Aims: The study was aimed at exploring adolescents‟ level of knowledge of HIV/AIDS and the influence this knowledge has on their sexual behaviour. Methods: In total, 20 in- depth interviews were conducted from a group of 20 (both males and females) secondary school learners. The interviews were audio taped with consent from participants. Results: The results of the study showed that participants possess basic knowledge of HIV/AIDS, including methods of prevention and transmission. No serious misconceptions about modes of transmission of HIV were found in this study. Although, participants reported condom use, no sexual intercourse with multiple concurrent partners and no intergenerational sexual relationships, the findings revealed some risk factors such as early sexual debuts, early dating, multiple sexual partnerships. Conclusions: The aforesaid sexual behaviours and the sexual activeness among learners is a cause for angst. Thus, these findings highlighted the need for a comprehensive approach to sexual reproductive health education by all interested parties in order to enhance and sustain behaviour change among young people. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

Sebbene lo sviluppo di relazioni sentimentali sia un esperienza normativa dell’adolescenza, diversi fattori di rischio connessi ad essa possono sfociare in problemi per l’adattamento e la salute dell’adolescente. L’esperienza sentimentale in adolescenza non può essere considerata come un percorso lineare, ma dovrebbe essere studiata come un percorso dove diversi di fattori interagiscono l’un l’altro, comportando esiti diversi in base a variabili individuali e contestuali. Inoltre, lo sviluppo di relazioni sentimentali è un processo “in divenire”, pertanto possono emergere e coesistere aspetti di incoerenza. La tesi parte da queste riflessioni, considerando aspetti normativi e atipici dell’esperienza sentimentale in adolescenza. Il lavoro è diviso in due studi principali. Il primo tratta di due esperienze non normative: l’Adolescent Dating Violence (capitolo I) e il Sexting (capitolo II), con l’obiettivo di identificarne i fattori associati. Il secondo studio si focalizza sul costrutto di Competenza Romantica. Il modello skill-based di Competenza Romantica può fornire una cornice teorica utile per la concettualizzazione e la valutazione dell’esperienza romantica considerandone la complessità. Inoltre, una misura specifica di tale costrutto viene descritta e valutata (capitoli III e IV). Infine l’associazione tra Competenza Romantica, Adolescent Dating Violence e Sexting viene indagata preliminarmente (capitolo V). / Despite the development of romantic relationships is a normative experience of adolescence, several risk factors connected to the this experience may lead to problems for adolescents’ adjustment and health. The adolescent romantic experience cannot be considered as a linear way, rather it should be studied as a path where an interplay of factors leads to several different outcomes basing on personal and contextual characteristics. Also, the development of the romantic experience is an “in-progress path”, thus inconsistencies may emerge and coexist. The dissertation starts from this reflection, considering both normative and non-normative aspects of the adolescent romantic experience. The work is divided in two main studies. The first one, is focused on two non-normative experiences: Adolescent Dating Violence (chapter I) and Sexting (chapter II). The main aim is to identify factors that can be associated to those phenomena. The second study deals with the construct of Romantic competence and a specific measure to assess it is evaluated. The skill-based model of Romantic competence is a theoretical framework useful to both conceptualize and evaluate the romantic experience considering its complexity (chapter III and IV). Finally the association between Romantic competence, Adolescent Dating Violence and Sexting is preliminarily explored (chapter V).

