Innsatte i norske fengsel: Utdanningskvalitet, læringsstrategier og motivasjon

Denne rapporten bygger på en undersøkelse blant alle innsatte over 18 år i norske fengsel. Hvordan opplever innsatte som tar utdanning i fengsel ulike sider ved utdanningen, undervisningen og egen læring? Undersøkelsen tar for seg 1) hvordan de innsatte evaluerer undervisningstilbudet, 2) ulike vansker de måtte ha med utdanningen, 3) hvilken motivasjon de har for udanning og 4) hvilke læringsstrategier de benytter. To tusen to hundre og femtifem innsette svarte på spørreskjemaet. Dette gir en svarprosent på 71,1 av de som fekk skjemaet 2. – 9. februar 2006. 1509 av disse oppga at de ikke tok utdanning i fengsel. Av de resterende 746 var det 534 som hadde besvart tilstrekkelig på den delen av spørreskjemaet som omhandlet utdanning i fengsel. Nedenfor er de viktigste funn oppsummert.30,1 prosent av deltakerne i undersøkelsen er under opplæring. 55,9 prosent av de som er under opplæring tar videregående opplæring. 45,3 prosent av de som tar videregående opplæring tar allmenne/økonomiske/administrative fag. 42,9 prosent av de som tar videregående opplæring tar yrkesfag. 37,9 prosent oppgir at de har litt eller mye lese- eller skrivevansker. 47,8 prosent oppgir at de har litt eller mye regne- eller matematikkvansker. Det er ingen forskjell i selvrapporterte vansker (lese eller skrive/regne eller <De som tar universitets/høyskolefag oppgir mindre lærevansker og bedre ferdigheter. De som tar ungdomsskole og videregående grunnkurs oppgir større lærevansker og dårligere ferdigheter. Innsatte under utdanning er i gjennomsnitt fornøyd med utdanningskvaliteten.Innsatte under utdanning oppgir at de stort sett ikke synes kravene i utdanningen er for høye eller at vanskelighetsgraden er for stor. Innsatte under utdanning mener at tilgangen på datautstyr (IKT) er for dårlig. 42,5 prosent mener at manglende tilgang på datautstyr (IKT) skaper vansker for utdanningen de nå er i gang med. 33,5 prosent mener at sikkerhetsrutinene i fengsel skaper vansker for utdanningen. 26,0 prosent mener at overføring under soning skaper vansker for utdanningen. Deltakerne i undersøkelsen oppga i gjennomsnitt et høyt nivå av motivasjon i form av ’mestringsforventning’ (’self-efficacy’) og ’verdi’ (at de betraktet utdanningen som verdifull) og et lavt nivå av ’test-angst’. Deltakerne i undersøkelsen oppga i gjennomsnitt et nokså høyt nivå av læringsstrategier. Det var klare sammenhenger mellom motivasjon og bruk av læringsstrategier. De som har stor grad av lærevansker (lese/skrive/regne/matematikk) og dårlige ferdigheter til å lære har svakere motivasjon og dårligere læringsstrategier. De som har liten grad av lærevansker (lese/skrive/regne/matematikk) og gode ferdigheter til å lære har sterkere motivasjon og bedre læringsstrategier. De som vurderer undervisningskvaliteten som god og krav/vanskelighetsgrad som passende har sterkere motivasjon og bedre læringsstrategier. De som vurderer undervisningskvaliteten som dårlig og krav/vanskelighetsgrad som upassende har svakere motivasjon og dårligere læringsstrategier

Multidimensional assessment of Game Transfer Phenomena: Intrusive cognitions, perceptual distortions, hallucinations and dissociations

