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Mental health education is a central part of school nurses' practice. Mental health literacy is an asset for health that educational initiatives can strengthen, and a significant determinant of mental health. This study was intended to examine the relationship between positive mental health literacy (PMeHL) and mental well-being to discuss its implications for school health services' mental health education. The relationship was assessed using a multiple linear regression model controlling for relevant covariates. Data were derived from a cross-sectional school-based survey including 1,888 adolescents aged 15-21 years (response rate 97.3%). A weak gender difference was found in PMeHL. The regression model accounted for 41% of the variance in adolescents' mental well-being; PMeHL was a significant explanatory variable of mental well-being. Accordingly, the current study found support for including PMeHL, or knowledge of how to obtain and maintain good mental health, as an integral component of school health services' mental health education among adolescents.

The present paper investigates possible gender and age differences on emotional states (state depression and state anxiety) and sense of coherence (SOC) as well as the association between SOC and emotional states. The cross-sectional sectional sample consists of 1209 adolescents 13-18 years from public elementary and secondary schools in Mid-Norway. The results showed that girls reported higher scores on state anxiety and state depression, whereas boys consistently scored higher on SOC in all age groups. SOC was inversely associated with both state depression and state anxiety. An interaction effect of gender by SOC was found on both state depression and state anxiety, where the association was stronger for girls than for boys. Conclusions: The associations found give support for the implications of salutogenic factors in relation to emotional health in adolescents. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

The aim of this study was twofold. The first intention was to examine the factorial validity of a work/family interaction in terms of the direction of influence (work-to-family vs. family-to-work) and type of effect (conflict vs. facilitation). Second, gender differences along these four dimensions of work/family interaction were explored. Data were obtained from eight different occupational groups in Norway: lawyers, physicians, nurses, teachers, church ministers, bus drivers, and people working in advertising and information technology (IT; N = 3,313). Multigroup analysis indicated that the hypothesized four-factor model clearly has a better fit than the alternative one-factor and two-factor models. Latent mean comparisons revealed significant gender differences along all the dimensions. Women reported more conflict and facilitation in both directions compared to men. Although there were some occupational differences, this was indicative of a more fluid boundary between work and family among women. The findings are discussed in an identity perspective. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

Background: The present paper reviews staff stress, burnout and job satisfaction. Methods: A longitudinal, quasi experimental study was carried out among staff working with people with intellectual disabilities in two municipalities in Norway. The purpose was to measure mean differences of stress, burnout and job satisfaction after different intervention approaches were applied to staff in one of the municipalities. Staff in the other municipality acted as a control group. Results: Using the pretest score as the covariate, by analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), the experimental group showed a significant (P less than 0.05) reduction in stress and exhaustion, and a strong significant rise in job satisfaction after intervention. Conclusions: This was a sufficiently promising result to encourage further research, not only to promote the individual worker's health and well being, but also to ensure the health and well being of those for whom services are provided.