The subject of this thesis is test anxiety in Czech secondary school students in perspective of the graduation exam and its influence over their overall academic performance in this exam. Results of a study conducted in the academic year 2017/2018 among 439 graduating secondary school students in six secondary schools in Prague is presented The aim of the study was to verify a test anxiety model based on Lazarus's transactional model of stress, Ellis's cognitive A-B-C model and other subsequent models of different authors (e.g. Hodapp and Rost). The model used in this study thus approaches test anxiety as a form of a stress reaction that consists of three successive steps: (A) activating event in the form of a test situation, (B) cognitive appraisal, and (C) emotional and behavioral consequences part of which is the academic performance. Both steps B and C further consist of a variety of unique components and outcomes. Quantitative data collected with the utilization of an extensive test battery of eight self- evaluating tests, an anamnestic questionnaire and exam results allowed for a further statistical elaboration. Multiple linear regression, Spearman correlation and factor analysis were utilized to reduce total number of variables of the original theoretical model so that it would better and...

A work life imbalance emerges when the boundary between work life and personal life is put at sake. It happens when people bring work with them home, or private problems to work. A work life imbalance can lead to psychological issues such as, stress, anxiety, depression, and physical tiredness. Therefore, the current study asks how people experience work life balance, or the lack thereof, to create an in-depth understanding for the dynamics that creates work life balance and imbalance. Different theoretical models were used to address work life balance: spillover theory, inter-role conflict theory and the job demands-resources model theory. Three industrial organizations within the industrial sector, CarCompany1, CarCompany2, and Global-Tech (pseudonyms) were selected for data collection of a sample size of twelve respondents. A qualitative method of research was used with surveys containing open-ended questions, which were used to collect data.Thematic analysis with a deductive approach was used to analyze data into themes and categories, whereby relations between categories and themes were explored. The study's results show that most people from the selected organizations suffer from work life imbalance due to work. The main causes behind the disruption are long working hours, work pressure, job demands, expectations to take work tasks home, an overachieving organizational culture, and demanding management and supervisors. This resulted in stress, anxiety, physical tiredness, and for some a low self-esteem when employees felt that they never did enough at work, no matter the effort they put in. It is concluded that people currently experience work and family imbalance even in a satisfying occupation, with clear work goals and good social relations at work, because of work overload and job demands.

Forskning har fått fram lovande resultat för att mindfulness kan vara ett framgångsrikt verktyg att implementera i skolan. Mindfulness-baserade skolinterventioner är ett område som har fått stor uppmärksamhet de senaste tio åren men sett ur ett vetenskapligt perspektiv, är studierna angående MBSI få. Än färre studier finns att hitta gällande mindfulness påverkan på matematikprestationer och provresultat. Med tanke mindfulness positiva effekter som har identifierats både gällande vuxna och unga är detta forskningsområde tämligen intressant och relevant att utforska i skolsammanhang. I denna uppsats redogörs därför en kvantitativ studie som fokuserar på hur mindfulness-meditation påverkar mellanstadieelevers prestationer på, och upplevelse av, matematikprov. Genom ett experiment med ett urval på 35 elever i åldern 12–13 år fick en av två grupper genomföra meditation precis innan de skrev matematikprov. Delar av resultaten som framkom i analysen visade att mindfulness-meditation innan matematikprov gjorde att elever både presterade bättre på matematikprov och upplevade provsituationen i högre grad mer positiv än den grupp som skrev prov i sin naturliga miljö. Därtill framhåller studien resultat som indikerar att endast en kort stunds meditation innan prov kan göra skillnad. / Research has shown that mindfulness can be a successful tool to implement in schools. It is an area that has received a lot of attention in the last ten years, but from a scientific perspective, the studies regarding mindfulness-based school interventions are few. Even fewer studies can be found regarding the impact of mindfulness on math performance and test results. Considering the positive results of the effects that mindfulness has regarding adults and young persons, this area of research is interesting and relevant to explore in schools. In this research I have done a quantitative study focusing on how mindfulness meditation affects middle school students' performance on, and experience of, mathematics tests. Through an experiment with a sample of 35 students at the ages of 12–13 years, one of the two groups participated in a meditation just before writing a math test. Parts of the results that emerged in the analysis showed that mindfulness meditation before math tests made students both perform better on math tests and experience the test situation as more positive than the group who took the test in their natural environment. In addition, the result from this study indicates that just a short moment of meditation before a test can make a difference.

The effects of short-term meditation is a debated subject. There is studies that indicates that there is none or limited effect. Research of mindfulness meditation has also shown positive effects on working memory related tasks and sustained attention, but it can also show reduction of stress and depression. This study evaluate the effects of short-term guided meditation in a group of 10 persons in comparison with a control group. Results indicated no difference in memory tasks such as digit-span but the experimental group showed significant improvements in self-reported stress and mindful assets such as Acting with awareness and Acceptance without judgement. The results are consistent with previous research in this area. / Effekten av kortsiktig meditation är omdiskuterad. Det finns studier som indikerar att det inte finns någon eller limiterad effekt. Tidigare forskning kring meditation har också visat positiva effekter på arbetsrelaterade uppgifter och bibehållen uppmärksamhet men även på stressreducering och depression. Den här studien utvärderar effekten av guidad meditation vid tre tillfällen på en experimentgrupp av tio personer i jämförelse med en kontrollgrupp. Resultaten visar inte att mindfulness hade signifikant påverkan på arbetsminnet men signifikant positiv påverkan på stressreducering och på mindfulnessdrag som Agera med medvetenhet och Acceptera utan fördomar. Resultaten går i linje med tidigare forskning inom det här området.

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Summery The underlying mechanisms of weight gain and other affective and cognitive changes after initiation of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease are still unclear. Considering the functional organization within the subthalamic nucleus (STN); limbic, associative and sensorimotor regions residing in the medial, central and later STN respectively, we hypothesized that weight gain may be related to medial localization of stimulation, while motor improvement may be related to lateral localization of stimulation within the STN (study 1). We further hypothesized that stimulation close to the limbic and associative part of the STN may be associated with negative impact on limbic system leading to enhanced anxiety and changes in the hypothalamic- pituitary- adrenal axis (HPA)(study 2). Therefore, the primary aims our study were to assess changes in body weight (study 1) and the hypothalamic- pituitary- adrenal axis (HPA) (study 2) in relation to the position of the active stimulating contact within the nucleus. ...