Folkhälsomyndigheten rekommenderar och uppmuntrar att människor stannar hemma och begränsar sina sociala interaktioner i rådande covid-19 pandemi. Studenter vid Luleå Tekniska Universitet har börjat studera på distans som följ av detta. Tidigare forskning visar att social isolering kan kopplas till sämre mental hälsa. Därför är syftet i den aktuella studien att undersöka hur studenterna upplever sitt välmående under distansstudierna. Studien bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med 17 stycken studenter vid Luleå tekniska universitet. Materialet transkriberades och analyserades tematiskt. I föreliggande studie uttrycker studenterna att de umgås med sina närmsta vänner men saknar större sociala sammanhang. De framhäver både för- och nackdelar med att tidsdisponera sina liv. Studenterna uttrycker en oro för framtiden men skapar vardagsrutiner och tränar för sitt välmående. Vid tidpunkten för den aktuella studien verkar studenterna hantera situationen bra för att bibehålla ett sunt välmående utan några negativa effekter. / During the current covid-19 epidemic, recommendations from the Public Health Agency of Sweden encourage people to limit their social interactions. Students at Luleå University of Technology have started distance learning as a consequence of these limitations. Earlier research suggests that social isolation can be linked to negative effects of your well-being. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine students experience of their own wellbeing, during online courses. The results in this study are based on semi structured interviews with 17 participating students at Lulea University of Technology. This is then transcribed and analyzed thematically. In the current study the students still socialize with a smaller group of close friends but lack the interactions of bigger social contexts. They highlight both pros and cons with controlling time predisposition during their days. The students express concern about the future but exercise and create daily routines to cope. At the time of the current study it seems like the students handle this unique situation fairly well, without negative effects on their wellbeing.

People who live with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) have to carefully self-administer insulin to keep blood glucose levels in a safe healthy range – a complex and demanding task (WHO, 2016). Social support has been found to alleviate diabetes-stress and increase management behaviors (Mackey et al., 2016). Social support from family members is especially advantageous, however currently no single family-based intervention has been established to show reliable improvements in T1D outcomes (Rosland et al., 2010). A review of the literature reveals that social support promoting autonomy is associated with the best T1D outcomes; social support that undermines autonomy is associated with worse T1D outcomes (Kelly & Berg, 2018). These findings are consistent with the self-determination theory (SDT), which identifies autonomy as a psychological need (Ng et al., 2012). The findings of this literature review support the need for a disease-specific family-based intervention that is built on the foundations of SDT.

This qualitative case study examined art therapy services offered by Loyola Marymount University's Helen B. Landgarten Art Therapy Clinic to university students and staff amidst the transition back to in-person services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy of interventions and clinical themes that emerged as a result of the services offered to members of the university as they transitioned back to in-person services. Two focus groups were held to gather data from participants and facilitators of the workshops. The analysis of this data led researchers to find that the art therapy services resulted in decreased stress and created a sense of community support amongst both participants and facilitators. In addition, the researchers found other emergent clinical themes that were illuminated in the data collected from both focus groups. The findings from this study are supported by literature that aligns with the outcomes from the workshops: being effective in managing stress and building community support.

This qualitative descriptive (QD) study examined the experience of the woman newly diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The study employed Leventhal’s Self- Regulatory Theory to understand women’s illness representation of OSA, cognitive and emotional coping, and situational appraisal skills in coming to terms with OSA. The specific aims were to: 1) Describe the illness representation of women with a recent diagnosis (within one year) of OSA; 2) Describe the cognitive perceptions and emotional response to diagnosis and treatment of OSA in this sample of women; and, 3) Describe the meaning of OSA and the coping strategies used by this sample of women. The overarching theme of this study of a life-altering diagnosis required participants to process the health threatening information in both a conceptual and concrete process for dealing with both the physical and emotional aspects. The first two subthemes that emerged were Making sense of it, and Making it work as the women came to terms with their symptoms, diagnosis, and adapted to their treatment. For this sample of women, both acceptance (acknowledging the diagnosis of OSA and embracing treatment), and denial (not convinced of diagnosis or need for treatment, seeking alternatives) were factors in how they made sense of the situation. The making it work subtheme dealt with the women’s experiences adapting to treatment both physically and emotionally, including the appraisal, reconsideration and adjustments when they encountered difficulties and delays. A fluid iterative process included women participants describing how they appraised their situation often moving back and forth between acceptance, denial, seeking alternatives, struggling with treatment and moving forward. In both of these subthemes, family support and the stigma of OSA and CPAP were involved in how the women accepted and adapted to treatment. The third subtheme that emerged was Paying it forward as many women felt the obligation to help themselves by adapting a healthier lifestyle for themselves, their families and to assist others impacted by OSA. Women spoke of paying it forward by offering information and support to others not yet diagnosed, or are struggling with diagnosis and treatment. Many of these women were staunch advocates for other women to be tested, for HCPs to be more aware, to be more attuned to women’s sleep history, and to refer women for treatment. Implications of these findings include enhancing recognition and awareness by women of OSA symptoms, the need for diagnostic evaluation, and partner awareness as an important component of diagnosis and successful treatment for women. Study findings support recognition of women’s presentation of OSA including unusual symptoms for earlier diagnosis and treatment. Sleep partner awareness and support appear to be relevant to women in acceptance of a life altering diagnosis. Further exploration of modifiable factors such as prompt diagnosis and individualized treatment of women with OSA could also impact potential co-morbidities. Provision of further education and awareness by HCPs and insurance companies that women may not present with classic symptoms of OSA is also needed. Targeted interventions specific to women’s experiences with OSA include development of screening tools, care guidelines and treatments that enhance applicability, acceptability, and patient satisfaction. Future advocacy work will also require supporting women in “paying it forward” to help other women diagnosed with OSA.

