Afasi innebär impressiva och expressiva språkliga svårigheter, vilket kan medföra svårigheter att vara delaktig i sociala sammanhang. Det är därför viktigt att hitta sätt att stödja kommunikationen för denna patientgrupp. CIRCA är en kommunikationsfrämjande webbtjänst, framtagen för personer med demens och deras vårdgivare. Då personer med afasi uppvisar liknande språkliga och kommunikativa svårigheter som personer med demenssjukdom, bör CIRCA även kunna användas som kommunikationsstöd för personer med afasi. Föreliggande studies syfte var att undersöka CIRCA som gruppaktivitet för personer med afasi, i relation till traditionella gruppaktiviteter. Fem deltagare med afasi rekryterades. Datainsamlingen bestod av fyra samtal då CIRCA användes och fyra då traditionella aktiviteter genomfördes, där varje session pågick under ungefär 30 minuter. Samtalen videofilmades, transkriberades och analyserades utifrån en CA-inspirerad metod. I föreliggande studie valdes att analysera användningen av gester, skratt, kommunikativa hjälpbeteenden och nyttjande av materialet i aktiviteterna. Utvalda utdrag i studien bestod av vanligt förekommande samtalsfenomen som ansågs forma och karaktärisera samtalen under traditionella gruppaktiviteter och vid användning av CIRCA. Intervjuer genomfördes kring deltagarnas upplevelser av samtalen under de olika sessionerna. Utvalda samtalsfenomen i studien förekom ofta under samtliga samtal och fungerade som olika typer av interaktionella resurser. Det som framförallt utmärkte CIRCA som gruppaktivitet, i relation till de traditionella gruppaktiviteterna, var att både pekning och ikoniska gester nyttjades för att förmedla eller förtydliga ett budskap; att skratt fungerade som ett sätt att uttrycka ömsesidig förståelse kring materialet i webbtjänsten; att gissningar i samtal vid användning av CIRCA oftare lyckades som kommunikativt hjälpbeteende; samt att bilderna och musiken i CIRCA nyttjades som ett stöd för uttryck och förståelse i samtal. Samtliga deltagare var positiva till användandet av CIRCA. / Typical symptoms of aphasia such as comprehension problems and expressive language difficulties may affect the ability to take part in social contexts. Therefore, it is important to find ways to facilitate communication for people with aphasia. CIRCA is a communicationpromoting web service, designed for people with dementia and healthcare providers. Since people with aphasia show similar linguistic and communicative difficulties as people with dementia, it is possible that CIRCA would work as a communication support for people with aphasia as well. The aim of the present study was to investigate CIRCA as group activity for people with aphasia, in comparison to traditional group activities. Five participants with aphasia were recruited. The data collection involved four sessions with the use of CIRCA and four sessions where traditional activities were conducted, each session lasting for about 30 minutes. The sessions were videotaped, transcribed and analyzed according to methods inspired by Conversation Analysis, CA. The authors of this study chose to analyze the use of gestures, laughter, communication supporting behaviour and utilization of the available material in the various activities. The selected sections consisted of commonly used conversational phenomena that were considered to shape and characterize the conversations during traditional group activities, and when using CIRCA. Interviews about the participants' experiences of the conversations were conducted during the various activities. The selected conversational phenomena occurred frequently during all sessions as a type of interactive resources. What primarily characterized CIRCA as a group activity, in comparison to the traditional group activities, was that both pointing and iconic gestures were used to convey or clarify a message; that laughter served as a way of expressing mutual understanding about the material in CIRCA; that guesses in conversations when using CIRCA more often succeeded as communicative help behaviour; and that the images and music in CIRCA were used as a support for expression and understanding in conversation. All participants had a positive attitude toward the use of CIRCA.

No description available.

In an effort to adapt a prize-based attendance and abstinence reinforcement program to the group therapy modality typically found in community substance abuse treatment, this study applied a contingency management (CM) procedure to behavior outcomes of the group as a whole. An algorithmic shaping percentile schedule was used to establish the outcome criteria determining group access to prize bowl drawings. Both the shaping schedule and hypothesized positive social support secondary to interdependent group contingencies aimed to initiate cocaine abstinence among cocaine abusing methadone-maintained participants having initial low rates of cocaine abstinence. In a multiple baseline across behaviors with reversals design, the procedure was applied to four target behaviors in sequence: incentive group attendance, urinalysis appointment attendance, opiate and cocaine abstinence. Results demonstrated clear improvement in group attendance during the shaping schedules. Effects on opiate abstinence were promising but not definitive; an increase in magnitude of reinforcement yielded a better response. There were no effects on cocaine abstinence using the percentile schedules tried. When shaping was conducted by an experienced psychologist in conjunction with an average 4-fold increase in reinforcer magnitude, 55% achieved some abstinence (compared to 18% in baseline). Participants were monitored for safety due to concern about coercion; no instances of physical violence occurred and infrequent instances of verbal negativity were managed using typical outpatient procedures. Results indicate that interdependent group CM is efficacious for attendance, and a feasible and acceptable procedure with appropriate monitoring. Future studies are needed to determine effective and appropriate shaping and reinforcement schedules in group CM to increase drug abstinence. / Educational Psychology