O bullying escolar é um importante problema de saúde pública que vem sendo extensivamente estudado em países de alta renda. Nos países de baixa e média renda, características individuais e contextuais associadas ao bullying são pouco conhecidas. A presente tese é composta por três estudos. O estudo 1 objetivou realizar revisão sistemática sobre fatores contextuais associados ao bullying escolar. A busca utilizou as bases de dados MEDLINE, PsychInfo, Web of Knowledge e SciELO. Trinta e um estudos foram incluídos. Resultados sugerem associação entre maior desigualdade de renda em classes, escolas e países e maior risco de bullying. A relação entre tamanho da classe e da escola com bullying foi inconclusiva; escolas sem normas anti-bullying, com menor apoio e pior gestão da classe pelo professor tiveram maior risco de bullying. O estudo 2 visou identificar características individuais e contextuais associadas ao bullying verbal na escola, entre adolescentes brasileiros. Utilizou-se dados da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde do Escolar (PeNSE) 2009, com estudantes do 9º ano escolar. Realizou-se modelos de regressão logística multinível para identificar associações com variáveis de três níveis (indivíduo, escolas, cidades). A prevalência de bullying verbal em adolescentes brasileiros foi 14,2%. Somente 1,8% e 0,3% da variância do bullying verbal ocorreu nos níveis de escola e capital, respectivamente. Nenhuma característica das cidades se associou ao bullying. Escolas privadas apresentaram mais bullying que escolas públicas. Desigualdade de renda não se associou ao bullying. Meninos, os mais jovens, os que não moravam com pai e mãe, os expostos à violência doméstica, os com baixo peso ou sobrepeso sofreram mais bullying. O estudo 3 objetivou identificar padrões de comportamento relacionados a saúde, incluindo bullying, entre adolescentes brasileiros. Utilizou-se dados da segunda edição da PeNSE, coletados em 2012. Realizou-se análise fatorial exploratória e confirmatória, além de regressão linear para descrever características socio-demográficas associadas a cada padrão. Identificou-se três padrões de comportamento: o padrão \"comportamento problema\", compreendeu comportamento agressivo (incluindo bullying), consumo de álcool, cigarro e drogas e sexo não seguro; o padrão \"comprometedor da saúde\" incluiu indicadores de alimentação não saudável e comportamento sedentário; e o padrão \"promotor da saúde\" incluiu indicadores de alimentação saudável e atividade física. Os padrões \"comportamento problema\" e \"comprometedor da saúde\" se associaram aos mais velhos e aos residentes em regiões mais desenvolvidas, sendo o primeiro associado a escolas públicas e ao sexo masculino, enquanto o segundo ao sexo feminino. O padrão \"promotor da saúde\" se associou ao sexo masculino e aqueles com mães com maior nível educacional. Concluiuse que contextos de desigualdade parecem mais propícios à ocorrência de bullying de acordo com a revisão. Entretanto, dados do Brasil não corroboram essa hipótese para bullying verbal. Ambiente escolar com adoção de regras anti-bullying e professores mais solidários devem ser estimulados. As características das escolas e cidades estudadas explicaram pouco o bullying verbal. Características individuais sugerem sub-grupos de maior risco, podendo subsidiar políticas anti-bullying. Perpetrar bullying compôs o padrão de \"comportamento problema\", indicando que as intervenções devem ser mais amplas e direcionadas a múltiplos comportamentos / School bullying is an important public health problem, which has been extensively studied among high-income countries. In low- middle-income countries, there is a lack of information about associations between both individual-level and contextual-level characteristics with bullying. The aim of Study 1 was to carry out a systematic review of contextual factors associated with school bullying. Searches were performed in MEDLINE, PsychInfo, Web of Knowledge and SciELO. 31 studies were included. Results suggested that greater income inequality in schools, classes and countries is associated with increased risk of bullying. The influence of class and school size on bullying was inconclusive; schools without anti-bullying rules, with less support and poorer classroom management by the teacher had a higher risk of bullying. The aim of study 2 was to identify individual and contextual characteristics associated with verbal bullying, among Brazilian adolescents. We used data from the National Survey of School Health (PeNSE 2009) on students in 9th grade. We performed multilevel logistic regression models to identify associations with variables from three levels (individual, school, city). The prevalence of verbal bullying among Brazilian adolescents was 14.2%. Only 1.8% and 0.3% of the bullying variance occurred at school and capital levels, respectively. No city characteristic was associated with bullying. Private schools showed more bullying