Differentiation of cognitive abilities at different levels of general ability in same-aged subjects was tested by a latent variable approach in a multiple-groups design. Eighteen-year old conscripts (n = 14,720) representing the whole range of general ability in the male population, except for the mentally retarded, were tested by the Swedish Enlistment Battery. The sample of subjects was divided into 8, 16 and 32 groups according to level of general ability (G), and the amount of variance due to the ability factors Crystallized intelligence (Gc) and General visualization (Gv) was studied over the G levels. Variance contributed by Gc and Gv increased as the level of G increased. This effect was, however, not observed up through the highest levels of G, probably due to deficiencies in the measurement properties of the Gc and Gv tests at the highest G levels. Theoretical and methodological implications of the results are discussed, as are the consequences for the assessment of specific cognitive abilities at different levels of general ability.
Definitions of the concept of intelligence typically emphasize two aspects, the ability to solve complex problems (the complexity aspect) and the ability to acquire new knowledge (the learning aspect). Complexity has been the most emphasized aspect in the psychometric approach to research on intelligence. The study investigated whether a change of test item sequencing, intended to increase test complexity, would cause increased involvement of general intelligence (G). Three types of problem-solving items (Groups, Series, and Bongard) were administered in a sequence (the homogeneous treatment, n = 363). In the treatment intended to increase complexity, items of different types were presented by turns (the heterogeneous treatment, n = 1,778). Three reference tests measuring verbal, spatial, and reasoning ability were used in the analysis. Contrary to what was expected, the items presented homogeneously showed higher G loadings. The reason for this might be that in the reasoning tests used, processes of learning took place from one item to another, and that the high-G individuals could take better advantage of this opportunity in the homogeneous than in the heterogeneous treatment. The consequences of the results for testing in general and for computer adaptive testing in particular are discussed.
AIM: This study compared elderly patients' reported experiences of pain and distress with enrolled nurses' assessments and related potential differences to patient and enrolled nurse characteristics.
BACKGROUND: Many elderly suffer from chronic pain but few studies have focused on this group of patients.
METHODS: Data were collected through personal interviews with 38 patients and questionnaires completed by 38 enrolled nurses.
FINDINGS: Enrolled nurses underestimated patients' experiences of physical pain, physical discomfort, breathing problems, resignation, and dependency. Pain and distress were overestimated by enrolled nurses who had lower scores on three of the five personality scales used. In contrast, enrolled nurses who had higher scores on these personality scales tended to underestimate the patients' pain and distress.
CONCLUSIONS: There is a need to develop staff training programmes in order to optimize the care for elderly patients with chronic pain in the community.
Chronic pain represents a major health problem among older people. The aims of the present study were to: (i) identify various profiles of pain and distress experiences among older patients; and (ii) compare whether background variables, sense of coherence, functional ability and experiences of interventions aimed at reducing pain and distress varied among the patient profiles. Interviews were carried out with 42 older patients. A cluster analysis yielded three clusters, each representing a different profile of patients. Case illustrations are provided for each profile. There were no differences between the clusters, regarding intensity and duration of pain. One profile, with subjects of advanced age, showed a decreased functional ability and favourable scores in most of the categories of pain and distress. Another profile of patients showed favourable mean scores in all categories. The third cluster of patients showed unfavourable scores in most categories of pain and distress. There appears to be a need to treat the three groups of patients in different ways in the caring situation.