Föreliggande studie syftar till att med hjälp av interaktionsanalys utifrån CA-principer (Conversation Analysis) undersöka interaktion i logopedisk gruppbehandling för barn med språkstörning samt att undersöka huruvida behandling implementeras i hemmiljö. Interaktion mellan såväl barn, logopeder som vårdnadshavare belyses. Materialet i föreliggande studie samlades in på en logopedmottagning i södra Sverige samt i deltagarnas hemmiljö. Totalt filmades sju behandlingstillfällen, fördelat på två olika grupper. Fem behandlingstillfällen filmandes från en av grupperna varav de resterande två spelades in i den andra gruppen. Totalt deltog tre logopeder, åtta barn och elva vårdnadshavare. Två av de deltagande logopederna intervjuades. Utöver detta genomfördes intervjuer med två av de deltagande vårdnadshavarna via telefon. Filmer från två av de deltagande barnens hemmiljö samlades in varpå samtliga filmer grovtranskriberades och delar valdes ut för fintranskription och vidare analys utifrån CA-principer. I studien framkommer att logopeder använder sig av eliciteringsstrategier i form av imitationsbaserade strategier samt modellmeningar för att elicitera språklig produktion. Behandlingsstrategier som förekommer är tecken till tal samt omformuleringar. Ytterligare fenomen som belyses är reparationer, återkopplingar samt ansiktsbevarande interaktionsstrategier. Studien visar att det finns en asymmetri i interaktionen mellan barn och logopeder, men att interaktionen stundvis avviker från samtal av det institutionella slaget. Utifrån hemmafilmer indikeras att behandlingsstrategier i form av tecken har implementerats hos en av vårdnadshavarna samt att omformuleringar används i interaktionen mellan två av vårdnadshavarna och deras barn. / The study objective was to investigate interaction in speech and language therapy groups for children with language impairment and to investigate whether treatment was implemented in the home environment. The material was collected from a speech and language therapy center in the south of Sweden and from the participants’ home environment. In total, seven video recordings were made of speech and language therapy sessions in two different groups. Five sessions were recorded in one of the groups, and the remaining two were recorded in the second group. Three SLPs, eight children and eleven parents participated in the study. Interviews with two of the participating SLPs and two of the participating parents were conducted. Video recordings from a home setting were collected from two of the participating children. All of the collected video recorded material was transcribed and analyzed according to principles of Conversation Analysis. The results show that the SLPs in therapy use imitation-based and modelling strategies to elicitate language production. Manual signs and recasts were found to be used as treatment strategies. Other phenomena in treatment were repairs, feedback and face-saving strategies. The study highlights the asymmetry in the interaction between children and SLPs, but also shows that the interaction sometimes departs from interaction of an institutional kind. The results indicate that one of the participating parents has implemented manual signs in the interaction during treatment as well as in the home environment. The study shows that two parents use recasts in the interaction with their children.

Anxiety is a commonly diagnosed disorder in middle childhood that affects many aspects of the child’s life. Effective treatment is needed so that children are able to experience fewer or no symptoms of anxiety and to manage anxiety. Cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) is widely used as a treatment for children with anxiety. CBT can either be facilitated in an individual or group format but there are inconsistencies in the literature regarding which modality is most effective. A meta-analysis was conducted to compare the effectiveness of individual CBT (ICBT) and group CBT (GCBT) in treating school-aged children with anxiety disorders. Eligible studies focused on the Coping Cat program for ICBT or GCBT programs such as FRIENDS. Participants from the selected studies were between the ages of 5-12 years and were treated by either ICBT or GCBT. Effect sizes were calculated from post-intervention measures and combined to examine group differences. It was found that ICBT was associated with a very large effect size (1.05) and GCBT (0.54) had a large effect size. This suggests that ICBT is the superior treatment modality as children who received individualized treatment reported a greater reduction or elimination of anxiety symptoms. Individual treatment allows opportunity for the therapist to work with the child and their families whereas in GCBT, there is less time to create treatment plans that are uniquely tailored. A proposed ICBT program is outlined that addresses a richer family component and social skills training.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the adequacy of the Stages of Change model in a group therapy treatment program for male batterers. The sample consisted of three groups with a total sample size of 22 participants. Data for this study were obtained by administering the Safe at Home Instrument and the Group Climate Questionnaire – Short Form. Results indicated the Safe at Home Instrument had limited clinical utility with involuntary male batterers. Independent of scoring method used, the majority of participants reached the action stage early in group treatment. Because the action stage is the highest stage attainable in this study, further growth was not measurable. The lack of variability in participants’ scores on the Safe at Home Instrument limits its clinical usefulness. Results from the Group Climate Questionnaire – Short Form indicate the groups did not progress according to a popular group development theory (MacKenzie & Livesley, 1983). The groups appear to enter the differentiation stage but do not successfully master the developmental issues needed to progress through the subsequent stages. The results from both instruments indicate that treatment groups with involuntary, male batterers did not progress as expected. Recommendations for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