than public. Income inequality was not associated with bullying in Brazil. Boys, those of younger age, those not living with both parents, those exposed to domestic violence, those underweight or overweight suffered more bullying. The aim of Study 3 was to identify health-related behavior patterns, including bullying, among Brazilian adolescents. We used data from the second edition of PeNSE, carried out in 2012. We conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to identify behavior patterns, and linear regression models to describe sociodemographic characteristics associated with each pattern. We identified three behavior patterns; the problem-behavior pattern, which comprised aggressive behavior (including bullying), alcohol drinking, smoking, drugs use and unsafe sex; the health-compromising pattern, which included unhealthy diet indicators and sedentary behavior; and the health-enhancing pattern, which included healthy diet indicators and physical activity. The problembehavior and health-compromising patterns were associated with older age and from more developed regions. The former was associated with male gender and attending public school, while the latter was associated with female gender and more educated mothers. The health-enhancing pattern was associated with male gender and more educated mothers. In conclusion, the review suggested that bullying is more likely to occur in unequal contexts, but we could not confirm this hypothesis for verbal bullying in the Brazilian setting. Schools should be encouraged to adopt anti-bullying rules and to train teachers in bullying prevention. Among Brazilian adolescents the school and city variables explained litle of verbal bullying victimization. Individual characteristics indicated high risk sub-groups, which could be used to support anti-bullying policies. Bullying perpetration comprised part of the problem behavior pattern, suggesting that interventions should be more broaden

Adolescence involves an increase in risky decisions, such as reckless driving and illicit substance use, but prosocial characteristics and peer affiliation have yet to be investigated as protective factors. The present study assessed altruistic tendencies, prosocial peer affiliation (PPA), and empathic concern as predictors and moderators of risk-taking, including both self-reported health risks and riskiness in a behavioral task. Young adults from ages 20 to 25 (M = 22.55, SD = 1.38) completed a battery of behavioral tasks (including the Balloon Analogue Risk Task and the Dictator Game) and questionnaires on Amazon MTurk, measuring risk-taking (drunk driving, texting while driving, binge drinking, illicit substance use, and tobacco use), altruistic tendencies, PPA, empathic concern, reward sensitivity, and self-regulation. Results indicated that drunk driving and texting while driving were negatively associated with all three prosocial characteristics, and binge drinking was related to PPA and empathic concern. Moderating effects included interactions between altruistic tendencies and reward sensitivity on drunk driving, altruistic tendencies and self-regulation on drunk driving, PPA and reward sensitivity on binge drinking, and empathic concern and self-regulation on binge drinking. Mediating effects, however, were not found. Overall, prosocial characteristics seemed to buffer against reward sensitivity and strengthen self-regulation in several models. The discussion centers on how prosocial individuals might be less prone to risk-taking, and how affiliating with positive peers can offset the effects of heightened reward sensitivity during this crucial developmental period.

The diploma thesis "Gender differences in risk attitude among Czech high school students" discusses how people deal with risk in everyday life. The first part of the paper investigates the forming of risk perception, and the factors that influence the process. Social and cultural structures are of high importance, but also individual factors (such as gender or personal experiences) as well as media representation matter. Risk perception plays a key role in decision-making in situations dealing with uncertainty and the paper asserts that it is possible to model risk behaviour and make predictions accordingly. The second part of the paper presents research on risk attitudes among Czech high school students. It deals with gender differences and students' willingness to risk in three key domains: social, health and leisure time. The model used in the paper focuses on students' willingness to participate in a given activity, their perception of the probability of negative outcomes, and the degree of pleasure derived from the activity. Research indicates that a) men are more willing to risk in health and leisure time related activities, whereas women are more daring in social activities; b) students coming from academically oriented schools are more willing to risk in social activities than students...

