Kroniskt obstruktiv lungsjukdom (KOL) och Kronisk hjärtsvikt (KHS) tillhör de vanligaste folksjukdomarna i Sverige. Samsjukligheten av dessa två sjukdomar är stor och patienterna har en liknande symtombild som exempelvis andfåddhet och trötthet. Fysisk aktivitet är en viktig faktor vid hantering och behandling av dessa sjukdomstillstånd. Tilltro till den egna förmågan (self-efficacy) har kommit att framstå som en påverkansfaktor för livsstilsförändring gällande fysisk aktivitet. Syftet var att jämföra utövad fysisk aktivitet och self-efficacy till fysisk aktivitet bland patienter med KOL och KHS i primärvården. Vidare var syftet att jämföra män och kvinnor med KOL respektive män och kvinnor med KHS. Metoden var en kvantitativ beskrivande komparativ studie med frågeformulär. Base-line data från den pågående studien ”Symtom And Function Study” har använts. Resultatet visade att KOL- patienterna i större utsträckning än patienterna med KHS var fysiskt inaktiva. Gällande self-efficacy till fysisk aktivitet framkom mestadels likheter mellan diagnosgrupperna och mellan könen. Endast ett påstående, att kunna vara fysiskt aktiv även vid nedstämdhet, påvisade att männen med KOL hade en signifikant lägre tilltro än kvinnorna med KOL. Slutsats: I det hälsofrämjande mötet borde betydelsen av self-efficacy delges mer uppmärksamhet. Därmed skulle sannolikt en framgångsfaktor för ökad fysisk aktivitet hos patienter med KOL och KHS skapas.

Fetma och övervikt är ett allt mer vanligt problem över hela världen och därav ökar även överviktskirurgin. Gastric bypass är den vanligaste metoden i Sverige och ses som ett redskap för viktminskning. För att bibehålla viktminskningen spelar andra faktorer än operationen en roll hos patienterna. Studiens syfte var att finna framgångsfaktorer vid en bibehållen viktminskning postoperativt. Metoden var av fenomenologisk narrativ karaktär och datainsamlingen skedde med hjälp av intervjuer. Intervjuerna transkriberades, meningskoncentrerades och tematiserades. Analysen resulterade i fem framgångsfaktorer (1) kostmedvetenhet (2) socialt stöd (3) göra saker jag inte kunnat innan (4) villig att kämpa (5) hopp om framtiden. Deltagarna var åtta medelålders kvinnor. Resultatet visar gemensamma framgångsfaktorer hos kvinnor som genomgått en gastric bypass-operation. Detta ger studien en hög validitet i frågan om kvinnors upplevelser men begränsar generaliserbarheten. Fortsatta studier med fler och varierande deltagare är därför att rekommendera.

John and Edward Grimes (artist name "Jedward") have been active for four and a half years and have a heterogeneous following of fans. This thesis aims to investigate how and why people become Jedward fans, how they view the fandom and what experiences they have of being round the twins. After respondents, independently of one another, began disclosing how the twins and fandom had fundamentally changed their lives, this area of investigation was also pursued. The conclusion is that while there are some negative aspects of fandom, for those taking part in the study, being a fan of Jedward has led to what I've chosen to term "Fandom-Induced Self-Efficacy".

