522 research outputs found
Hur effektiv är 18-årsgränsen för inköp av tobak? : resultat från provinköpsstudier genomförda i Malmö stad, Värmlands län och Västernorrlands län
No full textI föreliggande rapport redovisas tre studier av ungdomars möjligheter att köpa tobaksprodukter, före respektive efter införandet av 18-årsgränsen för inköp av tobak den 1 januari 1997. Undersökningarna, som sker på uppdrag av Statens Folkhälsoinstitut, har genomförts vid institutionen för samhällsvetenskap vid Karlstads universitet i samarbete med Tammerfors universitet i Finland.De tre provinköpsstudierna genomfördes åren 1996, 1999 och 2002 i Malmö stad, Värmlands län och Västernorrlands län. Totalt genomfördes 2250 provinköp av tobak av 36 ungdomar.Resultaten visar att åldersgränsen för inköp av tobak har haft effekt på ungdomars möjlighet att köpa tobak och att betydelsen av åldersgränsen kvarstår även sex år efter införandet av 18-årsgränsen. År 1996 slutade 91 procent av provinköpen med att de medverkande ungdomarna fick handla snus eller cigaretter. Motsvarande andel var 82 procent år 1999 och 66 procent år 2002. Vidare visar studierna att en väl fungerande ålderskontroll är av avgörande betydelse för utfallet av provinköpen.Författare:Mona Sundh är sociolog och master i folkhälsovetenskap. Hon är anställd vid institutionen för samhällsvetenskap, Karlstads universitet. Hennes forskningsområden är ungdomars hälsa med inriktning mot tobaksfrågor.Curt Hagquist är docent i folkhälsovetenskap och anställd vid institutionen för samhällsvetenskap, Karlstads universitet. Hans forskningsområden är barns och ungdomars levnadsförhållanden med fokus på psykisk hälsa och hälsorelaterade vanor.Arja Rimpelä är professor i folkhälsovetenskap vid institutionen för hälsovetenskap, Tammerfors universitet i Finland. Hennes forskningsområde är ungdomars hälsa och hälsobeteende, tobakspolitik och sociodemografiska skillnader i hälsa.Matti Rimpelä är professor vid Stakes (Forsknings- och utvecklingscentralen för social- och hälsovård), Finland. Hans forskningsområde är hälsofrämjande arbete i skolor och kommuner.</p
Adolescent Alcohol-use and Economic Conditions: A Multilevel Analysis of Data from a Period with Big Economic Changes
No full textThis paper examines how the unemployment rate is related to adolescent alcohol use during a time period characterized by big societal changes using repeated cross-sectional adolescent survey data from a Swedish region, collected in 1988, 1991, 1995, 1998, 2002 and 2005. Individual level alcohol use is connected to local level unemployment rate to estimate the relationship using multilevel modeling. The results show that the unemployment rate is negatively associated with adolescents alcohol use. When the unemployment rate increases, more adolescents, mainly girls, do not drink at all. Regular drinking (2/month or more) is, on the other hand, unrelated to the unemployment rate. This implies that we may se decreases in adolescent alcohol use in the now expected real economic crisis with increasing unemployment.alcohol use; unemployment rate; multilevel methods; Sweden.
Challenges in measurement of adolescent mental health: how are gender patterns affected when level of symptoms is analysed simultaneously with impairment?
