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Research shows that the labour market integration of refugees is often problematic. Little is known about what kind of measures are effective to help them integrate into the labour market. In the Netherlands, a positive psychology intervention "Mosaic" for Syrian refugees was developed to support their economic participation. This study aims to assess the effect of "Mosaic" on the economic participation and work‐related attitudes of Syrian refugees. "Mosaic" was implemented in six municipalities by conducting an RCT with a waiting list control group. The results show that in the short term, the intervention group realizes a significantly larger increase in hours spent on an internship as well as substantially larger gains in confidence to find work in the future. In the long term, the intervention group experiences larger confidence gains related to finding a job that fits their education and experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the positive psychology intervention 'Happiness Route' compared to an active control condition in a vulnerable population with an accumulation of health and psychosocial problems.Methods: We conducted a randomized, single-blind, actively-controlled, parallel group study in seven municipalities in the Netherlands. To be eligible, participants had to experience loneliness, health problems and low socio-economic status. Each group received several home visits by a counsellor (two in the control condition, two to six in the experimental condition). In the Happiness Route, a happiness-based approach was used, whereas the control condition used a traditional problem-based approach. The primary outcome was well-being, measured with the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF).Results: Fifty-eight participants were randomized to the Happiness Route, 50 to the control condition. Participants were severely lonely, had on average three health problems and less than 5% had paid work. The total MHC-SF score, emotional and social well-being, depression and loneliness improved significantly over the nine-month period in both conditions (p < .05), but there were no significant changes between the conditions across time. Languishing decreased significantly from 33% at baseline to 16% at follow-up among the Happiness Route participants but did not change significantly in the control condition. No significant improvement over time was found in psychological well-being, resilience, purpose in life, health-related quality of life and social participation. Cost-effectiveness analysis showed that expected saved costs per QALY lost was €219,948 for the Happiness Route, relative to the control condition. The probability was 83% that the Happiness Route was cost saving and 54% that the Happiness Route was cost-effective at a willingness to accept a threshold of €100,000.Conclusions: Mental health status of both groups improved considerably. However, we could not demonstrate that the Happiness Route yielded better health outcomes compared to the control condition. Nevertheless, the results of the cost-effectiveness analysis suggested that the Happiness Route is an acceptable intervention from a health-economic point of view. Our results should be viewed in light of the fact that we could not include the planned number of participants.Trial Registration: Netherlands Trial Register: NTR3377. Registered 2 Apr 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Overweight youngsters are better in absolute strength exercises than their normal-weight counterparts; a physiological phenomenon with promising psychological impact. In this paper we describe the study protocol of the Dutch, school-based program 'Focus on Strength' that aims to improve body composition of 11-13 year old students, and with that to ultimately improve their quality of life.Methods: The development of this intervention is based on the Intervention Mapping (IM) protocol, which starts from a needs assessment, uses theory and empirical research to develop a detailed intervention plan, and anticipates program implementation and evaluation. This novel intervention targets first year students in preparatory secondary vocational education (11-13 years of age). Teachers are the program implementers. One part of the intervention involves a 30 % increase of strength exercises in the physical education lessons. The other part is based on Motivational Interviewing, promoting autonomous motivation of students to become more physically active outside school. Performance and change objectives are described for both teachers and students. The effectiveness of the intervention will be tested in a Randomized Controlled Trial in 9 Dutch high schools.Discussion: Intervention Mapping is a useful framework for program planning a school-based program to improve body composition and motivation to exercise in 11-13 year old adolescents by a "Focus on Strength".Trial Registration: NTR5676 , registered 8 February 2016 (retrospectively registered). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Depression in nursing-home residents is often under-recognised. We aimed to establish the effectiveness of a structural approach to its management. Methods Between May 15, 2009, and April 30, 2011, we undertook a multicentre, stepped-wedge duster-randomised trial in four provinces of the Netherlands. A network of nursing homes was invited to enrol one dementia and one somatic unit per nursing home. In enrolled units, nursing-home staff recruited residents, who were eligible as long as we had received written informed consent. Units were randomly allocated to one of five groups with computer-generated random numbers. A multidisciplinary care programme, Act in Case of Depression (AID), was implemented at different timepoints in each group: at baseline, no groups were implenting the programme (usual care); the first group implemented it shortly after baseline; and other groups sequeritially began implementation after assessments at intervals of roughly 4 months. Residents did not know when the intervention was being implemented or what the programme elements were; research staff were masked to intervention implementation, depression treatment, and results of previous assessments; and data analysts were masked to intervention implementation. The primary endpoint was depression prevalence in units, which was the proportion of residents per unit with a score of more than seven on the proxy-based CorneAl scale for depression in dementia. Analyses were by intention to treat. This trial is registered with the Netherlands National Trial Register, number NTR1477. Findings 16 dementia units (403 residents) and 17 somatic units (390 residents) were enrolled in the course of the study. In somatic units, AID reduced prevalence of depression (adjusted effect size -7.3%, 95% C1-13.7 to -0.9). The effect was not significant in dementia units (0.6, -5.6 to 6.8) and differed significantly from that in somatic units (p=0.031). Adherence to depression assessment procedures was lower in dementia units (69% [SD 19%]) than in somatic units (82% [15%]; p=0.045). Adherence to treatment pathways did not differ between dementia units (43% [SD 33%]) and somatic units (38% [40%]; p=0.745). