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Prior research indicates that high negative emotionality in combination with low peer status is conducive of clinically identified problems in childhood. This three-wave longitudinal study examined how negative emotionality and peer status are linked over time in middle and late childhood. Participants were recruited from second grade (n = 90, mean age = 8.85) and fourth grade (n = 119, mean age = 10.81) and were followed across a period of 2 years. Cross-lagged structural models examining concurrent and longitudinal associations between teacher-reported negative emotionality and peer ratings of likability were analyzed separately for externalizing emotion (anger) and internalizing emotion (sadness and fear). Both analyses provided support for a conceptual model in which high negative emotionality lowers peer status, and low peer status, in turn, through a feedback loop, increases negative emotionality over time. Bidirectional influences are interpreted as reflecting a transactional process involving the effects of negative emotionality on social behavior. The findings highlight the need for active efforts to help children with high negative emotionality gain acceptance from classmates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking its departure in the transactional theory of coping and socialization theories, this questionnaire study investigates how coping with climate change among late adolescents (N = 705) relates to proenvironmental behavior and communication with significant others about societal problems. Deemphasizing the problem was negatively associated with proenvironmental behavior, whereas problem-focused and meaning-focused coping were positively associated with proenvironmental behavior. Two communication patterns with fathers, mothers, and friends were identified: one solution oriented and supportive, and one dismissive and doom-and-gloom oriented. The positive patterns correlated positively with problem-focused and meaning-focused coping, whereas the negative patterns correlated positively with deemphasizing. Communication with fathers was particularly important in explaining deemphasizing and problem-focused coping. A structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis showed that coping mediates the effects of communication patterns on behavior, whereas problem-focused coping mediates the influence of other coping strategies on behavior. The study demonstrates the importance of considering coping as a factor in the socialization of proenvironmental behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personality is generally considered to be biologically founded in temperament, and temperamental qualities have proven to be relatively stable across childhood and into adulthood (Caspi, Roberts & Shiner, ). Temperament predicts important developmental outcomes such as academic performance (Muris, ), and social functioning (Eisenberg, Fabes, Guthrie & Reiser, ), and it has also been found to be strongly related to the etiology and maintenance of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in children (Muris, Meesters & Blijlevens, ; Nigg, ). To allow for the possibility of making early interventions, identification of potential risk factors (such as temperamental dispositions) is of great importance (Rettew & McKee, ). As temperament is multidimensional and has many different manifestations, parents and teachers are valuable sources in providing information about children's temperament (Rothbart & Bates, ; Tackett, Slobodskaya, Mar et al., ), and caregiver questionnaires are frequently used in child personality research. However, such questionnaires are only useful if their reliability and validity have been established. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire ( TMCQ; Simonds, Kieras, Rueda & Rothbart, ), which focuses specifically on the ages between 7 and 11 years. The TMCQ is the least validated of the Rothbart measures, and although reliability data have been presented, together with some validity data, for a computerized self-report version of the questionnaire (Simonds & Rothbart, ), information about the reliability and validity for the caregiver version is scant. In the present paper, we report such data for a Swedish sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of a mindfulness-based program, Compassion and Attention in the Schools (Compas), were studied in 358 pupils in grades 5, 7, and 8 in Sweden. An experimental group undertook Compas practices in class three times a week during an eight-week period. A control group undertook content area academic lessons . Pre-/post-intervention analyses showed a significant improvement in the experimental group, but not in the control group, in pupils’ capacity for effortful control, feelings of well-being at school and perceived peer relations. The positive effect of training increased with the number of times the participants took part in the training for all but one of the measures (general stress). Compas seems to be a useful tool for enhancing pupils’ effortful control, well-being at school and peer relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined undergraduate participants' ( N = 98) self-related cognitive response to positive information about the self and how this response is related to global self-esteem and trait anxiety. Positive information about the self was defined as information that attributes positive qualities to the self or positive experiences for the self. The responses were measured by an open-ended questionnaire containing 12 scenarios. Self-esteem correlated positively with positive self-verification and self-focused positive construal of the event, and negatively with negative self-verification