Kari Trost

Psst, have you ever cheated? A study of academic dishonesty in Sweden

It has been reported that academic dishonesty is a prevalent problem that crosses all disciplines at the university level. But, how prevalent is it in Sweden? Little is published in the literature about lying, cheating, and plagiarism amongst Swedish university students. This paper focuses on the frequency of past specific academically dishonest behaviours amongst Swedish University students with consideration to social desirability. The results indicate that although there are variations in frequency of dishonest behaviours amongst university students, some dishonest behaviours are more common than others. Future perspectives are discussed.

Relationships between social anxiety, depressive symptoms, and antisocial behaviors : Evidence from a prospective study of adolescent boys

Little is understood about generalized and non-generalized social anxiety disorder (SAD) and their associations with co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence. In the present study, we investigated adolescent boys with SAD symptoms and considered depressive symptoms as well as antisocial behaviors when looking for patterns during two developmental time periods; junior high and high school. Participants in the analyses were part of a longitudinal study. No patterns were found linking antisocial problems and non-generalized SAD in either junior high or high school. Furthermore, it was uncommon for youths in the non-generalized SAD subgroup to develop comorbidity over time. The generalized SAD subgroup of boys, however, was likely to develop comorbidity either with depressive symptoms only or with depressive symptoms and antisocial tendencies. Our findings suggest that developmental pathways for SAD subgroups may differ.

Girls experiencing sexual intercourse early: Could it play a part in reproductive health in middle adulthood?

The aim of the present study is to examine the possible relationship between experiencing early intercourse and reproductive health characteristics in midlife for women. The participants belonged to the Swedish longitudinal research program Individual Development and Adaptation (IDA) project. By the age of 14, the cohort consisted of 590 girls, whereas 522 gave information about the timing of their first sexual intercourse experience. Approximately 29 years later, when the women were 43 years old, a sub-cohort of 369 women participated in the psychological-medical investigation. Those who experienced early intercourse were likely to be different on various demographics and have markers of poorer reproductive health characteristics than their counterparts. More specifically, those experiencing early intercourse were less formally educated, left home earlier, and earned on average less than their counterparts who experienced sexual intercourse later. Early intercourse likely plays a role in not only specific reproductive health but also reproductive health characteristics as a whole in midlife. Early intercourse was consistently a predictor of teenage pregnancy, terminated pregnancies, no use of contraception, and having menstrual symptoms.

The role of positive and negative affect on well-being amongst Swedish and Iranian university students

The roles of positive and negative affect in well-being were studied in two different societies, namely the Iranian and the Swedish. A total of 606 university students (296 Iranian and 310 Swedish) participated in the study. The results showed that, whereas there was no difference between Iranian and Swedish participants in their general level of life satisfaction, differences with regard to positive and negative affect were found. Swedish participants had more positive affect, whereas Iranian participants had more negative affect. In the Swedish sample, the most predictive factor of flourishing was positive affect, while there was a balance affect (between positive and negative affects) in the Iranian sample. The results are discussed from a individualistic–collectivistic perspective.

Personal and ethnic identity in Swedish adolescents and emerging adults

The chapter describes empirical evidence about identity development in Swedish adolescents and emerging adults and highlights cultural and contextual influences that may be specific to coming of age in Sweden. Broad trends in identity options are evident in the lives of many youth living in Sweden. Although research on identity and diversity is in its infancy in Sweden, due at least in part to its tradition of longitudinal research, its contribution to understanding advances in adolescent-parent and peer relations, and its contributions to developmental interactionist metatheories of human development, the country has the potential to forge a new generation of identity research that takes into account the ongoing process of person-environment interactions.

Adolescent girls in context: Not all patterns may be created equal

Much research exists on the importance of risk factors within individual contexts of parenting, neighborhood, school, and peers for adolescent development. However little exists on whether risks in certain contexts may be more or less likely for risk accumulation across contexts – referred to as the Weighted Risk Phenomenon (WRP). One way to study WRP is to study adolescent patterns of co-existing risk characteristics across domains and over time. The present study focuses on studying information about parenting, neighborhood, school, and peers in order to understand how risk can have different patterns over time. Participants were all girls recruited from junior high schools in rural and metropolitan areas of Sweden. The results illustrate that there are stable structural and individual pathways across four contexts of adolescent girls which may represent risk over time. Structurally, patterns which emerged at grade 7 reappeared again a year later and again a year after that in grade 9. In general, the same individuals seem to re-emerge in the same or similar patterns over time. Those who showed risk accumulation patterns tended to report prior risk factors in the parenting context. Such trends are supported in the literature and give support to the postulation that parenting is one of the strongest risk factors for adolescents. The findings indicate possible underpinnings of WRP.

Mothers’ and Fathers’ Worry and Over-Control: One Step Closer to Understanding Early Adolescent Social Anxiety

This study investigated the links between parental worry, parental over-control and adolescent social anxiety in parent-adolescent dyads. Using a longitudinal sample of adolescents (Mage = 14.28) and their parents (224 mother–daughter, 234 mother–son, 51 father–daughter, and 47 father–son dyads), comparisons were conducted using cross-lagged path models across two time points. We used adolescent reports of social anxiety and feelings of being overly controlled by parents, and mother and father self-reports of worries. Our results show that boys’ social anxiety predicted higher perceived parental overcontrol, whereas girls’ social anxiety predicted higher paternal worry over time. In addition, girls’ reports of feeling overly controlled by parents predicted higher maternal worry but lower paternal worry over time. For boys, feeling overly controlled predicted less social anxiety instead. The study illustrates how mothers and fathers might differ in their behaviors and concerns regarding their children’s social anxiety and feelings of overcontrol.