The regular practice of meditation has been shown to reduce stress and increase well-being. However, there is limited information on how meditation feels or is subjectively experienced by the meditator. This naturalistic inquiry uses a phenomenological approach to explore the phenomenon of meditation as lived experience with a group of novice meditators taking part in a 4-week mindfulness meditation program. Nineteen college students were divided into 4 groups. Each group met once a week for a 30-minute guided meditation session followed by a 30-minute focus group during which participants shared their experiences. Individual interviews were conducted at the end of the study. The focus groups and individual interviews were audio recorded. Analysis of the transcribed data revealed 12 key constituents of the experience of meditation occurring at different stages of the meditation process. The key constituents were then placed along a timeline of a typical 30-minute session. A diagrammatic representation was created to illustrate the general "shape" of a meditation session. The variable nature of the meditation experience was also revealed: no two meditation sessions were experienced in the same way by the same meditator, and no two meditators had identical meditation experiences, although there were inherent similarities. A sample of the language novice meditators use to describe their experiences was also documented. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) was administered pre-study and post-study to measure changes in perceived stress over the course of the study. Reductions in perceived stress were measured in 76.5% of the participant group, or 13 of the 17 students who completed the study. These results were significant, t (16)=3.49, p=0.003. The findings in this study show meditation to have the distinctive characteristics of an altered state of consciousness. Meditation may be regarded as a self-induced, adaptive, altered state of consciousness that enables the meditator to relax and effectively reduce levels of perceived stress. These findings provide a new perspective of meditation, particularly with regard to how meditation is subjectively experienced by novice meditators. This information may help to demystify meditation and encourage those considering this healthful practice. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

Objectives Different studies have reported the association between perceived stress and unhealthy diet choices. We aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between perceived stress and fat intake among undergraduate medical students. Methods/Principal findings A cross-sectional study was performed including first-year medical students. The outcome of interest was the self-report of fat intake assessed using the Block Screening Questionnaire for Fat Intake (high vs. low intake), whereas the exposure was perceived stress (low/ normal vs. high levels). The prevalence of high fat intake was estimated and the association of interest was determined using prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Models were created utilizing Poisson regression with robust standard errors. Data from 523 students were analyzed, 52.0% female, mean age 19.0 (SD 1.7) years. The prevalence of high fat intake was 42.4% (CI: 38.2%–46.7%). In multivariate model and compared with those with lowest levels of stress, those in the middle (PR = 1.59; 95%CI: 1.20–2.12) and highest (PR = 1.92; 95%CI: 1.46–2.53) categories of perceived stress had greater prevalence of fat intake. Gender was an effect modifier of this association (p = 0.008). Conclusions Greater levels of perceived stress were associated with higher fat intake, and this association was stronger among males. More than 40% of students reported having high fat consumption. Our results suggest the need to implement strategies that promote decreased fat intake.

De manière générale, avoir un emploi est un élément de satisfaction pour la plupart des personnes. En revanche, beaucoup de salariés sont sujets au stress, ce qui a une incidence non négligeable à la fois sur les individus et sur les structures. Ces dernières ne possèdent souvent pas de modèles appropriés pour évaluer de manière approfondie ce phénomène. Le manque de connaissances précises du stress au travail, et de ses origines, particulièrement les deux dimensions du statut personnel et le statut professionnel en France, nous a conduits à réaliser un diagnostic approfondi pendant plusieurs années au sein d’une grande entreprise industrielle sur plusieurs sites. L’entreprise choisie est emblématique de l’organisation du travail industriel en France. La cartographie du stress au travail, avec l’identification des populations principalement exposées, devrait être applicable à d’autres organisations afin de définir rapidement un plan d’actions anti-stress, sans avoir à réaliser préalablement un état des lieux détaillé ; pour le plus grand bénéfice des salariés, de l’ambiance de travail et de la production. Les différentes parties prenantes au déploiement d’une