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Lágmörkun á streitu laxfiska við meðhöndlun í eldi getur skipt sköpum í að tryggja velferð, vöxt og viðgang fiskanna, sem og gæði og geymsluþol loka afurða. Streita við meðhöndlun, t.d. gegn lús, getur dregið úr viðnámsþrótti fiska gegn sýkingum og kulda ásamt því að draga úr vexti; því það getur tekið laxinn nokkurn tíma að jafna sig og byrja að taka fóður aftur. Ef dæling á fiski til slátrunar veldur mikilli streitu sem getur haft áhrif á gæði afurða. Einnig er mikilvægt að mæta kröfum um dýravelferð við fiskeldi samhliða auknum þrýstingi frá neytendum. Vitað er að vakúmdælur, sem eru mest notaðar í fiskeldi í dag, valda töluverðri streitu, afföllum og lakari gæðum, enda gengur mikið á við dælingu þar sem loftrými með fiski er lofttæmt og síðan skotið áfram til að dæla fiskinum. Því hafa framleiðendur dælubúnaða verið að leita nýrra leiða við dælingu laxfiska og hefur íslenska fyrirtækið Skaginn 3X verið að þróa svokallaða spíraldælu (Archimedesar dælu) sem lausn á þessu vandamáli. Dælan hefur hlotið nafnið ValuePump. Í þessu verkefni var smíðuð frumgerð af dælunni og svo voru gerðar samanburðartilaunir á henni og hefðbundinni vakúmdælu, þar sem streita í fiski við dælingu var mæld með hjartsláttarnemum, ásamt mælingum á myndun streituhormóna í blóði. Í þessu verkefni var smíðuð frumgerð af dælunni og svo voru gerðar samanburðartilaunir á henni og hefðbundinni vakúmdælu, þar sem streita í fiski við dælingu var mæld með hjartsláttarnemum, ásamt mælingum á myndun streituhormóna í blóði. Niðurstöðurnar sýndu marktækan mun á milli hópa í kjölfar dælingar. Hjartsláttur hækkaði mikið við dælingu en ValuePump hópurinn var fljótari að jafna sig og ná aftur grunngildi. Dæling með vakúmdælu hafði mun meiri langvarandi streituáhrif en tilraun með hámarksáreiti þar sem fiskurinn spriklaði á þurru. Mikill sjónrænn munur var einnig á hópunum eftir dælutegundum, þar sem fiskar sem dælt var með vakúmdælu komu oft slasaðir eða jafnvel dauðir úr dælunni, syntu á hlið eða á hvolfi klukkutímum eftir dælingu. Fiskur sem dælt var með ValuePump varð hins vegar ekki fyrir neinu sjáanlegu hnjaski við dælinguna og virtist vel á sig komin að henni lokinni. Niðurstöður samanburðartilraunanna verða að teljast mjög jákvæðar, en þó er þörf á frekari rannsóknum til að skera endanlega úr um kosti ValuePump umfram hefðbundnar vakúmdælur. Ljóst virðist á niðurstöðum verkefnisins að lax sem dælt er með ValuePump sé fljótari að ná sér eftir dæling og þá byrja aftur að taka fóður. Niðurstöður hvað varðar dælingu til slátrunar eru ekki eins augljósar og þarfnast frekari rannsókna, þá sér í lagi þar sem rannsaka þarf fisk sem kominn er í sláturstærð við raunaðstæður. _____ Minimizing the stress of salmonids during handling and before slaughtering can be extremely important for welfare, survival and growth, as well as to ensure overall quality and shelf-life of the final products. Stress during treatment, e.g., against lice, can reduce the resistance of fish to infections and cold seawater as well as reduce growth which may take the salmon some time to recover from stress and start feeding again. If the pumping of fish for slaughter causes a lot of stress, it can affect the quality of the products. Animal welfare is also becoming more important in aquaculture with increased welfare demands from the consumers. It is known that vacuum pumps, that are most commonly used in the aquaculture industry today, cause considerable stress, loss and poor quality, as pumping causes a lot of discomfort for the fish. Companies have therefore been searching for an alternative to vacuum pumping for some time. The Icelandic company Skaginn 3X has for some time been developing a so-called Archimedes pump to replace vacuum pumps. In this project, a prototype of the Archimedes pump (called ValuePump) was made, and then compared to a conventional vacuum pump. The pumping stress of fish was measured by cardiac sensors along with the measurement of a stress hormone Over a 4-week period, 100 salmons (1 kg average weight) were pumped once weekly with either pump, including 20 salmons implanted with heart rate loggers from Star-Oddi. Experiments were carried out in the facilities of