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Background A trend of increased stress and deteriorating mental health of adolescents is a global challenge (Currier et al, 2012). Research shows that many adolescents report high levels of stress associated with an increased focus on school performance (Moknes et al, 2014). These demands generally have a stronger impact on girl’s health (Låftman & Modig, 2013) due to context and social construction of norms, values and beliefs about femininity and masculinity (Connell, 2002; Butler, 1999). The aim was to get a deeper understanding of girls and boys perceptions of how they handle demands and school-related stress. Methods This study has an explorative design and was analyzed by qualitative content analysis described by Graneheim and Lundman (2004). The participants were 42 adolescents 15 years old, interviewed in five focus groups, dived by gender from five randomly selected schools. Two additional gender mixed focus groups with 14 adolescents 15 years old, were recruited from two of the randomly selected schools. Results The results show that girls and boys handle school-related stress by using similar strategies, but in different ways. Girls express that they have to prioritize to deselect activities they use to do to handle demands from school, and boys prioritize their own activities to obtain strength to cope with demands. Girls often think about their future while boys more often live in present time, and don’t worry so much about the future. Girls receive social support and recovery from friends and family, while boys do various activities with their friends and family to get energy. Conclusions This study shows that girls and boys used different strategies to handle demand and school-related stress. The results are based on adolescent’s experiences and could therefore be an important foundation for interventions that promote adolescents capabilities to cope with increasing demands and to handle school-related stress. Key messages: This study shows th, 9th European Public Health Conference: Parallel Sessions

Background: Research has shown that socio-economic status (SES) contributes to the mental health of adolescents; however the causality of this effect is debated. SES among adolescents is methodologically difficult to assess and SES indicators differ between age groups. The aim of this study was to evaluate objective and subjective indicators of SES and their relation to mental health in two adolescent age groups. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study based on data collected by self- report questionnaires from 11-13 years old n = 457 (younger age group) and 14-16 years old n = 462 (older age group) adolescents at schools in a rural town in south western Sweden. The Family Affluence Scale (FAS) (high, medium, low) and Perceived Wealth (PW) (high, medium, low) were used as measurement for objective and subjective socio-economic wealth. The domain psychological functioning health from the Minneapolis Manchester Quality of Life instrument (MMQL-PF) (continuous variable) was used to measure self-rated mental health. Results: When measuring SES using the two different scales, the proportion of adolescents in the younger age group stating a low SES was 28.1% using FAS and 12.1% using PW. In the older age group the proportion was 21.4% in FAS and 15.5% in PW. There was a positive significant relation between PW and self-rated mental health in both age groups, by 0.112 (95% CI.0.024; 0.199) in the younger age group and by 0.140 (95% CI.0.051; 0.223) in the older age group. This relation was not seen regarding FAS. Conclusion: In the search for SES’ relation to mental health, different aspects of adolescents’ socio-economic conditions should be considered. In this study we suggest that the subjective experiences of adolescents regarding the wealth of the family might be a stronger indicator of SES influencing mental health. This might be taken into consideration when planning for public health interventions and effective prevention programs suited for adolescents with lower

Background: It has become important to measure long-term effects and quality of life in survivors of childhood cancer. The Minneapolis- Manchester Quality of Life (MMQL) instrument has been proven to better capture the quality of life (QoL) perspective of health than other instruments. The instrument has age appropriate versions and is therefore favourable for longitudinal studies of QoL of children surviving from cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of MMQL-Youth Form and the Adolescent Form focusing on: 1) face and content validity 2) the internal consistency and 3) the test-retest reliability. Methods: The sample consisted of 950 pupils (11–16years old) from 7 schools in the western Sweden who completed the questionnaire. For the test-retest evaluation 230 respondents completed the questionnaire two weeks later. Results: Face and content validity was supported and internal consistency was found to be acceptable for the total scale for both the MMQL-Youth Form (8–12years of age) and the Adolescent Form (13–20years of age). Test-retest reliability for the MMQL-Youth Form was moderate for 50% of the items and good for the remaining. For the MMQL-Adolescent Form the test-retest showed moderate or good agreement for 80% of the items and fair for 20%. Conclusions: The result indicated that the Swedish version of the MMQLYouth Form and Adolescent Form was valid and reliable in a sample of healthy children in a Swedish context. It is recommended to test the instrument among diverse samples of children such as survivors of childhood cancer in order to validate its usefulness in research and clinical settings. © 2013 Einberg et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd., Funding: Ljungbergska Stiftelsen