A. Aleksejev (2005), who has been analysing problems of managing athletes’ mental states and self-efficacy for thirty years, argues that a self-confident athlete, able to manage their psychophysical condition and technique, will feel no anxiety about the sports results. As sports activities take place under the difficult conditions of practice and competition, athletes need particular self-efficacy and mental stability. We believe that it is necessary to reveal the peculiarities of self-efficacy of young basketball players because self-efficacy essentially includes opportunities for the self-actualization of many personal needs. However, the research has not yet proven that the development of self-efficacy enhances social adaptation of student athletes (Malinauskas, 2004; 2006). Moreover, at present we have too few educational programmes for the development of self-efficacy of young basketball players that could also be applied in the course of basketball coaching (Wang, Biddle, 2001; Malinauskas, 2001; 2003; Šniras, 2005). The further necessity of the study of this problem determined the topic of our dissertation research. There is a situation in athlete training system where there is a conflict between the need to purposefully and systematically develop self-efficacy of young athletes and a lack of the solution of the problem in athlete’s personality development practice as well as the lack of research revealing the dependence of self-efficacy on athletes’ age. It also... [to full text] / Sportinė veikla vyksta sunkiomis pratybų ir varžybų sąlygomis, tad tokiai veiklai būtinas ypatingas savaveiksmiškumas, sportininko psichikos stabilumas. Sportinis meistriškumas daug priklauso nuo to, kaip išugdytos sportininko psichinės savybės, koks jo savaveiksmiškumas (Aleksejevas, 2005). Mūsų manymu, yra būtina atskleisti jaunųjų krepšininkų savaveiksmiškumo ypatumus, kadangi savaveiksmiškumas savo esybe įtraukia daugelio asmenybės poreikių realizacijos galimybes. Vis dėlto tyrimais dar nėra įrodyta, kaip savaveiksmiškumo ugdymas stiprina sportuojančių mokinių socialinę adaptaciją (Malinauskas, 2004; 2006). Šuo metu yra per mažai sukurta ugdymo programų, kurios būtų tinkamos jaunųjų krepšininkų savaveiksmiškumui ugdyti, ir kurias būtų galima pasitelkti krepšinio pratybų metu (Wang, Biddle, 2001; Malinauskas, 2001; 2003; Šniras, 2005). Tolimesnis šios problemos tyrimo bei nagrinėjimo būtinumas ir nulėmė mūsų disertacinio tyrimo temą ir mokslinę problemą, formuluojamą klausimu: kaip savaveiksmiškumas priklauso nuo sportininkų amžiaus (jaunučiai ir jauniai) ir nuo ugdymo programos poveikio? Šis klausimas bei atsakymo į jį paieška ir sudaro šio disertacijos tyrimo mokslinio problemiškumo pagrindą.Probleminio klausimo formulavimas leido suformuluoti šio tyrimo hipotezę: taikant ugdymo programą galima tikėtis didesnio jaunųjų krepšininkų savaveiksmiškumo. Dažniausiai akcentuojama kokia nors viena savaveiksmiškumo kryptis tam tikro amžiaus mokinių (Bandura, 2006), studentų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

While considerable research has explored the skills elite professionals use to sustain performance excellence in a multitude of disciplines, much less research has focused on professional musicians. Multi-faceted skills are needed to maintain performance excellence. This research investigates the deliberate skills and processes professional opera singers employ to preserve elite performance. Data drawn from individual semi-structured interviews with ten professional opera singers, with a minimum career length of ten to twenty years, were analyzed within the methodology of grounded theory. Results revealed a strong role for creation of a music "road-map" in the context of deliberate preparedness in both physical and mental skills, which contributed to high levels of learning self-efficacy. High-level skills cultivated in the preparation phase were applied directly within the context of live performance, facilitated "flow" experiences, involved energy exchanges with other performers and audiences, and resulted in higher levels of performing self-efficacy.

Breastfeeding is recommended as the optimal source of nutrition for newborns for the first 6 months of life and beyond with the addition of complementary foods. While breastfeeding initiation rates have been increasing, duration rates remain a concern as many women prematurely discontinue due to difficulties encountered rather than maternal choice. In addition, there is a sizable gap between rates of exclusive breastfeeding and current recommendations. Targeting modifiable variables that may be amenable to intervention is one strategy to improve breastfeeding outcomes. One such modifiable variable is breastfeeding self-efficacy. Although research has clearly shown that breastfeeding self-efficacy is predictive of breastfeeding duration and exclusivity, it is unknown whether it can be enhanced to improve breastfeeding outcomes. The purpose of this pilot randomized controlled trial was to examine the feasibility and compliance of a newly developed trial protocol and the acceptability of an intervention to increase breastfeeding self-efficacy in the immediate postpartum period. Secondary outcomes included determining whether there were any trends between groups related to breastfeeding self-efficacy, duration, and exclusivity. Participants included 150 primiparous mothers who were breastfeeding their healthy, full-term infants. Eligible and consenting mothers were randomized to either a control group (standard postpartum care) or an intervention group (standard postpartum care plus the self-efficacy intervention). Participants allocated to the intervention group received three individualized, self-efficacy enhancing sessions with the researcher; two sessions were conducted in hospital, and one was administered via telephone 1 week following hospital discharge. A research assistant blinded to group allocation collected outcome data at 4 and 8 weeks postpartum. The results suggested that the administration of the intervention was feasible and that there was a high degree of protocol compliance; the majority of participants reported that the intervention was beneficial. Secondary outcomes identified that there was a trend among participants in the intervention group to have improved breastfeeding outcomes, including higher rates of breastfeeding self-efficacy, duration, and exclusivity at 4 and 8 weeks postpartum. Preliminary evidence also suggested that the self-efficacy intervention may have assisted to decrease perceptions of insufficient milk supply among the intervention group participants. Overall, the findings from this pilot trial indicated that a larger trial is warranted.

