Childhood overweight and obesity is a significant and increasing health problem both nationally and globally. Yet few interventions for preventing obesity have been successful, particularly in the long-term, suggesting that important factors are being overlooked. The aims of this thesis were to investigate (a) the prevalence of childhood overweight, obesity, and binge eating; and (b) the relationships between body weight, binge eating behaviour, and a set of physical, psychological, and psychosocial variables including parent body size, body dissatisfaction, size-related teasing experiences, internalisation of sociocultural messages, depression, dieting attitudes and behaviour, and emotional eating. Participants were 569 grade five and six primary school children (272 boys and 297 girls) from Catholic and Government schools across metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Almost 25% of participants were classified as overweight or obese. Thirteen percent of participants reported engaging in overeating (with or without loss of control), 14% reported loss of control (with or without overeating), and 6% reported engaging in binge eating (overeating and loss of control). Structural equation modelling analyses found that body weight and binge eating were indirectly related. Body weight was directly and positively associated with parent body size, size-related teasing experiences, body dissatisfaction, and internalisation of sociocultural messages, negatively associated with emotional eating, and indirectly associated with depression, and dieting attitudes and behaviour. Binge eating was directly and positively related to parent body size, emotional eating, depression, and body dissatisfaction, while indirect associations were found with size-related teasing experiences, internalisation of sociocultural messages, and dieting attitudes and behaviour. A direct relationship between body dissatisfaction and loss of control was also found. Some gender differences were detected. Multivariate analysis of variance also revealed that binge eaters scored significantly higher on measures of depression, size-related teasing experiences, internalisation of sociocultural messages, and angry and worried related emotional eating than non-binge eaters. Differences were also found for participants reporting the presence or absence of overeating (regardless of loss of control) and loss of control (regardless of overeating). Overall, the study demonstrated that psychological and psychosocial factors have a significant association with both weight and binge eating behaviour in a non-clinical sample of preadolescent Australian school children. As such, future intervention programs may benefit by addressing these factors. In addition, these results support the idea of working toward the prevention of obesity and eating disorders simultaneously in children, and of extending research in this area to examine causality.

Rural children have less access to mental health services and more health disparities than their urban counterparts. Additionally, pediatricians rank psychosocial problems as a top presenting concern in child care visits, making recognition and appropriate management of behavioral health problems an important aspect to primary care. Few studies, however, have examined the prevalence of childhood psychosocial concerns in rural Appalachia. This paper describes the results of a larger study that examined prevalence rates of parent-reported psychosocial concerns and parental help-seeking behavior. Research Assistants recruited parents of children (N= 2672) scheduled to see physicians from 8 regional primary care clinics, to fill out a demographic/help-seeking questionnaire and the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC), a parent- report screening measure to help identify psychosocial problems. Consistent with national averages, the current study showed overall, 13.70% of children had clinically significant PSC scores. Furthermore, 62.4% of parents reported speaking to their child’s physician about psychosocial concerns. Given the high prevalence rate of psychosocial dysfunction, lack of services in rural areas and a majority of parents seeking help from their child’s physician for emotional and behavioral concerns, the results of this study seem to support integration of mental health professionals into primary care, as a way to help identify and treat psychosocial dysfunction.

The main purpose of the thesis was to identify potential for improvement of communication with a pre-medicated patient.This research was motivated by the fact that this subject has not yet been explored and it has not been fully discovered whether the communication needs of patients are sufficiently satisfied before the execution of a medical surgery.This paper was based on a quantitative research, including an anonymous questionnaire concerning areas relevant to the mental state of the patient. One part of the research file was made up of clients hospitalized after a medical surgery. The second part of the file was created from Anestesiology and Operating Room nurses. The best solution seems to be creation of communication standards with pre-medicated patients and elaboration of educational plans for patients before medical surgery.

Introduktion: Digitaliseringen utvecklas i snabb takt, de äldre har haft svårt att följa med i digitaliseringens utveckling vilket skapar ett utanförskap och en digital klyfta. För att motverka detta har digitala strategier tagits fram av bland annat Världshälsoorganisationen. Digital teknik har potential att öka delaktighet i samhället. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur digitaliseringen av samhället och den digitala klyftan påverkar den äldre befolkningens psykosociala hälsa. Metod: En strukturerad litteraturöversikt som utgår från elva vetenskapliga artiklar som hittades på databaserna Pubmed, Medline och Cinahl. Materialet analyserades med hjälp av en tematisk analys. Resultat: Tre teman kom fram av analysen, Äldres inställning till tekniken, Teknikanvändning och social interaktion samt Trygghet. Alla teman berörde syftet. Äldres inställning till tekniken visade vad som kan skapa en digital klyfta samt indikerade hur den kan stängas. Temat Teknikanvändning och social interaktion handlade om hur digitaliseringen främjar äldres psykosociala hälsa. Temat Trygghet visade både hur digitala verktyg skapar en trygghet, samtidigt som det är en otrygghet att lämna gamla vanor. Diskussion: Digitala verktyg kan ses förebyggaensamhet, detta bidrar till en bättre psykisk och social hälsa hos äldre. Med hjälp av utbildning om digitala verktyg och motivering till förändring kommer möjligheten att vara delaktig i det digitala samhället att öka. Slutsats: Effekterna av den ökade digitaliseringen verkar påverka den äldre befolkningens välbefinnande till de positiva förutsatt att de har kunskapen för att kunna vara delaktiga, först då skapas känslan av sammanhang och möjligheten till att medverka till en bra psykosocial hälsa hos äldre individer. / Introduction: Digitalization is developing at a rapid speed, the elderly has found it difficult to follow up with the development of digitalization. This creates alienation and a digital divide. To counteract this, digital strategies have been built up by, among others, World Health Organization. Digital technology has a great potential to increase participation in society. Aim: The aim of the study is to investigate how digitalization of society and the digital divide affect the psychosocial health of the elderly population.  Methods: The article is a structured literature review, based om eleven scientific articles that have been found in the databases Pubmed, Medline and Cinahl. The material has been analyzed by using a thematic analysis. Results: Three themes emerged from the analysis, the elderly's attitude to technology, the use of technology and social interaction, and security. Everyone touches on the purpose, the attitude of the elderly shows what can affect a digital divide and indicates how it can be closed. Technology use and social interaction show how digitalization promotes the psychosocial health of the elderly. The theme of security shows that both how digital tools create security, at the same time as it is an insecurity to leave the old in society Discussion: Digital tools can be seen to prevent loneliness, this contributes to a better mental and social health of the elderly. With the help of education about digital tools and motivation for change, the opportunity to participate in the society will increase. Conclusion: The effects of the increased digitalization seems to affect the well-being of the elderly population positively, provided that they have sufficient knowledge to take part in the digitalization, only then is the feeling of context and the opportunity to contribute to good psychosocial health in older individuals created.