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Alcoholism inheritance rates have been estimated as high as 60% in a human population. Many significant features of alcohol dependence have been replicated in rodent animal models of alcoholism, however not in totality. These animal models include inbred preferring (iP) and nonpreferring (iNP) rat types. Congenic rats have been engineered from the iP and iNP strains whereby a P congenic rat has in its genome a well-chosen chromosomal portion taken from an NP rat (P.NP) and, reciprocally, an NP congenic rat has acquired the analogous DNA from a P rat (NP.P). In this case, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) from chromosome 4 is the donor genetic material for the congenic rats. It is of great interest to further study this chromosome 4 QTL because it has been found to control a significant portion of ethanol consumption behavior in iP and iNP rats. This study aimed to behaviorally profile the iP, iNP and reciprocal congenic rats. As a result of the behavioral profiling of these genetically related groups, some conclusions could be made regarding which behaviors appear to be controlled by the chromosome 4 donor DNA.This study primarily utilized the Multivariate Concentric Square Field apparatus (MCSF) to characterize behavioral profiles for the inbred and congenic rats. The Open field (OF) and Elevated plus maze (EPM) supported this effort. The MCSF is valuable in that it allows for the animals to interact within an environment that has ethological value. The 12 different zones that make up the field are characterized by some functional quality in terms of type and duration of behavior performed, etc. The behavioral data is aggregated and finally represented in terms of five functional categories, the elements of the behavioral profile: general activity, exploratory activity, risk assessment, risk taking, and shelter seeking. The study hypotheses were shaped by prior research suggesting that iPs should display lower general activity and risk taking strategy than iNPs in the MCSF. Inbred Ps should be more active in the OF and spend more time in the center of the EPM. Generally, it is expected that the iP QTL confer behavioral phenotypes to the iNP strain that deviate toward a "P" behavioral phenotype and reciprocally, the iNP QTL confer behavioral phenotypes to the iP strain that deviate toward an "NP" behavioral phenotype. The results showed that iP rats performed more risk assessment and risk taking behavior and less shelter seeking and anxiety-like behavior than iNP rats. It followed that P.NP congenic rats significantly downgraded their risk assessment and risk taking behavior when compared to iP rats. This decrease can be attributed to the chromosome 4 QTL donated from the iNP breed. All together this study concludes that risk assessment and risk taking behavior in the iP rats is controlled by the same DNA region that, in part, determines voluntary intake of ethanol consumption. Further fine mapping of the QTL region should help in discovering if the same DNA sequences that influence ethanol intake also significantly influence risk behavior.

This dissertation collects four essays on banks, firms and real effects of bank lending. Owing to the appliance of different econometric methods on several datasets, insights in the behav-ior of and the impacts from financial markets and market participants are generated. In the first chapter, our results uncover a so far undocumented ability of the interbank market to distinguish between banks of different quality in times of aggregate distress. We show empirical evidence that during the 2007 financial crisis the inability of some banks to roll over their interbank debt was not due to a failure of the interbank market per se but rather to bank-specific shocks affecting banks’ capital, liquidity and credit quality as well as revised bank-level risk perceptions. Relationship banking is not capable of containing these frictions, as hard information seems to dominate soft information. In detail, we explore determinants of the formation and resilience of interbank lending relationships by analyzing an extensive da-taset comprising over 1.9 million interbank relationships of more than 3,500 German banks between 2000 and 2012. The second chapter examines the relationship between central bank funding and credit risk-taking. Employing bank-firm-level data from the German credit registry during 2009:Q1-2014:Q4, we find that banks borrowing from the central bank rebalance their portfolios to-wards ex-ante riskier firms. We further establish that this effect is driven by the ECB’s maturi-ty extensions and that the risk-taking sensitivity of banks borrowing from the ECB