While considerable research has explored the skills elite professionals use to sustain performance excellence in a multitude of disciplines, much less research has focused on professional musicians. Multi-faceted skills are needed to maintain performance excellence. This research investigates the deliberate skills and processes professional opera singers employ to preserve elite performance. Data drawn from individual semi-structured interviews with ten professional opera singers, with a minimum career length of ten to twenty years, were analyzed within the methodology of grounded theory. Results revealed a strong role for creation of a music "road-map" in the context of deliberate preparedness in both physical and mental skills, which contributed to high levels of learning self-efficacy. High-level skills cultivated in the preparation phase were applied directly within the context of live performance, facilitated "flow" experiences, involved energy exchanges with other performers and audiences, and resulted in higher levels of performing self-efficacy.

Fysisk aktivitet är en faktor som bidrar till ökad hälsa och välbefinnande. Trots det så hänvisar nationell statistik till att andelen inaktiva svenskar verkar vara bestående. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka eventuella skillnader och samband i motivation till fysisk aktivitet utifrån kön, ålder och aktivitetsnivå samt upplevda barriärer och handlingsstrategier. Data samlades in från träningsanläggningar och arbetsplatser i Halmstads kommun via forskningsadministrerade frågeformulär. Frågeformuläret innefattade de teoribaserade formulären IPAQ, MTUAM, BREQ-2 och GSE. Resultaten av studien visade bl.a. att kvinnor hade högre grad av inre motivation till fysisk aktivitet än män. Den högaktiva (HEPA-aktiva) gruppen var de som uppvisade högst grad av inre motivation. Ålder visade negativa korrelationer med aktivitetsnivå och introjicerad reglering och positiva samband med inre motivation och total aktivitetsnivå. Männen i studien hade högre generellt self-efficacy än kvinnor. Ålder, kön och aktivitetsnivå var således faktorer som påverkade motivation hos deltagarna i studien på olika sätt. Det viktigaste för att främja ett fysiskt aktivt beteende är utifrån resultaten av denna studie att ta hänsyn till den enskilda individen och dess förutsättningar.

This study examined the relationship of amateur golfers' perceptions of their perceived physical self-efficacy to their performances on the golf course. Ninety-one amateur golfers completed two questionnaires and a participant profile. The perception of their physical ability in general was measured by the Physical Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Perceived Golf Ability Questionnaire was developed to assess their perceptions of golfing self-efficacy. Respondents were asked to play 15 consecutive golf games and record their scores on an especially designed detailed scorecard. The participants' data were divided into five levels of performance based on their handicap indexes. It was hypothesized that players having greater skills (low handicap indexes) would have higher general perceived physical self-efficacy, than those having lesser skills (high handicap indexes). It was also hypothesized that the more golf-specific self-efficacy measure would be a better predictor of performance on the golf course. ANOVA and hierarchical regression analyses were employed to determine the predictive values of the two measures of perceived physical self-efficacy of actual golf performance. The general physical self-efficacy measure did not predict performance whereas the more golf-specific measure was a significant predictor of performance on the golf course. The ability of specific items of the golf self-efficacy measure to predict performance of various shots in golf was also examined.

Addiction counsellors provide the majority of treatment to individuals struggling with substance abuse and problem gambling behaviour and, therefore, compose an essential workforce for providing effective treatment to individuals with addictive behaviours. Given the growing body of research highlighting the effects of counsellors on client outcomes this study is among the first to use a mixed methods approach to study the job-related beliefs of addiction counsellors from Alberta, Canada. In Study 1, a quantitative survey was used to discover and describe 110 counsellors self-appraisals of self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and burnout from three previously validated survey instruments. In Study 2, 10 individual interviews were conducted to add depth and support to the quantitative Study 1 findings and add details about counsellor job motivation. Results from Study 1 reveal that counsellors are less confident in their skills for treating clients with co-occurring disorders and providing group counsel, are more satisfied with the intrinsic aspects of their jobs, and occasionally experience a low level of burnout in the form of emotional exhaustion and negative work environment. Furthermore, results support that greater self-efficacy is associated with greater job satisfaction, which are both associated with lower levels of burnout. Results from mediation analysis indicate self-efficacy mediates the relationship between job satisfaction and incompetence. Results from Study 2 highlight the importance of clients, learning opportunities, and organizational factors on counsellors job-related beliefs. / Psychological Studies in Education