Childhood cancer survivors adjust to the physical, mental, and social difficulties associated with their illness and treatment. This process can be facilitated by social support from peers. For children, this is often problematic due to geographical, clinical, and age-related limitations. This paper reports on a stakeholder assessment study that confirms the relevance of a digital peer support service for childhood cancer survivors. The analysis establishes where in the existing health care process the digital peer support service should be introduced, what actors play a key role in facilitating service onboarding and use, and characterizes desirable user experience qualities. The analysis also yields a collection of design challenges to be addressed in the development of the digital peer support service. Copyright 2013 ACM., Funding: The Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Childhood Cancer Society, the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova) and the Solstickan Foundation., CHIPS

Somatic stem cells mediate tissue maintenance for the lifetime of an organism. Despite the well-established longevity that is a prerequisite for such function, accumulating data argue for compromised stem cell function with age. Identifying the mechanisms underlying age-dependent stem cell dysfunction is therefore key to understanding the aging process. Here, using a model carrying a proofreading-defective mitochondrial DNA polymerase, we demonstrate hematopoietic defects reminiscent of premature HSC aging, including anemia, lymphopenia, and myeloid lineage skewing. However, in contrast to physiological stem cell aging, rapidly accumulating mitochondria! DNA mutations had little functional effect on the hematopoietic stem cell pool, and instead caused distinct differentiation blocks and/or disappearance of downstream progenitors. These results show that intact mitochondrial function is required for appropriate multilineage stem cell differentiation, but argue against mitochondria! DNA mutations per se being a primary driver of somatic stern cell aging.

This study attempts to understand the role that optimism could play in the context of a health asset approach to promote (and protect) adolescent health related quality of life (HRQOL). Two hypotheses were formulated, a) there is an association between adolescents’ self-rated optimism and pessimism and their HRQOL, (b) age, gender and socio-demographic characteristics influence this association. We explore optimism and pessimism as a bi-dimensional construct and its impact on HRQOL among adolescents in two age groups (11-13 years and 14-16 years). Adolescents answered a self-report questionnaire consisting of two validated scales for measuring HRQOL and the concepts of optimism and pessimism. This study has shown that optimism is an important protective factor for HRQOL and low levels of pessimism were also seen to be protective of HRQOL in both age groups. This infers the potential of an optimistic orientation about future goals might function as a health asset during adolescence that could be useful in the planning of health promotion strategies., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

Background; Adolescents’ experiences of stress have increased in recent decades and is associated with an increase of psychosomatic symptoms and poorer academic achievement. Identification of ways to support adolescents’ handling of school related stress is a major challenge to promote their health and academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to describe the stakeholder’s perspectives on services that are needed for supporting adolescents in secondary school when coping with school-related stress. Methods; Representatives from the school health service and school management organization (n=23) from five secondary schools and parents (n=4) were recruited by snowball sampling. Interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. Results; The study highlight different aspects of stakeholders’ perceptions of what is needed to support adolescents who experience school-related stress. Described are actions such as highlighting and changing organizational and contextual structures and developing the dialogue between the school and the home. Other described actions are to support adolescents’ abilities to plan and visualizing how time is used and to strengthen their adolescents’ belief in their own abilities. Conclusions; Our findings could be used in schools for developing interventions from a salutogenic approach to promote adolescents’ health in the present and for the future., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

