The relationship between social physique anxiety and psychosocial health in adolescents

Social physique anxiety (SPA) is a subtype of social anxiety that relates to body concerns in social contexts and has been proposed as an indicator of psychosocial adjustment in adolescents. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship of SPA with a number psychosocial and behaviour variables in adolescents. A nationally representative sample of 3331 8th- and 10th-grade students completed a survey as a part of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. SPA was positively associated with poor health symptoms, larger body shape and being on a diet, while it was negatively associated with physical activity and social support. Girls, those who thought were much too fat and those who were or should be on a diet had higher SPA scores than their counterparts.Hierarchical regression analysis indicate that gender (β = .20), being on a diet (β = -.27), physical activity behaviour (β = -.06), body shape (β = -.14), psychological symptoms (β = .15) and parental (β = -.07) and peer communication (β = -.07) were significant predictors of SPA. No significant interactions with gender were significant. Interventions should help adolescents deal with the pressures of achieving a socially desirable body shape and weight, including self-acceptance and seeking appropriate social support

How robust is the evidence of an emerging or increasing female excess in physical morbidity between childhood and adolescence? Results of a systematic literature review and meta-analyses

For asthma and psychological morbidity, it is well established that higher prevalence among males in childhood is replaced by higher prevalence among females by adolescence. This review investigates whether there is evidence for a similar emerging female ‘excess’ in relation to a broad range of physical morbidity measures. Establishing whether this pattern is generalised or health outcome-specific will further understandings of the aetiology of gender differences in health. Databases (Medline; Embase; CINAHL; PsycINFO; ERIC) were searched for English language studies (published 1992–2010) presenting physical morbidity prevalence data for males and females, for at least two age-bands within the age-range 4–17 years. A three-stage screening process (initial sifting; detailed inspection; extraction of full papers), was followed by study quality appraisals. Of 11 245 identified studies, 41 met the inclusion criteria. Most (n = 31) presented self-report survey data (five longitudinal, 26 cross-sectional); 10 presented routinely collected data (GP/hospital statistics). Extracted data, supplemented by additional data obtained from authors of the included studies, were used to calculate odds ratios of a female excess, or female:male incident rate ratios as appropriate. To test whether these changed with age, the values were logged and regressed on age in random effects meta-regressions. These showed strongest evidence of an emerging/increasing female excess for self-reported measures of headache, abdominal pain, tiredness, migraine and self-assessed health. Type 1 diabetes and epilepsy, based on routinely collected data, did not show a significant emerging/increasing female excess. For most physical morbidity measures reviewed, the evidence broadly points towards an emerging/increasing female excess during the transition to adolescence, although results varied by morbidity measure and study design, and suggest that this may occur at a younger age than previously thought

Integrated analysis of the health and social inequalities of Spanish adolescents

Este estudio descriptivo presenta el proceso hasta la creación de una puntuación global de la salud en los adolescentes. En los últimos años, el concepto de salud, en el que se basa este estudio, ha sufrido cambios para incluir tanto los elementos disfuncionales como las fortalezas que protegen la salud. La muestra estuvo formada por 18.955 adolescentes, representativos de la población de 11 a 18 años en España y en cada una de las Comunidades Autónomas que conforman el Estado español. Utilizando técnicas de análisis factorial exploratorio y confirmatorio, los resultados mostraron una dimensión global de la salud, a partir de indicadores autoinformados de satisfacción vital, calidad de vida relacionada con la salud, percepción del estado general de salud y malestar psicosomático. Esta puntuación de salud disminuía a medida que aumentaba la edad y de manera más marcada en mujeres, así como en adolescentes de familias con capacidad adquisitiva baja. Los análisis comparativos entre Comunidades Autónomas mostraron diferencias entre ellas, no atribuibles en principio al bienestar económico de la región. Finalmente, se discutieron estos resultados y sus implicaciones, así como la importancia de la medida utilizada en el análisis de las desigualdades sociales en salud.This survey descriptive study presents the process leading up to the creation of a global health score for adolescents. In recent years, the concept of health, which is the bases for this study, has undergone changes to include both dysfunctional elements as well as the individual resources that protect health. The sample was made up of 18,955 adolescents between 11 to 18 years of age, in Spain and with participants in each of the regions making up the kingdom of Spain. Using exploratory and confirmatory factorial analysis techniques, the results showed a global dimension of the health, starting from self-report indicators of life satisfaction, health-related quality of life, perception of the general state of health and psychosomatic complaints. This health score decreased as age increased and more notably among girls, as well as in adolescents from low-income families. The comparative analyses between regions showed differences which were, in principle, not attributable to the economic well-being of the geographic area. Finally, these results and their implications were discussed, as well as the importance of the calculation used in the analysis of the social inequalities in health