the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute in Reykjanes under supervision of specialists in aquaculture and the use of cardiac sensors. The results showed a significant difference in heart rate recovery between the two groups. There was a large increase in heart rate immediately after pumping but the ValuePump group recovered more quickly to pre-pumping levels. Pumping with the vacuum pump caused a larger and longer stress effect then an applied max stress chase protocol. There was also a considerable visible difference between the two groups, where the vacuum pump fish were injured or even dead after pumping, swimming on the side or upside down for hours after pumping. The ValuePump fish, however, received no visible physical damage from the pumping and seemed fit. The results of the comparative studies indicate very positive results, but further studies are however needed to validate the results. It is apparent that salmon pumped with ValuePump is faster to recover than when pumped with vacume pumps and is as results faster to start feeding again after handling. Results regarding pumping of fish for slaughtering are not as comprehensive and need to be studied further, particularly by analysing fish that has reached slaughter size and preferably in real industry setting., Styrktaraðilar/Funding: Matvælasjóður (ANR 20090620/1210)

Because of the mechanical stress importance in the dynamic mechanisms, a Stewart platform is subjected to analysis to extract its critical stress areas in this study. The Stewart platform is an effective mechanism because it has been employed as a stabilizer or motion simulator. When this mechanism is subjected to static and dynamic forces in various applications, its components are at risk of failure in critical stress areas. This issue can be considered when designing, and parts failure can be prevented by knowing the essential points and stress values. This study is modeled the Stewart platform with specific dimensions and mechanical properties in Ansys Inc. and subjected it to static and Modal analysis with a numerical approach. The results present effective parameters that could be used in the mechanical design for this category of this platform.

Sérrit 2018: Menntakvika 2018, Markmið rannsóknarinnar var að skoða líðan leik- og grunnskólakennara í lok vinnudags og starfsaðstæður þeirra til að komast að því hvaða þættir í starfsumhverfi þeirra ýmist skapa eða draga úr góðri líðan á vinnustað. Settar voru fram fjórar rannsóknarspurningar: (1) Hvernig leið leik- og grunnskólakennurum í lok vinnudags síðastliðna þrjá mánuði? (2) Líður leik- og grunnskólakennurum betur eða verr í lok vinnudags en öðru starfsfólki sveitarfélaga? (3) Hvaða tengsl eru milli starfsaðstæðna leik- og grunnskólakennara og þess að vera stressaðir í lok vinnudags? (4) Hvaða tengsl eru milli starfsaðstæðna leik- og grunnskólakennara og þess að vera úrvinda í lok vinnudags? Rannsóknin er byggð á rafrænni spurningalistakönnun sem lögð var fyrir allt starfsfólk sveitarfélags á haustdögum 2016, eða 1566 manns. Svarhlutfallið var 70,2%. Leik- og grunnskólakennarar voru 45,2% svarenda í rannsókninni. Niðurstöðurnar sýna að 35,4% leik- og grunnskólakennara fannst þeir hafa verið mjög oft eða frekar oft stressaðir í lok vinnudags síðastliðna þrjá mánuði og 49,7% fannst þeir hafa verið mjög eða frekar oft úrvinda í lok vinnudags síðastliðna þrjá mánuði. Sjá mátti að leik- og grunnskólakennarar voru í mun meira mæli en annað starfsfólk sveitarfélaga stressaðir og úrvinda í lok vinnudags (p < 0,001). Fram komu ýmist meðalsterk eða veik tengsl milli staðhæfinganna um starfsaðstæður og þess að vera stressaður og úrvinda í lok dags. Það þýðir að líðan þeirra leik- og grunnskólakennara sem upplifðu starfsaðstæður góðar var betri í lok vinnudags en þeirra sem upplifðu starfsaðstæður síðri. Sterkust voru tengslin milli þess að vera stressaður og úrvinda í lok vinnudags og að upplifa ójafnvægi milli vinnu og einkalífs, óánægju með stjórnun vinnustaðarins og almenna óánægju í starfinu. Niðurstöðurnar sýna mikilvægi þess að huga vel að streituvaldandi þáttum í starfsumhverfi leik- og grunnskólakennara og styrkja heilsuverndandi þætti í starfsumhverfinu, kennurum og nemendum til heilla.