Game Transfer Phenomena (GTP) refers to a cluster of involuntary phenomena related to playing videogames, including sensory and cognitive intrusions, transient changes in perception and self-agency. The Game Transfer Phenomena Scale (GTPS) has been used to measure the frequency of GTP with respect to five factors. The present study aimed to validate an instrument for assessing the multiple dimensions of GTP (GTP-MDS) that helps clarify the distinction between GTP experiences. GTP were contextualized onto the spectrum of intrusive cognitions, perceptual distortions, and dissociations. The relationship between GTP, involuntary phenomena without game content (INVWG) in terms of, e.g., hallucinations and perceptual distortions, and game-biased perceptions (GBPA), as well as the positive and negative impact of GTP and level of distress were also examined. The data were collected using a survey (N = 1,301, male 83.4%, mean age = 28.14). Separate confirmatory factor analyses of the dimensions of “inner intrusions/misperceptions,” “outer intrusions/distortions,” and “dissociations/mix-ups” produced acceptable fit indices. The findings show that phenomena manifesting as internal experiences are more common, while those manifesting as externalized intrusions are less common. Correlations between the GTP dimensions, INVWG, and GBPA, such as the insertion of game elements in thoughts, perceptions, and dreams, supported convergent validity. The correlations between the GTP dimensions and hours played supported criterion validity. Distress was correlated with outer intrusions and dissociations/mix-ups, but not with inner intrusions. Taken together, these results support the validity and reliability of the proposed assessment of GTP constructs.publishedVersio

Mental health in women experiencing preterm birth

Background: The aim of the study was to explore the degree of psychological distress, anxiety, and trauma related stress reactions in mothers who experience preterm birth. Secondarily, we wanted to identify possible predictors of maternal mental health problems. Methods: Twenty-nine mothers of 35 premature children born before 33rd week of pregnancy were assessed within two weeks after given birth. The standardized psychometric methods; Impact of Event Scale (IES), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and State Anxiety Inventory (STAI) assessed mental health problems. The predictors for maternal distress, anxiety, and trauma related stress reactions were pregnancy variables, preterm delivery, Gestation Age, maternal trait anxiety and parity. In addition, maternal prevalence of mental health problems was assessed by clinical diagnoses. Results Our study revealed a high prevalence (52%) of posttraumatic stress responses in the mothers. Conclusions: Our results suggest an early examination of mothers’ psychological reactions to preterm birth at the maternity ward. An early intervention should be considered while the child still is in the neonatal intensive care unit

Testing the METUX Model in Higher Education: Interface and Task Need–Satisfaction Predict Engagement, Learning, and Well-Being

The main aim of this study is to test the validity of the Motivation, Engagement, and Thriving in User Experience (METUX) model (Peters et al., 2018) in higher education. We propose a process model in which we investigate how the need-satisfaction of digital learning tools within the interface sphere and task sphere accounts for engagement, learning, and well-being. A total of 426 higher education students drawn from two subsamples participated in this cross-sectional study. A structural equation model shows that interface autonomy and competence satisfaction positively predict task autonomy and competence. Task competence, in turn, negatively predicts focused attention and positively predicts perceived usability and well-being. Task autonomy positively predicts perceived usability and reward. Based on our results, we provide some initial support for the METUX model in higher education. However, more validation work is needed to improve the scale that measures need-satisfaction in the interface and task spheres. Moreover, we find no support for the effect of task sphere on learning. Further investigations are needed into how METUX can be used in domain- and situation-specific contexts to account for increases in engagement, learning, and well-being. Finally, future studies need to include all aspects of the METUX model in order to fully test its validity.publishedVersio

Mental Health, Psychosocial Functioning, and Quality of Life in Adolescents With Hirschsprung Disease

Background: Studies of mental health in adolescents with Hirschsprung disease (HD) are scarce. This cross-sectional study investigates mental health, psychosocial functioning and quality of life in HD adolescents. Methods: Adolescents (12-18 years) treated at the Department of pediatric surgery at Oslo University Hospital were invited for participation. Mental health was assessed by interview; Child Assessment Schedule (CAS) and questionnaires; parental Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and adolescent Youth Self-Report (YSR). Psychosocial functioning was rated by Child Global Assessment Scale (cGAS). Adolescent Quality of Life was assessed by Pediatric Quality of Life inventory (PedsQL) and chronic family difficulties (CFD) by interview. Medical records were reviewed for somatic history. Results: Thirty-seven adolescents, 28 males, median age 14.3 years, participated. By CAS interview, 8 of 37 (44% of females and 14% of males) fulfilled criteria for psychiatric diagnosis all within emotional and related disorders. Twenty-seven percent had CBCL internalizing scores and 16% had YSR internalizing scores in clinical range indicating emotional problems. By interviewer rated cGAS, 27% were scored in clinical range. By PedsQL 16% reported reduced psychosocial health score. Increased CFD, lower psychosocial functioning and reduced QoL as well as less paternal education were significantly associated with psychiatric diagnosis. Twice as many (4/8) adolescents who either had a stoma or bowel management had a psychiatric diagnosis compared to those who had neither stoma nor bowel management (7/28). Conclusion: Nearly one in four adolescents with HD fulfilled criteria for psychiatric diagnosis. Mental health problems were associated with reduced psychosocial function and reduced QoL. Level of evidence: III.The study has financial support from the Norwegian DAM foundation (2019/FO249474).publishedVersio