is inde-pendent of idiosyncratic bank characteristics. Finally, we show that these shifts in bank lend-ing are associated with an increase in firm-level investment and employment, but also with a deterioration of bank balance sheet quality in the following year. Once we analyze the relationship of banks as lenders vis-à-vis banks as borrowers and banks as lenders vis-à-vis non-financial companies as borrowers, we enlarge the understand-ing of non-financial companies not only in terms of being simply borrowers, respectively sub-jects exhibiting of credit risks. Instead, we try to understand the inner working of those com-panies more generally and analyze their quality not only in terms of a bank’s risk assessment but also in terms of the overall market assessment. However, this in turn can generate infor-mation useable to assess the quality of a bank’s credit portfolio in dimensions that so far are not taken into account by the current regulatory framework. Moreover, a better understanding of banks and non-banks beyond the standard lens of the banking and corporate finance litera-ture might promote new scopes for future research connecting those discrete subjects. In this regard, the third chapter analyzes the dependence of price reactions to corporate insider trad-ing on several measures of corporate governance quality. Our results strongly support the view that first, higher corporate governance levels seem to prevent or discourage insiders from engaging in insider trading as means of opportunistic rent extraction. Second, results confirm the notion of buy and sell trades not being just two sides of the same coin. That is, a higher level of corporate governance leads to a better pre-event information environment which results in less positive abnormal returns after insider buy trades as the incremental posi-tive information revealed by the trade is smaller. In contrast, sell trades in firms with better corporate governance are perceived to convey more valuable and most importantly negative information to the capital market so that prices adjust more for companies with better govern-ance schemes. Third, we show that institutional ownership even on an aggregate level is a sufficient measure to proxy a company’s corporate governance level. Hence, as information on companies’ bylaws and on investors’ investment dedication and type for example are scarce, respectively associated with higher costs because one has to gather that information one can refrain from that and instead proxy the governance level with the aggregate measure of institutional ownership. The latter result is important for carrying out future analyses merg-ing and extending the findings of the first two chapters. Last, the fourth chapter abstracts from borrowers as subjects of credit risk, as well, and most importantly extends the analysis of banks, firms and their interactions effecting each other by a macroeconomic perspective of the real effects of bank lending. That is, as capital flows and real estate are pro-cyclical, and real estate has a substantial weight in economies’ income and wealth Chapter 4 studies the role of real estate markets in the transmission of bank flow shocks to output growth across German cities. In this regard, real sector firms play a central role in the transmission mechanism we uncover. More specifically, the empirical analysis relies on a new and unique matched data set at the city level and the bank-firm level. To measure bank flow shocks, we show that changes in sovereign spreads of Southern Eu-ropean countries (the so-called PIGS spread) can predict German cross-border bank flows. To achieve identification by geographic variation, in addition to a traditional supply-side varia-ble, we use a novel instrument that exploits a policy assigning refugee immigrants to munici-palities on an exogenous basis. We find that output growth responds more to bank flow shocks in cities that are more exposed to tightness in local real estate markets. We estimate that, during the 2009-2014 period, for every 100-basis point increase in the PIGS spread, the most exposed cities grow 15-2 basis points more than the least exposed ones. Moreover, the differential response of commercial property prices can explain most of this growth differen-tial. When we unpack the transmission mechanism by using matched bank-firm-level data on credit, employment, capital expenditure and TFP, we find that firm real estate collateral as measured by tangible fixed assets plays a critical role. In particular, bank flow shocks in-crease the credit supply to firms and sectors with more real estate collateral. Higher credit supply then leads firms to hire and invest more, without evidence of capital misallocation.