Subjective Health Complaints in Fifteen-Year-Old Czech Adolescents : The Role of Self-Esteem, Interparental Conflict, and Gender

This cross-sectional study aims to 1) investigate the factor structure and measurement invariance of subjective health complaints inventory in terms of gender, 2) examine the role of selfesteem, interparental conflict and gender in Czech adolescents’ subjective health complaints, and 3) examine a possible moderating effect of gender in these relationships. Czech adolescents (N = 1602, 51% girls) from an epidemiological part of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC) completed questionnaires at home and a psychological sub-sample of ELSPAC (n = 343, 46% girls) completed questionnaires during individual psychological examinations in the years 2006 and 2007. The subjective health complaints inventory used in this study is a unidimensional and scalar invariant for sex. Girls reported more subjective health symptoms than boys. Self-esteem may play a protective role for the adolescents’ subjective health symptoms, especially in boys, whereas self-blame and threat in an interparental conflict may serve as a risk factor similarly for both sexes

Establishment, survival and dispersal limitations of pioneer plants in a Norwegian glacier foreland as revealed by seed sowing, transplantation and seed bank experiments

Glaciers are melting and retreating on a global scale due to climate change. Rapid glacier retreat leave behind large areas of barren ground, in which primary succession and plant establishments can start. However, a typical feature in glaciers forelands is that vascular plants are lacking in a distinct area close to the front of melting glaciers. To explain the absence of plants in this unpopulated area, I have conducted seed sowing, transplantation, and soil seed bank experiments to explore the establishment and survival success in eight pioneer species (i.e. Saxifraga stellaris, Poa alpina, Poa arctica, Oxyria digyna, Arabis alpina, Cerastium cerastoides, Arabis petraea and Beckwithia glacialis) along a chronosequence in the glacier foreland of Hellstugubreen in Jotunheimen, central Norway. Interestingly, my results from the field experiments showed that the study species generally had significantly higher germination success, survival, vitality and better performance in the unpopulated area nearest to the glacier as compared to in the positions furthest away from the glacier. Moreover, the soil seed bank experiment revealed that there was no seed bank in the unpopulated area closest to the glacier front. From these results, I draw the main conclusion that dispersal limitation, and not germination- and survival limitations, explained the absence of plants in the unpopulated area in front of the Hellstugubreen glacier. In addition, to understand what environmental factors that limits the growth of the important pioneer species, i.e. A. alpina, I conducted a growth experiment under four controlled combinations of temperature and light conditions. Here, my results showed that A. alpina grew better under cold and high light conditions, and that the proportion of fertile individuals were significantly reduced with increased temperatures.Isbrear smeltar og trekkjer seg tilbake globalt grunna klima endringar. Når isbrear trekkjer seg raskt tilbake blir det lagt att eit stort område av naken grunn der primærsuksesjon og plantekolonisering kan byrja. Men eit typisk karakteristikk på isbre-forland er mangelen på vaskulære planter i eit klart område framom isbrefronten på ein smeltande isbre. For å forklare manglelen på planter i detta område utan busetnad, gjorde eg eit såfrø-, transplanterings- og jord frøbank eksperiment for å utforske etablering og overlevingssuksess hjå åtte pioner artar (som Saxifraga stellaris, Poa alpina, Poa arctica, Oxyria digyna, Arabis alpina, Cerastium cerastoides, Arabis petraea and Beckwithia glacialis) langs ein tidsserie i isbreforlandet av Hellstugubreen i Jotunheimen, i sentral Noreg. Mine resultat frå felteksperimenta viste interessant at studieartane hadde generelt signifikant høgare spiringssuksess, overleving, vitalitet og betre yting i det området utan busetnad nærmast isbreen, samanlikna med i posisjonen lengst unna isbreen. I tillegg, viste jord frøbank eksperimentet at det var inga frøbank i det området utan busetnad nærmast isbreen. Frå dessa resultata, trakk eg hovudkonklusjonen at det var spreiingsavgrensing, og ikkje spirings- og overlevingsavgrensing, som forklara mangelen på planter i det området utan busetnad ved fronten av Hellstugubreen isbre. I tillegg, for å forstå kva miljøfaktorar som avgrensar vekst hjå den viktige pionerarten A. alpina, gjorde eg eit veksteksperiment under fire kontrollerte kombinasjonar av temperatur og ljos forhold. Her viste resultata at A. alpina veks betre under kaldt og høgt ljos forhold, og at andelen fertile individ vart signifikant redusera med høgare temperatur.M-ECO

Skolens rapporterte problemer. En deskriptiv analyse av problemhenvendelser til organisasjonen Ungdom mot Vold i perioden 2007-2011.