Aims: This research was designed to explore the extent to which the use of alcohol or drugs by one member of a family affects the psychosocial state of other family members. The study asks whether family members of substance abusers are more likely to report increased depression, anxiety and stress then the general population in Iceland? Are there significant differences between family members; e.g., spouses, parents, adult children and siblings by gender, age, education and income? Data and methods: The instrument used for this purpose is the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), which is designed to measure those three related mental states. It was administered to 143 participants (111 women and 32 men) with ages ranging from 19–70 years on the first day of a four-week group therapy programme for relatives of substance use disorder (SUD) at The Icelandic National Centre for Addiction Treatment (SÁÁ) from August 2015 to April 2016. Thirty participants are adult children of a parent with SUD, 47 are a spouse, 56 are parents of a child with SUD and 10 are siblings. The subscales of the DASS for depression, anxiety, and stress were utilised to examine which family member – parent, child, partner, or sibling – presented the behaviour associated with SUD. Results: 36% or more of the respondents in all three subscales had average, serious, or very serious depression, anxiety, and/or stress. This is higher than in DASS studies of the general population in Iceland. However, the analysis indicates that it made little difference to the family’s wellbeing which family member was affected by SUD., The University of Iceland Research fund

Background: Middle managers have not received enough attention within the healthcare field, and little is known how stressful factors in their work environment coupled with a lack of adequate sleep are related to musculoskeletal pain. The aim of this study was to examine the correlation between stressful factors in the work environment, lack of adequate sleep, and pain/discomfort in three body areas. Methods: Questionnaire was sent electronically to all female nursing unit managers (NUM) in Iceland through the outcome-survey system. The response rate was 80.9%. Results: NUM who had high pain/discomfort in the neck area also had very high pain/discomfort in the shoulder area and pain in the lower back. The results also revealed positive a medium-strong correlation between mental and physical exhaustion at the end of the workday and musculoskeletal pain. Stress in daily work, mental strain at work, and being under time-pressures had hardly any correlation with pain/discomfort in the three body parts. Adequate sleep had a significant negative correlation with all stressful factors in the work environment and all three body parts under review. Conclusion: The results will hopefully lead to a better consideration of stressful factors in the work environment, sleep, and musculoskeletal pain in middle managers., Funding: This study was funded partly by The Icelandic Nurses’ Association—Science Fund.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein), Objective To assess the association between stress related disorders and subsequent risk of cardiovascular disease. Design Population based, sibling controlled cohort study. Setting Population of Sweden. Participants 136 637 patients in the Swedish National Patient Register with stress related disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), acute stress reaction, adjustment disorder, and other stress reactions, from 1987 to 2013; 171 314 unaffected full siblings of these patients; and 1 366 370 matched unexposed people from the general population. Main outcome measures Primary diagnosis of incident cardiovascular disease-any or specific subtypes (ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, emboli/thrombosis, hypertensive diseases, heart failure, arrhythmia/conduction disorder, and fatal cardiovascular disease)-and 16 individual diagnoses of cardiovascular disease. Hazard ratios for cardiovascular disease were derived from Cox models, after controlling for multiple confounders. Results During up to 27 years of follow-up, the crude incidence rate of any cardiovascular disease was 10.5, 8.4, and 6.9 per 1000 person years among exposed patients, their unaffected full siblings, and the matched unexposed individuals, respectively. In sibling based comparisons, the hazard ratio for any cardiovascular disease was 1.64 (95% confidence interval 1.45 to 1.84), with the highest subtype specific hazard ratio observed for heart failure (6.95, 1.88 to 25.68), during the first year after the diagnosis of any stress related disorder. Beyond one year, the hazard ratios became lower (overall 1.29, 1.24 to 1.34), ranging from 1.12 (1.04 to 1.21) for arrhythmia to 2.02 (1.45 to 2.82) for artery thrombosis/embolus. Stress related disorders were more strongly associated with early onset cardiovascular diseases (hazard ratio 1.40 (1.32 to 1.49) for attained age, The study was supported by Grant of Excellence, Icelandic Research Fund (grant No 163362-051 to UAV), and ERC Consolidator Grant (StressGene, grant No 726413 to UAV); by the Karolinska Institutet (Senior Researcher Award and Strategic Research Area in Epidemiology to FF); and by the Swedish Research Council through the Swedish Initiative for Research on Microdata in the Social And Medical Sciences (SIMSAM) framework (grant No 340-2013-5867 to CA).

