Використання алгоритмів евристичного типу у процесі розв’язування рівнянь та нерівностей

(uk) В статті розглядається використання приписів алгоритмічного типу при розв’язуванні рівнянь та нерівностей з параметром у контексті застосування сформованих в учнів умінь дослідження властивостей функцій.(en) The using of algorithmic directions in equations and inequalities with a parameter solving in the movement of application of students’ skills in exploration of functions’ properties is considered in the article

Being in balance or stuck in time : exploring facets of time processing in relation to mental health

Time is central in human functioning and crucial for adaptive behavior. The aim of the current thesis was to investigate aspects of people’s subjective experience of time and their relationship with mental health, specifically anxiety and subjective well-being. Two time concepts were of key interest in the thesis: time estimation, which refers to the ability to estimate time durations; and time perspective, which refers to people’s habitual way of relating to the past, the present, and the future.  The thesis comprehends four studies. In the first three studies, time perspective and time estimation were investigated in persons with varying degrees of anxiety, ranging from mild symptoms to anxiety disorders. The results of these studies showed that in particular negative past time perspective and negative future time perspective were associated with anxiety. These time perspectives were further strongly associated with the tendency to ruminate and worry. Time estimation did not largely deviate between persons with anxiety and healthy controls, although there was some evidence that subcomponents of anxiety might be differentially related to time estimation. More specifically, state anxiety was moderately related to retrospective time estimation, such that higher levels of state anxiety was associated with judging time intervals in retrospect as longer.  In the final study of the thesis, balanced time perspective (BTP) was examined in relation to subjective well-being and age. BTP can be described as an optimal way of relating to the past, the present and the future and has been suggested to facilitate mental health and well-being. However, there are several ways to measure BTP, and there are also indications that what constitutes a BTP is not completely age-invariant or equally associated with well-being across age. The fourth study of the thesis thus aimed at examining three methods of measuring BTP, and each methods distinct association with subjective well-being and age were examined. The study was conducted in a population-based sample of older adults (age range 60 – 90 years of old). Results of this study indicated subjective well-being is strongly related to BTP, particularly methods of measuring BTP that incorporates negative future time perspective. However, the strong (and inverse) relationship between negative future time perspective and subjective well-being diminished with increasing age. Instead, and among the oldest participants in the sample (80+ years), fatalistic views of the present had more bearing on subjective well-being

Barns röst och delaktighet i kommunalpolitiken

A qualitative study is presented concerning children’s participation in the local decisionmaking in Swedish municipalities. The study also aims at finding out what are considered to be successful factors and obstacles connected to the implementation of children’s participation in local decision-making. The study contains a summary of the convention on the rights of the child, focusing on article 12, as well as previous research findings concerning children’s participation and factors enabling respectively hindering participation. Method has been interviews with a purposive sample of politicians, civil employees and children from municipalities regarded as prominent in their work with children’s participation. Either through a formal or informal implementation model. The results have been analysed in the light of Roger Hart’s eight-step “ladder of children’s participation“, where position one is considered Manipulation from adults and position eight is Child-initiated and shared decisions with adults. The results show that the investigated municipalities are considering the voice of the children in the local decision-making. Depending on different variables in focus, the position on Hart’s ladder varies between four and seven. The study concludes that successful implementation of children’s participation in local decision-making commands parallel work with organizational structures, systematic and adult’s attitudes

Being in balance or stuck in time : exploring facets of time processing in relation to mental health

Time is central in human functioning and crucial for adaptive behavior. The aim of the current thesis was to investigate aspects of people’s subjective experience of time and their relationship with mental health, specifically anxiety and subjective well-being. Two time concepts were of key interest in the thesis: time estimation, which refers to the ability to estimate time durations; and time perspective, which refers to people’s habitual way of relating to the past, the present, and the future.  The thesis comprehends four studies. In the first three studies, time perspective and time estimation were investigated in persons with varying degrees of anxiety, ranging from mild symptoms to anxiety disorders. The results of these studies showed that in particular negative past time perspective and negative future time perspective were associated with anxiety. These time perspectives were further strongly associated with the tendency to ruminate and worry. Time estimation did not largely deviate between persons with anxiety and healthy controls, although there was some evidence that subcomponents of anxiety might be differentially related to time estimation. More specifically, state anxiety was moderately related to retrospective time estimation, such that higher levels of state anxiety was associated with judging time intervals in retrospect as longer.  In the final study of the thesis, balanced time perspective (BTP) was examined in relation to subjective well-being and age. BTP can be described as an optimal way of relating to the past, the present and the future and has been suggested to facilitate mental health and well-being. However, there are several ways to measure BTP, and there are also indications that what constitutes a BTP is not completely age-invariant or equally associated with well-being across age. The fourth study of the thesis thus aimed at examining three methods of measuring BTP, and each methods distinct association with subjective well-being and age were examined. The study was conducted in a population-based sample of older adults (age range 60 – 90 years of old). Results of this study indicated subjective well-being is strongly related to BTP, particularly methods of measuring BTP that incorporates negative future time perspective. However, the strong (and inverse) relationship between negative future time perspective and subjective well-being diminished with increasing age. Instead, and among the oldest participants in the sample (80+ years), fatalistic views of the present had more bearing on subjective well-being

The possibilities of dissatisfaction : Psychotherapists’ work with dissatisfaction in young adult therapies