Organisasjonen Ungdom mot Vold har avtale med en lang rekke skoler i Oslo og Akershus om å bistå skolene med å løse og forebygge ulike typer problemer. Ungdom mot Vold kan best beskrives som et community-psykologitiltak. Formålet med denne undersøkelsen er systematisk å analysere hva slags problemer det er skolene henviser til Ungdom mot Vold og bør om hjelp til å løse. Datamaterialet som analyseres er Ungdom mot Volds arkiv over henvendelser fra skolene i årene 2007-2011. Totalt inneholder arkivet 637 saker. Antall henvendelser varierer sterkt fra skole til skole; fra en videregående skole som har 114 henvendelser til en ungdomsskole som bare har én henvendelse. Generelt er det de videregående skolene som har flest henvendelser. Grunnskoler og voksenopplæring har færre henvendelser. Basert på arkivmetodologi gjennomføres det i oppgaven en innholdsanalyse av alle henvendelsene. Problemene spenner over et vidt spekter, fra motivasjons- og konsentrasjonsproblemer til vold, mobbing og hærverk. I langt de fleste tilfellene er det en gutt som rapporteres å utgjøre problemet og bare i sjeldne tilfeller er det hele klasser. I en svært stor andel av sakene har den/de som henvendelsene dreier seg om innvandrerbakgrunn. En medvirkende grunn til dette er at Ungdom mot Vold blir ansett som en organisasjon med spesialkompetanse på kulturelle konflikter. Det finnes noe variasjon over tid når det gjelder hvilken type henvendelse som dominerer, men i utgangspunktet er tiden (fem år) som arkivet omfatter i korteste laget til å finne klare endringer i typer av saker. Keywords: Ungdom, vold, konflikt, innvandrerbakgrunn, skoleproblemer

Trends in health complaints from 2002 to 2010 in 34 countries and their association with health behaviours and social context factors at individual and macro-level

Publisher Copyright: © 2015 The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.Background: This article describes trends and stability over time in health complaints in adolescents from 2002 to 2010 and investigates associations between health complaints, behavioural and social contextual factors at individual level and economic factors at macro-level. Methods: Comprising N = 510 876 11-, 13- and 15-year-old children and adolescents in Europe, North America and Israel, data came from three survey cycles of the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. Age- and gender-adjusted trends in health complaints were examined in each country by means of linear regression. By using the country as the random effects variable, we tested to what extent individual and contextual variables were associated with health complaints. Results: Significant associations are stronger for individual level determinants (e.g. being bullied, smoking) than for determinants at macro-level (e.g. GDP, Gini), as can be seen by the small effect sizes (less than 5% for different trends). Health complaints are fairly stable over time in most countries, and no clear international trend in health complaints can be observed between 2002 and 2010. The most prominent stable determinants were being female, being bullied, school pressure and smoking. Conclusion: Factors associated with health complaints are more related to the proximal environment than to distal macro-level factors. This points towards intensifying targeted interventions, (e.g. for bullying) and also targeting specific risk groups. The comparably small effect size at country-level indicates that country-level factors have an impact on health and should not be ignored.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Sorterius - An augmented reality app for encouraging outdoor physical activity for people with intellectual disabilities

Many with intellectual disabilities (ID) have difficulties adhering to current physical activity guidelines. The goal of this study was to develop a mobile app for assisting people with ID to be more physically active. We implemented a solution that combines the digital and real world using augmented reality (AR). Eight people working with people with ID (special education teachers, social workers, psychologists, and researchers) tested the app and completed a usability test. Results indicate that a mobile app focusing on everyday life scenarios can have a potential value for the targeted user group, but AR solutions can be challenging.publishedVersionPaid open acces

Sense of Coherence and Biopsychosocial Health in Spanish Adolescents

The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of the SOC on the main components of biopsychosocial health separately, thereby contributing to a better understanding of the relationship between the SOC and health in adolescence. The sample consisted of 7,580 Spanish adolescents aged 13 to 18 who had participated in the 2009/10 edition of the WHO international survey Health Behaviour in School-aged Children. Using multivariate analysis of variance, the effects of the SOC and demographic variables (including interaction effects between them) on different health components were analysed. A higher SOC was associated with better self-rated health, lower frequency of somatic and psychological complaints and higher quality of life and life satisfaction. Thus, results support the association between SOC and positive health outcomes, especially for the psychological components of health. In addition, the effect of SOC on the various health components was homogeneous among all of the adolescents, regardless of gender and age.Ministerio de Sanidad, Política Social e Igualdad. EspañaUniversidad de SevillaMinisterio de Educación AP2009–097