This study was a follow-up of the Christiansen study which was completed in 1967. Dr. Christiansen's 26 subjects ranged in age from 33 to 60 years. Ten were designated as controls and the other 16 were placed on a high polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) diet for a period of 26 weeks . The purpose of doing a follow-up was to determine what effect the study had on present dietary patterns, serum lipid levels and rate of erythrocyte hemolysis. Eighteen of the original subjects participated in this study. Of these 18, nine were from the control group and nine were from the experimental group. There were nine women and nine men. The serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, rate of erythrocyte hemolysis and blood pressure reading were determined. General health status and dietary pattern were determined through the use of a questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire indicate that the experimental diet of the original study had influenced the present diet of the study's subjects. The use of vegetable oils was increased and the consumption of eggs and whole milk was decreased. The study had little effect on the consumption of beef, pork, fish and chicken. The rate of erythrocyte hemolysis was greater for the control group (non-instructed) than for the experimental group (instructed). The mean values were 12. 65 and 9. 49 percent, respectively. The results indicate that there was no depletion of tocopherol levels due to continued use of PUFA. Serum triglyceride levels varied from 60 to 72 mg percent. Mean values for men were slightly higher than for the women. The means for the instructed and non-instructed groups were almost the same (6 7. 2 and 6 7. 0 mg percent, respectively). The cholesterol values ranged from 139 to 252 mg percent. The mean values were close to those at the end of the previous study (192 and 188 mg percent, respectively). There was no correlation between cholesterol values and the rate of erythrocyte hemolysis or triglyceride values.

<p>Föreliggande studie handlar om stödinsatser och studieavbrott ur studieavbrytares perspektiv. Syftet har varit att undersöka om de deltagande ungdomarna upplevde att de fick stöd under gymnasietiden i ett försök att förstå varför studieavbrott ändå sker. Avsikten har vidare varit att beskriva och reflektera över ungdomarnas erfarenheter med förhoppning om att det skall vara till nytta för framtida förebyggande arbete. Studien baseras på kvalitativa intervjuer och har inspirerats av tidigare forskning om studieavbrott, stödinsatser samt karriärutvecklingsteorier. Avsikten med intervjuundersökningen har varit att studera studieavbrytarnas skolgång under grund- och gymnasietiden för att få en förståelse för vilket stöd studieavbrytarna upplever att de fått eller hade önskat att de fick medan de ännu befann sig i skolan. </p><p>Resultatet visar att studieavbrytarna bär på olika erfarenheter av skolgången och att tillgången på socialt och pedagogiskt stöd varit bristfällig. Resultatet visar också att studieavbrotten upplevs positiva och frivilliga. Slutsatser som dragits är att studieavbrytare har behov av olika stödinsatser och att skolor brister i sitt ansvar att ge stöd. En annan slutsats är att det, trots stödinsatser, inte går att förhindra att elever ändå avbryter sina studier.</p> / <p>This present essay is about support and dropout from the dropouts' perspective. The purpose of this study has been to examine these participant youngsters' opinions about the support they have been given during their time in upper secondary level in order to understand why dropouts yet attend to happen. The purpose has also been to describe and reflect over the youngsters' experiences with a hope that it will be of benefit to a future preventative work. This essay is based on a qualitative interview study and has been inspired by theories covering the area of dropouts, support and career development. The purpose of the interviews has been to study the dropouts' time in the nine-year compulsory school and in the upper secondary school. The intention has been to obtain an understanding for the support that the dropouts have been given or would have wanted while they still were in school. The result shows that the dropouts have different experiences from their time in school and that the supply of social and pedagogy support have been defective. The result also shows that the experience of the dropout is that the dropout is positive and voluntary.</p><p>Conclusion drawn is that the dropouts have different needs of support during their time in school and that the schools lack in their responsibility of giving support. Another conclusion drawn is that at the same time, in spite of support; it is not possible to prevent students from dropping out.</p>

