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- Gustafsson, Sanna Aila, 1972-
(författare)
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The importance of being thin : perceived expectations from self and others and the effect on self-evaluation in girls with disordered eating
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aims of this thesis were to examine personal standards, self-evaluation and attitudes to eating and weight in the development of disturbed eating in adolescent girls, and to examine how adolescent girls with a clinical eating disorder reflect upon and deal with perceived expectations in daily life.Studies I and II were quantitative studies, conducted in a population-based longitudinal study. Studies III and IV were qualitative interview studies of girls who were suffering from eating disorders and the data were analysed using a phenomenographic approach.Study I showed that high personal standards expressed in a competitive way were specific for the girls with disturbed eating. These girls also reported a negative physical self-evaluation and often believed that thinness would make them more popular. In study II variables concerning attitudes to eating and weight and physical self-evaluation emerged as risk factors for disturbed eating, whereas personal standards or self-evaluation in general did not. Protective factors were a low BMI, healthy eating attitudes, an accepting attitude towards body size and a positive self-evaluation. Three categories of perceived expectations were described in study III: expectations from others, self-imposed expectations and conflicting expectations. Many informants had problems identifying expectations that were not explicit and they interpreted them as self-imposed. In study IV the various ways in which the informants reflected on dealing with these expectations were summarized into three qualitatively different conceptions: being oneself, adapting to different situations and presenting oneself in a positive light. These conceptions were expressed in five patterns of action, which could have various functions for different individuals and in different situations.The results suggest that in order to prevent and treat eating disorders and related problems it is essential to integrate both intrapersonal and contextual factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of these conditions.
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| 2. |
- Haraldsson, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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Confidentiality matters! Adolescent males’ views of primary care in relation to psychosocial health : a structural equation modelling approach
- 2022
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 0281-3432 .- 1502-7724. ; 40:4, s. 438-449
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: To investigate to what degree adolescent males (1) value confidentiality, (2) experience confidentiality and are comfortable asking sensitive questions when visiting a general practitioner (GP), and (3) whether self-reported symptoms of poor mental health and health-compromising behaviours (HCB) affect these states of matters.Design: Cross-sectional.Setting: School-based census on life, health and primary care in Region Sörmland, Sweden.Subjects: 2,358 males aged 15–17 years (response rate 84%).Main outcome measures: The impact of poor mental health and HCBs on adolescent males’ valuing and experiencing private time with the GP, having professional secrecy explained, and being comfortable asking about the body, love and sex, analysed with structural equation modelling.Results: Almost all respondents valued confidentiality regardless of their mental health or whetherthey engaged in HCBs: 86% valued spending private time with the GP, and 83% valued receivinga secrecy explanation. Among those who had visited a GP in the past year (n¼1,200), 74% had experienced private time and 42% a secrecy explanation. Three-quarters were at least partly comfortable asking sensitive questions. Adolescent males with HCBs were more likely to experience a secrecy explanation (approximative odds ratio [appOR] 1.26;p¼0.005) and to be comfortable asking about sex than their peers (appOR 1.22;p¼0.007). Respondents reporting experienced confidentiality were more comfortable asking sensitive questions (appOR 1.25–1.54;p0.010).Conclusion: Confidentiality matters regardless of poor mental health or HCBs and makes adolescent males more comfortable asking sensitive questions. We suggest that GPs consistently offerprivate time and explain professional secrecy.KEY POINTSConfidentiality for adolescent males has been scantily studied in relation to mental healthand health-compromising behaviours.In this study, most adolescent males valued confidentiality, regardless of their mental healthand health-compromising behaviours.Health-compromising behaviours impacted only slightly, and mental health not at all, on experiences of confidentiality in primary care.When provided private time and an explanation of professional secrecy, adolescent males were more comfortable asking the GP sensitive questions.
