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- Hasselgren, Caroline, 1987, et al.
(author)
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Sex differences in dementia: on the potentially mediating effects of educational attainment and experiences of psychological distress
- 2020
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In: BMC Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-244X. ; 20:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Old-age dementias are known to disproportionally affect women as well as individuals with low educational attainment. The higher lifetime risk of dementia among women is usually attributed to their longer life expectancy. However, the impact of sex, and subsequent gender inequity, is likely to be more multifaceted than this explanation implies. Not least because of historical inequities in access to education between the sexes and the gender and socio-economic gradients in risk factors such as stress, depression and social isolation. Consequently, the present study sought to test whether differences in educational attainment and experiences of general psychological distress mediate the association between female sex and dementia. Methods: The study utilizes data obtained through the Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Study and the Prospective Populations Study on Women (n = 892). Data were analysed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with Weighted Least Squares Means and Variance adjusted (WLSMV) estimation. General psychological distress was indicated by a latent variable and constructed from five manifest items (previous depression, stress, self-esteem, chronic loneliness and satisfaction with social situation) that were all measured at baseline. Results: While the results could not corroborate that education directly mediates the effect of sex on dementia, level of distress was predicted by both female sex (0.607, p < .001) and education (- 0.166, p < .01) and, in turn, shown to be significantly associated with dementia (0.167, p < .05), also after controlling for confounders. When time from baseline to diagnosis was increased through sequential exclusion of dementia cases, the effect of distress on dementia was no longer significant. Conclusion: The overall findings suggest that social (dis) advantage predicts general psychological distress, which thereby constitutes a potential, and rarely acknowledged, pathway between female sex, education, and dementia. They further underline the importance of attending to both education and distress as 'gendered' phenomena when considering the nature of their associations with dementia. However, the possibility of reverse causality bias must be acknowledged and the need for longitudinal studies with longer follow-up stressed.
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3. |
- Lindgren, Sven-Åke, 1951, et al.
(author)
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Barn/ungdomar som anlägger brand – orsaker och motåtgärder
- 2013
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The aim of the project "Juvenile Fire-Setting – Causes and Countermeasures" is to answer the question of why children/adolescents deliberately set fires, and to suggest warranted strategies to counteract and prevent future fire-setting. There are also two specific objectives: a) to answer the question of whether there is a media-related social dissemination syndrome and b) to evaluate two models of prevention developed by the Greater Gothenburg Fire and Rescue Services. Three studies have been conducted based on a comprehensive empirical material comprising records, statistics of incidents, survey data, narratives and information from interviews, police intelligence data, field and observation notes from lectures and meetings, news in different formats, documents from various organizations and court judgments including preliminary investigation material. The material has been analysed both quantitatively (statistically) and qualitatively (interpretation, category development and typology construction). Arson is largely a youth problem and corresponds in terms of causes and approaches to other forms of youth crimes. It is a problem on the decline. Characteristic for adolescents who set fires is gender (boys), parents with comparatively low levels of education, poor school grades, lack of school satisfaction and attraction to masculine leisure activities. The very few adolescents who repeatedly set fires exhibit severe individual and social problems. Both boys and girls, with or without a direct relationship to the school, set school fires. They act individually or in groups, often with different motives. When a group of adolescents set fires, they act in different roles (positions), during both the planning and the implementation phase. During the social unrest that took place in several neighbourhoods in Gothenburg in the autumn/winter of 2009, deliberate car fires were a permanent feature. The involved adolescents frequently used smartphones and IT-based social media to document actions and results. The social dissemination was achieved mainly through this type of direct communication between young individuals. Diffusion via traditional media coverage had a more subordinate role. Preventive measures should be evidence based. Knowledge of the design and effects of general preventive measures should be combined with knowledge that corresponds to the particularities of fire-setting and arson. Within preventive work, it is especially important to consider the following: Opt for both social and situational measures; specify the purpose and audience; support positive attitudes, roles and activities; pay attention to the situation of both boys and girls; focus on trust-building social relationships; parents and/or professionals with special children's competence should always participate in activities related to children; the preventive work must be visible and well anchored within the performing organization and supporting structures, as well as support from the management level is important; develop and promote collaboration between different actors; invest in evaluation and development of methods.
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4. |
- Persson, Sofia, 1972, et al.
(author)
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Utvärdering av kommuners arbete mot anlagda skolbränder
- 2013
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This section summarizes the results from the project Evaluation of Municipalities’ Efforts to Prevent Arson. Based on the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency’s review of measures to prevent school arson in 80 Swedish municipalities, the aim of the evaluation was to identify and discuss work models and interventions that appear to be successful. To this end, the antiarson efforts in 20 municipalities were analysed in-depth (encompassing a total of 15 different preventive measures). Thirteen of the studied municipalities show a reduction in school arson during the period 2005–2011; seven show an increase. By comparing these two groups, it was possible to identify successful combinations of anti-arson measures. The method used – qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) – implies comparison of combinations of measures. Two combinations of measures were found to be successful in larger municipalities: A 1) cross-sectoral specific cooperation, 2) camera surveillance and 3) extended secondary prevention B 1) cross-sectoral specific cooperation, 2) patrolling and 3) extended secondary prevention Cross-sectoral cooperation implies that several actors (for example schools, social services, police and rescue services) coordinate their work and resources related to the problem of school firesetting. To be successful, this method must be combined with situational prevention in the form of either camera surveillance or patrolling. A third component is also required, namely social prevention in the form of extended secondary prevention, which here refers to interventions targeting individuals or groups at risk of engaging in deviant behaviour. ‘Extended’ means that the measures are recurring and intensive in nature. It should be emphasized that it is the specific combinations of these measures that appear to be successful; individual measures or alternative combinations of measures do not seem as successful. It should also be emphasised that the results summarized above apply to larger municipalities, for the simple reason that it is not possible to conclude anything about the outcome of implemented measures without a sufficiently large number of cases of school arson. Another important aspect of the evaluation is that the data collected from the municipalities vary for example in terms of how different measures are labelled, defined and documented. Needless to say, this may affect the comparisons made. In addition, the evaluation design, i.e. a focus on implemented measures in relation to increases and reductions in school arson, implies that other possibly relevant factors, such as closing of schools, demographic changes and changes in the local structure of social problems, are not taken into account. However, the results are well in line with previous research on arson and the effects of methods used in arson prevention.