Rationale: The interest in social capital in the context of adolescents has grown considerably in the research fields of the social sciences and public health over the past two decades. There is, however, a great heterogeneity in its conceptualization and operationalization for measurement and it is seldom comprehensively theorized for adolescents as a group distinct from adults. There has not yet been an attempt to systematically map and psychometrically evaluate the existing instruments for measuring social capital that have been developed and validated for adolescent samples. Aim: The aim of this systematic review was to identify and evaluate the design and psychometric properties of self-reported instruments for social capital specifically developed and validated for use among adolescents. Method: The design of this study was a systematic review guided by the COSMIN methodology for systematic reviews of Patient Reported Outcome Measures. The search included six electronic databases using the following inclusion criteria; instrument developed for or adapted to adolescent samples; explicit use of the term social capital in relation to instrument; description of development and validation process, and explicit focus on adolescents as a group distinct from adults. No time frame was applied. Results: 20 of the 1956 studies that were found were identified as describing the development and validation of a social capital instrument for adolescent samples. The common denominators for the included instruments were inclusion of constructs representing the cognitive dimension, as well as bonding social capital. Recurring contexts of interest were family, school, peers and neighbourhood/community. The results however reveal great variation in the design of the questionnaires, number of items and subscales and validation procedures. Adolescents were only involved in the development procedures of four instruments. Conclusion: There is a lack of social capital instruments that, Som manuskript i avhandling / As manuscript in thesis

Background; Adolescents’ experiences of stress have increased in recent decades and is associated with an increase of psychosomatic symptoms and poorer academic achievement. Identification of ways to support adolescents’ handling of school related stress is a major challenge to promote their health and academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to describe the stakeholder’s perspectives on services that are needed for supporting adolescents in secondary school when coping with school-related stress. Methods; Representatives from the school health service and school management organization (n=23) from five secondary schools and parents (n=4) were recruited by snowball sampling. Interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. Results; The study highlight different aspects of stakeholders’ perceptions of what is needed to support adolescents who experience school-related stress. Described are actions such as highlighting and changing organizational and contextual structures and developing the dialogue between the school and the home. Other described actions are to support adolescents’ abilities to plan and visualizing how time is used and to strengthen their adolescents’ belief in their own abilities. Conclusions; Our findings could be used in schools for developing interventions from a salutogenic approach to promote adolescents’ health in the present and for the future., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

This study attempts to understand the role that optimism could play in the context of a health asset approach to promote (and protect) adolescent health related quality of life (HRQOL). Two hypotheses were formulated, a) there is an association between adolescents’ self-rated optimism and pessimism and their HRQOL, (b) age, gender and socio-demographic characteristics influence this association. We explore optimism and pessimism as a bi-dimensional construct and its impact on HRQOL among adolescents in two age groups (11-13 years and 14-16 years). Adolescents answered a self-report questionnaire consisting of two validated scales for measuring HRQOL and the concepts of optimism and pessimism. This study has shown that optimism is an important protective factor for HRQOL and low levels of pessimism were also seen to be protective of HRQOL in both age groups. This infers the potential of an optimistic orientation about future goals might function as a health asset during adolescence that could be useful in the planning of health promotion strategies., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

This study attempts to understand the role that optimism could play in the context of a health asset approach to promote (and protect) adolescent health related quality of life (HRQOL). Two hypotheses were formulated, a) there is an association between adolescents’ self-rated optimism and pessimism and their HRQOL, (b) age, gender and socio-demographic characteristics influence this association. We explore optimism and pessimism as a bi-dimensional construct and its impact on HRQOL among adolescents in two age groups (11-13 years and 14-16 years). Adolescents answered a self-report questionnaire consisting of two validated scales for measuring HRQOL and the concepts of optimism and pessimism. This study has shown that optimism is an important protective factor for HRQOL and low levels of pessimism were also seen to be protective of HRQOL in both age groups. This infers the potential of an optimistic orientation about future goals might function as a health asset during adolescence that could be useful in the planning of health promotion strategies., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