politique contre le stress, à savoir : les salariés, l’encadrement, les directions des ressources humaines, les psychologues du travail, les médecins du travail ont été sollicités dans le cadre de cette recherche.Après un diagnostic général, face au grand nombre de thèmes de recherches possibles et du fait de l’insuffisance d’études sur la relation entre le statut personnel et la situation de travail avec les autres facteurs déjà intégrés aux modèles classiques sur le stress au travail, nous nous sommes concentrés sur ce sujet en définissant un modèle théorique à valider expérimentalement au travers de questionnaires. Dans la recherche présente, nous expliquons comment nous avons constaté que, parmi les facteurs liés au stress professionnel, la catégorie « situation de travail » influence plus ce phénomène que la catégorie « statut personnel ». Parmi les facteurs présents dans la catégorie « situation de travail », les plus importants par ordre décroissant sont : la catégorie socioprofessionnelle, la pratique de l’anglais, et l’ancienneté. Parmi les facteurs présents dans la catégorie « statut personnel », les plus importants par ordre décroissant sont : le niveau de formation, le genre et l’âge. Ce constat est plutôt une bonne nouvelle pour les entreprises, car elles pourront diminuer le stress au travail en agissant sur la situation de travail, sachant qu’elles ne peuvent intervenir sur le statut personnel des salariés. Cette contribution devra être complétée par d’autres recherches afin de renforcer l’exhaustivité du diagnostic sur le stress au travail et de conduire des plans d’action complets couvrant tous les thèmes. / In general, having a job is a satisfactory factor for the majority of persons. However, most of the employees are stress-prone, which has an important effect both on individuals and on structures. Those structures often do not possess relevant standards to thoroughly evaluate this phenomenon.The lack of precise knowledge about stress at work and its origins, especially the two dimensions of personal status and professional status in France, has led us to conduct a thorough diagnosis for several years on several plants of a large industrial company. The chosen company is emblematic of the industrial labour organization in France. The mapping of stress at work, with the identification of mainly exposed populations, should be applicable to other organizations to quickly set an anti-stress action plan, without first making a detailed inventory; for the greatest benefit of employees and the work environment and production. The different stakeholders interested in deploying a policy against stress, the employees, the hierarchy, Human Resources Departments, occupational psychologists, occupational doctors have been solicited as part of this research. After a general diagnosis, facing the large number of possible research topics and because of the lack of studies on the relationship between staff’s personal status and "professional situation" with the other factors already integrated within conventional models about stress at work, we focused on this issue by defining a theoretical model to be validated experimentally through questionnaires. In this research we explain how we found that among the factors related to stress at work, the category "professional situation" influenced this phenomenon more than the "personal status" category.Among the factors in the category "professional situation", the most important in decreasing order are: socio-professional category, English practice, and seniority. Among the factors in the "personal status" category, the most important in decreasing order are: the level of education, gender and age. This finding is rather good news for companies because they will be able to reduce stress at work by acting on the "professional situation", knowing that they cannot interfere with the personal status of employees. This contribution should be supplemented by other researches to enhance the completeness of the diagnosis about stress at work and to conduct complete actions plans covering all topics.

Objective: To determine the association between perceived stress and the presence of musculoskeletal disorders in physicians at La Caleta de Chimbote Hospital and Eleazar Guzmán Barrón Regional Hospital in Ancash, Peru. Methods. An exploratory cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in 116 physicians. The Nordic Questionnaire was used to determine the areas of musculoskeletal pain and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) to assess the level of stress. The sociodemographic and occupational characteristics of the population were evaluated from the measurement of proportions and measures of central tendency and dispersion. For the bivariate analysis, Fisher's exact test and Chi2 were used. Finally, the multivariate analysis, based on a Logistics Regression model, was calculated with the crude and adjusted Odd Ratio (OR) [95% Confidence Intervals (CI)]. Results: The responses of 71 evaluations from a group of people between ages 34 to 59 (median 