Områdesbeskrivning: IPO-marknaden kan undersökas på olika sätt. Varför underprissättning är så förhärskande, om den går i cykler eller vad det är som påverkar den. Vi vill undersöka den svenska IPO-marknaden under perioden 2006-2020 och om den påverkas av makroekonomiska faktorer såsom inflation eller styrränta. Denna studie är inspirerad av tidigare forskning utförd av Tran och Jeon (2011) som undersöker om det finns samband mellan makroekonomiska faktorer och IPO-marknadens aktivitet på den amerikanska marknaden. Är det så att olika IPO-marknader påverkas av olika faktorer på unika sätt eller är IPO-marknader världen över homogena? Vi försöker dessutom framställa en modell som beskriver det mest gynnsamma förhållandet att genomföra en IPO under om målet är att anskaffa mer kapital. Syfte: Uppsatsen syfte är att undersöka den svenska IPO-marknadens aktivitet under perioden 2006-2020. Samt undersöka i vilken utsträckning den svenska IPO-marknadens aktiviteten påverkas av makroekonomiska faktorer. Med vår undersökning av de makroekonomiska faktorerna som grund kan vi således undersöka vilka makroekonomiska förhållanden som är mest gynnsamma för företag i Sverige att genomföra en IPO under om målet är att anskaffa mer kapital. Metod: En kvantitativ metod appliceras i denna uppsats för att besvara våra forskningsfrågor och datan vi samlar in analyseras med hjälp utav en regressionsanalys. Vi samlar in vårt datamaterial genom att läsa igenom årsredovisningar från de företag som genomfört en IPO under den tidsperioden vi undersöker. Hypoteserna formuleras utifrån tidigare forskning och ämnar att undersöka om de makroekonomiska faktorerna har ett positivt eller negativt samband med IPO-marknadsaktivitet. Resultat: Resultaten som vi finner är att det finns signifikanta samband mellan den svenska IPO-marknadens aktivitet och makroekonomiska faktorer. Vi identifierar ett förhållande som kan beskrivas som det mest gynnsamma makroekonomiska förhållandet utifrån vår modell. Begränsningar: Vår uppsats är begränsad till tidsperiod 2006-2020 samt den svenska IPO-marknaden. På grund av att viss information kring hur mycket kapital ett företag anskaffar vid sin IPO saknas så begränsas vårt urval. / Area description: IPO markets can be studied in different ways. Why underpricing is so prevalent, if the market moves in cycles or what influences the market. We want to study the Swedish IPO market during the period of 2006-2020 and if it is influenced by macroeconomic factors like inflation or the policy rate. This study is influenced by the work done by Tran and Jeon (2011) who examines if there are any relationships between macroeconomic factors and IPO market activity on the American PO market. Is it that different IPO markets are influenced by different factors in unique ways or are the IPO markets around the globe homogeneous. We try to produce a model that describes the most favourable environment to implement an IPO in if the goal is to acquire more capital. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to examine the activity of the Swedish IPO market during the period 2006-2020 and examine the extent to which the activity of the Swedish IPO market is affected by macroeconomic factors. Based on our study of the macroeconomic factors, we can therefore examine which macroeconomic conditions are most favourable for companies in Sweden to carry out an IPO under the goal of raising more capital.  Method: A quantitative method is applied in this thesis to answer our research questions and the data we collect is analysed with the help of a regression analysis. We collect our data by reading through annual reports from the companies that conducted an IPO during the period we are investigating. The hypotheses are formulated based on previous research and intend to investigate whether the macroeconomic factors have a positive or negative relationship with IPO market activity.  Results: The results we find is that there are significant relationships between the activity of the Swedish IPO market and macroeconomic factors. We identify a ratio that can be described as the most favourable macroeconomic ratio based on our model.  Limitations: Our thesis is limited to the period 2006-2020 and the Swedish IPO market. Due to the lack of certain information about how much capital a company raises at its IPO, our selection is limited.

