International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 31(9), 2016, pp.1075-1083.
Publisher:
Wiley
...caregivers and people diagnosed with AD (n = 100) and DLB (n = 86) between 2005 and 2013. The average age was 74.9 years (SD = 7.8). Caregiver distress was rated by the Relative Stress Scale. Diagnosis of the person receiving care was based on a comprehensive standardised assessment program (International Classification of Diseases, Revision 10 or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders
(Edited publisher abstract)
Objective: To characterise the differences in caregiver distress between carers of people diagnosed with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and people with Alzheimer's disease (AD), with a view to differentiating and improving support for caregivers.
Methods: This study is a part of two larger Norwegian studies, DemVest (n = 265) and The Norwegian Dementia Register (n = 2220), with data from caregivers and people diagnosed with AD (n = 100) and DLB (n = 86) between 2005 and 2013. The average age was 74.9 years (SD = 7.8). Caregiver distress was rated by the Relative Stress Scale. Diagnosis of the person receiving care was based on a comprehensive standardised assessment program (International Classification of Diseases, Revision 10 or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, fourth edition). Additional data collected from people receiving care were neuropsychiatric symptoms, comorbidity and activities of daily living (ADL) score. Linear regression analyses were applied, first unadjusted and then in stepwise-adjusts in addition to descriptive analyses.
Results: Caregivers to people with AD (20.2%) and 40% of caregivers for people with DLB experienced moderate or high caregiver burden with an increased risk of psychiatric disorders in the early stage of dementia. High Relative Stress Scale (RSS) total scores in caregivers was significantly associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms and also with impaired ADL functioning.
Conclusion: Caregiver distress differed between people caring for someone with AD (15.0) and those caring for someone with DLB (19.9). These findings have direct implications for the needs and resources that could be available for these individuals and indicate the need for further research into caregiver burden in carers to people with DLB.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Dementia: the International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 10(4), November 2011, pp.571-585.
Publisher:
Sage
The increasing number of people suffering from dementia is creating problems and dilemmas for public health care agencies as well as for close relatives who are expected to provide care. The two Norwegian studies on which this article is based aim to provide a detailed picture of what it is like for those closest to individuals suffering from dementia. Nine families were included, and a total of 27 people interviewed (husbands, wives, sons and daughters). Key topics discussed are the initial phases of the illness, the heavy demands of home care, and dilemmas associated with multiple caregiving roles.
The increasing number of people suffering from dementia is creating problems and dilemmas for public health care agencies as well as for close relatives who are expected to provide care. The two Norwegian studies on which this article is based aim to provide a detailed picture of what it is like for those closest to individuals suffering from dementia. Nine families were included, and a total of 27 people interviewed (husbands, wives, sons and daughters). Key topics discussed are the initial phases of the illness, the heavy demands of home care, and dilemmas associated with multiple caregiving roles.
Journal of Adolescence, 30(2), April 2007, pp.203-212.
Publisher:
Academic Press
The present study investigated the role of neuroticism and perceived school-related stress in somatic symptoms among a sample of 327 (167 females and 160 males) students in two Norwegian junior high schools. The results suggest that the role of neuroticism on somatic symptoms may be overestimated, and that the role of stress may be underestimated if neuroticism, stress and somatic symptoms...
The present study investigated the role of neuroticism and perceived school-related stress in somatic symptoms among a sample of 327 (167 females and 160 males) students in two Norwegian junior high schools. The results suggest that the role of neuroticism on somatic symptoms may be overestimated, and that the role of stress may be underestimated if neuroticism, stress and somatic symptoms are measured at the same time. In this study, both neuroticism and perceived school-related stress were found to be significantly associated with somatic symptoms.
British Journal of Social Work, 45(7), 2015, pp.2089-2105.
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Little is known about social workers' job stress in a comparative sense, and whether job stress might negatively affect their views of clients within the welfare system. This authors examine these issues on the basis of cross-sectional survey data collected from professional social workers in four Nordic countries that have similar welfare systems and where workers engage in similar tasks. Job...
(Edited publisher abstract)
Little is known about social workers' job stress in a comparative sense, and whether job stress might negatively affect their views of clients within the welfare system. This authors examine these issues on the basis of cross-sectional survey data collected from professional social workers in four Nordic countries that have similar welfare systems and where workers engage in similar tasks. Job stress is measured using two indicators: workload and role conflicts. The results indicate frequent problems with job stress in all four countries, although they are especially pronounced in Finland. Social workers with limited work experience, as well as those working within the public sector, suffered the most both from an extensive workload and from role conflicts. The findings also indicate that social workers' attitudes towards clients within the welfare system are to some extent related to their level of job stress.
(Edited publisher abstract)
Subject terms:
stress, social workers, attitudes, workload, service users;
Two hundred thirty people with dementia (PWD) living at home and their family carers were recruited from 20 Norwegian municipalities to explore the association between coping, measured by the extent of locus of control, and the burden of care on family carers of persons with dementia (PWD). The carers’ burden was assessed by the Relatives’ Stress Scale (RSS) and coping by the Locus of Control
(Edited publisher abstract)
Two hundred thirty people with dementia (PWD) living at home and their family carers were recruited from 20 Norwegian municipalities to explore the association between coping, measured by the extent of locus of control, and the burden of care on family carers of persons with dementia (PWD). The carers’ burden was assessed by the Relatives’ Stress Scale (RSS) and coping by the Locus of Control Behaviour Scale. The PWD were assessed by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-Q), the Physical Self-Maintenance Scale (PSMS), the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale, and the Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE). Locus of control (LoC) was found to be the most important factor associated with the burden on carers of PWD, even when we had controlled for the PWD variables, such as the NPI-Q score. The LoC and the carer's use of hours per day to assist the PWD were the only two variables the carers found that affected the extent of the burden. The NPI-Q was the most important variable in the PWD that affected the burden on the carers. Carers who believe that what happens to them is the consequence of their own actions are likely to be less burdened than carers not expecting to have control. This finding gives a possibility to identify carers with a high risk of burden.