Children’s views on postsurgical pain in recovery units in Norway: A qualitative study

Aims and objectives: To explore children’s postsurgical experiences with pain and pain management in the recovery unit. Background: Children’s pain is underestimated and undertreated. Untreated pain can cause unnecessary suffering, increased complication risks, and may lead to chronic pain. Research exploring children’s experiences with postoperative pain and pain management is limited. Design: A qualitative, exploratory study. The study complied with the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ). Methods: Children (N=20), 8–16 years old, took part in semi-structured interviews about their experiences with pain and postoperative pain management while they were in a recovery unit. Data were collected at two university hospitals in Norway. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: Three themes emerged from the interviews; “children’s experiences of what felt unpleasant and painful”, “children’s experiences with pain management” and “children’s recommendations for future pain management”. About half of the children reported moderate to severe pain while in the recovery unit and they did not always tell their nurses when they had pain. They also reported experiencing pain in places other than their surgical wounds and stated that nausea and vomiting felt unpleasant and painful. The children indicated that pain medications and the use of non-pharmacological methods helped them cope with their pain and provided several recommendations about how to improve pain management. Conclusion: Paediatric postoperative pain management remains suboptimal. The children in our study provided useful information about their pain experiences, how to improve pain management and explained why they did not tell their nurses when they were in pain. Relevance to clinical practice: These findings should direct further improvements in paediatric postoperative pain management, such as increased use of pain assessment tools and preparatory information, as well as more appropriate administration of pain medications. This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Twycross, A.M., Smeland, A., Torgun, N., Nybro, L., Rustøen, T., Lundberg, S., and Reinertsen, H. (2019). Children’s views on postsurgical pain in recovery units in Norway: A qualitative study. Journal of Clinical Nursing, which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jocn.14788. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions

Neurocognitive Outcome and Compensating Possibilities in Children and Adolescents Treated for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia With Chemotherapy Only

Aim: To examine the neurocognitive outcomes in children and adolescents with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in remission who were treated with systemic chemotherapy only (CTO).Methods: Neurocognitive performances in 36 children and adolescents, aged 8.4–15.3 years, in long-term remission from ALL 4.3–12.4 years post diagnosis, without relapse, and with no pre-diagnosis history of neurodevelopmental disorder were compared with 36 healthy controls matched for gender, age, and parents’ socio-economic status. The former patients and the healthy controls completed an extensive battery of standardized neuropsychological tests.Results: Survivors who were treated by CTO obtained significantly lower scores than did healthy controls on the domains of Copy and drawing (p = 0.001; Cohen’s d 0.85; after controlling for Type 1 errors q = 0.006), Arithmetic (p = 0.001; Cohen’s d 0.80; after controlling for Type 1 errors, q = 0.006), and Tactile sensory functions (p = 0.008; Cohen’s d 0.65; after controlling for Type 1 errors, q = 0.03). Fifty percent of the ALL group were more than 1 SD below the control groups mean on Copy and drawing. There was an interaction between age and group (ALL vs. Control, p = 0.042) on Copy and drawing, indicating that the youngest ALL patients exhibited the worst performance. The oldest ALL patients performed equal to or better than the controls. A tendency in the same direction was seen for Arithmetic and Tactile sensory functions. The ALL survivors exhibited a steeper rising learning slope on repeated tests, with lower scores on a tactile problem-solving task, tactile sensory tests, verbal memory, and visual attention, but they performed as well as the controls when stimuli were repeated.Conclusion: The results indicate that neurocognitive long-term sequelae in ALL survivors are limited to specific domains – particularly complex drawing, arithmetic, and tactile processing, and novelty processing. Cognitive deficits are shown among the youngest ALL patients. Intervention programs and school programs should account for difficulties with processing new information and taking advantage of repetitions as a strength, which may prevent survivors from falling behind their peers