and self-focused negative construal of the event. All the four forms of self-focused cognitive responses made unique contributions to the prediction of self-esteem. Mediational analysis suggested that self-focused negative construal of positive information about the self might partially account for the link between self-esteem and trait anxiety. The findings in this study underscore the importance of studying cognitive responses to positive events for understanding individual differences in self-esteem and trait anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compassion may be directed at a broad range of targets. The present study investigated interrelations among other-directed compassion, self-compassion, and environmental compassion in early adolescence (age = 12-14; n = 256) and examined how the different manifestations of compassion related to age and sex during this age period. Dispositional compassion directed at different targets was assessed through self-reports and peer nominations. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis supported a model that portrayed dispositional compassion toward self, others, and the environment as three distinct but interrelated factors. Other-directed compassion and environmental compassion were higher in girls than in boys. There was a decrease in all forms of compassion with age. The drop in self-compassion was linked to negative self-perceptions in 13- and 14-year-old girls. The roles of experience and cognitive factors in linking different forms of dispositional compassion are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk-taking can be either adaptive or maladaptive depending on the context, but maladaptive risk-taking sometimes has serious consequences. Understanding how self-control and other aspects of personality are related to risk-taking is important, as self-control can be improved through training. We examined how the regulative temperamental trait Activation control interacts with the reactive traits Drive and Fearfulness in risk-taking behavior in children. We tested 67 Swedish fourth-graders ( m = 10.59 years, SD = 0.30) using the computerized risk-taking test BART-Y (Lejuez et al., 2002). Well-established temperamental scales, the SPSRQ-C (Colder & O'Connor, 2004) and the TMCQ (Simonds & Rothbart, 2004), were used to obtain caregiver reports on children's temperament. The findings suggest that activation control may have a profound effect on children's risk-taking behavior; relatively fearless children with high drive either adopted a high-risk approach or a very precautious approach in the BART-Y, depending on their level of activation control. To our knowledge, no previous research exists on the role of activation control in risk-taking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal assistance (PA) has been characterized as a melting pot consisting of, on the one hand, a social rights discourse with its basis among disabled people, and, on the other hand, a consumer directed market discourse increasingly putting its stamp on welfare policy in the Western world. In the realm of welfare politics, these discourses are, in many ways, opposites, but have found common ground in the demand for a more individual and consumer friendly provision of services. Within a shared welfare state model, the application of PA has developed divergently in the Scandinavian countries and relates to the two discourses in different ways. In this article, PA in Denmark, Norway and Sweden is presented and similarities and differences are discussed and analysed. Questions raised include: How can the differences between the countries be understood? What dilemmas within welfare policy do they illustrate? How do the different discourses put their marks on the different PA-models in the Scandinavian countries? How do the PA programmes seem to develop further and what kind of PA will the Scandinavian countries end up with in the future? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sample of 209 children was followed longitudinally to examine the impact of growing perspective-taking skills on positive and negative emotionality in middle and late childhood. Perspective-taking skills were assessed through interviews. Teachers rated children's emotional reactivity and capacity to regain a neutral state following emotional arousal. Analyses of contemporaneous data revealed that more developed perspective-taking skills were associated with moderate levels of emotional reactivity. In addition, in children with high emotional reactivity, good perspective-taking skills were associated with good capacity to regain a neutral affective state following emotional arousal. Longitudinal analyses revealed that children who made gains in perspective-taking skills over a two-year-period became more moderate in negative emotional reactivity and improved their ability to down-regulate strong positive emotions. The overall findings support the notion that children use perspective-taking skills as a tool for optimal regulation of emotional responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mothers ( N= 35) and their adult children completed questionnaires and were interviewed in order to examine relationships between mothers’ caregiving representations and their adult children's attachment representations, and relationships between attachment/caregiving representations and beliefs about mothering. Mothers’ and their children's accounts of and present thinking about their past relationship were highly similar, indicating that the two parts develop concordant states of mind regarding their relationship. In contrast, there was no relationship between mothers’ and their adult children's beliefs about mothering, suggesting that such beliefs