Five warning onset rules for SCAS were evaluated: turn-signal onset (TSO), minimum separation (MS), line crossing (LC), time-to-line crossing (TLC), and tolerance limit (TL). The effectiveness of each rule was measured by the maximum response time available (tavailable) to avoid a crash for a particular lane change crash scenario, and by the crash outcome, crashed or crash avoided, of a particular lane change crash scenario. / Master of Science

Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The study investigated the effect of using projective narratives and drawings that depict diminished fear, on the anxiety levels of a group of children living in children’s homes, by means of a mixed methodology. The sample consisted of 30 middle childhood children (mean age = 9.60 years, SD = 1.13) from three children’s homes in the Western Cape. Drawings were used to elicit content of fear or anxiety (anxiety evoking drawing/bangmaaktekening) and proposed coping (anxiety lessening drawing/bangwegvattekening). After completing the anxiety provoking drawing, participants in the experimental group were asked to tell a story to other children with a similar fear to lessen/take that fear away (projective narrative). The Spence Childhood Anxiety Scale (SCAS) was completed after each drawing, and drawings evaluated through the use of anxiety scales, to measure changes in anxiety levels according to the concept of triangulation. The categories ghosts, snakes, and people were found to be the most prevalent content of fear from anxiety provoking drawings, and undifferentiated fears were also common within this population. Control of anxiety from anxiety lessening drawings indicated a definite prevalence of emotion focused (secondary) coping strategies, specifically religious solace. The content of projective narratives echoed this finding, although proposed solutions were more differentiated. Ownership of projections also occurred. The experimental effect was not significant, although mean anxiety levels were considerably lower in the drawings in comparison with that of the SCAS. Drawings are thus seen as an effective, nonthreatening technique to study anxiety phenomena. A comparison of the mean item scores of the SCAS subscales indicated that symptoms of separation anxiety, generalised anxiety disorder, and obsessivecompulsive anxiety disorder were prevalent among this group of children in children’s homes. A clear distinction was found between markers of state- and trait-anxiety through the qualitative analysis of the drawings, with anxiety lessening drawings showing definite diminished state-anxiety, although more established markers of trait-anxiety did not necessarily change. There are also indications that transference of activated negative emotional stimuli occurred on an unconscious level between the two drawings. Introducing the combination of projective narratives in the intervention stage of the study appeared to facilitate learning or the experience of observed positive affect in anxiety lessened drawings. Future research would benefit from including a normative group to establish more clear markers of state- and trait-anxiety in drawings, and by the use of a bigger sample to investigate factor loadings of the SCAS among children in children’s homes. The high prevalence of anxiety symptoms in this population emphasises their status as a vulnerable population, and the need for possible group intervention – specifically the psycho-education of effective coping strategies for anxiety.