Aim: The aim of this thesis was to achieve a deeper understanding of the situation among women experiencing perinatal distress during pregnancy and childbirth and the effects that dissatisfaction in partner relationship and weak social support from family and friends could have on pregnancy and childbirth. Methods: Following screening for perinatal distress, 562 expecting mothers came for a semi-structured interview. This screening, done with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, categorized 360 (64.1%) women into the perinatal distressed group (PDG) and 202 (35.9%) into the non-distressed group (NDG). During the interview women answered the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Data were collected with these instruments for study I. Additional data for the three other studies were gathered from the women´s pregnancy records (II), electronic medical records (II, III), and childbirth records (IV). Results of the four studies were obtained by using descriptive statistics; parametric and nonparametric statistics and regression modeling. Results: Women in the PDG were significantly more likely than the NDG to be dissatisfied in their partner relationship, continue smoking during pregnancy, be dissatisfied with division of household tasks and child-rearing, have elementary or lower education, and to be students or unemployed. They were also significantly more likely to experience fatigue, vomiting and pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy. Women in the PDG who received weak family support reported nausea and heartburn more frequently than those with strong family support. Women in the PDG utilized more antenatal care service and were allocated more part time as well as earlier sick leaves during pregnancy, than those in the NDG. Women in the PDG were significantly more likely to use epidural anesthesia as a single pain management during labor. Conclusion: Perinatal distress affects pregnancy and childbirth. It is more common among women who are dissatisfied in their partner relationship and with the division of household tasks and child-rearing. Perception of weak social support also affects pregnancy among distressed women. Distressed women along with their partners and families should be offered support and consultation to relieve distress and strengthen their bonds during pregnancy and childbirth.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein), Háskólar þurfa að bregðast við aukinni fjölbreytni í hópi nemenda með því að mæta ólíkum þörfum þeirra. Í greininni eru kynntar niðurstöður rannsóknar á upplifun og reynslu nemenda sem stunda nám við Félagsvísindasvið Háskóla Íslands. Markmið rannsóknarinnar var að varpa ljósi á reynslu nemenda sem glíma við námsvanda. Leitað var svara við eftirfarandi rannsóknarspurningu: Hvað styður og hvað hindrar nemendur í HÍ sem glíma við námsvanda í að takast á við nám sitt? Tekin voru þrjú einstaklingsviðtöl og rýnihópsviðtal við sex nemendur í BA-námi við félagsráðgjafardeild. Niðurstöður sýna að viðmælendur voru ánægðir með ýmsa þætti í skipulagi námsins og fannst skilningur kennara á stöðu þeirra vera góður en töldu þó að í kennsluháttum væru ýmsar hindranir sem gerðu þeim erfitt fyrir. Þær hindranir felist meðal annars í erfiðleikum við aðlögun að háskólasamfélaginu, álagi í námi sem veldur streitu og kvíða og því að of lítið tillit sé tekið til námsvanda þeirra. Slík innsýn í viðhorf nemenda sem glíma við námsvanda getur gagnast kennurum við að taka tillit til fjölbreytileikans í nemendahópnum og stuðlað þannig að bættri sálfélagslegri líðan nemenda, sem aftur hjálpar þeim við námið. Auk þess sýna niðurstöður að aukin áhersla á kennslu í fræðilegum vinnubrögðum ásamt virkri endurgjöf í námi getur hjálpað nemendum með námsvanda.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein), Purpose: Postpartum psychosis is a rare but severe complication following childbirth, with unknown etiology. This study investigated whether the death of a close family member — a source of severe stress — the year before or during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of psychotic illness in the postpartum period among women without and with a history of psychiatric disorder. Methods: We studied live births in Denmark during 1978-2008 and births in Sweden during 1973-2006 (n=5,246,978). Information on death of women’s relatives and partners and sociodemographic, health-, and pregnancy-related factors was obtained through linkage with nationwide registries. Results: The death of a close relative the year before or during pregnancy was not associated with psychotic