Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka om möjliga själv är relaterade till personlighet och känsla av sammanhang samt huruvida kön och ålder påverkar dessa relationer. Studien genomfördes på kadetter genom en enkätundersökning. Enkäten bestod av bakgrunds frågor, yrkesrelaterade möjliga själv (The Possible Selves Statements Test), personlighet (The Five Factor Personality Inventory) och känsla av sammanhang (KASAM). Resultatet visar att kluster (K-means) av personlighetsprofiler inte skiljer sig signifikant åt vad gäller möjliga själv, däremot uppvisades skillnader mellan personlighetsprofilerna vad gäller känslor och förväntningar kring möjliga själv. Liknande resultat erhölls avseende relationen mellan KASAM och möjliga själv. Kön och ålder påverkar inte dessa relationer. / The aim of this thesis is to study if possible self is related to personality and sense of coherence, and if gender and age has any influence on those relationships. A questionnaire was distributed to cadets. It contained background, work related possible selves (The Possible Selves Statements Test), personality (The Five Factor Personality Inventory) and sense of coherence (KASAM). The results showed that different clusters (K-means) of personality profiles do not differ significantly in possible selves. Differences were found between the personality profiles considering feelings and expectations around possible selves. Similar results were found considering the relationship between sense of coherence and possible selves. Gender and age didn’t influence those relationships.

Forskning har visat att self-efficacy, självkänsla, KASAM och locus of control alla har en effekt på graden av upplevd stress. Dock inte alla tillsammans, vilket denna studie avsåg att undersöka samt deras inbördes relationer och vilken variabel som predicerar stress bäst. Högskolestudenter (n = 65) svarade på varsin enkät. Resultatet visade att alla variablerna hade signifikant negativ korrelation med upplevd stress. Ju högre nivå på variablerna desto mindre stressade var studenterna. De kvinnliga studenterna var mer stressade än de manliga. Resultatet visade även genom multiple regression att self-efficacy var den variabel som var viktigast för att hantera stress inför en examination, näst viktigast var KASAM. Slutsatsen blev att dessa variabler hade en avgörande inbördes relation när det gäller graden av upplevd stress inför en examination.

THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE YOUNG ADULTS EXPERIENCE´ OF RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT. THE STUDY WAS QUALITATIVE, BASED ON INTERVIEWS WITH FIVE RESPONDENTS WHO HAD STAYED AT A TREATMENT HOME FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME. THE FOCUS WAS ON THE RESPONDENTS´ EXPERIENCES OF MILIEU THERAPY AND THEIR VIEW ON NORMALITY. THE RESULTS WERE ANALYZED FROM EARLIER RESEARCH, THEORIES FROM SYMBOLIC-INTERACTIONISM AND ANTONOVSKYS´ THEORY ABOUT SENSE OF COHERENCE. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT THE RESPONDENTS HAD TO EXAGGERATE THEIR DYSFUNCTIONAL BEHAVIOUR IN ORDER TO FIT AMONG THE OTHER RESIDENTS. THE GROUP OF RESIDENTS HAD A MAJOR IMPACT ON THE RESPONDENTS´ EXPERIENCE OF THE STAY. THEY ALSO EXPERIENCED THAT SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS WERE CONTAGIOUS WITHIN THE GROUP. AFTER THE TREATMENT THE RESPONDENTS FELT MORE SECURE IN THEMSELVES AND HAD A BETTER CONNECTION WITH THEIR FAMILIES. NORMALIZATION THROUGH EDUCATION SEEMS TO HAVE TAKEN PLACE SINCE ALL THE RESPONDENTS EXCEPT ONE ARE INVOLVED IN AN EDUCATION-PROGRAM NOW.