<p>Syftet med studien är att belysa och jämföra hur två jämnstora kommuner i Sverige har implementerat lagen om det kommunala uppföljningsansvaret för ungdomar mellan 16 och 20 år som inte studerar på ett nationellt eller specialutformat program. Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ metod där vi har intervjuat fem personer i tre olika funktioner för att få olika perspektiv på det vi studerade. Vi fann att det praktiska arbetet skiljer sig åt mellan de båda kommunerna trots att målet är detsamma: att hitta och kartlägga alla ungdomar som befinner sig utanför gymnasieskolan och sedan erbjuda hjälp baserat på individuella intressen, behov och förutsättningar. Kommunerna har liknande verktyg för att hitta och motivera ungdomarna som t.ex. samma registreringssystem, centralt placerade utanför skolan, liknande kontaktsätt och trycker lika starkt på frivilligheten som en viktig faktor. De hittar även alternativa lösningar med sikte på studier, arbete eller övriga åtgärder osv. De skiljer sig även åt i många avseenden bl.a. så finns de under olika förvaltningar, den ena organisationen ligger inom kommunen, den andra externt, den ena samarbetar lokalt och den andra nationellt osv. Vi har dragit slutsatser som t.ex. att bägge kommuner har insett allvaret i att låta ungdomar utanför skolsystemet vara utan sysselsättning och tillsammans med ungdomarna så försöker de därför finna lösningar som fungerar i längden samt att olika sätt att organisera verksamheten kan leda till samma mål.</p> / <p>The aim of this study is to elucidate and compare how two equally-sized municipalities in Sweden have implemented the law on the municipal responsibility for monitoring young people between 16 and 20 who are not studying at a national or specially designed program. We have used a qualitative approach in which we have interviewed five people in three different functions to get different perspectives on what we studied. We found that the practical work differs between the two municipalities, although the objective remains the same: to find and identify all young people who are outside high school and then offer assistance based on individual interests, needs and conditions. The municipalities have similar tools to find and motivate youngsters such as the same registration system, centrally located outside the school, similar means of contact and they both press as strongly in free will as an important factor. They can also find alternative solutions that focus on study, work or other activities. They also differ in many respects, for instance they are under different administrations, one is located in the municipality and the other outside, one works locally and the second nationally and so on. We have drawn conclusions such as both municipalities have realized the gravity of letting young people stay outside the school system be without jobs and together with the young people they try to find solutions that work in the long run and also that different organization of each activity can lead to the same goal.</p>

<p>This is to my knowledge the first time a ten-year follow-up study of salivary cortisol concentrations measured by immunoassays in relation to posttraumatic symptoms according to the Impact of Event Scale (IES) is made. The study was performed on 78 Swedish UN soldiers after a 6-months mission in the former republic of Yugoslavia. Follow-up investigations were performed six months, twelve months and ten years after their return to Sweden. Morning and evening salivary cortisol concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA) and subjective posttraumatic avoidance and intrusion symptoms were measured with the IES (see Appendix I).</p><p> </p><p>This study concerns the methodological description of the EIA for determination of salivary cortisol and the comparison of the results from all three follow-up investigations. Post-traumatic stress symptoms according to IES (intrusion subscale and total score) increased significantly over ten years of time. There was an significant interrelationship between the change in both morning and evening salivary cortisol concentrations, measured with immunoassays, and changes in self-rated posttraumatic intrusive symptoms, according to IES, during ten years follow-up, after a six months mission in Bosnia in the way that salivary cortisol concentrations showed a tendency to decrease over ten years of time in subjects with a higher IES score. The rise in morning salivary cortisol, from awakening until 30 minutes later, was significantly correlated with the ratings of posttraumatic stress symptoms according to the IES ten years after the mission.   </p>

<p>Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka socialsekreterarnas arbete med att följa upp det familjehemsplacerade barnet, vårdnadshavarna och familjehemmet. För att besvara undersökningens syfte användes kvalitativ metod. Studien grundade sig på intervjuer med fyra barnhandläggare och fyra familjehemsekreterare som arbetar inom åtta olika kommuner. I tidigare forskning framkom att socialtjänsten brister i sin uppföljning av det familjehemsplacerade barnet, vårdnadshavarna och familjehemmet. För att understryka socialnämndens ansvar under pågående familjehemsplacering har regeringen infört detaljerade bestämmelser i 5 kap 1b § Socialtjänstförordningen. Litteraturen som ingår i studien redogör dels för handlingsutrymmet som existerar inom socialsekreterarnas arbete och hjälper till att få en djupare förståelse för kontexten inom organisationen. Tolkningsramen innefattas även av den diskussion som förs angående socialsekreterarnas kompetens inom uppföljningsarbete. Resultatet från intervjuerna visade att socialsekreterarna i varierande omfattning utför det uppföljningsarbete som lagen föreskriver men att i socialförvaltningarnas organisationer prioriteras inte uppföljningsarbetet. Respondenterna i studien anser sig ha bristande kompetens och att de har svårt att se sitt eget handlingsutrymme i uppföljningsarbetet.</p> / <p>The purpose of this paper is to research how social workers manage to follow up cases with children placed in foster homes, their guardians and the foster homes. To meet this purpose a qualitative method has been used. The study is founded upon eight different interviews. Four with social workers who deal with children exclusively and four with social workers who deal with foster homes, within eight different districts/municipalities. Earlier research has shown shortcomings in the way social welfare follow up cases with children placed in foster homes, the guardians and the foster home. The government has introduced regulations in chapter 5, first section of the Swedish security law to stress the responsibilities that the social welfare committee has during an ongoing foster care placement. The background literature included in this study describes what possibilities social workers have in their work situation, and helps to gain a deeper understanding of the context within the organization. It also includes the ongoing discussion about social workers’ knowledge of how to follow up cases in a correct way. The interviews that this study is founded upon shows that the social workers meet the regulations, that the law prescribes for this area, of varying degree. To follow up cases in a correct way is not prioritized in the organization of the social welfare administrations. The respondents in this study do not believe that they have enough knowledge and have difficulties seeing what possibilities their work situation gives them when it comes to following up cases.</p>