48) with a higher predominance of males (72%) were analyzed. No statistically significant association was found between the presence of non-specific musculoskeletal disorders and the perception of stress (p = 0.066); However, cervical, lumbar, hip / leg and ankle / foot pain specifically did show a significant association (p = 0.009; p = 0.033; p = 0.033 and p = 0.034, respectively). Finally, the cervical area maintained its association when performing the crude analysis and adjusted to physical activity (ORc = 7.29; 95% CI = 1.51-35.21 / ORa = 7.29 95% CI = 1.25-42.37). Anatomical areas such as lumbar, hip / leg and ankle / foot showed a non-significant association when performing the multivariate analysis. / Objetivo: Determinar la asociación entre el nivel de estrés percibido y la presencia de trastornos musculoesqueléticos en médicos del hospital La Caleta de Chimbote y Hospital Regional Eleazar Guzmán Barrón en Ancash, Perú. Métodos. Se realizó un estudio exploratorio de tipo transversal analítico en 116 médicos. Se utilizó el cuestionario nórdico para determinar las zonas de dolor musculoesqueléticos y la Escala de Estrés Percibido (EEP-10) para valorar el nivel de estrés. Se evaluaron las características sociodemográficas y ocupacionales de la población a partir de la medición de proporciones y medidas de tendencia central y dispersión. Para la realización del análisis bivariado se utilizó la prueba exacta de Fisher, Chi2. Finalmente, el análisis multivariado, a partir de un modelo de Regresión de Logística, se calculó con el Odd Ratio (OR) crudo y ajustado [Intervalos de Confianza (IC) al 95%]. Resultados: Se analizaron las respuestas de 71 evaluaciones de un grupo de personas de entre 34 a 59 años (mediana 48) con mayor predominio del sexo masculino (72%). No se encontró asociación estadísticamente significativa entre la presencia de trastornos musculoesqueléticos de manera inespecífica y la percepción de estrés (p=0.066); sin embargo, el dolor cervical, lumbar, cadera/pierna y tobillo/pie específicamente sí mostraron asociación significativa (p=0,009; p=0.033; p=0.033 y p=0.034, respectivamente). Finalmente, la zona cervical mantuvo su asociación al realizar el análisis crudo y ajustado a la actividad física (ORc=7.29; IC95%=1.51-35.21 / ORa=7.29 IC95%=1.25-42.37). Zonas anatómicas como lumbar, cadera/pierna y tobillo/pie mostraron asociación no significativa al realizar el análisis multivariado. / Tesis

Bien que des émotions soient rapportées dans une vaste majorité de rêves, nous en savons encore peu sur les facteurs qui expliquent les variations d’une nuit à l’autre et d’une personne à l’autre dans l’expérience affective des rêves. Nous avons examiné la relation entre des variables de trait et d’état à l’éveil en testant des modèles multiniveaux destinés à prédire la valence affective des rêves de tous les jours. Des participants de la population générale ont complété des mesures de personnalité et d’historique de traumatismes, suivies de trois semaines de questionnaires quotidiens sur leur rappel de rêves, la valence des émotions rêvées, ainsi que leurs niveaux de stress perçu dans la journée et avant le coucher. Les effets intra-individuels étaient responsables d’une majorité de la variance en valence émotionnelle des rêves. L’anxiété de trait était la seule variable à prédire de façon statistiquement significative la valence émotionnelle des rêves au niveau inter-individuel. En accentuant le besoin de mesures plus affinées dans ce domaine de la recherche sur les rêves, nos résultats font ressortir des limites et biais méthodologiques associés à l’estimation rétrospective de l’affect général à l’éveil et en rêve, en plus de mettre en évidence des variables d’état qui pourraient mieux expliquer la variance intra-individuelle des émotions vécues dans les rêves de tous les jours. / Although emotions are reported in a large majority of dreams, little is known about the factors that account for night-to-night and person-to-person variations in people’s experience of dream affect. We investigated the relationship between waking trait and state variables and dream affect by testing multilevel models intended to predict the affective valence of people’s everyday dreams. Participants from the general population completed measures of personality and trauma history followed by a three-week daily journal in which they noted dream recall, valence of dreamed emotions, as well as their level of perceived stress for the day and prior to sleep onset. Within-subject effects accounted for most of the variance in the reported valence of dream affect. Trait anxiety was the only variable that significantly predicted dream emotional valence at the between-subjects level. While highlighting the need for more fine-grained measures in this research field, our results point to methodological limitations and biases associated with retrospective estimates of general dream and waking affect, and bring into focus state variables that may best explain observed within-subject variance in emotions experienced in everyday dreams.