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5. |
- Uhnoo, Sara, 1976, et al.
(author)
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Juvenile school firesetting in Sweden: causes and countermeasures
- 2015
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In: Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1404-3858 .- 1651-2340. ; 16:1, s. 25-40
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Deliberately set school fires cause significant economic, material, and social damage to society. This article aims to contribute to a sociological understanding and explanation of school fires set by juveniles and to the development of effective prevention strategies based on the results obtained. The study draws upon comprehensive empirical data from qualitative and quantitative research consisting of a questionnaire survey, substantive interviews, and document analysis. The findings show firesetting to be a complex, multifaceted phenomenon, which calls for a diversified approach to prevention relying on structural, situational, and social interventions. While juveniles setting schools on fire appear in many respects to be similar to other youths engaged in delinquent behaviours in society, the fires they set can be internally categorized according to firesetting motive, offender characteristics, and modus operandi. The implications of the resulting typology of six main types of school fires for prevention work are discussed, with practical suggestions for effective countermeasures offered.
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6. |
- Björk, Sofia, 1979, et al.
(author)
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Negotiating gender equality, atypical work hours and caring responsibilities. The case of Sweden.
- 2013
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In: Work and Care under Pressure. Care Arrangements across Europe. - Amsterdam : Amsterdam University Press. - 9789089645425 ; , s. 57-78
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We have examined how care responsibilities are negotiated and organized by family caregivers working atypical hours in a time of decreasing public services for child- and eldercare and increasing demands at work. Atypical work hours were found to be not the most important factor behind the experiences of pressure among the interviewed working parents. Far more important in this respect was how the commitments to the cared-for elderly and children were experienced. Committed time thus seems to be more difficult to manage in negotiations than contracted time. Yet, also important seemed to be how the negotiations between the family members turned out. An overarching question in our analysis was: What is the impact of gender equality ideals on how care is managed and shared within families? Based on our findings, gender equality as a fundamental norm (in our country context at least) seems to support the ability of parents and kin caregivers to find and negotiate solutions to their families’ caring needs. At the same time, our results show that, despite men’s increasing involvement in childcare, a certain gender inequality persists in both childcare and eldercare. Among our interviewees involved in childcare, the degree of this inequality varied greatly from couple to couple, but in most families it was the mother who had taken the main responsibility for the care of the children. Of the families involved in eldercare, it was most often daughters who were the main caregivers, although there were also exceptions in which the role had been assumed by sons. Overall, the care responsibilities were formed through, and shaped by, gendered caring identities which, reflecting broader moral ideals, generally placed higher expectations on women than on men. Caring ideals and identities in turn were shaped in relation to gendered discourses on these ideals and available alternative identities, such as professional identities. These identities were then crucial for the caregivers’ constructions of moral boundaries determining, for them, an acceptable care arrangement, and thus also the boundaries of their own responsibilities, with repercussions for their committed-time arrangements. The interviews gave evidence of a risk that the new circumstances of eldercare provision may render the division of responsibility between the public and the extended family less clear-cut, and that the close kin may, consequently, be exposed to added stress in situations where the cared-for family members’ emotional well-being is not adequately attended to. Since the municipalities still have the ultimate responsibility to see to it that the citizens’ rights are met, the public authorities increasingly take on the role of administrators and supervisors of the care providers’ work. At the same time, however, the fragmentation of the care providing system – both within the municipalities themselves and in the relation between the municipalities and the companies operating in the care market – tends to erode this responsibility of the public. In practice, then, the increasing public supervision of care providers does not seem have resulted in any unburdening of the family carers. On the contrary, as became obvious also in the interviews for this study, the latter often feel a need to monitor and control that the publicly provided care is in fact delivered as contracted. This was the case for some of our interviewees to such an extent that they felt it to be easier to provide the care by themselves.
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8. |
- Björnberg, Ulla, 1943, et al.
(author)
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Financial and Practical Kin Support in Sweden: Normative Guidelines and Practice
- 2008
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In: Journal of Comparative Family Studies. - 0047-2328. ; 39:1, s. 73-95
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The article focuses on giving and reception of practical support to and by members of the family belonging to different generations in Sweden. It examines what people consider as appropriate pertaining to the role of needs, emotional closeness and family of origin for giving and receiving practical support. It also distinguished different motives behind material and practical support exchanged between family members. The research suggest that family support is conditionally linked to needs such as a normative obligation and to motives to sustain personal relationships through strengthening emotional ties.
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9. |
- Björnberg, Ulla, 1943, et al.
(author)
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Intergenerational soidarity and social structures. Class, Ethnicity and Social structures
- 2008
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In: Families, ageing and Social Policy: Generational Solidarity in European Welfare States. - Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA, USA : Edgar Elgar. - 978 1 84720 648 0 ; , s. 235-259
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)
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