Syndromes of self-reported psychopathology for ages 18-59 in 29 societies

This study tested the multi-society generalizability of an eight-syndrome assessment model derived from factor analyses of American adults' self-ratings of 120 behavioral, emotional, and social problems. The Adult Self-Report (ASR; Achenbach and Rescorla 2003) was completed by 17,152 18-59-year-olds in 29 societies. Confirmatory factor analyses tested the fit of self-ratings in each sample to the eight-syndrome model. The primary model fit index (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) showed good model fit for all samples, while secondary indices showed acceptable to good fit. Only 5 (0.06%) of the 8,598 estimated parameters were outside the admissible parameter space. Confidence intervals indicated that sampling fluctuations could account for the deviant parameters. Results thus supported the tested model in societies differing widely in social, political, and economic systems, languages, ethnicities, religions, and geographical regions. Although other items, societies, and analytic methods might yield different results, the findings indicate that adults in very diverse societies were willing and able to rate themselves on the same standardized set of 120 problem items. Moreover, their self-ratings fit an eight-syndrome model previously derived from self-ratings by American adults. The support for the statistically derived syndrome model is consistent with previous findings for parent, teacher, and self-ratings of 11/2-18-year-olds in many societies. The ASR and its parallel collateral-report instrument, the Adult Behavior Checklist (ABCL), may offer mental health professionals practical tools for the multi-informant assessment of clinical constructs of adult psychopathology that appear to be meaningful across diverse societies

The Generalizability of Older Adult Self-Report (OASR) Syndromes of Psychopathology Across 20 Societies

OBJECTIVES: As the world population ages, psychiatrists will increasingly need instruments for measuring constructs of psychopathology that are generalizable to diverse elders. The study tested whether syndromes of co-occurring problems derived from self-ratings of psychopathology by US elders would fit self-ratings by elders in 19 other societies. METHODS/DESIGN: The Older Adult Self-Report (OASR) was completed by 12,826 60- to 102-year-olds in 19 societies from North and South America, Asia, and Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Europe, plus the US. Individual and multi-group confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) tested the fit of the 7-syndrome OASR model, consisting of the Anxious/Depressed, Worries, Somatic Complaints, Functional Impairment, Memory/Cognition Problems, Thought Problems, and Irritable/Disinhibited syndromes. RESULTS: In individual CFAs, the primary model fit index showed good fit for all societies, while the secondary model fit indices showed acceptable to good fit. The items loaded strongly on their respective factors, with a median item loading of .63 across the 20 societies; and 98.7% of the loadings were statistically significant. In multi-group CFAs, 98% of items demonstrated approximate or full metric invariance. Fifteen percent of items demonstrated approximate or full scalar invariance and another 59% demonstrated scalar invariance across more than half of societies. CONCLUSIONS: The findings supported the generalizability of OASR syndromes across societies. The seven syndromes offer empirically-based clinical constructs that are relevant for elders of different backgrounds. They can be used to assess diverse elders, and as a taxonomic framework to facilitate communication, services, research and training in geriatric psychiatry. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

International comparisons of behavioral and emotional problems in preschool children: parents’ reports from 24 societies

International comparisons were conducted of preschool children’s behavioral and emotional problems as reported on the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½–5 by parents in 24 societies (N¼19,850). Item ratings were aggregated into scores on syndromes; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–oriented scales; a Stress Problems scale; and Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems scales. Effect sizes for scale score differences among the 24 societies ranged from small to medium (3–12%). Although societies differed greatly in language, culture, and other characteristics, Total Problems scores for 18 of the 24 societies were within 7.1 points of the omnicultural mean of 33.3 (on a scale of 0–198). Gender and age differences, as well as gender and age interactions with society, were all very small (effect sizes<1%). Across all pairs of societies, correlations between mean item ratings averaged .78, and correlations between internal consistency alphas for the scales averaged .92, indicating that the rank orders of mean item ratings and internal consistencies of scales were very similar across diverse societies