(Edited publisher abstract)
This article challenges the use of the concept of avoidance as dysfunctional in parenting, and questions research on parental coping practices in isolation from context. Sixteen parents with children with more or less behaviour problems were selected for analysis from a Norwegian research study. The concept avoidance strategy constituted the analytical theme in situations associated with stress
(Edited publisher abstract)
This article challenges the use of the concept of avoidance as dysfunctional in parenting, and questions research on parental coping practices in isolation from context. Sixteen parents with children with more or less behaviour problems were selected for analysis from a Norwegian research study. The concept avoidance strategy constituted the analytical theme in situations associated with stress, and parents’ meaning making was the focus of analysis. Parental coping is not only related to internal processes, but also to the risk or opportunities in the social systems. All parents use avoidance actions in various ways, which may also be seen as adaptive and proactive actions. The meaning of age, gender, living conditions, social support, and the parents’ resources are significant in the framing of family life. It is significant to stretch the concept ‘normality’ to include more variation and diversity. By bringing in knowledge from ‘normal’ parenting processes into clinical practice, clinical cases may not always seem clinical.
(Edited publisher abstract)
International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 13(1), February 2011, pp.27-44.
Publisher:
Taylor and Francis
Perceived social support and sense of coherence are both used extensively as variables to predict and explain the impact of external factors on individuals' mental health. This study investigated whether the current operational definitions of these two concepts measure the same or different dimensions of the intervening process and/or have a distinct interaction effect on mental health. A survey was carried out in Lofoten, a series of islands in Northern Norway. Self completion questionnaires were delivered to all households (people 18 years and above) in the selected communities; 67% responded (n = 1062). Factor analysis was used to subdivide the items for perceived social support and sense of coherence. The two concepts made both significant independent and shared contributions to explained variance on the mental health index. All second-order terms (any combination of two of the indexes, sense of coherence, perceived social support or negative life events) show modification effects with regard to mental health. The combination of sense of coherence, perceived social support and negative life events showed a third order effect modification with regard to mental health. The interaction between social support and sense of coherence increased with the number of experienced negative life events. Thus, it is concluded that all three factors need to be considered to maximise the efficiency of health promotion projects.
Perceived social support and sense of coherence are both used extensively as variables to predict and explain the impact of external factors on individuals' mental health. This study investigated whether the current operational definitions of these two concepts measure the same or different dimensions of the intervening process and/or have a distinct interaction effect on mental health. A survey was carried out in Lofoten, a series of islands in Northern Norway. Self completion questionnaires were delivered to all households (people 18 years and above) in the selected communities; 67% responded (n = 1062). Factor analysis was used to subdivide the items for perceived social support and sense of coherence. The two concepts made both significant independent and shared contributions to explained variance on the mental health index. All second-order terms (any combination of two of the indexes, sense of coherence, perceived social support or negative life events) show modification effects with regard to mental health. The combination of sense of coherence, perceived social support and negative life events showed a third order effect modification with regard to mental health. The interaction between social support and sense of coherence increased with the number of experienced negative life events. Thus, it is concluded that all three factors need to be considered to maximise the efficiency of health promotion projects.
Subject terms:
life events, mental health problems, self-concept, social networks, stress;
International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23(10), October 2008, pp.1051-1057.
Publisher:
Wiley
...with the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD), and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Twenty carers (10%) scored above 19 on the intrusion and avoidance subscales of the IES, whereas 90 (47%) scored above 8 on both subscales. This moderate to high stress response was independently explained by being a spouse, high scores on GDS per unit increase) and high score
This Norwegian study aimed to explore intrusion and avoidance in family carers of dementia patients. Participants were 196 family carers of 196 home-dwelling dementia patients. Carers were assessed by the Impact of Events Scale (IES), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Distress scale of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-D), and patients with the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD), and the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). Twenty carers (10%) scored above 19 on the intrusion and avoidance subscales of the IES, whereas 90 (47%) scored above 8 on both subscales. This moderate to high stress response was independently explained by being a spouse, high scores on GDS per unit increase) and high score on NPI-D. Spouses and other family carers having daily contact with patients with dementia experience moderate to high levels of intrusion and avoidance. These symptoms are associated with symptoms of anxiety, distress and depression and should be taken into account when tailoring interventions for carers.
International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 8(4), November 2006, pp.36-47.
Publisher:
Taylor and Francis
...changes in the work situation and preserving time for contemplation. These processes underpin the Self Tuning Model, presented for the first time in this paper. Teaching self-tuning skills to people in stressful professions may provide skills that are critical to recapturing job engagement that may fade over time because of professional strain.
In this Norwegian study interviews with eleven community nurses with reputations for high job engagement revealed that nine had earlier been near burn-out but had managed to capture job engagement. The nurses desire to regain job engagement triggered deep introspection and reflection, which in turn enabled coping, including solving emotional problems, striving to be a realistic idealist, making changes in the work situation and preserving time for contemplation. These processes underpin the Self Tuning Model, presented for the first time in this paper. Teaching self-tuning skills to people in stressful professions may provide skills that are critical to recapturing job engagement that may fade over time because of professional strain.
Subject terms:
job satisfaction, reflective practice, stress, community nurses, coping behaviour;