Young adults from a divorced home background (N = 125) were compared with a control group matched by sex and age (N = 125) on the scores obtained from the IPAT Anxiety Scale and the Mosher Incomplete Sentences Test.

The objective of the thesis is to describe and analyse aspects of home background and teaching that may be important for students’ capability and will to participate in science. The purpose is to make explicit how teaching can support students in developing an interest in science and so counter-balance the restricted opportunities some students may have due to upbringing. In study 1 population data is used to make evident what associations there are between home background variables and the students’ choice of applying for the Swedish post-compulsory Natural Science Programme (NSP). The findings show that home background is important for Swedish students’ choice of the NSP but also that some lower secondary schools can make a difference. Students’ interest in science has usually been examined through questionnaires and rarely studied as constituted in classroom action as a result of teaching. In study 2 therefore an action-oriented methodology is developed based on the concept of taste to study what difference a teacher can make for the constitution of interest in the science classroom. The concept of taste is grounded in pragmatism and the works of Pierre Bourdieu and acknowledges the affective, normative, and cognitive dimensions of situated science learning. In study 3 this methodology is used to examine how a teacher located through Study 1 supports his students in developing an interest in science. The results of study 3 suggest how teaching can make the object of science the focus of students’ interest and so showing that science, with its aims, norms, and values, can be enjoyed in itself. Study 4 draws on the findings of studies 1-3 to discuss the possibility of an overlooked field in studying interest in science; namely whether primary, secondary, tertiary students in effect have different objects of interest. The findings of studies 1-4 are used to discuss how teaching may make a difference to a continued student interest in science. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: In press. Paper 3: In press. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p>

This diploma thesis deals about the points at issue of the psycho-social strain with people taking care of the person dependant on the care of other physical person in the home background. The problems of family home helps in the natural millieu of an individual dependant on the care are getting more and more actual. The aim of this diploma thesis lies in defining the decisive factors of the psycho-social strain on the persons caring of persons dependant on the assistence of other physical person in the home background. The partial aim is to find out in which areas the persons taking care of persons dependant on the asistence of other physical person in the home background feel the increased strain. Another partial aim is to find out whether the persons taking care of persons dependant on the assistence of other physical person in the home background know and apply the principles of mental hygiene. Following the aims of the diploma thesis, there are postulated two research questions. The research question 1: Which kind of stress do the caring persons consider the most relevant in their job? The research question 2: Which possible symptoms of burnt-out effect do the caring persons observe on themselves? The practical part of the diploma thesis is worked out in the form of qualitative research. The method of inquiry and the technique of semi-structuralized interview were used for the purposes of the research. Furthermore, the technique of observation was applied. The research was implemented with the Inventory of symptoms of burnt-out effect adapted for the purpose of this research. The selected file is formed of eight persons taking care of persons dependant on the assistence of other physical person in the home background who complied with the pre-set criteria; the method of so-called "snowball" was chosen. The gained data were evaluated by the method of open coding. The research pointed out the facts and risks that the realization of the care of a person dependant on the care of other physical person in the home background is carrying out. The research pointed out the areas in which these persons feel the increased strain. The area of physical exertion in caring, the consciousness of responsibility in connection with caring, the area of communication and understanding a person dependant on the care and facing up to the fate and watching helplessness are demanding the most for the caring persons. It was found out from the evidences that caring persons consider this activity stressful; they feel both acute and chronical stress during the execution of the care, they feel it in connection with the lack of time and with the responsibility, in connection with the fears of future, but also in connection with not coping with the past. Family and friends, that provide both psychical support and assistence in the realization of the care, help most the persons caring of persons dependant on the care to deal with the demands of this care. As well as solitude and rest, sport activities and culture help them. In connection with caring the engaged persons have the feeling of doing a good thing, but also the feelings of sorrow, doubts and despairs. Those caring persons who perceive the risky factor of burnt-out effect can observe its symptoms on the emotional, rational, physical and social level on themselves. This thesis can contribute to understanding the importance of work of caring persons in the home background. It will deliver the information about the relevant factors of psycho-social strain on the persons taking care of persons dependant on the assistence of other physical person in the home background. Moreover, it can contribute to the eventual development of services corresponding to the needs of the persons taking care of persons dependant on the assistence of other physical person in the home background.

The theoretical part has six chapters: End of life and dying, Palliate care, Home hospice multidisciplinary team, Specific of care about a terminally ill patient in home background, Family and caregivers, Specifics of care about dying people in the CR. The second, practical part is based on qualitative-quantitative research with three goals. The first goal was to define the needs of family members caring about a terminally ill person in domestic background. The second goal was to define the skills of nurses necessary for saturation of the needs of family members caring about a terminally ill person in domestic background, and the last goal was to specify the present drawbacks of the care upon the research results. The following research questions were set in the qualitative part of the research: 1. What factors lead to decision of a family to participate in the care about a terminally ill person in domestic background? 2. What factors prevent families from integration into the care about a terminally ill person in domestic background? 3. What skills are necessary for a nurse in the process of family integration into the care about a terminally ill client in home background? The research sample of the qualitative research consisted of six respondents having experience with care about a dying patient in domestic background. A semi structured interview consisting of six questions was the research method of this part of the thesis. The questions focused on the care about a dying family member in home background. The following hypotheses may be deduced from the research: 1. Giving information to lay caregivers before releasing a terminally ill client to domestic treatment within education contributes to their active involvement in the care. 2. Participation of a mobile hospice team in the care about a terminally ill client in home background contributes to saturation of the needs of certainty and safety of the caregivers. The following hypotheses were set at the beginning of the quantitative research: 1. Respondent?s feeling of inability to participate in the care is an obstacle to the decision to start caring about a terminally ill person in home background. 2. Fear of economic risk is an obstacle to the decision to start caring about a terminally ill person in home background. 3. Utilization of professional services in the care about a terminally ill person in home background depends on awareness of their existence and the extent of services being provided. The research sample consisted of 198 persons from the wide public. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire. The questionnaires examined the readiness of the respondents to decide to start caring about a terminally ill person in home background and their awareness of the existence of institutions providing palliative care in home background. The first two hypotheses were confirmed by the results of the questionnaire research, the third one was not confirmed. A manual for general nurses ?Care about a dying client in home background? and an ?Informational leaflet for laics? deciding on caring about someone close in home background, which form a part hereof, were elaborated upon the results of the research.