Background; Adolescents’ experiences of stress have increased in recent decades and is associated with an increase of psychosomatic symptoms and poorer academic achievement. Identification of ways to support adolescents’ handling of school related stress is a major challenge to promote their health and academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to describe the stakeholder’s perspectives on services that are needed for supporting adolescents in secondary school when coping with school-related stress. Methods; Representatives from the school health service and school management organization (n=23) from five secondary schools and parents (n=4) were recruited by snowball sampling. Interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. Results; The study highlight different aspects of stakeholders’ perceptions of what is needed to support adolescents who experience school-related stress. Described are actions such as highlighting and changing organizational and contextual structures and developing the dialogue between the school and the home. Other described actions are to support adolescents’ abilities to plan and visualizing how time is used and to strengthen their adolescents’ belief in their own abilities. Conclusions; Our findings could be used in schools for developing interventions from a salutogenic approach to promote adolescents’ health in the present and for the future., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

This study attempts to understand the role that optimism could play in the context of a health asset approach to promote (and protect) adolescent health related quality of life (HRQOL). Two hypotheses were formulated, a) there is an association between adolescents’ self-rated optimism and pessimism and their HRQOL, (b) age, gender and socio-demographic characteristics influence this association. We explore optimism and pessimism as a bi-dimensional construct and its impact on HRQOL among adolescents in two age groups (11-13 years and 14-16 years). Adolescents answered a self-report questionnaire consisting of two validated scales for measuring HRQOL and the concepts of optimism and pessimism. This study has shown that optimism is an important protective factor for HRQOL and low levels of pessimism were also seen to be protective of HRQOL in both age groups. This infers the potential of an optimistic orientation about future goals might function as a health asset during adolescence that could be useful in the planning of health promotion strategies., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

Background; Adolescents’ experiences of stress have increased in recent decades and is associated with an increase of psychosomatic symptoms and poorer academic achievement. Identification of ways to support adolescents’ handling of school related stress is a major challenge to promote their health and academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to describe the stakeholder’s perspectives on services that are needed for supporting adolescents in secondary school when coping with school-related stress. Methods; Representatives from the school health service and school management organization (n=23) from five secondary schools and parents (n=4) were recruited by snowball sampling. Interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. Results; The study highlight different aspects of stakeholders’ perceptions of what is needed to support adolescents who experience school-related stress. Described are actions such as highlighting and changing organizational and contextual structures and developing the dialogue between the school and the home. Other described actions are to support adolescents’ abilities to plan and visualizing how time is used and to strengthen their adolescents’ belief in their own abilities. Conclusions; Our findings could be used in schools for developing interventions from a salutogenic approach to promote adolescents’ health in the present and for the future., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

Background; Adolescents’ experiences of stress have increased in recent decades and is associated with an increase of psychosomatic symptoms and poorer academic achievement. Identification of ways to support adolescents’ handling of school related stress is a major challenge to promote their health and academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to describe the stakeholder’s perspectives on services that are needed for supporting adolescents in secondary school when coping with school-related stress. Methods; Representatives from the school health service and school management organization (n=23) from five secondary schools and parents (n=4) were recruited by snowball sampling. Interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. Results; The study highlight different aspects of stakeholders’ perceptions of what is needed to support adolescents who experience school-related stress. Described are actions such as highlighting and changing organizational and contextual structures and developing the dialogue between the school and the home. Other described actions are to support adolescents’ abilities to plan and visualizing how time is used and to strengthen their adolescents’ belief in their own abilities. Conclusions; Our findings could be used in schools for developing interventions from a salutogenic approach to promote adolescents’ health in the present and for the future., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

This study attempts to understand the role that optimism could play in the context of a health asset approach to promote (and protect) adolescent health related quality of life (HRQOL). Two hypotheses were formulated, a) there is an association between adolescents’ self-rated optimism and pessimism and their HRQOL, (b) age, gender and socio-demographic characteristics influence this association. We explore optimism and pessimism as a bi-dimensional construct and its impact on HRQOL among adolescents in two age groups (11-13 years and 14-16 years). Adolescents answered a self-report questionnaire consisting of two validated scales for measuring HRQOL and the concepts of optimism and pessimism. This study has shown that optimism is an important protective factor for HRQOL and low levels of pessimism were also seen to be protective of HRQOL in both age groups. This infers the potential of an optimistic orientation about future goals might function as a health asset during adolescence that could be useful in the planning of health promotion strategies., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