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| 5. |
- Parling, Thomas, 1968-
(författare)
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Anorexia Nervosa : Emotion, Cognition, and Treatment
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a serious disorder with long-term consequences for those afflicted. No evidence-based care is available for adults with full or subthreshold AN. The thesis research investigated aspects of emotion and cognition relevant to the maintenance of AN that might inform psychological treatment. In addition, the effectiveness of a recent psychotherapy model of AN was investigated. Study I investigated alexithymia and emotional awareness and their associations with depression, anxiety, and perfectionism among patients with AN compared with a control group. The AN group exhibited the same level of emotional awareness as did the control group and the same level of alexithymia when controlling for depression and anxiety. Alexithymia and emotional awareness were not associated, despite representing an overlapping construct. The results of the present study indicate that those with AN can trust their emotional awareness. Study II explored implicit pro-thin and anti-fat attitudes (towards the self and others), striving for thinness (loosely corresponding to positive reinforcement), and avoidance of fatness (loosely corresponding to negative reinforcement). The AN and the control groups were found to have equally strong implicit pro-thin and striving for thinness attitudes. The AN group exhibited stronger implicit anti-fat and avoidance of fatness attitudes (loosely corresponding to negative reinforcement) than did the control group. There was no association between implicit and explicit measures. The results are in line with the over-evaluation of weight and shape as a core feature of eating disorders. Study III compared the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and treatment as usual (TAU) for adults with AN after day-care. Follow-up measures indicated no difference in improvement or deterioration between the two groups. The level of perfectionism was reduced in the ACT group relative to the TAU group. The study was compromised by a lower inflow of patients than anticipated and by a high drop-out rate, and thus fails to provide evidence of a difference between the two groups. The present thesis demonstrates that emotional awareness is intact in those with AN and that implicit attitudes concerning weight and shape reflect the explicit attitudes, although without association. The treatment study indicates that, when designing treatment, it is important to consider the ambivalence to treatment among those suffering from AN, which is reflected in the high drop-out rate in the present study.
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- Söderlind, Fredrik, 1971-
(författare)
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Colloidal synthesis of metal oxide nanocrystals and thin films
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A main driving force behind the recent years’ immense interest in nanoscience and nanotechnology is the possibility of achieving new material properties and functionalities within, e.g., material physics, biomedicine, sensor technology, chemical catalysis, energy storing systems, and so on. New (theoretical) possibilities represent, in turn, a challenging task for chemists and physicists. An important feature of the present nanoscience surge is its strongly interdisciplinary character, which is reflected in the present work.In this thesis, nanocrystals and thin films of magnetic and ferroelectric metal oxides, e.g. RE2O3 (RE = Y, Gd, Dy), GdFeO3, Gd3Fe5O12, Na0.5K0.5NbO3, have been prepared by colloidal and sol-gel methods. The sizes of the nanocrystals were in the range 3-15 nm and different carboxylic acids, e.g. oleic or citric acid, were chemisorbed onto the surface of the nanoparticles. From FT-IR measurements it is concluded that the bonding to the surface takes place via the carboxylate group in a bidentate or bridging fashion, with some preference for the latter coordination mode. The magnetic properties of nanocrystalline Gd2O3 and GdFeO3 were measured, both with respect to magnetic resonance relaxivity and magnetic susceptibility. Both types of materials exhibit promising relaxivity properties, and may have the potential for use as positive contrast enhancing agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The nanocrystalline samples were also characterised by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and quantum chemical calculations.Thin films of Na0.5K0.5NbO3, GdFeO3 and Gd3Fe5O12 were prepared by sol-gel methods and characterized by x-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Under appropriate synthesis conditions, rather pure phase materials could be obtained with grain sizes ranging from 50 to 300 nm. Magnetic measurements in the temperature range 2-350 K indicated that the magnetization of the perovskite phase GdFeO3 can be described as the sum of two contributing terms. One term (mainly) due to the spontaneous magnetic ordering of the iron containing sublattice, and the other a susceptibility term, attributable to the paramagnetic gadolinium sublattice. The two terms yield the relationship M(T)=M0(T)+χ(T)*H for the magnetization. The garnet phase Gd3Fe5O12 is ferrimagnetic and showed a compensation temperature Tcomp ≈ 295 K.
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