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study we examined the prospective relationships between perseverative thoughts, internalizing negative emotions, and somatic complaints in children aged 9–13, and evaluated whether a perseverative thoughts intervention had a beneficial effect on these experiences. Children (N =227) from 7 primary schools in Leiden, the Netherlands, recorded their perseverative thoughts during one week, 138 of whom were instructed to postpone these thoughts to a special 30min period in the early evening. Children who had received the postponement instructions showed a reduction in the frequency of perseverative thoughts, and girls also in the duration of them. Girl''s perseverative thoughts were positively associated with the number of somatic complaints and with negative emotions. The postponement intervention also seemed to reduce somatic complaints in the seventh grade children. These findings confirm the previously found prospective relationship between perseverative thoughts and children''s well-being and provide initial validation for the use of the postponement intervention to reduce perseverative thoughts in this age group, particularly for girls. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In cooperation with its American developers, the Parent Management Training Oregon (PMTO) model was introduced into the Dutch youth care system at the beginning of 2006. In general, implementing new interventions in practice is no simple matter. Several factors related to the socio-political context, the organizational context, the intervention itself and the professional can facilitate or hinder the implementation process. Therefore, it is essential to establish a good understanding of the factors that may influence the implementation of PMTO in the Dutch context. This paper presents preliminary results of an implementation study of PMTO in four Dutch pilot organizations. Managers as well as (PMTO) therapists completed questionnaires and were interviewed about factors that had a positive or negative effect on the implementation of PMTO. In order to successfully implement PMTO at a national level an implementation strategy should be designed that takes all identified key factors into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dutch Addiction Programme started in 1997 as a collaboration between the Netherlands Research Council (NWO) and the Netherlands Organisation on Research and Development in Health (ZonMw). The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports and the Ministry of Education provided means to develop a programme on research and development in addiction for the period 1997–2003. Until 1997 the field of addiction research in The Netherlands was underdeveloped and single projects were more or less scattered over research groups in The Netherlands. With a programmatic approach, addiction research in The Netherlands should be stimulated in a coherent way. More attention should be paid to the quality of the research as well as to the connection between research and practice. The programme, as developed, integrates fundamental research and more applied research, as well as development of new prevention and intervention methods. The general aim of the programme is to stimulate in a programmatic way research as well as innovative projects and experiments in the field of addiction and addiction care and prevention. In addition, the programme is also meant to make an effort to bridge the gap between research and practice. At the end of the 6-year programme the main question therefore is: to what extent has the programme succeeded in stimulating research and innovative projects and have fundamental and clinical research, social research and addiction prevention and treatment become more closely connected? This special issue focuses on some interesting results from this research programme. In addition, the epilogue sheds some light on the extent to which programme aims have been achieved and how to proceed in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty-seven Surinam-Dutch lower-class families with a one-year-old child participated in "Instapje", a parent-focused home-based intervention programme. The intervention was devised to im prove quality of parental support to the child on four behavioural dimensions: supportive presence, respect for the child's autonomy, structure and limit setting, and quality of instruction. The programme was presented to the parents in 16 weekly home-visits, starting when the child was 13 months old. W hen the children were 18 months of age, intervention group parents were indeed significantly more supportive of their children than parents in a comparable control group of 38 Surinam-Dutch families. M oreover, intervention group children scored significantly higher on the Bayley Mental Scale of Infant Development than children in the control group. No intervention effects were found on quality of the parent-child relationship and on parents' sense of competence in child. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural conservatism manifests itself in the opposition to freedom of opinion, the opposition to interventions in life and death (abortion, euthanasia and suicide) and in traditional attitudes on the roles of men and women. Cultural conservatives reject individual freedom and emphasize equality in the sense of conformity with traditional norms and values. The specific differences in cultural conservatism between generations and between denominations are described. Also the question is answered whether the differences between the generations vary within the denominations and whether the differences between the denominations vary within the generations. Finally it is briefly discussed to what extent the decline of cultural conservatism in the eighties is attributable to the changing spirit of the times (period-effect) or to structural changes in the Dutch population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]