<p>In a prospective population-based study in Stockholm County, 1998-2000, the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) was investigated and was found to be 36% in prematurely-born infants with a birth weight of ≤ 1500 grams. Compared to a study performed ten years ago, the overall incidence was unchanged, but was reduced in “mature” infants and increased in immature ones. The incidence of ROP was 25% in infants with a gestational age of ≤ 32 weeks at birth. The main risk factors for ROP were the gestational age at birth, followed by the birth weight. Current guidelines for ROP screening in Sweden were modified.</p><p>A 10-year follow-up study of the ophthalmological findings in prematurely-born children, previously included in a prospective population-based incidence study of ROP, was performed. The children were compared with full-term ones. </p><p>Prematurely-born children ran a four times higher risk of refractive errors than full-term ones. The cryotreated children had the highest risk, but those without ROP also had more refractive errors than the full-terms. Within the group of prematurely-born children, the cryotreated ones had the highest prevalence of myopia, astigmatism and anisometropia, but no difference was found regarding hypermetropia.</p><p>The visual acuity of prematurely-born children was poorer than that of the full-terms. The cryotreated children and those with neurological complications had the most marked reduction, but the children without ROP and neurological findings also had a poorer visual outcome than the full-terms. The prevalence of visual impairment was 1.8% among the prematurely-born children, and was due to ROP in half the cases and cerebral lesions in the others. </p><p>The cryotreated children had constricted peripheral visual fields compared to the untreated prematurely-born and full-term children. The central visual fields tended to be reduced in the prematurely-born children compared to the full-terms, but no difference was observed within the preterm group.</p>

In a prospective population-based study in Stockholm County, 1998-2000, the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) was investigated and was found to be 36% in prematurely-born infants with a birth weight of ≤ 1500 grams. Compared to a study performed ten years ago, the overall incidence was unchanged, but was reduced in “mature” infants and increased in immature ones. The incidence of ROP was 25% in infants with a gestational age of ≤ 32 weeks at birth. The main risk factors for ROP were the gestational age at birth, followed by the birth weight. Current guidelines for ROP screening in Sweden were modified. A 10-year follow-up study of the ophthalmological findings in prematurely-born children, previously included in a prospective population-based incidence study of ROP, was performed. The children were compared with full-term ones. Prematurely-born children ran a four times higher risk of refractive errors than full-term ones. The cryotreated children had the highest risk, but those without ROP also had more refractive errors than the full-terms. Within the group of prematurely-born children, the cryotreated ones had the highest prevalence of myopia, astigmatism and anisometropia, but no difference was found regarding hypermetropia. The visual acuity of prematurely-born children was poorer than that of the full-terms. The cryotreated children and those with neurological complications had the most marked reduction, but the children without ROP and neurological findings also had a poorer visual outcome than the full-terms. The prevalence of visual impairment was 1.8% among the prematurely-born children, and was due to ROP in half the cases and cerebral lesions in the others. The cryotreated children had constricted peripheral visual fields compared to the untreated prematurely-born and full-term children. The central visual fields tended to be reduced in the prematurely-born children compared to the full-terms, but no difference was observed within the preterm group.

