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AIMS - To investigate the lifetime prevalence and moderators of non-medical AAS use in the five Nordic countries. METHODS - We conducted a meta-analysis and meta-regression using studies gathered from searches in PsycINFO, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar, and reference checks. Included were 32 studies that provided original data on 48 lifetime prevalence rates based on a total of 233,475 inhabitants of the Nordic countries. RESULTS - The overall lifetime prevalence obtained was 2.1% [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.3-3.4, I 2 = 99.5, P < 0.001]. The prevalence for males, 2.9% (95% CI: 1.7-4.8, I 2 = 99.2, P < 0.001), was significantly higher (Qbet = 40.5, P < 0.001) than the rate for females, 0.2% (95% CI: 0.1-0.4, I 2 = 90.5, P < 0.001). Sweden has the highest prevalence of AAS use: 4.4%, followed by Norway: 2.4%, Finland: 0.8%, Iceland: 0.7%, and Denmark: 0.5%. Country, sample type, and male sample percentage significantly predicted AAS use prevalence in a meta-regression analysis. No indication of publication bias was found. CONCLUSION - Though subject to some limitations, our fndings suggest that non-medical AAS use should be regarded as a serious public health problem in the Nordic countries.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of "behaviorally induced insufficient sleep syndrome (BIISS)" which is a newly defined hypersomnia, among adolescents. BIISS is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, short habitual sleep duration and sleeping considerably longer than usual during weekend/vacations. The study was conducted in the Hordaland County, Norway using a cluster sampling procedure. In all, 1285 high school students (aged 16-19 years) participated by completing self-report questionnaires on a computer. The estimated prevalence of BIISS was 10.4%. The results from logistic regression analyses showed that use of alcohol and living in an urban area were positively related to BIISS, whereas a high level of education in mothers was negatively related to BIISS. BIISS was associated with poor grades and symptoms of anxiety and depression. (Contains 2 tables.)

This study compared behavioral expressions of momentary well-being and sociable behavior toward significant others during music therapy and regular social interaction. A 10-week active music therapy intervention was provided for people living with dementia and family caregivers. A bi-phasic AB single-case design was replicated for three sessions per dyad and coded using the Observable Well-being in Living with Dementia-Scale (OWLS) and the Verbal and Nonverbal Sociable Interaction Scale-Care Receiver (VNVIS-CR). Effect sizes (Log Response Ratio) were calculated for each session and analyzed with robust cluster meta-analysis. Eleven dyads were included, and 32 sessions analyzed (2102 observations). Within sessions we found a 48% increase in well-being, and a 32% increase in sociable interaction during music therapy. Heterogeneity was high. Dementia severity predicted an increase in nonverbal sociable interaction (93% for moderate dementia). Depression and time did not predict any change. The potential of music therapy to increase well-being and sociable interactions toward significant others calls for further investigation of heterogeneity and covariates. Single-case designs are demonstrated to be feasible for these investigations. Preference-based music therapy may alleviate some of the individual and relational consequences of living with dementia, facilitating positive emotions and connection to significant others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Assessing late-life anxiety using an instrument with sound psychometric properties including cross-cultural invariance is essential for cross-national aging research and clinical assessment. To date, no cross-national research studies have examined the psychometric properties of the frequently used Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) in depth. Method Using data from 3,731 older adults from 10 national samples (Australia, Brazil, Canada, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, Thailand, and United States), this study used bifactor modeling to analyze the dimensionality of the GAI. We evaluated the "fitness" of individual items based on the explained common variance for each item across all nations. In addition, a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was applied, testing for measurement invariance across the samples. Results Across samples, the presence of a strong G factor provides support that a general factor is of primary importance, rather than subfactors. That is, the data support a primarily unidimensional representation of the GAI, still acknowledging the presence of multidimensional factors. A GAI score in one of the countries would be directly comparable to a GAI score in any of the other countries tested, perhaps with the exception of Singapore. Discussion Although several items demonstrated relatively weak common variance with the general factor, the unidimensional structure remained strong even with these items retained. Thus, it is recommended that the GAI be administered using all items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]