No full textBACKGROUND: Adolescent mental health surveys in public health are sometimes questioned because of their main focus on self-reported symptoms, lacking data on impairment, e.g. the consequences on everyday life of the mental health problems. While public health studies typically reveal higher prevalence rates of internalising problems for girls than boys, there are indications that the gender pattern may change when self-reported data on symptoms are analysed simultaneously with impairment. The purpose is to determine how gender patterns of adolescent mental health solely based on symptoms are affected when level of symptoms is analysed simultaneously with impairment. METHODS: Questionnaire data on adolescent mental health were collected in schools by Statistics Sweden in the autumn of 2009 as part of a national total population study in grades 6 and 9 in Sweden. In this study only data from grade 9 students are used (n=91 627; response rate=80 per cent). Psychosomatic symptoms were measured with the Psychosomatic Problems scale including eight items. Impairment was measured with four items included in the SDQ impact supplement. The associations between these key constructs were analysed with logistic regression and contingency tables. RESULTS: When analysing variables on psychosomatic symptoms and impairment independently, the results are consistent with typical findings of gender patterns in adolescent internalising mental health. Girls report both more psychosomatic symptoms, and more negative consequences in everyday life, than boys. The gender patterns are, however, strongly affected when impairment is conditioned on level of psychosomatic symptoms. Except for the Home Life setting, in the settings of Friendships, Classroom Learning and Leisure Activities, the previously reported gender pattern favoring higher disturbances among girls becomes partly reversed implying that boys report more negative consequences than girls. Hence, while girls report a higher prevalence of psychosomatic symptoms, boys appear to suffer from such symptoms more than, or as much as, girls in three out of four everyday life settings. CONCLUSIONS: The study confirms the insufficiency of solely including data on symptoms in the measurement of adolescent mental health. Regardless of the causes of the complex gender pattern shown in this study, the results highlight the importance of simultaneous inclusion of indicators of impairment as well as symptom counts and frequency in the measurement of adolescent mental health
Explaining differential item functioning focusing on the crucial role of external information : An example from the measurement of adolescent mental health
No full textBackground: An overarching objective in research comparing different sample groups is to ensure that the reported differences in outcomes are not affected by differences between groups in the functioning of the measurement instruments, i.e. the items have to work in the same way for the different sample groups to be compared. Lack of invariance across sample groups are commonly called Differential Item Functioning (DIF). There is a sense in which the DIF of an item can be taken account of by resolving (splitting) the item into group specific items, rather than deleting the item. Resolving improves fit, retains the reliability and content provided by the item, and compensates for the DIF in estimation of person parameters on the scale of the instrument. However, it destroys invariance of the item’s parameter value among the groups. Whether or not a DIF item should be resolved depends on whether the source of the DIF is relevant or irrelevant for the content of the variable. The present paper shows how external information can be used to investigate if the gender DIF found in the item “Stomach ache” in a psychosomatic symptoms scale used among adolescents may reflect abdominal pain because of a biological factor, the girls’ menstrual periods. Methods: Swedish data from the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (HBSC) collected in 2005/06, 2009/10 and 2013/14 were used, comprising a total of 18,983 students in grades 5, 7 and 9. A composite measure of eight items of psychosomatic problems was analysed for DIF with respect to gender and menstrual periods using the Rasch model. Results: The results support the hypothesis that the source of the gender DIF for the item “Stomach ache” is a gender specific biological factor. In that case the DIF should be resolved if the psychosomatic measure is not intended to tap information about abdominal pain caused by a gender specific biological factor. In contrast, if the measure is intended to tap such information, the DIF should not be resolved. Conclusions: The conceptualisation of the measure governs whether the item showing DIF should be resolved or not. Keywords: Differential item functioning (DIF), Resolving for DIF, Psychosomatic problems, Rasch model, Source of DIF, Validity and reliability, HBS