Afasi medför en språklig och kommunikativ begränsning för personer med afasi vid samspel med andra individer. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka interaktion mellan personer med afasi, samt mellan afasigruppsledare och deltagare i en afasigrupp under behandlingssituationer. Tre afasigrupper, med sammanlagt elva afasigruppsdeltagare och fyra afasigruppsledare deltog i föreliggande studie. Datainsamling skedde via videoupptagning samt ljudinspelning. Det insamlade materialet transkriberades och analyserades enligt samtalsanalytiska principer. Utöver videofilmning och ljudinspelning har deltagarna med afasi även testats med delar ur det neurolingvistiska testet A-ning. Resultat från föreliggande studie visar att utförandet av behandlingsövningar är föränderligt vid gruppintervention, där både afasigruppsdeltagare samt afasigruppsledare påverkar utförandet. Enligt tidigare forskning kan interaktion under intervention vanligen vara av institutionell karaktär. Gruppintervention i föreliggande studie har dock visat sig kunna avvika från detta system. Resultaten i föreliggande studie visar även att afasigruppsledaren använder sig av ett tydligare socialt fasadarbete under intervention i jämförelse med det sociala fasadarbetet mellan två afasigruppsdeltagare. Strategier som syftar till att stärka kommunikations- och språkförmåga hos afasigruppsdeltagaren har identifierats hos både afasigruppsledare och afasigruppsdeltagare i föreliggande studie. Föreliggande studie har gjort en beskrivning av hur interaktionen kan te sig vid behandling i afasigrupp. Emellertid finns ett fortsatt behov av att studera interaktion i afasigrupper för att synliggöra strategier som kan underlätta samspelet mellan samtliga samtalsdeltagare. / Aphasia is a language and communication impairment, which affects interaction with other individuals. The purpose of the present study is to investigate and describe interaction between people with aphasia and between the leaders and the participants in an aphasia group during treatment sessions. Three aphasia treatment groups, with a combined total of eleven aphasia group participants and four aphasia group leaders participated in the present study. Data was collected through audio and video recording. The recordings were transcribed and analyzed according to principles from Conversation Analysis. In addition to the video and audio recording, the participants with aphasia were also tested with parts of the Swedish neurolinguistic test A-ning. The results of the present study demonstrated that the execution of treatment tasks can change in interaction during group treatment sessions. Both aphasia group participants and aphasia group leaders were shown to have an influence on changing the characteristics of treatment tasks. Previous research has shown that interaction in intervention usually is institutional by nature. However, the interaction during group treatment in the present study was occasionally deviating from this system. The results of the present study also show that aphasia group leaders use face work more frequently in intervention, compared to the aphasia group participants. Strategies, which strengthen communication and language ability in persons with aphasia during interaction, are used by leaders as well as by participants in aphasia treatment groups. The present study has made a description of how interaction may appear in therapy in aphasia treatment groups. However, there is a continuous need to study interaction during aphasia treatment groups in order to identify strategies that may further facilitate interaction between all the participants in the group.

The effectiveness of memory specificity training (MeST) was compared with standard cognitive processing therapy (CPT) in treatment of individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder. Eighteen adults aged 18-36 were randomly assigned to the MeST intervention (n = 9) or to the active control group (n = 9) of CPT. Both treatments were administered in group format across 6 weeks. MeST consisted of 6 weekly sessions, while CPT consisted of 12 biweekly sessions. The trial was undertaken in the Psychology Clinic of the University of North Texas, with randomization to conditions accomplished via computer random number generator. The primary outcome measure was change in PTSD symptoms post-treatment from baseline. Sixteen individuals (13 women and 3 men; MeST n = 8 and CPT n = 8) completed treatment and their data was analyzed. MeST significantly decreased PTSD symptomology at post-treatment and these results were maintained at 3 months post-treatment. MeST was found to be as effective as the established CPT intervention at reducing PTSD symptomology. Both MeST and CPT significantly increased participants' ability to specify memories upon retrieval at post-treatment, with results maintained at follow-up. There were no significant effects of MeST or CPT in ability to increase overall controlled cognitive processing at post-treatment or follow-up. No individual in either group reported any adverse effects during treatment or at 3 months follow-up. MeST appears to hold promise as an efficacious treatment option for PTSD. MeST was as effective as CPT in reducing symptoms of PTSD, but required only half the number of treatment sessions to accomplish these gains. Replication of these findings in larger samples is encouraged.