are not simply passed on from generation to generation within families. Attachment/caregiving classification interacted with generation in influencing a belief that biological facts determine maternal behavior, young adults with preoccupied attachment being particularly prone to reject this idea. Attachment/caregiving classification also had a significant effect on participants’ tendency to adhere to an idealized conception of mothering, this tendency being associated with a dismissive attachment/caregiving representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's mental representations of situations involving another child's distress were examined in two studies. Study 1 examined 3- to 7-year-old children's ( n= 44) ideas about what victims and bystanders would think, feel and do in hypothetical situations. In Study 2, 7- to 8-year-olds ( n= 40) described their own cognitive response to situations in which they were confronted with another's distress. In both studies, representational bias was examined in relation to children's display of prosocial and aggressive behavior and in relation to their acceptance of distressed peers. Although not entirely consistent, findings indicate that three types of representational biases are associated with low levels of considerate behavior and with relatively low acceptance of distressed peers: (a) mentally representing the victim's problem without giving thought to its implications for the victim, (b) significantly reducing the emotional significance of the problem and (c) exaggerating negative aspects of the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examines whether foreign adoptees differ from normative samples in adult attachment status, and explores within-group differences associated with (in)secure attachment status in adult adoptees. Forty adoptees, from a previous representative study of foreign adoptees in Sweden, were interviewed with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). In addition, they were questioned about issues related to identity and family history, and self-assessment instruments were used to assess self-esteem and mental health. Compared to norm groups, the adoptees did not differ significantly in attachment status. However, insecure attachment organization on the AAI was associated with late adoption and a desire to know more about one's biological roots. Late adoption, memories from the time before the adoption, divorce, lack of contact in the adoptive family with the child's origin, and a tendency in adoptees not to think about their biological background, were all associated with unresolved/disorganized status with respect to loss or abuse. There was a nonsignificant tendency for secure attachment status to be associated with higher mental health and self-esteem than insecure attachment status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a simple model for the arterial part of the cardiovascular system, based on Poiseuille flow constrained by the power dissipated into the cells lining the vessels. This, together with the assumption of a volume-filling network, leads to correct predictions for the evolution of vessel radii, vessel lengths and blood pressure in the human arterial system. The model can also be used to find exponents for allometric scaling, and gives good agreement with data on mammals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Young children, 3 to 6 years' old, were observed in two situations: (1) a traffic model, where they used dolls to enact the movements of two children on the way to and from day care; and (2) as they crossed a lightly trafficked, minor road in a situation analogous to that in the model. A total of 131 children participated. All were tested in the model situation (a), both on understanding of safety and safety devices and on road-crossing behaviour. The latter was seen as a task consisting of three components (i) using a zebra crossing, (ii) stopping at thecurb, and (iii) looking for cars. A subgroup of 47 children was tested on three character traits, activity, distraction, and impulsivity. Another subgroup of 45 children participated in the roadside situation (b). The results show that although both age and understanding were important predictors of appropriate behaviour in both traffic situations, the behaviour components were differentially related to these factors. Of the character traits, impulsivity was found to be reliably related to traffic behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developmental changes in the conceptualization of empathy were studied by testing and interviewing kindergartners, first graders, and fourth graders One part of the study showed that all age groups expect a child to empathize with liked peers more than with disliked peers Whereas kindergartners expect emotional reactions to be equally strong in response to both types of peers, older children predict weak and qualified empathic reactions to disliked peers Taken in conjunction with the children's explanations of their emotion choices, this result suggests age differences with regard to the integration of separate items of information A second part of the study showed that few kindergartners know how to control empathic arousal purely by means of thoughts Mentalistic strategies used by older children to maximize or minimize empathic arousal are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines how aspects of perspective taking in response to another's distress are related to prosocial behavior and dispositional affective empathy in late childhood. Assessment of perspective taking by analyzing spontaneous thoughts provoked by information about other people's painful experiences; Subjects; Reflective judgements about interpersonal interactions.