Umfang svefns- og sálfélagslegra erfiðleika leikskólabarna

Umfang svefns- og sálfélagslegra erfiðleika íslenskra barna á leikskólaaldri hefur lítið verið rannsakað. Niðurstöður erlendra rannsókna benda til að svefnerfiðleikar hafi áhrif á hegðun og líðan barna. Markmið rannsóknarinnar er að varpa ljósi á svefn og sálfélagslega erfiðleika barna á aldrinum 1½-5 ára. Unnið var með fyrirliggjandi gögn um 307 börn sem aflað var með ASEBA spurningalistum frá foreldrum og kennurum. Niðurstöður sýna að 13% barna áttu í erfiðleikum með svefn og 20% reiknast á jaðar- og klínísku viðmiði heildarerfiðleika. Niðurstöður sýndu einnig að samhliða svefnvanda aukist einkenni kvíða/þunglyndis, einbeitingarerfiðleika og ýgi. Í ljósi niðurstaðna vakna spurningar um að svefnvanda barna þurfi að skoða nánar með tilliti til áhrifa á aðra sálfélagslega erfiðleika en þá sem voru til skoðunar í rannsókninni. Mikilvægt er að leikskólabörn verði ekki undanskilin í umræðu um sálfélagslega erfiðleika því upphaf geðraskana má oftar en ekki rekja til leikskólaaldurs. Þá er lagt til að hugað verði að snemmtækri íhlutun á svefns- og sálfélagslegum erfiðleikum barna í leikskólum

Construction of healthy aging index from two different datasets

IntroductionThe aging population presents both unique challenges and opportunities for societies around the world. To develop an effective healthy aging strategy, a tool for assessing aging process is needed. Numerous attempts to quantify the aging process have been made. However, there is still a challenge in developing and choosing a good enough score that is easy to apply, has a construct of variables that are available in most nationwide surveys for comparable results, and at the same time reflects the aging process of older individuals. The purpose of this study is to present our approach to construct a comparable Healthy Aging Index (HAI).Materials and methodsIn Latvia, data from Wave 8 of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), involving 420 respondents, were used. For comparative analysis, data from a HL20 study on the health and wellbeing of the older adults in Iceland, which included 1,033 respondents, were used.ResultsFor Latvia, 13 items were selected, and for Iceland, nine items were selected. We constructed the HAI with four similar subscales for both countries-"Autonomy," "Health," "Wellbeing," and "Activities," and an additional subscale "Cognitive" for Latvia. We found matching items in all four subscales. For the Autonomy subscale, they were related to difficulties with everyday and daily tasks. In the Health subscale, the only matching item was self-rated physical health. One item related to loneliness was found for the Wellbeing subscale and one item related to social participation for the Activities subscale.DiscussionIn our study, we found evidence for the successful construction of a HAI in two different datasets. The strength of our construct lies in the use of data from one of the largest social science panel studies in Europe (SHARE). As we were able to apply the construct to the Icelandic study, we believe that items presented in our approach are available in other population-based studies as well, and, therefore, can be easily replicated by others. By examining the existing SHARE data, HAI could be used to analyze long-term changes and could provide a foundation for comparing and monitoring the evolution of aging over time as well as comparing the aging process across societies. This is required for the authorities to conduct further analyses, proposals, and action plans in support of healthy aging

Viðhorf til gagnreyndra aðferða

Gagnreynt vinnulag í félags- og heilbrigðisþjónustu (evidence based practice) hefur á síðustu áratugum verið vaxandi viðfangs- og umræðuefni innan velferðarþjónustunnar. Samhliða vakna spurningar um nýjar rannsóknir, góða reynslu (best practice) og hvernig miðlun og upptöku nýrrar þekkingar (knowledge transfer/uptake) er háttað. Í vaxandi mæli er sjónum beint að afstöðu starfsmanna til upptöku nýrrar þekkingar og innleiðingarnýs verklags, og samfélagslegir hagsmunir að velferðarþjónustan sé að nota nýjustu þekkingu á hverjum tíma. EBPAS matslistinn (Evidence Based Practice Attitude Scale), sem upphaflega var þróaður meðal starfsfólks í félags- og heilbrigðisþjónustu í Bandaríkjunum, er 15 spurninga listi sem mælir fjórar víddir í afstöðu starfsmanna til gagnreyndra vinnubragða eða verklags. Þessar víddir eru kröfur (requirements), skýrskotun (appeal), opin fyrir nýjungum (openness) og andstaða eða sundurleitni(divergence). Í erindinu er greint frá þróun og rannsókn á EBPAS matslistanum og athugun á eiginleikum og notagildi hans vegna notkunar á Íslandi. EBPAS var lagður fyrir 202 háskólanemendur á fyrsta og fjórða ári í félagsráðgjöf og hjúkrunarfræði í tveimur háskólum. Staðfestandi þáttagreining bendir til að íslenska útgáfan sýni sömu fjórar víddir og að innri áreiðanleiki einstakra þátta sé álíka og í frumgerð EBPAS. Í erindinu verður greint frá þessum niðurstöðum og fjallað um notagildi EBPAS listans á Íslandi