School effectiveness in Sweden : psychometric properties of an instrument to measure pedagogical and social climate (PESOC) focusing on pedagogical leadership
No full textImproving school effectiveness is a priority for many countries. The Swedish instrument Pedagogical and Social Climate in School (PESOC) has been widely used for measurement of school improvement. Since pedagogical leadership is an important component of school effectiveness, this study aimed to describe the psychometric properties of the PESOC subscale of pedagogical leadership (PESOC-PLP). Participants were 344 teachers from 30 schools in Karlstad, Sweden. Rasch analysis indicated two subdimensions of the scale, corresponding to academic and social objectives. Analysis showed that the instrument worked invariantly across different sub groups and that the response categories functioned as intended. Small, if any, within-school response dependence was noted. PESOC-PLP may be a useful tool for school leaders when evaluating their success in fulfilling academic and social objectives. Given the global demand for measurement of school leadership, also researchers and educators outside Sweden may have interest in translating and adapting the PESOC-PLP scale. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
School effectiveness in Sweden : psychometric properties of an instrument to measure pedagogical and social climate (PESOC) focusing on pedagogical leadership
No full textImproving school effectiveness is a priority for many countries. The Swedish instrument Pedagogical and Social Climate in School (PESOC) has been widely used for measurement of school improvement. Since pedagogical leadership is an important component of school effectiveness, this study aimed to describe the psychometric properties of the PESOC subscale of pedagogical leadership (PESOC-PLP). Participants were 344 teachers from 30 schools in Karlstad, Sweden. Rasch analysis indicated two subdimensions of the scale, corresponding to academic and social objectives. Analysis showed that the instrument worked invariantly across different sub groups and that the response categories functioned as intended. Small, if any, within-school response dependence was noted. PESOC-PLP may be a useful tool for school leaders when evaluating their success in fulfilling academic and social objectives. Given the global demand for measurement of school leadership, also researchers and educators outside Sweden may have interest in translating and adapting the PESOC-PLP scale. © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Socioeconomic differences in smoking behaviours among adolescents : The role of academic orientation
No full textDrogvanor och psykisk ohälsa bland ungdomar i Värmland 1988-2011
No full textInförandet av mellanölet 1965 (1) och försöket med fri starkölsförsäljning 1967-68 i Värmlands län samt i Göteborgs och Bohus län (2) gjorde ungdomars alkoholkon-sumtion till en het politisk fråga som fick stor medial uppmärksamhet. I spåren av 1990-talets ekonomiska kris har också ungas psykiska ohälsa präglat den politiska debatten och medierapporteringen. Ungdomars drogvanor och psykiska hälsa har i decennier också varit centrala frågor för folkhälsoarbetet. Återkommande mätningar av ungdomars drogvanor och psykiska hälsa har i Värmland gjorts sedan slutet av 1980-talet, inom ramen för undersökningen Ung i Värmland som riktar sig till skolelever i årskurs nio (3, 4).I föreliggande kapitel redovisas data om drogvanor och om psykosomatiska besvär från Ung i Värmland för perioden 1988–2011. Under denna tidsperiod ägde stora förändringar rum i Sverige och i världen. 1988 var arbetslösheten i Sverige låg. Fem år senare präglades Sverige av massarbetslöshet och svår ekonomisk kris. Ungdomarna drabbades särskilt hårt av den höga arbetslösheten. I krisens spår följde ekonomiska nedskärningar i skolor och andra offentliga verksamheter (5). Under början och mitten av 1990-talet ökade ”barnfattigdomen”. Under den studerade tidsperioden har också migrationen ökat, och familjestrukturen förändrats.Sveriges EU-inträde 1995 förändrade förutsättningarna för den svenska alkoholpolitiken. Sverige har steg för steg tvingats acceptera EU:s regler för införsel av alkohol. Från 2001 till 2004 steg den årliga totala konsumtionen av ren alkohol per invånare 15 år och äldre med cirka 20 %, till 10,56 liter (6). Därefter minskade konsumtionen till en lägstanivå år 2012, 9,1 liter. Från 2012 till 2013 ökade konsumtionen med 8 % och uppgick 2013 till 9,9 liter ren alkohol per invånare 15 år och äldre.Syftet med kapitlet är att beskriva psykosomatiska besvär och alkohol- och narkotikavanor bland värmländska ungdomar i 15–16-årsåldern, med fokus på förändringar över tid, skillnader mellan pojkar och flickor samt mellan ungdomar med olika studieinriktningar. Undersökningsgruppen i Värmland jämförs även med riksgenomsnittet gällande alkohol- och narkotikavanor bland niondeklassare.</p
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