I denna uppsats undersöker jag relationen mellan känsla av sammanhang (KASAM) och styrkan i den religiösa tron (SCSORF) genom en enkätundersökning genomförd utifrån ett bekvämt urval. Resultatet från undersökningen visade att ingen korrelation föreligger mellan KASAM och SCSORF och att styrkan i den religiösa tron därför inte kan antas påverka KASAM. Dock innebär urvalsmetoden och storleken på urvalet (n = 22) att denna slutsats är osäker och att en större undersökning med bättre forskningsdesign behövs för att slutligen kunna fastställa om styrkan i den religiösa tron påverkar KASAM.

Stress is part of everyday life and in the working conditions of the social services in Sweden. Thus each and every person has resources and strategies to cope with those stressors that construct the assumption of stress. The aim of this study was to understand how persons in leading positions of the LSS of Social Services in Kalmar experience and cope with stressors in their leadership and organization and to investigate what factors during working and non-working hours promote health. Influenced by the theoretical approach of Aaron Antonovsky´s Sense of Coherence seven qualitative interviews were conducted with persons in leading positions. They were asked about stressors, coping strategies, resources and health promoting factors that help to cope with stressors. The interviewees stated that stressors like unclear role description and heavy workload are among others a major part of the role as leader. They also stated that the role as a leader was more desirable than being a chief. Coping strategies were found to help control the daily stressors. Factors during working and non-working hours which promote health were found to be important as a factor to gain energy, relaxation and meaningfulness.

The aim of this study has been to create an understanding for the situation of an often forgotten group in foster care, the carers’ own children. Our main focus has been the experience this group has of foster care, their experience of participation in caring for the foster children and their possible need of support and help. Our chosen method has been qualitative interviews with six adult children of foster carers, two men and four women. The theory used in this study has been Sense of Coherence. Our interviewees gave mainly a positive description of being part of a foster family even though they could give examples of difficult situation and of loss. All of them gave different examples of how they had participated in the care of foster children, such as babysitting, defending foster siblings in school and supporting them. Despite their over all positive memories most of them wished they had been offered better support, preferably counseling with advice on how to act in difficult situations. A main focus for the interviewees seemed to be the need for better information as well as education about why the foster children act as they do.

Fibromyalgi är en sjukdom som karaktäriseras av smärta, trötthet och stelhet och sjukdomen är vanligare hos kvinnor än hos män. Syftet med litteraturöversikten var att beskriva personers upplevelse av smärta vid fibromyalgi. KASAM användes som teoretisk förankring. En kvalitativ ansats valdes och sammanlagt har 13 vetenskapliga artiklar sammanställts till ett resultat. Artiklarna har kvalitetsgranskats enligt Hälsohögskolans granskningsprotokoll, med fokus på etiska överväganden. Därefter analyserades de enligt en fem stegsmodell. Resultatet bildade tre teman som innehöll hur personer med fibromyalgi upplevde omgivningens misstro över deras smärta, hur deras sociala liv påverkades och hur detta ledde till ensamhet. Det framkom även att de upplevde begränsningar av olika slag i det dagliga livet, och andra svårigheter som bidrog till att de inte kunde planera sin vardag. Sömn, trötthet och smärta framkom som sammankopplade och bildade en ond cirkel som påverkade varandra. Olika känslor och upplevelser framkom, samt sätt att hantera livet efter sjukdomsdebuten och olika lindrande faktorer. Slutsatsen är att personer med fibromyalgi ofta känner sig misstrodda från omgivningen och även hälso- och sjukvården. Fibromyalgi visade sig påverka personerna på flera olika plan som psykiskt, fysiskt, socialt och emotionellt. / Fibromyalgia is a disease characterized by pain, fatigue and stiffness and the disease is more common in women than in men. The purpose of this literature review was to describe peoples experience of pain in fibromyalgia. SOC was used as the theoretical anchor. A qualitative approach was chosen and a total of 13 scientific papers compiled a result. Articles have been quality assessed under Health Academy review protocols, focusing on ethical considerations. They were analyzed according to a five-stage model. The results formed the three themes which included how people with fibromyalgia experienced ambient distrust over their pain, how their social life were affected and how this led to loneliness. It also showed that the perceived limitations of various kinds in daily life contributed to difficulty in planning their lives. Sleep, fatigue and pain emerged as interconnected, forming a vicious cycle that affected each other. Different feelings and experiences emerged, and ways to deal with life after illness onset and various mitigation factors. The conclusion is that people with fibromyalgia often feel distrusted from the environment and even health care. Fibromyalgia was found to affect people on many levels such as mentally, physically, socially and emotionally.