This thesis explores how dental students experience their education. We aim to generate ways to understand which elements relate to the students’ experience based on current theories and models regarding the quality of working life and gender (and) power relations.   Methods Twelve interviews with Umeå dental students in their clinical semesters were analysed with a Grounded Theory (GT) as well as a content analysis approach. A web-survey was sent to all clinical dental students in Sweden (P ≈ 805) with a response rate of 40% (p = 322). The quantitative methods included structural equation modelling and cluster analysis. Results The GT analysis resulted in the core category “Experiencing ambiguity,” that captured the student’s role-ambiguity. Central categories focused on perceived stress and performance assessment in relation to ambiguous inner and outer demands. The content analysis resulted in three categories: “Notions of inequalities,” “Gendering,” and “The student position.” These categories present the ways groups of students are constructed in relation to the student/dentist norm and social gender relations, and how women and men of foreign descent risk subordination and stereotyping. The SEM-model contained psychosocial work environment, tolerance for ambiguity, perceived stress, and student satisfaction. Work environment influenced both perceived stress and satisfaction, and stood for almost all of the explained variance in perceived stress for women, indicating that women are constructed as co-responsible for the work environment. About half of the variance for the men was explained by tolerance for ambiguity, indicating that the feeling of uncertainty may lead to stress in men who include “being in control” in their gender identity. The cluster analysis resulted in a six-cluster solution ranging from “The fresh and positive” to “The worn critiques.” Psychosocial work environment again appeared to be the main factor. Gender also appears to be a factor as the gender distribution in the best as well as the two worst clusters differs from the population. Conclusion Work environment stands out among the factors that relate to the students wellbeing and satisfaction, but the student group is heterogeneous and the ways students perceive their work environment relate to different processes and experiences. We suggest that the ways gender and ethnicity appear to be constructed in relation to the sociocultural gender power relations and the (traditional) medical hierarchy could be of importance for how the students’ experience their psychosocial work environment.

Bakgrund. Föräldrar till barn som har cancer upplever en livssituation som präglas av osäkerhet och oro och de ställs inför sociala och känslo­mässiga utmaningar. Jämfört med föräldrar till friska barn, upplever de också högre stress och drabbas i större utsträckning av posttraumatiska stres­symptom. Trots att information om barnets sjukdom är ett centralt behov för föräldrarna, upplever de otillfredsställelse med den information som ges. Syfte. Syftet med denna avhandling var att inom barnonkologisk vård beskriva vårdares och föräldrars upplevelser av information, studera deras inbördes interaktion samt beskriva upplevelser och effekter av en intervention för personcentrerad information till föräldrar. Metod. I delstudie I–III användes fokusgruppintervjuer (I, II), individ­uella intervjuer (II, III) och deltagande observationer (III). Deltagarna bestod av 20 vårdare (I), 14 föräldrar till barn med cancer (II) respektive 25 vårdare och 25 föräldrar (III). Data analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys (I, II) och diskurspsykologi (III). I delstudie IV testades en intervention för per­son­cen­tre­rad information på åtta föräldrar med hjälp av en experimentell single-case-design. Data samlades in med kvalitativa intervjuer och internetenkäter. Upplevd stress, kroppsliga symptom på stress, ångest, nedstämdhet och tillfredsställelse med information var utfallsmått. Resultat. I delstudie I bestod resultatet av två teman: anpassa mängden information till föräldrarnas behov, som handlade om skillnader i hur mycket information som gavs till föräldrarna utifrån vårdarnas bedömning av föräldrarnas behov, och navigera i en vag struktur, som handlade om brister i ansvar, miljö, tajming och språk när informationen lämnades. I delstudie II konstruerades två teman. Känna sig bekräftad som en viktig person handlade om att föräldrarna kände sig trygga, kunde hålla hoppet uppe och fick stöd från andra föräldrar. Temat var mer framträdande under behandlingens tidiga skeden. Det andra temat var känna sig som en objuden gäst vilket handlade om att kännas övergiven vid viktiga milstolpar, att tvingas tjata sig till information och att belastas av att själv behöva informera andra inom sjukvården. I delstudie III använde vårdarna tolkningsrepertoarer som var barn-, föräldra- eller