Approaches to learning as predictors of academic achievement:Results from a large scale, multi-level analysis

The relationships between university students’ academic achievement and their approaches to learning and studying continuously attract scholarly attention. We report the results of an analysis in which multilevel linear modelling was used to analyse data from 3,626 Danish university students. Controlling for the effects of age, gender, and progression, we found that the students’ end-of-semester grade point averages were related negatively to a surface approach and positively to organised effort. Interestingly, the effect of the surface approach on academic achievement varied across programmes. While there has been considerable interest in the ways in which academic programmes shape learning and teaching, the effects of these contexts on the relationship between approaches to learning and academic outcomes is under-researched. The results are discussed in relation to findings from recent meta-analyses in the field

Neurocognitive Outcome and Compensating Possibilities in Children and Adolescents Treated for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia With Chemotherapy Only

Aim: To examine the neurocognitive outcomes in children and adolescents with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in remission who were treated with systemic chemotherapy only (CTO). Methods: Neurocognitive performances in 36 children and adolescents, aged 8.4–15.3 years, in long-term remission from ALL 4.3–12.4 years post diagnosis, without relapse, and with no pre-diagnosis history of neurodevelopmental disorder were compared with 36 healthy controls matched for gender, age, and parents’ socio-economic status. The former patients and the healthy controls completed an extensive battery of standardized neuropsychological tests. Results: Survivors who were treated by CTO obtained significantly lower scores than did healthy controls on the domains of Copy and drawing (p = 0.001; Cohen’s d 0.85; after controlling for Type 1 errors q = 0.006), Arithmetic (p = 0.001; Cohen’s d 0.80; after controlling for Type 1 errors, q = 0.006), and Tactile sensory functions (p = 0.008; Cohen’s d 0.65; after controlling for Type 1 errors, q = 0.03). Fifty percent of the ALL group were more than 1 SD below the control groups mean on Copy and drawing. There was an interaction between age and group (ALL vs. Control, p = 0.042) on Copy and drawing, indicating that the youngest ALL patients exhibited the worst performance. The oldest ALL patients performed equal to or better than the controls. A tendency in the same direction was seen for Arithmetic and Tactile sensory functions. The ALL survivors exhibited a steeper rising learning slope on repeated tests, with lower scores on a tactile problem-solving task, tactile sensory tests, verbal memory, and visual attention, but they performed as well as the controls when stimuli were repeated. Conclusion: The results indicate that neurocognitive long-term sequelae in ALL survivors are limited to specific domains – particularly complex drawing, arithmetic, and tactile processing, and novelty processing. Cognitive deficits are shown among the youngest ALL patients. Intervention programs and school programs should account for difficulties with processing new information and taking advantage of repetitions as a strength, which may prevent survivors from falling behind their peers.publishedVersio

Enriching the Hierarchical Model of Achievement Motivation: Autonomous and Controlling Reasons Underlying Achievement Goals

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Abstract BACKGROUND: The hierarchical model of achievement motivation presumes that achievement goals channel the achievement motives of need for achievement and fear of failure towards motivational outcomes. Yet, less is known whether autonomous and controlling reasons underlying the pursuit of achievement goals can serve as additional pathways between achievement motives and outcomes. AIMS: We tested whether mastery approach, performance approach, and performance avoidance goals and their underlying autonomous and controlling reasons would jointly explain the relation between achievement motives (i.e., fear of failure and need for achievement) and learning strategies (Study 1). Additionally, we examined whether the autonomous and controlling reasons underlying learners' dominant achievement goal would account for the link between achievement motives and the educational outcomes of learning strategies and cheating (Study 2). SAMPLE: Six hundred and six Greek adolescent students (Mage = 15.05, SD = 1.43) and 435 university students (Mage M = 20.51, SD = 2.80) participated in studies 1 and 2, respectively. METHOD: In both studies, a correlational design was used and the hypotheses were tested via path modelling. RESULTS: Autonomous and controlling reasons underlying the pursuit of achievement goals mediated, respectively, the relation of need for achievement and fear of failure to aspects of learning outcomes. CONCLUSION: Autonomous and controlling reasons underlying achievement goals could further explain learners' functioning in achievement settings