Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is independently associated with an increased risk for hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) can reduce mortality and morbidity, but low compliance rates are seen.
To explore and describe the experiences of CPAP-treatment in a young male patient with severe OSAS during a 6-month period from the couple's perspective. METHODS AND THE CASE: A single case study with a phenomenographic approach was employed. Diagnostic procedures of OSAS and initiation of treatment with Auto-CPAP, humidifier and a nasal mask were performed during 4 visits. Conceptions were collected at 4 different occasions during the 6-month period (before, and 2 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after treatment initiation) by means of interviews with a 33-year old male patient and his female partner.
Totally 17 different structural aspects were found to fluctuate during the 6-month period in relation to; influence of stressors, social reactions and adaptation to increase compliance.
An increased knowledge about the influence of stressors, the social reactions, and the adaptation can help healthcare personnel to identify and better understand concerns of other patients and spouses during different time phases of the initial 6-month period of CPAP-treatment.
The purpose of this study was first to compare 18-19-year-old male abstainers with alcohol consumers, and especially light consumers, regarding degree of sociability as indicated by their (in)security in the company of others, their number of close friends, intimate conversations with friends and their popularity in school. Secondly, we analysed the importance of antecedents to and covariates of abstinence. In addition, the significant antecedents and covariates gave us information as to abstinence patterns. The study was based on a survey of all Swedish males, 18-19 years old, conscripted for military service in 1969-70. Data had been collected by means of questionnaires and psychological interviews, giving measures of each respondent's social background, psychiatric/psychological and psychosomatic health status, substance use, deviant behaviour and degree of sociability. Poor sociability was more common among the abstainers than among all the other categories of drinkers, including the light consumers. The conscripts' social background, and especially their fathers' drinking habits, had the strongest effects in explaining abstinence. Sixty-two per cent of all abstainers had non-drinking fathers, compared to 28% of the light consumers. As to the majority of abstainers, this indicates a link between the social background of temperance and their own reported abstinence. Their poor sociability could be a consequence of abstaining at a young age when abstinence is uncommon. Those who abstained despite a drinking father showed a worsening psychological status, suggesting a link between psychologically impaired health, poor sociability and abstinence. Though the abstainers were the least sociable, the difference between the abstainers, the light consumers and the moderate consumers in other categories were generally small.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
This study investigated the effects of proximal and distal constructs on adolescent's academic achievement through self-efficacy. Participants included 482 ninth- and tenth- grade Norwegian students who completed a questionnaire designed to assess school-goal orientations, organizational citizenship behavior, academic self-efficacy, and academic achievement. The results of a bootstrapping technique used to analyze relationships between the constructs indicated that school-goal orientations and organizational citizenship predicted academic self-efficacy. Furthermore, school-goal orientation, organizational citizenship, and academic self-efficacy explained 46% of the variance in academic achievement. Mediation analyses revealed that academic self-efficacy mediated the effects of perceived task goal structure, perceived ability structure, civic virtue, and sportsmanship on adolescents' academic achievements. The results are discussed in reference to current scholarship, including theories underlying our hypothesis. Practical implications and directions for future research are suggested.
This article reports on a study of the legal and policy framework governing access, in Canada, to workers' compensation benefits for workers who are work disabled because of mental health problems attributed to stressful working conditions and events. It also provides a brief description of legislation regulating psychological harassment in Quebec and Saskatchewan. Applying classic legal methodology, the article examines the legal situation in Canada, relying on federal and provincial legislation and case law. While many of the jurisdictions studied explicitly restrict compensability to the consequences of traumatic incidents, application of this legislation is very different from one province to the next. In some provinces, legal exclusions are applied emphatically, whereas in others the workers' compensation appeal tribunals interpret the legislative exclusions much more narrowly, allowing for some access to compensation despite the legislative exclusions. Other provinces have no such exclusions and accept claims for both acute and chronic stress, although access to compensation remains more difficult for claimants with mental health problems than for those who are physically injured, regardless of where they live. The article concludes by offering an analysis of the consequences of the current situation from a public policy and public health perspective, notably underlining the negative consequences, particularly for women, of current workers' compensation policy in most Canadian provinces.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of acculturation attitudes and ethnic and national identity on behavior problems in arctic minority adolescents in northern Norway. METHOD: The Youth Self-Report, the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure, and acculturation strategies were completed by 581 indigenous Sami and 291 Kven high school students in 1994-1995, at age 15-18 years. Response rate was 85%. Behavior problems were in addition to ethnic/national identity and acculturation attitudes studied in relation to ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status, parentage, ethnic language, and ethnic context. RESULTS: Although there were no ethnic group differences in behavior problems, the impact of ethnocultural predictors differed between ethnocultural and indigenous adolescents. Acculturation attitudes were most significant for indigenous adolescents' mental health, and identity issues showed the strongest impact on ethnocultural peers. The study revealed significant gender differences regarding the influence of ethnocultural factors, and contextual variation among Sami adolescents with the strongest impact in contexts with low density of Sami people. CONCLUSIONS: The significant ethnic group variations emphasize the importance of conducting both between- and within-group analysis on the impact of ethnocultural issues on behavior problems in minority adolescents.
Research Department of Human Nutrition, Centre for Advanced Food Studies, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, 30 Rolighedsvej, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark. stk@kvl.dk
In nutritional research, the sensations of appetite have mostly been studied as a physiological phenomenon. However, in order to understand the significance of appetite for everyday eating habits, it is pertinent to include the social dimension. In a qualitative interview study, using qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews, we investigated how appetite was experienced and handled in the context of everyday life among 20 men and women. This report examines how qualitative dimensions of appetite are experienced and conceptualised in everyday life. Achieving what was described as proper satiety was found to be of decisive importance for daily eating habits. The experience of being full up, the duration of satiety and the sensuous pleasure of eating were all found to be central dimensions of proper satiety, the definition of which varied according to different social contexts. Whether one ate one's fill in the company of others, alone, at work or in one's spare time turned out to be of decisive importance. A more elaborate understanding of the social dimensions of appetite may help to improve endeavours to prevent overweight and obesity.
In March 1985, the Swedish Parliament allocated financial resources for an action program to strengthen the position of women in the labor market. This program is based on the recognition that special efforts are needed to interest girls in technical subjects at preschool age and to support women entering occupational fields where men predominate. The program includes: special technology courses for girls in grades eight and nine; further training of teaching and vocational personnel concerning equal opportunities; an experimental training scheme for women whose jobs are threatened by new technology; supportive back-up groups or study circles for women who have opted for nontraditional occupations; and the appointment of a special study group to analyze conditions for women in connection with structural changes in industry. The Government also instructed the National Board of Education to follow the progress of upper secondary school girls taking technical lines of study and to ascertain the extent to which special supporting measures are needed.