Background; Adolescents’ experiences of stress have increased in recent decades and is associated with an increase of psychosomatic symptoms and poorer academic achievement. Identification of ways to support adolescents’ handling of school related stress is a major challenge to promote their health and academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to describe the stakeholder’s perspectives on services that are needed for supporting adolescents in secondary school when coping with school-related stress. Methods; Representatives from the school health service and school management organization (n=23) from five secondary schools and parents (n=4) were recruited by snowball sampling. Interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. Results; The study highlight different aspects of stakeholders’ perceptions of what is needed to support adolescents who experience school-related stress. Described are actions such as highlighting and changing organizational and contextual structures and developing the dialogue between the school and the home. Other described actions are to support adolescents’ abilities to plan and visualizing how time is used and to strengthen their adolescents’ belief in their own abilities. Conclusions; Our findings could be used in schools for developing interventions from a salutogenic approach to promote adolescents’ health in the present and for the future., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

This study attempts to understand the role that optimism could play in the context of a health asset approach to promote (and protect) adolescent health related quality of life (HRQOL). Two hypotheses were formulated, a) there is an association between adolescents’ self-rated optimism and pessimism and their HRQOL, (b) age, gender and socio-demographic characteristics influence this association. We explore optimism and pessimism as a bi-dimensional construct and its impact on HRQOL among adolescents in two age groups (11-13 years and 14-16 years). Adolescents answered a self-report questionnaire consisting of two validated scales for measuring HRQOL and the concepts of optimism and pessimism. This study has shown that optimism is an important protective factor for HRQOL and low levels of pessimism were also seen to be protective of HRQOL in both age groups. This infers the potential of an optimistic orientation about future goals might function as a health asset during adolescence that could be useful in the planning of health promotion strategies., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

Background; Adolescents’ experiences of stress have increased in recent decades and is associated with an increase of psychosomatic symptoms and poorer academic achievement. Identification of ways to support adolescents’ handling of school related stress is a major challenge to promote their health and academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to describe the stakeholder’s perspectives on services that are needed for supporting adolescents in secondary school when coping with school-related stress. Methods; Representatives from the school health service and school management organization (n=23) from five secondary schools and parents (n=4) were recruited by snowball sampling. Interviews were analyzed by qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. Results; The study highlight different aspects of stakeholders’ perceptions of what is needed to support adolescents who experience school-related stress. Described are actions such as highlighting and changing organizational and contextual structures and developing the dialogue between the school and the home. Other described actions are to support adolescents’ abilities to plan and visualizing how time is used and to strengthen their adolescents’ belief in their own abilities. Conclusions; Our findings could be used in schools for developing interventions from a salutogenic approach to promote adolescents’ health in the present and for the future., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.

This study attempts to understand the role that optimism could play in the context of a health asset approach to promote (and protect) adolescent health related quality of life (HRQOL). Two hypotheses were formulated, a) there is an association between adolescents’ self-rated optimism and pessimism and their HRQOL, (b) age, gender and socio-demographic characteristics influence this association. We explore optimism and pessimism as a bi-dimensional construct and its impact on HRQOL among adolescents in two age groups (11-13 years and 14-16 years). Adolescents answered a self-report questionnaire consisting of two validated scales for measuring HRQOL and the concepts of optimism and pessimism. This study has shown that optimism is an important protective factor for HRQOL and low levels of pessimism were also seen to be protective of HRQOL in both age groups. This infers the potential of an optimistic orientation about future goals might function as a health asset during adolescence that could be useful in the planning of health promotion strategies., Som manuskript i avhandling. / As manuscript in dissertation.