The aim of this study was to explore postoperative experiences of pain and distress in elderly patients, as well as interventions aimed at reducing these conditions, on three occasions. The study group was composed of 100 patients who had undergone elective surgery in two orthopedic and two general surgical units. Of the 50 patients in the orthopedic units, 26 had undergone hip arthroplasty and 24 knee arthroplasty: of the 50 patients in the general surgical units, 23 had had breast cancer surgery, and 27 abdominal surgery. The patients were interviewed, using a structured interview format, on three occasions; at the ward on the first and second day after surgery, and by telephone about ten days after discharge from hospital. Within both the sensory and the emotional dimensions, logistic regression analyses showed that the dependent variables of pain and distress were significantly related above all to type of surgery and sense of coherence (SOC). In a cluster analysis, three meaningful clusters of patients were obtained. The patients in the different profiles showed variations in their experiences of pain and distress. The 12 patients with the least favorable scores had weaker SOC than the patients in the other profiles. It is concluded that type of surgery and psychological factors influenced patients' experiences of pain and distress after undergoing surgery. These experiences should be reduced by identifying risk patients, and improving assistance and support in the nursing ward, and also when patients have returned home.
In recent years there has been a development towards more complex forms of UN peacekeeeping. One example of this is the UN mission in former Yugoslavia (UNPROFOR), to which Sweden has contributed troops since 1992. A questionnaire study was conducted to gain information about the role of peacekeepers in this new kind of UN mission. The study includes data from four Swedish mechanized infantry battalions, which were deployed in Bosnia for six months each, from autumn 1993 to autumn 1995. The questionnaire was completed by a total of 3,505 persons in connection with the Swedish UN personnel demobilization procedures. This article presents some of their views and experiences and discusses these in relation to the role of peacekeepers in the 1990s.
This article is based on research that aimed to develop a deeper theoretical understanding of the UN peacekeeping soldiers’ experiences of their daily service, from their own perspective, using a grounded theory approach. Study participants were Swedish UN peacekeeping personnel who served in former Yugoslavia from Autumn 1993 to Autumn 1995. A model was developed, according to which UN peacekeeping soldiers’ experiences of their daily service are formed by the dynamic interplay between external influencing factors and internal peacekeeping force factors. The external factors comprise: the service environment including the parties to a dispute, the media and the soldier's private social network. Most of the soldiers’ responses concerning the environment were about low‐intensity stress and fear of losing control of their aggressiveness. The internal peacekeeping force factors include the recruitment principles, the preparatory training, leadership issues and personal characteristics of the individual soldiers. The model indicates that internal factors can be modified in ways that might make it possible to reduce the impact of the external factors. The generalizability of the model needs to be evaluated in future studies involving different kinds of peacekeeping missions.
This article describes the prototypical peacekeeping soldier and his experiences, based on a sample of all male soldiers serving in mechanized infantry companies in the first four Swedish UN battalions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (N = 1,238). A questionnaire was administered as a part of the demobilization programme. The prototypical peacekeeper is male, 20–25 years old, single, serves in a mechanized infantry company, and is on his first UN mission. Four different types of motives for joining the service were identified. The degree of perceived family support co‐varied strongly with service experiences. Favourable evaluations of the service period were associated with good relations with commanders and peers, perceiving few tasks as boring, but also with a high exposure to stressful events. The positive association with stress exposure may be related to the fact that no Swedish peacekeepers were killed during this period, which in turn probably contributed to experiences of invulnerability among the exposed soldiers while also increasing their social status among peers.
The dimensionality of the Impact of Event Scale (IES) was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). Responses from 321 individuals (62% response) who had experienced a mass murder of seven people 8 months earlier were obtained. A model with a general factor and three subordinate specific factors—Intrusiveness, Avoidance, and Sleep Disturbance—was developed. Scores on the original IES subscales and the SEM factors were related to scores on the General Health Questionnaire. It was concluded that the original subscales could, to a certain degree, be regarded as a reflection of negative affectivity. A more differentiated pattern emerged using the specific latent variables from the SEM analysis.
En kartläggning gjordes 1998 vid hörcentralen och pedagogiska hörselvården vid Mälarsjukhuset i Eskilstuna av patienternas och personalens upplevelse av vårdens kvalitet. Personalens upplevelser av den psykosociala arbetsmiljön och av egna stressrelaterade symptom kartlades också. Deltagarna var 152 patienter (64 % svarsfrekvens) och 19 anställda (100 % svarsfrekvens). Flertalet patienter, liksom personalen, är tillfredsställda med huvuddelen av vården. Många, såväl patienter som personal, är mindre tillfredsställda med telefonframkomligheten. Väntetiden för fortsatt hjälp efter det inledande hörseltestet är för lång. Ett åtgärdsförslag presenteras som handlar om uppläggningen av enskilda patienters habilitering/rehabilitering.