Netbankavirkni í snjallsíma

Heildartexti lokaskýrslu. Prentuð útgáfa og öll fylgiskjöl á CD eru varðveitt í bókasafni HRVerkefnið er lokaverkefni við Háskólans í Reykjavík vorið 2011 sem unnið er í samstarfi við Teris. Verkefnið fólst í að smíða hugbúnað sem Teris mun bjóða bönkum til notkunar. Hugbúnaðurinn er forrit sem sett er upp í Android snjallsíma sem gerir notandanum kleift að framkvæma allar helstu heimabanka aðgerðir. Markmið verkefnisins var að smíða heimabankaforrit fyrir Android stýrikerfið sem keyrir í símanum sjálfum, smíða lausn sem leysir af hólmi auðkennislykil sem notaður er við auðkenningu og útbúa gagnvirk samskipti á milli banka og notanda. Auðkenningin er útfærð þannig að símanúmer notanda er notað til að votta símtækið og er svo notandinn sjálfur auðkenndur með fjögurra stafa auðkennisnúmeri. Gagnvirknin virkar þannig að banki getur sent tilkynningu á notanda þó að notandi sé ekki með forritið opið í símanum og notandi getur sent svar eða fyrirspurn á banka.Teri

Intergenerational solidarity in the Nordic and Baltic regions /

Intergenerational solidarity in the Baltic states and Nordic countries has gained heightened significance, catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This research delves into the evolving dynamics of mutual support, care, and respect across generations, emphasizing the role of family values, sociocultural context, and economic factors. Amid global health challenges, intergenerational cooperation emerged as essential, with older individuals’ vulnerabilities underscoring the need for assistance and support from younger generations. By analyzing responses from these regions, the study explores functional and economic exchange, while considering cultural values and historical influences. The pandemic’s impact on assistance patterns and the interplay between COVID-19 restrictions in Baltic and Nordic countries are examined. Ultimately, this research sheds light on the intricate fabric of intergenerational relationships, offering insights into maintaining societal resilience and cohesion during transformative times

Effects of individual differences, society, and culture on youth-rated problems and strengths in 38 societies

BACKGROUND: Clinicians increasingly serve youths from societal/cultural backgrounds different from their own. This raises questions about how to interpret what such youths report. Rescorla et al. (2019, European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 1107) found that much more variance in 72,493 parents' ratings of their offspring's mental health problems was accounted for by individual differences than by societal or cultural differences. Although parents' reports are essential for clinical assessment of their offspring, they reflect parents' perceptions of the offspring. Consequently, clinical assessment also requires self-reports from the offspring themselves. To test effects of individual differences, society, and culture on youths' self-ratings of their problems and strengths, we analyzed Youth Self-Report (YSR) scores for 39,849 11-17 year olds in 38 societies. METHODS: Indigenous researchers obtained YSR self-ratings from population samples of youths in 38 societies representing 10 culture cluster identified in the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioral Effectiveness study. Hierarchical linear modeling of scores on 17 problem scales and one strengths scale estimated the percent of variance accounted for by individual differences (including measurement error), society, and culture cluster. ANOVAs tested age and gender effects. RESULTS: Averaged across the 17 problem scales, individual differences accounted for 92.5% of variance, societal differences 6.0%, and cultural differences 1.5%. For strengths, individual differences accounted for 83.4% of variance, societal differences 10.1%, and cultural differences 6.5%. Age and gender had very small effects. CONCLUSIONS: Like parents' ratings, youths' self-ratings of problems were affected much more by individual differences than societal/cultural differences. Most variance in self-rated strengths also reflected individual differences, but societal/cultural effects were larger than for problems, suggesting greater influence of social desirability. The clinical significance of individual differences in youths' self-reports should thus not be minimized by societal/cultural differences, which-while important-can be taken into account with appropriate norms, as can gender and age differences