* Context.--Stand-alone clinical sites (eg, infusion centers) are becoming increasingly common. These sites require timely hematology analysis. Here we compare performance and costs of currently available analysis configurations with special focus on a proposed alternative using a minimal hematology analyzer plus a digital imaging device, allowing for remote oversight and interpretation. Objectives.--To determine whether low-volume laboratories might realize savings while gaining function by substituting commonly used configurations with a proposed alternative. Design.--To evaluate the performance of the proposed alternative configuration, blood counts with automated differentials produced by a Sysmex XE5000 (complete blood count reference method) were compared with cell counts from the Sysmex pocH-100i, CellaVision DM96 preclassified differentials, and DM96 reclassified differentials (differential reference method) by using standard regression analyses, 95% CIs, and truth tables. Financial cost modeling used staffing practices, test volumes, and smear production rates observed at remote clinics performing on-site hematology analysis within the University of California at San Diego Health system. Results.--Differential blood count parameters showed excellent correlation between the XE5000 and preclassification DM96 with R² > 0.95. For blasts/abnormal cells, immature granulocytes, and nucleated red blood cells, the DM96 showed higher sensitivity and similar specificity to the XE5000. Cost modeling revealed that decreased personnel costs through remote monitoring of results facilitated by the DM96 would lead to lower operational costs relative to more conventional analysis configurations. Conclusions.--A digital imaging instrument with an inexpensive hematology analyzer provides similar information to a complex hematology analyzer and allows remote review of the blood smear findings by experts, leading to significant cost savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

War-traumatized refugee adolescents are a vulnerable and understudied group. This study of two different groups of war-traumatized youth (N= 77) resettled in Sweden (newly arrived refugee adolescents,n= 42, 13–19 years, and settled students with childhood war experiences,n= 35, 11–18 years) evaluated their war experiences, refugee journey, general trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and dissociative experiences. Both groups had experienced many traumas and a substantial proportion reported levels consistent with posttraumatic stress (71% in the newly arrived group and 34% among the settled students) and dissociation (36% and 23%, respectively). The study also provides information about the type of adverse events experienced by war-refugee adolescents, including their own subjective appraisals of the worst events. The results show that the extent of trauma exposure and posttraumatic and dissociative symptomatology among refugee adolescents are considerable even after a period of resettlement, a finding that has educational, clinical, and social implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with unresolved/disorganized representations of childhood trauma (U/d attachment) report more psychological distress than others, but little is known about their everyday mentation. In the present study adults with childhood trauma (N = 45) completed the Berkeley-Leiden Adult Attachment Questionnaire-Unresolved (BLAAQ-U) and the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), and reported everyday mentation during 5 days of experience sampling. The BLAAQ-U and the AAI showed a medium association with each other, but only the former significantly predicted negative affect, dissociation, and low control/awareness of mentation. Contrary to our predictions, U/d attachment did not significantly predict mind wandering, but the BLAAQ-U predicted endorsements of a negative mind wandering style. U/d attachment, as assessed by both instruments, was associated with the Poor attentional control style and beliefs in anomalous mental phenomena. Experience sampling is a valuable way to investigate everyday experiences in individuals with U/d attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses a study related to the relation between dissociation, attachment and potentially traumatic events (PTEs) among Swedish adolescents; and highlights the results showing insecure attachment styles that predicted dissociative experiences (DE) independently of PTE exposure.