illness during the first 90 days postpartum among women without (adjusted HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.76-1.37) or with a history of psychiatric disorder (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.74-1.25). Similarly, there was no association between bereavement and risk of postpartum psychosis according to the timing of the loss (the year before or during pregnancy), the relative’s cause of death (natural or unnatural), or the woman’s relationship to the deceased (parent/sibling or partner/older child). Conclusions: Death of a close relative, one of the most severe sources of stress, before or during pregnancy was not associated with postpartum psychosis. Therefore, these data do not support the hypothesis that severely stressful life events, such as bereavement around the time of pregnancy, are associated with postpartum psychosis. © 2019 Warselius et al., This work was supported by the Swedish Society of Medicine (grant SLS588081 to KDL), Karolinska Institutet Research Foundation (grant 2016fobi50733 to KDL), Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (grant 2015-00837 to KDL), Danish Council for Independent Research (grant DFF-6110-00019 to JL), Karen Elise Jensens Fond (grant 2016 to JL), Nordic Cancer Union (grants 176673, 186200, and R217-A13234-18-S65 to JL), Novo Nordisk Fonden (grant NNF18OC0052029 to JL), TrygFonden (grants 904414 and 15199 to CO), and the Lundbeck Foundation (grant R155-2012-11280 to MV). The funders were not involved in the design of the study, analyses, interpretation of the results, writing of the manuscript, or decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Töflur eru aftast í skjalinu, The literature on sexual minority adolescents and young adults has highlighted a poor mental status among those groups compared to their heterosexual peers. Sexual minorities are also more likely to experience stress factors such as bullying and physical violence. However, sexual minority young adults have not been studied much in Iceland, a Nordic country renowned for a high degree of sexual equality. Given what the literature has shown to date, a noteworthy question is whether patterns of mental well-being of sexual minority adolescents and young adults in Iceland are comparable to other countries. The aim of the present study was to provide an assessment of mental well-being in sexual minority young adults in Iceland. We used population data to examine a selection of mental well-being indicators in 16–20 year-olds, both-sex-attracted and same-sex-attracted participants, and compared them to other-sex-attracted peers. Findings indicated that sexual minority young adults exhibited significantly greater levels of depressed mood, anger, and perceived stress than other-sex-attracted young adults. However, when stratified by gender and sexual attraction pattern, the analyses revealed that both-sex-attracted young women scored significantly higher on all indicators than any other group. We conclude that studies in this area should strive to distinguish between same-sex and both-sex attraction as well as to stratify analyses by gender. The well-being of both-sex-attracted young women is a compelling topic for future research.

Thesis for the Degree of Philosophiae Doctor, Bakgrunnur: Þegar sami einstaklingur þjáist af tveimur eða fleirum langvinnum sjúkdómum er það kallað fjölveikindi (e.multimorbidity). Á undanförnum árum hefur rannsóknum á fjölveikindum fleygt fram og algengi þeirra verið metið svo mikið að fjölveikindi hafa verið nefnd ein stærsta áskorun læknisfræðinnar á 21.öldinni. Sýnt hefur verið fram á að fjölveikir einstaklingar krefjast annarrar og flóknari nálgunar við læknisfræðilega meðhöndlun og meðferð og þurfa oftar að þyggja þjónustu á öllum stigum heilbrigðiskerfisins. Samt sem áður er lítið vitað um mögulega orsakaþætti fjölveikinda, sérstaklega hjá yngra fólki. Í reynsluheimi heimilislækna er það vel þekkt að flókinni sjúkdómsmynd fylgir oft flókin og erfið reynslusaga einstaklings. Rannsóknir hafa í vaxandi mæli sýnt fram á að langvinn uppsöfnuð streita eða streita yfir þeim mörkum sem einstaklingurinn þolir, veldur vanstillingu á öllum helstu líffræðilegu stjórnkerfum líkamans. Sú vanstilling hefur verið kölluð allostatískt ofálag (e. allostatic overload) og getur með tímanum leitt til sjúkdómsástands. Það mætti því mögulega segja að allostatískt ofálag sé líkamleg birtingarmynd erfiðrar lífsreynslu eða tilvistarkreppu einstaklings og þannig möguleg undirliggjandi orsök flókinnar sjúkdómsþróunar eða fjölveikinda. Markmið: Megin markmið þessa doktorsverkefnis var að meta