Att arbeta med och överkomma missnöje i unga vuxna-terapier har i forskning visat sig gynnsamt för ett positivt terapiutfall. Dock visar forskning att unga vuxna kan ha svårt att uttrycka missnöje. Denna kvalitativa studies syfte var att undersöka hur psykodynamiskt inriktade psykoterapeuter beskriver att de arbetar med missnöje i unga vuxna-terapier samt vad som beskrivs främjande/hindrande i detta arbete. Nio leg. psykoterapeuter intervjuades utifrån en semistrukturerad intervjuguide. Genom tematisk analys av datamaterialet framkom följande teman: Diagnostik; Uppmärksamma, Förståelse; Genuin relation; Vänta; Lyfta det; Tolka; Tydligare känsla av ”Jag”; Alliansbrott; Genombrott; Psykoterapeutens tredje öga och Balansgång. Resultaten visar att alla teman samspelar vilket tydliggörs i en modell. Mest främjande för arbetet med missnöje var: en genuin terapeutisk relation vilken möjliggjorde metakommunikation; förståelse för ung vuxen-fasens utmaningar; samt terapeutens utifrånperspektiv för att uppmärksamma missnöjet. Mest hindrande var undvikande av missnöjet och avsaknad av genuin terapeutisk relation

Uppväxtens betydelse för utvecklandet av ett missbruk : ”… jag hängde ju med på allt givetvis, det var allt från inbrott till att dricka alkohol, skolka och snatta på affären…”

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka vilka faktorer i uppväxten som kan ha betydelse för utvecklandet av ett missbruk. Fokus har varit att belysa vilka riskfaktorer i uppväxten som kan påverka utvecklandet av ett missbruk, samt vilka skyddsfaktorer som är viktiga för att ett barn ska utvecklas gynnsamt. Studien baseras på en kvalitativ metod där fyra semistrukturerade intervjuer har utförts och grundar sig på fyra respondenter med erfarenhet av ett eget alkohol- och drogmissbruk, och deras berättelser om sin uppväxt. Studiens avsikt har varit att utifrån inlärningsteoretiska utgångspunkter förstå uppväxtens betydelse för utvecklandet av ett missbruk. Faktorer som kan påverka individer har delats in i tre huvudgrupper: Biologiska, psykologiska och sociala faktorer. Resultat och slutsatser visar på att det finns många faktorer som kan utgöra en risk i uppväxten som kan leda till ett missbruk. Riskfaktorerna finns på olika plan hos individen, det vill säga på ett personligt plan, inom familjen, skolan med mera och samspelar med varandra. Några riskfaktorer som framkom var bland annat missbrukande förälder/föräldrar, tidig alkoholdebut, låg social kontroll, bristfällig eller avsaknad förmåga att hantera känslor. Några skyddsfaktorer som framkom var bland annat regler och rutiner, tillsyn från föräldrar, förmåga att hantera känslor samt ökad impulskontroll

Social Capital and Depressive Ill-Health - An evaluative Approach to the Implementation of the Chronic Care Model (CCM)

Background: Social capital has been described as a person’s sense of belonging as a result of the number and type of relationships she/he has, in which trust and reciprocity are especially important. Aim: To illuminate older persons’ experiences of social capital and depressive ill-health after implementation of the CCM. Methods: Data were collected from nine participants resident in two districts of Norway by means of individual in-depth interviews. A qualitative hermeneutic analysis was performed. Results: Two overall themes, desire for a guardian and a wish for independence despite being dependent, and two themes emerging from the analysis. The first theme—searching for protection was based on three sub-themes overwhelmed by the emotional pain of other people, a sense of exclusion and worries about the future, while the second theme—the need for a relationship with trustworthy persons comprised two sub-themes, namely, emotional pain was not understood and powerlessness to change the situation. The result of this study highlights the need for greater understanding on the part of healthcare professionals of how older persons manage their social relationships. Healthcare professionals require more knowledge about how negative self-beliefs held by older persons suffering from emotional pain, which can lead to reduced ability to trust other people. Another consequence is that fear of being dependent on other people can result in unwillingness to admit the need for help. Conclusion: This study highlights the lack of social capital in older persons who suffer from depressive ill-health. The implementation of the CCM does not appear to improve the situation. Older persons need to be more aware of their social needs and productive interactions in order to protect themselves and obtain support from their social network

Examining the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation–Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) in a clinical sample using classical test theory and item response theory

The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation–Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) using classical test theory and item response theory (IRT). The CORE-OM is a commonly used 34-item self-report instrument measuring psychological problems/distress covering four domains: subjective well-being, problems/symptoms, functioning and risk. Despite its broad application, only a few studies have used IRT to examine the psychometric properties, and the properties of the Swedish version have only been examined in one initial study. The present study included 1,011 clients with mild to moderate symptoms of distress, applying for psychotherapy at an outpatient training clinic in Sweden. Clients' responses were subjected to classical item analyses as well as IRT (Rasch) analysis using the partial credit model. The classical analyses demonstrated high levels of internal consistency and acceptable levels of item discrimination for the majority of the items, although lower for some items, particularly in the Risk domain. IRT analyses showed that there was a rather good match between item and respondent locations and the measurement precision was high. Disordered step and average measures for some of the items in the Risk domain indicate that these items were problematic from a psychometric point of view and only applicable for a minority of the participants. Differential item functioning for gender in some of the items suggests that they might need to be revised to minimise potential gender bias