The main aim of this dissertation is to identify the importance of utilizing both a behavior analytic lens and systemic thinking lens when working with families with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Currently, the prevalence of ASD is on the rise, which means more families are in need of services. Services are typically available for the individual with ASD or the family; however, it is the researcher’s belief that services delivered utilizing a both/and lens are more impactful. Through the use of transcendental phenomenology, trained behavior analysts and marriage and family therapists were interviewed to gain insight into their experiences working with families with children diagnosed with ASD. Specifically, this dissertation focused on clinicians who implement both lens. The findings of the study revealed three central themes and two subordinate themes: Participants noted boundaries that influence a dual perspective, Participants found it useful to use a dual perspective, Participants noted this is a different approach not shared by others, Participants found it useful to apply ABA and systemic thinking in a specific order, and Participants found a larger systems perspective useful. The experiences of participants were captured through these themes. Their experiences suggest that the utilization of a dual perspective, while challenging, is more beneficial to families with children diagnosed with ASD. This demonstrates a large need for dual perspectives’ training in both ABA and systemic thinking fields.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Haitian immigrant population in the United States is the fourth largest immigrant group from the Caribbean after immigrants from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Jamaica. Cortes (2008) and the United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF) reported that 17% of children born from two-parent families in some Caribbean countries had a migrating parent at some time in their childhood (Cortes, 2008). Using a phenomenological study enlightened how Haitian adult children have coped with transnational separation, which is a term used to describe families who live in different countries while trying to maintain a collective welfare and unity across borders (Falicov, 2007). The goal of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine the experiences of adult children who lived in Haiti and were raised by relatives while their parents lived in the United States. The saturation of theme was a maximum of six adult children (not gender specific). The primary data collection method was in-depth interviews with the adult children inviting them to recount their experiences growing up in Haiti while their parents lived in the United States. I attempted to explore the major stressors of financial, emotional, and psychological strains. For example, how did those children maintain a relationship with their parents and cope with family separation? The data was coded and analyzed according to the research questions. These conversations privilege the voices of adult children who have experienced this phenomenon.

The purpose of this study was to investigate which of 26 prepositions are acquired expressively by educable mentally retarded children. This study was designed to 'determine if there was a significant difference between the number of prepositions expressed by an EMR sample and those expressed by normals of similar mental age, and if the same prepositions were used by the two groups at given mental ages. The correlation between chronological age and the number of prepositions expressed by the EMR population was also investigated.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Self-Help Information Service (SIS) and to obtain information necessary for the improvement of the service. The study also described the development and operation of SIS and assessed the use and effect of the service. The evaluation of SIS was based on initial global utilization data and the results of participant satisfaction surveys targeted at four distinct groups: (1) Self-Help Project staff, (2) Tri-County Information and Referral Service staff, (3) self-help groups, and (4) callers of the service (potential members of self-help groups). The Self-Help Project and Tri-County I & R staffs represent staff samples; the self-help groups and potential members represent consumer samples.

Over the past 15 years, mental health professionals have seen an increasing number of Vietnam combat veterans suffering from stress disorders resulting from the trauma of combat and continued exposure to life threatening situations. Prior to 1980, professional repudiation of and hostility toward Vietnam veterans and toward a clinical reality of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was common while nondiagnosis and nontreatment was prevalent

The present study examined the relationship between the cognitive skill of role-or perspective-taking and naturally occurring behavior of behaviorally disordered children. Twenty-six boys, aged five years, nine months to twelve years, two months were tested and observed at their treatment facility. It was predicted that children who could take the perspective of others would prefer peer to adult interaction, would more likely give positive attention to their peers and would be more likely to use effective language than their non perspective-taking peers. These and related hypotheses were examined by observing each participant's interactive behavior for 36 minutes distributed over three different settings, lunch, freetime and organized activity on six or more different days. To determine perspective-taking skill, two perspective taking instruments were administered in a separate room at the treatment site. One measure (the Chandler role-taking task) required a child to tell a story from a series of three cartoon pictures and then retell the story from the point of view of a late arriving bystander. The other task (the Friendship interview from the Selman Measure of Interpersonal Understanding) assessed role-taking on the basis of the child's responses to questions about a filmstrip story that depicted a common dilemma between close friends. The variety and frequency of effective words was assessed by counting the effective words used by the child when responding to the first role-taking task, the cartoon stories. A vocabulary test was administered at the same time as the other cognitive measures. Before data analysis began, such methodological concerns as reliability of the observational code, reliability of the judges' scoring of the role-taking tasks and internal consistency of the measures were addressed. Cognitive measures, use of effective language and behavioral categories were then correlated with each other. The vocabulary test was used to partial general verbal skill from the relationship of role-taking and effective language. In addition to examining relationships among the measures, the children were divided into perspective-taking and non perspective-taking groups and compared on the various behavioral and language measures.