familjeorienterade, vilket avspeglade deras primära fokus i interaktionen. Föräldrarna använde tolkningsrepertoarer som talesperson, observatör eller familjemedlem. Hur dessa kombinerades inbördes påverkade interaktionen. I delstudie IV erfor föräldrarna stor tillfredsställelse med den per­son­cen­tre­rade informationen och upplevde att de hade nytta av att på egen hand få diskutera barnets sjukdom och ställa frågor de annars inte skulle ställt. Interventionen visade ingen effekt på stress eller kroppsliga symptom på stress, ångest och nedstämdhet. Slutsatser. För att förbättra information till föräldrar som har barn med cancer är det en central uppgift att bedöma hur mycket och vilken information som ska ges vid varje tillfälle, att uppmärksamma att föräldrarna kan ha andra informationsbehov än barnet och att möten med föräldrarna ska ske i lugn och ro samt att organisera vården så att ansvaret är tydligt. I synnerhet bör det ske förbättringar kring det som föräldrarna upplever som viktiga milstolpar under barnets sjukdomstid. Interventionen för per­son­cen­tre­rad information uppskattades av föräldrar som har barn med cancer men effekten på föräldrarnas psykosociala välbefinnande behöver utforskas ytterligare. / Background. Parents of children with cancer experience a life situation characterised by uncertainty and worries, and they face ongoing social and emotional challenges. Compared to parents of healthy children, they also experience increased levels of perceived stress and they suffer to a greater extent from post-traumatic stress symptoms. Even though information about the child’s disease is crucial for parents, they still experience low satis­faction with the information given to them. Aim. The aim of this thesis was to, within the field of paediatric oncology care, describe health care professionals’ and parents’ experiences from infor­mation, study their joint interaction and describe experiences and effects from an intervention based on person-centred information to parents. Methods. For study I–III, focus group interviews (I, II), individual inter­views (II, III), and participant observations (III) were used. Participants were 20 health care professionals (I), 14 parents of children with cancer (II) and 25 health care professionals and 25 parents (III). Data were analysed by qualitative content analysis (I, II) and discursive psychology (III). In study IV, an intervention for person-centred information was tested on 8 parents using a single-case experimental design. Data were collected with qualitative interviews and web questionnaires. Outcome measures were perceived stress, physical symptoms from stress, anxiety, depression, and satisfaction with information. Results. In study I, the analysis resulted in two themes, Matching the amount of information to the parents’ needs, which dealt with differences in the amount of information provided to parents according to the health care professionals’ assess­ment of parental needs, and Navigating through a vague structure, which was about shortcomings in responsibilities, setting, timing, and language when parents were informed. In study II, two themes were constructed. Feeling acknowledged as a person of significance was about feeling safe and secure, having one’s hopes supported and getting relief from other families. This was accentuated early in the treatment trajectory. Feeling like an unwelcome guest was about feeling abandoned at important milestones, feeling forced to nag for information and being burdened by informing others. In study III, the health care professionals used interpretative repertoires that were child, parent, or family oriented, which mirrored the primary focus of the inter­action. Parents used repertoires as a spokesperson, an observer, or a family member. The combination of the repertoires steered the interaction. In study IV, parents reported a high satisfaction with the person-centred information intervention and perceived benefits from having their own time to discuss the child’s disease and pose questions that they otherwise would not have an opportunity to ask. No effects from the intervention were demon­strated on perceived stress, physical symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depressive mood. Conclusion. To improve information to parents of children with cancer, a central task is to assess the amount of and what information given to parents, pay attention to possible differences in infor­mation needs between parents and children, as well as to organise the care so that the respon­si­bilities are clear and that parents are met in a calm setting. Improvements at important milestones during the illness period should be pri­ori­tised. A person-centred information inter­ven­tion is perceived as bene­ficial by parents, however, its effect on perceived parental stress has further to be investigated.

No description available.