algengi og mynstur fjölveikinda hjá almennu norsku þýði og skoða möguleg tengsl milli fjölveikinda og erfiðra aðstæðna, bæði í barnæsku og á fullorðinsárum, með hliðsjón af hugmyndafræði allostatísks ofálags. Efni og aðferðir: Notaðar voru upplýsingar úr Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), fasa 2 (1995-97) og fasa 3 (2006-8). Samtals tóku 47 959 einstaklingar 20-79 ára þátt í HUNT3 og 73% þeirra tóku einnig þátt í HUNT2 ellefu árum áður. Til mats á fjölveikindum var skoðaður 21 langvinnur sjúkdómur út frá spurningalista. Allostatískt álag var metið út frá 12 líffræði-og lífeðlisfræðilegum þáttum sem mældir voru hjá þátttakendum. Upplifun á æsku var metin með stakri spurningu en ellefu þættir voru skoðaðir til mats á upplifðum tilvistarvanda á fullorðinsárum. Hugtakið tilvistarvandi (e. existential unease) var notað til að lýsa skorti sjálfsáliti, vellíðan, upplifðum eigin tilgangi og félagslegri tegningu. Niðurstöður: Næstum helmingur þátttakenda reyndist fjölveikur. Sterk tengsl voru milli líkamlegra og andlegra veikinda en annars voru mynstur sjúkdómanna mjög ólík. Rétt rúmlega 4% einstaklinga lýstu erfiðri eða mjög erfiðri æsku. Tengslin milli upplifunar á æsku og fjölveikinda á fullorðinsárum voru sterk og jókst algengi fjölveikinda samfara erfiðari upplifun á æsku. Þegar einstakir sjúkdómar voru skoðaðir sáust þessi sömu tengsl í tilviki 19 sjúkdóma af 21. Svipað samband fannst milli tilvistarvanda á fullorðinsárum og þróunar fjölveikinda. Það voru marktæk tengsl milli flestra þátta tilvistarvandans og þróunar fjölveikinda, með auknu algengi fjölveikinda eftir því sem tilvistravandi varð fjölþættari. Þegar þættir til mats á allostatísku álagi voru skoðaðir með hliðsjón af erfiðri æsku reyndust þeir sem uppliðu mjög erfiða æsku að meðaltali vera lægri, með stærra mitti og hærri líkamsþyngdarstuðul, hraðari hvíldarhjartslátt og lægri blóðþrýsting en þeir sem upplifðu mjög góða æsku. Ályktanir: Niðurstöðurnar benda til tengsla milli erfiðra aðstæðna, bæði í barnæsku og á fullorðinsárum, og fjölveikinda seinna á ævinni. Tengslin verða sterkari við aukna erfiðleika, hvort sem það er erfiðari upplifun á barnæsku eða fjölþættari tilvistarvandi á fullorðinsárum. Með hliðsjón af mynstrinu sem sást varðandi allostatíska þætti styrkir þetta upphaflegu kenningu okkar. Þannig mætti leiða að því líkum að erfiðar aðstæður skrifist í líkamann með því að valda vanstillingu líffræðilegra stjórnkerfa sem svo leiða til þróunar flókinna sjúkdómsmynstra svo sem fjölveikinda.

Millistjórnendur eru í krefjandi hlutverki og upplifa sig oft eins og milli steins og sleggju. Þeir gegna þungavigtarhlutverki en störf þeirra einkennast af miklu vinnuálagi og streitu. Þó hafa þeir fengið fremur litla athygli í stjórnendafræðum, einkum innan heilbrigðisþjónustunnar. Við vitum til dæmis lítið um áhrif þessa krefjandi starfs á heilsu þeirra, til dæmis hvort streituvaldandi þættir í starfsumhverfinu tengjast stoðkerfisverkjum og svefni. Tilgangur þessarar rannsóknar var að skoða þessi tengsl. Um er að ræða lýsandi þversniðsrannsókn þar sem gögnum var safnað með forprófuðum spurningalista sem sendur var rafrænt á 137 hjúkrunardeildarstjóra í gegnum Outcome-kannanakerfið. Svarhlutfall var 80,9%. Lýsandi tölfræði og ályktunartölfræði var notuð við úrvinnslu gagna. Niðurstöður sýndu skýr tengsl streituvaldandi þátta í starfsumhverfi, stoðkerfisverkja og ófullnægjandi svefns eftir að stjórnað var fyrir áhrifum af aldri, hjúskaparstöðu og fjölda stöðugilda í hjúkrun á deild. Streituvaldandi þættir í starfsumhverfinu og svefn höfðu tengsl við styrkleika stoðkerfisverkja á hálssvæði og herðum og svefn hafði tengsl við styrkleika verkja í neðri hluta baks. Meiri streita þýddi meiri stoðkerfisverki á hálssvæði og í herðum að teknu tilliti til svefns. Ófullnægjandi svefn þýddi aftur meiri stoðkerfisverki frá öllum þremur líkamssvæðunum að teknu tilliti til streituvaldandi þátta. Saman skýrðu streituvaldandi þættir í starfsumhverfinu og ófullnægjandi svefn, að teknu tilliti til aldurs, hjúskaparstöðu og fjölda stöðugilda við hjúkrun á deild, 17% af heildarbreytileika í styrkleika stoðkerfisverkja á hálssvæði, 21% í herðum og 14% í neðri hluta baks. Fram kom marktæk samvirkni milli streituvaldandi þátta í starfsumhverfinu og svefns varðandi styrkleika stoðkerfisverkja á hálssvæði. Niðurstöður þessarar rannsóknar verða vonandi til þess að hugað verði betur að streituvaldandi þáttum í starfsumhverfi millistjórnenda svefni og stoðkerfisverkjum þeirra., Middle managers have demanding roles and often experience themselves between a rock and a hard place, and their jobs are characterized by a heavy workload and stress. They have not received adequate attention in management science, in particular within healthcare. We know, for example, little about how stressful factors in the work environment are related to musculoskeletal pain and sleep. The purpose of this study was to examine this relationship. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study in which data was collected by a questionnaire which was sent electronically to 137 nursing managers through the Outcome-survey system. The response rate was 80.9%. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for statistical analysis. The results showed a clear link between stressful factors in the work environment and insufficient sleep, after controlling for the effects of age, marital status and the number of staff in the nursing unit. Stressful factors in the work environment and sleep affected the intensity of pain in the neck and shoulder area, and sleep correlated with the intensity of pain in the lower back. Taking sleep into account, more stress meant more pain in the neck and shoulder area. Taking into account stressful factors, insufficient sleep meant more pain in all three body regions. Together, stressful factors in the work environment and insufficient sleep explained 17% of the total variation in the intensity of pain in the neck area, 21% in the shoulder area, and 14% in the lower back, taking into account age, marital status and the number of staff in the nursing unit. There was a statistically significant interaction between stressful factors in the work environment and sleep regarding the intensity of musculoskeletal pain in the neck area. The results of this study will hopefully lead to better consideration of stressful factors in the work environment, sleep and musculoskeletal pain of middle managers., Ritrýnt tímarit

This article integrates the employment strain model with the social stress model in order to reveal the mechanisms that explain the relation between precarious employment and mental well-being. This model is applied to the case of temporary agency employment by analysing 41 in-depth interviews with temporary agency workers from Canada. The results show how temporary agency workers perceive employment-related uncertainties and efforts mainly as negative and to a lesser extent as positive experiences, respectively evoking strain or activation. Further, it is revealed how uncertainties and efforts mutually reinforce each other, which increases strain, and how support can serve as a buffer., This work is supported by a research grant [FWO1.1.B13.12N] and a travel grant [V4.018.14N] assigned to the first author by the Research Foundation Flanders. The data collection is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and by funds made available by McMaster University and United Way Toronto.

Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have been reported as experiencing higher levels of stress and poorer physical health than parents of typically developing children. However, most of the relevant literature has been based on parental self-reports of stress and health. While research on physiological outcomes has grown in recent years, gaps still exist in our understanding of the physiological effects, if any, of stress related to parenting a child with ASD. The present study compared parent-reported stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as selected physiological measures of stress (i.e., cortisol, alpha-amylase, and ambulatory blood pressure and heart rate) between matched groups of parents of children with (N = 38) and without (N = 38) ASD. Participants completed questionnaires, collected saliva samples for the purpose of measuring cortisol and alpha-amylase, and wore an ambulatory blood pressure monitor for 24 h. Parents of children with ASD reported significantly higher levels of parental distress, anxiety, and depression than parents of typically developing children. Parent-reported distress, anxiety, depression, and health were not correlated with physiological measures. With the exception that parents of children with ASD had significantly lower cortisol levels 30 min after waking, no other significant group differences were found for physiological measures. Parents of children with ASD reported significantly higher use of a number of adaptive coping strategies (e.g., emotional support) in comparison to parents of typically developing children. Results are discussed in the context of implications for future research directions, stress research, and practical implications for parental support., University of Kent