Studien ämnade att undersöka skillnader mellan olika klientgrupper i behandlingseffekt med avseende på ångest, depression, utbrändhet, sömn och stress efter deltagande i stress- eller sömnskola. Detta undersöktes genom att studera om bakgrundsfaktorer såsom sökorsak, tidigare behandling, hälsostatus före behandling samt demografiska faktorer har betydelse för behandlingseffekten. Stress- och sömnskolorna är manualbaserade gruppbehandlingar riktade mot antingen stressproblematik eller sömnproblematik som genomfördes inom primärvården av psykologstudenter under handledning av legitimerad psykolog. Skolorna baseras på kognitiv beteendeterapeutisk metod (KBT) och består av fyra träffar. Studien baseras på data från 95 personer som genomförde behandlingen samt deltog i för- och eftermätning. För att undersöka sambandet mellan bakgrundsvariabler och behandlingsutfall genomfördes i ett första steg bivariata korrelationsanalyser. Baserat på de signifikanta sambanden utfördes därefter regressionsanalyser för att undersöka bakgrundvariablernas prediktiva inverkan på behandlingsutfallet. Resultatet visade att få bakgrundsvariabler kunde predicera utfallet vilket indikerar att behandlingen är effektiv för en bred grupp av patienter. De variabler som kunde predicera behandlingsutfall med avseende på insomni respektive utbrändhet var att man hade angivit utbrändhet respektive insomni som sökorsak. Detta dubbelriktade samband mellan utbrändhet och insomni har även visats i andra studier. Studiens resultat ger stöd för att behandlingen har en kliniskt relevant effekt för en bred grupp av patienter, men den ger också en indikation på att de som sökt för utbrändhet- och/eller sömnproblematik kan behöva fler och längre insatser. / The study aimed to investigate differences between client groups in treatment effect with respect to anxiety, depression, burnout, sleep and stress after participating in stress or sleep group treatment. This was investigated by studying whether background factors such as reason for seeking medical treatment, previous treatment, health status before treatment and demographic factors are related to the treatment effect. The stress- and sleep group treatments are psychoeducative, manual-based, aimed at stress or sleep problems. The treatments were implemented in a primary care setting by psychology students under the supervision of a licensed psychologist. The group treatments are based on the cognitive behavioral therapy method (CBT) and consist of four meetings. The study is based on data from 95 individuals who completed the treatment and participated in pre- and post-measurements. To investigate the relationship between background variables and treatment outcome, bivariate correlation analyzes were performed in a first step. Based on the significant correlations, regression analyzes were then performed to examine the predictive effects of the background variables on the treatment outcome. The results showed that few background variables could predict the outcome, which indicates that the treatment is effective for a broad group of patients. The variables that could predict treatment outcomes with regard to insomnia and burnout, respectively, were that burnout and insomnia had been stated as the reason for seeking medical treatment. This two-way link between burnout and insomnia has also been shown in other studies. The results of the study provide support that the treatment has a clinically relevant effect for a broad group of patients, but it also gives an indication that those seeking treatment for burnout and/or insomnia may need additional and longer interventions.

Syftet med denna kvalitativa intervjustudie är att studera gruppterapeutiska upplevelser från biblioterapi. Med en socialpsykologisk ansats studeras detta genom teorier om gruppkohesion, feedback och självutlämnande. 5 semistrukturerade intervjuer med deltagare som någon gång under de senaste tio åren har deltagit i biblioterapi genomfördes. Resultat visar bland annat att slutsatser om att biblioterapi som ett gruppterapeutiskt tillvägagångsätt med ovan nämnda teorier, visar sig vara en positiv terapimetod bland de deltagande som bland annat sökt sig till terapin för psykisk ohälsa. Resultat i denna studie visar även biblioterapi som en terapeutisk metod, verkar inunder en miljö, som redan i början av terapin får deltagarna att känna en god samhörighet med andra deltagare. / The purpose of this qualitative interview study is to study group therapy experiences from bibliotherapy. With a social psychological approach, this is studied through theories of group cohesion, feedback and self-disclosure. 5 semi-structured interviews with participants who have participated in bibliotherapy at some point in the last ten years were conducted. The results show amongst many conclusions that bibliotherapy, as a group therapeutic approach with the above-mentioned theories, proves to be a positive method of therapy among the participants who, among other things, applied to the therapy for mental illness. Results in this study also show bibliotherapy as a therapeutic method, acting in an environment that already at the beginning of the therapy makes the participants feel a good connection with other participants.