Sara Högdin

Strategies of Adolescent Girls and Boys for Coping With School-Related Stress

Stress among adolescents in Western societies is becoming an issue of increasing concern of adolescent’s health. The aim of this study was to gain greater knowledge about how girls and boys perceive and cope with school-related stress. Participants were 14- to 15-year-old adolescents from a medium-sized municipality in southern Sweden. The data were collected from focus group interviews. The data were subjected to qualitative content analysis. The findings show that adolescents “prioritizing the future or the present by making choices, finding their own private sphere to relax, and recovering with family and friends.” There were gender differences in how these strategies were used. The findings could be used for initiating and planning health promotion interventions in school with focus on supporting girls’ and boys’ equal terms to cope with school-related stress in present and for the future and to give equal condition for future studies and opportunities in life.

Leaving home in early youth: Influential factors in running away from home or being thrown out

The main objective of this article is to investigate the extent to which youth in Sweden run away from or are thrown out of their homes. A further aim is to determine what conditions lead up to and triggers such a break-up and to see what takes place during the break-up process itself. In our results roughly one in ten of youth in Sweden (≈11%) had experienced a difficult break-up from home by running away or being thrown out. Over 30% of those placed in foster families or institutions had run away from home or been thrown out. By our results, only a minority of runaways do so for the excitement or the fun. The majority made clear that their running away was a flight from the family rather than to something exciting and adventurous. It is also obvious from the results that young people who have run away three or more times are more severely at risk than those who have experienced only one or two break-ups from home. For some of these young people, a breakaway from home is the start, however premature, of an independent adult life. This vulnerable group of young people should be entitled to support from the social welfare system during their transition to adulthood.

Handling Demands of Success Among Girls and Boys in Primary School A Conceptual Model

Stress among adolescents in Western societies is becoming an issue of increasing concern, and the global trend of adolescents’ health shows a gradual deterioration that is independent of national differences and increases with age. The aim of this study was to explore the main concern of adolescents and about how they cope with demands in everyday life. Participants were 14–16 years old, and data were collected from three sources. A constructivist grounded theory was used as a method for generating a model of the adolescents’ description of how they cope with demands in their everyday lives. The main concern described by participants in this study was to strive to be successful and to succeed in the present and throughout their lives. We conclude that differences between girls and boys, in terms of coping with demands in their everyday lives, are important to consider in the development of health promotion initiatives targeted at adolescents.

Handling demands on success among girls and boys in primarly school – a conceptual model

Background: Stress among adolescents in Western societies is becoming an issue of increasing concern and the global trend of adolescents’ health shows a gradual deterioration that is independent of ...I diarrhea is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Worldwide, enteropathogenic bacteria are responsible for one of the most important infectious diseases linked to the food industry and they affect animal welfare with the potential to give rise to public health problems. As in many countries, in Iran Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains have been frequently isolated from cattle, raw meat and young humans. In this study, we have explored the epidemiology of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC), Shigella spp., Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp. from differing sources in Tehran Province of Iran. Total 445 samples, which include 235 domestic cow feces, collected from three semi-urban community farms, 134 ground beef samples from slaughtered bovine/sheep sources (specifically a Tehran abattoir) and 76 stool samples acquired from human children (1 to 60 months of age) with acute diarrhea were sequentially examined for stx1, stx2, eae, lt, st, Pcvd435, O157:H7, α-hly and Shigella spp., Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter spp. genes via Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) approach. Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli strains were isolated from 41% of meat, 64% of cattle feces and 24% of children’s fecal samples. PCR analysis indicated that 16 samples in total were positive for O157:H7. Also, 14% of human children and 0.85% of cattle species were Shigella spp. positive. The most commonly isolated STEC bacteria were from the O146, O112a and O44 serogroups for all 3 sources. Remarkably, none of the STEC strains proved to be from the O145, O111 and O26 serogroups. In conclusions, high levels of Shiga toxin producing E. coli in cattle and raw beef samples were observed at high rates and STEC colonization is widespread amongst healthy cattle in Iran. These observations provide strong evidence that STEC is one of the major causes of diarrhea in developing countries, mainly in children. The panel of assays employed offer simple strategies for the widespread detection and characterization of diarrheagenic E. coli isolates from a range of sources. DEC detection in this manner facilitates our understanding of their prevalence, clinical characteristics and epidemiology and will serve to support the future development of further food safety control strategies which target all STEC serotypes.