Bakgrund: Tonårsperioden är en avgörande tid för unga. Ungdomars utsatthet för våld utgör en väsentlig folkhälsofråga globalt och nationellt. Vid mötet med ungdomar kan barnmorskor på ungdomsmottagningar ta upp ämnen som relationer, livsstil och sexuellt beteende. Västra Götalandsregionen har utvecklat SEXIT, en metod som kan bidra till att identifiera ungdomars sexuella risker och våldsutsatthet.   Motiv: Ungdomars sexuella och reproduktiva hälsa och rättigheter behöver förbättras. Genom att kartlägga ungdomars självrapporterade sexuella beteende och erfarenheter av våldsutsatthet kan en bättre uppfattning om vilka risker som de utsätter sig eller andra för nås.    Syfte: Att via SEXIT kartlägga ungdomars sexuella beteende och deras utsatthet för våld samt att utforska eventuella skillnader mellan ålder och kön.   Metod: Stickprovsundersökning med 284 ungdomar vid en ungdomsmottagning i Norrland under 2022, som besvarat SEXIT enkäten som innehöll bakgrundsfrågor, våldsutsatthet och sexuella riskbeteenden. 96 sorterades bort, 188 deskriptiva statistiska analyser utfördes i statistikprogrammet Jamovi 2.4.8.0., med uppdelning i ungdomar och unga vuxna samt jämförelser mellan våldsutsatthet, sexuellt risktagande, ålder och kön.   Resultat: En hög andel ungdomar och unga vuxna rapporterade utsatthet för fysiskt, psykiskt och sexuellt våld. Fler kvinnor uppger att de blev pressade till sex (kvinnor 22%, män 3%). Mer än en tredjedel (34%) av kvinnor rapporterade utsatthet för psykiskt våld och motsvarande siffra för män är 38%. Unga vuxna män angav att de oftare har blivit utsatt för fysiskt våld jämfört med unga vuxna kvinnor (p=0.018). Mer än hälften av kvinnor (60%), rapporterade att de hade utsatts för oönskade handlingar mot sin vilja. 15% använde sex som en strategi för att hantera känslomässiga svårigheter eller en form av självskada.  Konklusion: En betydande andel ungdomar rapporterade att de utsatts för psykiskt, fysiskt och sexuellt våld, och de tar stora sexuella risker. Tillgängliga ungdomsmottagningar är väsentligt för deras hälsa. / Background: Adolescence is a crucial period for youth. Youth exposure to violence is a public health issue globally and nationally. Midwives at youth clinics adress topics such as relationships, lifestyle and sexual behaviour. Västra Götaland Region has developed SEXIT, method to identify youth’s sexual risks and experiences of violence.  Motive: Adolescents' sexual and reproductive health needs to be improved and their rights strengthened. By mapping young people's sexual behavior and experiences of violence, we can see what risks they expose themselves to or expose others to.  Aim: to map adolescens´ sexual behavior and their exposure to violence through SEXIT and to explore potential differenses between age and gender.  Method: Survey with 284 youths at a youth clinic in Norrland during 2022, responding to the SEXIT questionnaire containing background questions,exposure to violence, and sexual risk behaviors. 96 were excluded, and 188 analyses were conducted using the statsistical software Jamovi 2.4.8.0, categorized by youths and young adults, including comparisions between exposure to violence, sexual risk-taking, age and gender.   Results: A high proportion of adolescents and young adults reported exposure to physical, psychological and sexual violence. More women state that they are pressured into sex (women 22%, men 3%). Over a third(34%) of women report exposure to psychological violence, corresponting to men who report 38%. Young adult men indicated that they have often been exposed to physical violence compared to young adult women (p=0.018)  More than half of women reported experiencing unwanted actions against their will. 15% used sex as a strategy to cope with emotional difficulties or as a form of self-harm.   Conclusion: A significant proportion of youths report exposure to psychological, physical and sexual violence, and they take substantial sexual risks. Accessible youth clinics are crucial for their health.

This thesis is a study of the development of a group of students during the time they spentworking as a reflecting team in family therapy. Due to an increase in the number of students enrolled for the Masters degree in Educational Psychology in the years from 2001, there was concern about the students experience of family therapy, since they would not all be likely to counsel a family. The study, which was undertaken over a period of two years, allows a comparison of two different experiences of being part of a reflecting team. The first year the whole group formed a single team, whereas, the group in the second year split into two teams, working on a fortnightly basis. The growth of the students as therapists was assessed by means of questionnaires and an interview with the trainer in terms of self-reflection, willingness to risk. / Social work / MA(SS)(Mental Health)