In this article we report on how 64 dentists working in a big city in southern Sweden view their profession. The dentists ranged in age from 30 to 70 years (as it was indicated in intervals of 10 years). Their professional experience ranged from 2 to 44 years (mean, 23 years). We collected their views on the ideal skills of a good dentist by means of a questionnaire. From this material we identified three categories: 1) interpersonal skills; 2) clinical skills; and 3) others, such as self-confidence, stress tolerance, and managerial and administrative skills. Next, they rated the relative importance of a number of listed attributes in dentistry in this order: contact with patients, communication skills, empathy, manual skills, and theory. Finally, they described a number of aspects of their profession. We conclude that the importance of interpersonal skills, as well as stress tolerance and administrative skills, is emphasized by experienced practitioners but that these skills are not focused on in the dental curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Quality assessment of blood cell morphological testing, such as white blood cell (WBC) differential and its interpretation, is one of the most important and difficult assignments in haematology laboratories. A monthly survey was performed to assess the possible role of the proficiency testing program produced by CellaVision competency software (CCS) in external quality assessment (EQA) of the clinical laboratories of affiliated university hospitals and the effective utilisation of this program in continuing professional development (CPD). Methods: Four monthly proficiency surveys were conducted in collaboration with four clinical laboratories affiliated with the teaching hospitals of Juntendo University of Medicine in Japan. Results: EQA results by the CCS proficiency testing program revealed a difference of performance levels of WBC differential and morphological interpretation and a discrepancy in the WBC differential criteria among laboratories. With regard to the utilisation of this proficiency program as a tool for CPD, this program successfully improved the performance of the low-scoring laboratories and less experienced individuals. Conclusions: The CCS proficiency testing program was useful for the quality assessment of laboratory performance, for education, and for the storage and distribution of cell images to be utilised for further standardisation and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Quality assessment of blood cell morphological testing, such as white blood cell (WBC) differential and its interpretation, is one of the most important and difficult assignments in haematology laboratories. A monthly survey was performed to assess the possible role of the proficiency testing program produced by CellaVision competency software (CCS) in external quality assessment (EQA) of the clinical laboratories of affiliated university hospitals and the effective utilisation of this program in continuing professional development (CPD). Methods Four monthly proficiency surveys were conducted in collaboration with four clinical laboratories affiliated with the teaching hospitals of Juntendo University of Medicine in Japan. Results EQA results by the CCS proficiency testing program revealed a difference of performance levels of WBC differential and morphological interpretation and a discrepancy in the WBC differential criteria among laboratories. With regard to the utilisation of this proficiency program as a tool for CPD, this program successfully improved the performance of the low-scoring laboratories and less experienced individuals. Conclusions The CCS proficiency testing program was useful for the quality assessment of laboratory performance, for education, and for the storage and distribution of cell images to be utilised for further standardisation and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is one tick-transmitted disease where the human incidence has increased in some European regions during the last two decades. We aim to find the most important factors causing the increasing incidence of human TBE in Sweden. Based on a review of published data we presume that certain temperature-related variables and the population densities of transmission hosts, i.e. small mammals, and of primary tick maintenance hosts, i.e. cervids and lagomorphs, of the TBE virus vector Ixodes ricinus, are among the potentially most important factors affecting the TBE incidence. Therefore, we compare hunting data of the major tick maintenance hosts and two of their important predators, and four climatic variables with the annual numbers of human cases of neuroinvasive TBE. Data for six Swedish regions where human TBE incidence is high or has recently increased are examined by a time-series analysis. Results from the six regions are combined using a meta-analytical method. Results: With a one-year time lag, the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), mountain hare (Lepus timidus) and European hare (Lepus europaeus) showed positive covariance; the Eurasian elk (moose, Alces alces) and fallow deer (Dama dama) negative covariance; whereas the wild boar (Sus scrofa), lynx (Lynx lynx), red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and the four climate parameters showed no significant covariance with TBE incidence. All game species combined showed positive covariance. Conclusions: The epidemiology of TBE varies with time and geography and depends on numerous factors, i.a. climate, virus genotypes, and densities of vectors, tick maintenance hosts and transmission hosts. This study suggests that the increased availability of deer to I. ricinus over large areas of potential tick habitats in southern Sweden increased the density and range of I. ricinus and created new TBEV foci, which resulted in increased incidence of human TBE. New foci may be established by TBE virus-infected birds, or by birds or migrating mammals infested with TBEV-infected ticks. Generally, persistence of TBE virus foci appears to require presence of transmission-competent small mammals, especially mice (Apodemus spp.) or bank voles (Myodes glareolus). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]