The aim of this study was to identify the psychological variables that predict the mental health in a sample of 1, 024 students from Lima and Huánuco. For this purpose, the following scales were used: General Self-efficacy, Coping Estimation Inventory (COPE 60), Academic Experiences Questionnaire (QVA-r), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and SF36 questionnaire.Results showed that perceived stress, the avoidant coping, the interpersonal area and study center predict mental health. The mediation analysis revealed that stress mediates the relation between the avoidant coping and the mental health. These findings of this  research may contribute to the development of programs to improve the mental health in college students. / La presente investigación tiene como objetivo identificar las variables psicológicas que predicen la salud mental en una muestra de 1,024 estudiantes universitarios de Lima y Huánuco. Para ello, se aplicaron las siguientes escalas: Autoeficacia General, el Cuestionario de Estimación del Afrontamiento (COPE 60), el Cuestionario de Vivencias Académicas (QVA-r), la Escala de Estrés percibido (PSS) y el cuestionario SF 36. Los resultados indican que el estrés, el estilo de afrontamiento evitativo, el área interpersonal y el centro de estudios predicen la salud mental. El análisis de mediación indica que el estrés media la relación entre el estilo evitativo y la salud mental. Los hallazgos de la presente investigación pueden contribuir con el desarrollo de programas que busquen mejorar la salud mental de los estudiantes universitarios. / A presente investigação tem como objetivo identificar as variáveis psicológicas que preveem a saúde mental em uma amostra de 1.024 estudantes universitários de Lima e Huánuco.Para isso, se aplicaram as seguintes escalas: Auto eficácia Geral, Questionário de Estimativa de Enfrentamento (COPE 60), o Questionário de Vivencias Acadêmicas (QVA-r), a Escala de Estresse Percebido (PSS) e o Questionário SF36. Os resultados indicam que o estresse, o estilo de enfrentamento evitativo, a área interpessoal e o centro de estudos preveem a saúde mental. A análise das medições indicam que o estresse media a relação entre o estilo evitativo e a saúde mental. As descobertas das presente investigação podem contribuir com o desenvolvimento de programas que busquem melhorar a saúde mental dos estudantes universitários.

Bien que les rêves dysphoriques, comme les mauvais rêves et les cauchemars, surviennent du moins occasionnellement chez la majorité des adultes, les facteurs impliqués dans l’occurrence de ces rêves, d’une nuit à l’autre, demeurent incertains. Par le biais d’un devis prospectif multiniveaux, nous avons étudié l’impact interactif des facteurs d’état et de trait sur l’occurrence de rêves dysphoriques d’une nuit à l’autre. Nous avons également exploré dans quelle mesure le contenu affectif et négatif des rêves de tous les jours était affecté par les mêmes facteurs. Des femmes adultes ont complété des mesures de trait de personnalité et de psychopathologie suivies de jusqu’à quatre semaines de journaux quotidiens de rêves et d’anxiété avant le coucher, ainsi que d’inventaires hebdomadaires de stress perçu. En contrôlant pour le rappel de rêve, une hausse hebdomadaire du stress perçu a significativement augmenté la probabilité d’avoir un rêve dysphorique une nuit donnée, alors que la psychopathologie a modéré positivement cette relation. Ces résultats suggèrent que les femmes adultes ayant un niveau plus élevé de psychopathologie seraient particulièrement sensibles au stress quotidien et donc plus susceptibles de faire des mauvais rêves ou cauchemars les nuits suivantes. Les analyses ont aussi révélé des effets positifs différentiels des variables d’état et de trait sur le contenu émotionnel et négatif des rêves de tous les jours. Ces résultats concordent avec le modèle neurocognitif des rêves dysphoriques proposé récemment et l’hypothèse de continuité des rêves. Les implications de cette étude et des recommandations futures sont émises. / Although disturbing dreams, such as bad dreams and nightmares, are experienced at least occasionally by a majority of adults, the factors involved in the night-by-night occurrence of these dreams remain unclear. Using a prospective design and multilevel modeling, we investigated the interactive impact of state and trait factors on the nightly occurrence of disturbing dreams. We further explored the extent to which emotionally intense and negative everyday dream content was affected by the same variables. Adult women completed measures of personality and psychopathology followed by up to four weeks of daily dream logs, daily pre-sleep anxiety logs, and weekly perceived stress inventories. After controlling for dream recall, upsurges in weekly perceived stress significantly increased the likelihood of having a disturbing dream on a given night, whereas psychopathology positively moderated that relationship. These results suggest that adult women reporting higher levels of psychopathology are particularly sensitive to everyday stress and thus more likely to experience bad dreams or nightmares on subsequent nights. Analyses also revealed differential positive effects of state and trait variables on the emotional and negative content of everyday dreams. These findings are in line with a recently proposed neurocognitive model of disturbed dreaming and the continuity hypothesis of dreaming. The implications of this study and future recommendations are emitted.