Many women experience miscarriage every year. Every fourth woman who has given birth reports that she has previous experience of miscarriage. In a study of all women in the Swedish Medical Birth Register 1983-2003, we found that the number of cases of self reported miscarriage had increased in Sweden during this 21 year period. This increase can be explained by the introduction of sensitive pregnancy tests around 1990, as well as an increase in the mean age of the mothers, by approximately 3 years, during the observation period. The risk of miscarriage is 13% with the first child. With subsequent pregnancies, the risk of miscarriage is 8%, 6% and 4% with the second, third and fourth child, respectively. Thirteen of these women who had suffered a recent miscarriage were interviewed four months later, and their feelings of guilt and emptiness were explored. Their experience was that they wanted their questions to be answered, and that they wanted others to treat them as the mothers to be that they felt themselves to be. They also experienced the need for time to grieve their loss. Measurement of grief by means of the Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS) is used in research but has also been proposed for clinical use. We have translated this psychological instrument to Swedish, back-translated and tested it in a small pilot study. In a randomized controlled study, women with early miscarriage were allocated, either to a structured visit (study group) or a regular visit (control group) to a midwife. The structured visit was conducted according to the Swanson caring theory. We could conclude that the structured visit had no significant effect on grief compared to the regular visit, as measured using the PGS. However, women with the sub-diagnosis missed abortion have significantly more grief four months after early miscarriage, regardless of visit type. We also performed a content analysis of the tape-recorded structured follow-up visit. The code-key used was Bonanno and Kaltman’s general grief categorization. Women’s expression of grief after miscarriage was found to be very similar to the grief experienced following the death of a relative. Furthermore, the grief was found to be independent of number of children, women’s age, or earlier experience of miscarriage. Conclusions: Every fourth woman who gives birth reports that she has also experienced early miscarriage. The experience of these women is that they have suffered a substantial loss and their reaction is grief similar to that experienced following the death of a relative. / On the day of the public defence of the doctoral thesis the status of article III was In Press and article IV was In Press.

The primary aim of the study was to develop knowledge about how unaccompanied asylum-seeking children manage their life circumstances and challenges after being granted a residence permit and maturing into adulthood in Sweden. A second aim was to develop knowledge about the life circumstances of these children in their respective countries of origin, the motives behind their flight to Sweden, the means by which they came to Sweden.  The thesis is a ten-year follow-up study. The first set of data is clinical in nature: 100 unaccompanied children were interviewed shortly after their arrival. Ten years later a register study was made of these now young adults. The research group was now reduced to the 68 young adults who remained in Sweden after receiving their permanent resident permits. Twenty of them were chosen for a qualitative interview by means of strategic sampling. The unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who, ten years after becoming permanent residents, remained in Sweden have become established in a favourable life situation as young adults. The process of becoming established in Sweden from the stressing conditions in the country of origin is marked by both risks and possibilities that occur in periodical sequences in the life course of the unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.  The children/youths may have come alone, but they did not remain alone. A majority were taken in hand by relatives in Sweden who were links to the family’s transnational network. The other children who had no family with which to reunite sought to establish transnational links on their own. A transnational perspective can shed light on how these young adults have created cross-national networks and this appears to have been of decisive importance for their socialisation and favourable establishment in Sweden.

Anorexia Nervosa is a psychiatric illness with peak onset in ages 14-17. Most cases recover within a few years, but the illness can have a fatal outcome or long duration. Multifactor causes of anorexia nervosa include genetics, personality, family, and socio-cultural factors. This study measures mortality, recovery from anorexia nervosa, and psychosocial outcome of patients with adolescent onset anorexia nervosa that were treated in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in northern Sweden from 1980 to 1985. In addition, this study assesses the predictive value of background variables and studies perfectionism in relation to recovery. Finally, this study looks at how patients understand the causes of their anorexia nervosa and how they view their recovery process. Follow ups were made 8 and 16 years after initial assessment at CAP. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. These included a semistructured interview, DSM diagnostics of eating disorders (including GAF), and the self-assessment questionnaires EDI and SCL-90. The interview also contained questions about causes and recovery. Recovery increased from 68% to 85% from first to second follow-up and the mortality rate was 1%. Somatic problems and paediatric inpatient care during the first treatment period could predict long-term outcome of eating disorders. Most former patients had a satisfying family and work situation. At both follow-ups, individuals with long-term recovery had a lower level of perfectionism than those that recovered later. On individual levels, eating disorder symptoms and psychiatric symptoms decreased during recovery, whereas the levels of perfectionism stayed the same. Causes were attributed to self, family, and socio-cultural stressors outside of the family. The most common self-reported causes were high own demands and perfectionism. All recovered subjects could remember and describe a special turning point when the recovery started and 62% saw themselves as an active agent in the recovery process. Supportive friends, treatment, activities, family of origin, boyfriend, husband, and children were also helpful in the recovery process. Compared to other outcome studies, the results were good. In spite of the good outcome, some individuals had a long duration of illness and were not yet fully recovered after 16 years of follow-up. Predictors of non-recovery were related to initial somatic problems. Levels of perfectionism were associated to recovery and patients with initial high levels of perfectionism may need more complex treatment strategies. Results from the study also implied that one should stimulate the patients’ social contacts and their sense of self-efficacy in their recovery- process.