Syftet med denna studie var att utvärdera Perrongen, en insats med kvalificerade kontaktpersoner för ungdomar i riskzonen för missbruk eller social problematik, och följa upp de ungdomar som medverkat i insatsen. 8 ungdomar deltog i den kvalitativa studien, och intervjuades under ungefär en timme vardera om deras bakgrund, insatstid och om livet efter insatsen med utgångs-punkt i ungdomarnas familj och nätverk. Resultatet var övervägande positivt, och samtliga ungdomar lever idag ett, i olika grader, betydligt mer hälsosamt liv än vid perioden för insatsen. / The aim with the present study was to do an evaluation of Perrongen, a program containing qualified mentors regarding youths being in the danger zone of getting addicted to alcohol and drugs or having problems in their social life, and do a follow-up on the youths taking part in the program. 8 youths took part in the qualitative study, and was interviewed for about an hour each about their background, the time of, and life after, the program with my premise being the family and network of the youths. The results were mainly positive, and all of the participating youths are today living a, on different levels, much healthier life then by the time of the program.

En förutsättning för att undvika depression och istället uppleva posttraumatiskt växande (PTG), efter att ha upplevt belastande livshändelser, kan vara känslan av sammanhang (KASAM). Denna studie syftar till att undersöka om det finns en skillnad mellan belastande livshändelser avseende negativa utfallet depression samt undersöka om en stark KASAM kan vara avgörande för att individen istället utvecklar PTG. I studien undersöks 150 studerande vid Örebro universitet. Av resultatet framgår det att studenterna med högt värde av belastande livshändelser är mer deprimerade än studenterna med lågt värde, oberoende av KASAM. Dock hittades ingen signifikant skillnad mellan belastande livshändelser och KASAM avseende PTG.Huruvida belastande händelser utvecklar en positiv eller negativ förändring hos individen kan istället avgöras av personens tolkning, hantering av situationen. / A basis to avoid depression and instead experience posttraumatic growth (PTG), after stressful life events, may be a sense of coherence (SOC). This study investigates whether there is a difference between stressful life events regarding the negative outcome depression and to examine whether a strong sense of coherence can be essential to develop PTG instead. 150 students at Örebro University were examined. The result showed that students with high value of stressful life events are more depressed than students with low value, independent of SOC. However, no significant difference was found between stressful life events and SOC regarding to PTG.Whether a stressful event develops a positive or negative change in the individual may instead be determined by how the person interprets and handles the situation.

InSwedenhaving a high degree of intelligence is controversial and giftedness is not always seen as an asset.  Twenty-four gifted adolescents from the high-IQ organization MensaSwedenresponded to questions about their sense of coherence as well as to open-ended questions about how their intelligence affected their lives in the contexts of school, friends, and family.  A thematic analysis of the open-ended questions was performed.  Most of the participants wrote about school being under-stimulating and not fitting them.  In the cases where school was seen as stimulating, this was due to individual teachers or school systems other than the traditional Swedish school.  In the context of friends, the adolescents felt support and viewed their friends as an important part of their lives, although good friends were hard to find, especially before secondary school.  Like friends, the family was mostly seen as a positive context where the adolescents could find support.  A majority of the participants felt they had trouble fitting in with people in general, with the exceptions of close friends and family.  The implications of these results are that the Swedish school system needs to be more flexible and that despite school being seen as negative in many cases, friends and family act as buffers to promote adolescents' well-being.