En kartläggning gjordes 1998 vid ortopedtekniska avdelningen Aktiv ortopedteknik Södermanland AB, vid Mälarsjukhuset i Eskilstuna, av patienternas och personalens upplevelse av vårdens kvalitet. Personalens upplevelser av psykosocial arbetsmiljö och av egna stressrelaterade symptom kartlades också. Deltagarna var 115 patienter (57 % svarsfrekvens) och 7 anställda (54 % svarsfrekvens). Flertalet patienter, liksom personalen, är tillfredsställda med huvuddelen av vården. Många av såväl patienter som personal är dock mindre tillfredsställda med väntetiden, med att telefonframkomligheten är för låg och med att inte personalen har efterfrågat hur hjälpmedlet fungerat. Ett åtgärdsförslag presenteras som handlar om uppläggningen av enskilda patienters habilitering/rehabilitering.
En kartläggning gjordes 1998 vid syncentralen, Mälarsjukhuset i Eskilstuna, av patienternas och personalens upplevelse av vårdens kvalitet. Personalens upplevelser av psykosocial arbetsmiljö och av egna stressrelaterade symptom kartlades också. Deltagare var 115 patienter (55 % svarsfrekvens) och 8 anställda (100 % svarsfrekvens). Flertalet patienter, liksom personalen, är tillfredsställda med huvuddelen av vården. Många, såväl patienter som personal, är mindre tillfredsställda med att patienterna inte kan delta i beslut om rehabilitering, att kontinuiteten i habilitering/rehabilitering brister, och att de inte får information om övriga tillgängliga habiliterings/rehabiliteringsresurser. Ett åtgärdsförslag presenteras.
The sense of coherence (SOC) concept has been criticized on conceptual and psychometric grounds. The aim of this study was to develop the concept using structural equation modelling. The short 13-item version of the SOC questionnaire was used and data were collected from two different samples. Each sample consisted of about 2000 individuals, selected to be representative of the Swedish population. A model with a general factor and two subordinate specific factors yielded a satisfactory solution in both samples. The two factors were labelled Social Comprehension and Commitment and Unpleasant Emotions and Inner Tension respectively. It was concluded that the 13-item SOC scale could to a cel rain degree be regarded as a measure of negative affectivity and that the suggested model makes the SOC concept move theoretically coherent.
How adults with developmental disabilities perceive quality of the care and service they receive was investigated and these perceptions compared with those of their parents and primary caregivers. The sample was 34 adults with developmental disabilities, one of their parents, and their primary caregiver, all from a small Swedish municipality. We adapted Quality From the Patient's Perspective by using simple words and fewer response choices. Results showed it was possible to assess how adults with developmental disabilities evaluated actual care and service conditions. Evaluations of the subjective importance ascribed to these conditions proved too difficult. A high degree of similarity was found in ratings of perceived reality of care and service conditions by the adults with developmental disabilities, their parents, and caregivers.
In this study, we evaluated the influence of different forms of support (peer support, ventilation or defusing led by the ordinary group leader, and more formal debriefing sessions led by an external counselor) on mental health following traumatic experiences, using a prospective study design. The sample consisted of a Swedish battalion (N = 510), which was part of NATO’s implementation force in Bosnia in 1996. Preservice assessment was made of personality, sense of coherence, and mental health. One third of the soldiers experienced traumatic situations during their service. Results showed that poor mental health after service was related more to preservice mental health and sense of coherence than to trauma exposure and posttrauma support. Peer support followed by a defusing session had a positive effect on postservice mental health, although this did not apply to the individuals with the worst preservice mental health. The value of formal debriefings could not be evaluated due to insufficient data.