How long does it last? Prior victimization from workplace bullying moderates the relationship between daily exposure to negative acts and subsequent depressed mood

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationships between daily exposure to negative acts and depressed mood on the same day and on the days following the exposure, and to test the hypothesis that these relationships would be stronger among those who have recently gone through a process of victimization from workplace bullying. The sample comprised 110 naval cadets participating in two different eleven-week tall ship voyages from Northern Europe to North America. Victimization from workplace bullying the last six months was measured one day prior to the voyages. Exposure to negative acts and depressed mood was measured daily during the first 33 consecutive days of the voyages. The results of multilevel modelling indicated that exposure to negative acts was related to higher levels of depressed mood on the same day as the exposure among all cadets, regardless of victimization status. However, exposure to negative acts predicted higher levels of depressed mood one and two days following the exposure among victims only. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Executive working memory processes in dyslexia: Behavioral and fMRI evidence

Beneventi, H., Tønnessen, F. E., Ersland, L. & Hugdahl, K. (2010). Executive working memory processes in dyslexia: Behavioral and fMRI evidence. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 192–202. Dyslexia is an impairment in learning to read and write, primarily associated with a phonological core deficit. However, the manifestation of symptoms in dyslexia also includes impaired working memory (WM). The aim of this study was to investigate cortical activation related to verbal WM in dyslexic and normal readers aged around 13 years, controlling for phonological awareness processing. We used a modified WM n‐back task where the participants remembered the first or last speech segment (phonemes) of the names of common objects shown as pictures. Dyslexic readers were impaired compared with the control group. Compared with the dyslexic readers, controls showed increased fMRI activation in the left superior parietal lobule and the right inferior prefrontal gyrus. Unlike controls, dyslexics did not show a significant increase in activation in WM areas with increased memory load. These findings provide support for a specific working memory deficit in dyslexic individuals.     

Factor structure of the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions (BRIEF-P) at age three years

The preschool period is an important developmental period for the emergence of cognitive self-regulatory skills or executive functions (EF). To date, evidence regarding the structure of EF in preschool children has supported both unitary and multicomponent models. The aim of the present study was to test the factor structure of early EF as measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool version (BRIEF-P). BRIEF-P consists of five subscales and three broader indexes, hypothesized to tap into different subcomponents of EF. Parent ratings of EF from a nonreferred sample of children recruited from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (N = 1134; age range 37–47 months) were subjected to confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Three theoretically derived models were assessed; the second-order three-factor model originally proposed by the BRIEF-P authors, a “true” first-order one-factor model and a second-order one-factor model. CFA fit statistics supported the original three-factor solution. However, the difference in fit was marginal between this model and the second-order one-factor model. A follow-up exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supported the existence of several factors underlying EF in early preschool years, with a considerable overlap with the five BRIEF-P subscales. Our results suggest that some differentiation in EF has taken place at age 3 years, which is reflected in behavior ratings. The internal consistency of the BRIEF-P five clinical subscales is supported. Subscale interrelations may, however, differ at this age from those observed in the preschool group as a whole.     

Suicidal behavior in the municipality of Baerum, Norway: a 12-year prospective study of parasuicide and suicide

The present 12-year (1984-1995) surveillance study includes all hospitalized parasuicide patients (n = 1,031) as well as all suicides (n = 161) in the municipality of Baerum, a suburb of Oslo. The parasuicide rate decreased from 170 per 100,000 in 1984 to 79 per 100,000 in 1995 (53.5%). The parasuicide rates were lower than those in several comparable studies. Rates were higher for divorced females and separated males compared to married and other marital states, and the pattern of relative risk of parasuicide with respect to marital status was stable. Unemployment and substance abuse were positively correlated with parasuicidal behavior for both males and females. Approximately 33% reported one or more previous parasuicidal acts, and 21% repeated the parasuicide during the observation period. Ninety-four percent used self-poisoning as parasuicide method. A total of 2.4% of the parasuiciders committed suicide during the observation period. The mean annual suicide rate in Baerum was 19.0 per 100,000 compared to the national average of 14.7. The results support the notion of parasuicide and suicide being two different but overlapping populations. The implementation of a follow-up system for parasuiciders may have contributed to the reduced parasuicide rate during the study period.     

Job Stress and Organizational Learning Climate

Job stress may depend on the organizational learning climate, the organizational factors that affect learning how to cope with the rapid external and internal changes in working life. The relationship between individual job stress and the individual perception of learning climate was studied among 383 employees in the Norwegian Postal Service and in various community health care institutions. Mismatch between individual perceptions of learning climate and the averaged evaluation of learning climate in the rest of the working group, was found to be an important source of stress. Individuals who perceived the learning climate as good and who were working in a group that agreed with this position, had a low job-stress level. This may be ascribed to their feeling of control over the work situation and reduced demands due to the social support from the group, producing a low job stress level.     

Attendance pressure during organizational change

The present study examines the relationships between aspects of the concept attendance pressure and sickness absenteeism. The study was carried out in a large public company in Norway during a major reorganization. It was hypothesized that employees with sickness absenteeism during this period would experience a high degree of attendance pressure in the form of reactions from managers, fellow workers, and job insecurity. Two surveys were carried out with the same sample (N=401). Attendance pressure in the form of censure pressure explained significant parts of the variance in sickness absenteeism. Employees with sickness absenteeism during the reorganization were a vulnerable group with low job satisfaction, significant health problems and low personal work ethics. Implications for preventive work on organizational level are discussed.Financed by the Research Council of Norway.     

Sex differences in adolescent suicides in Norway, 1990-1992

All suicides in persons under 20 years in Norway in the time period 1990-1992 (99 males, 30 females) were included in a postmortem case-control study with seven controls for each suicide, focusing on gender differences. Few sex differences between the suicide completers were evident, in spite of the difference in suicide rates (M/F rate ratio = 3.0). Females more often attempted suicide (p = .05), more often wrote farewell notes (p = .03), and used less violent suicide methods (ns). The adjusted risk for suicide related to affective disorders (Female OR = 22,1; Male OR = 24.0, both p = .000) and disruptive disorders (female OR = 14,7, ns; male OR = 5.0, p = .002) differed little, as did the effect of frequent use of alcohol or substances (female OR = 0.4, ns; male OR = 0.4, ns).     

Social and emotional loneliness and self‐reported difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep (DIMS) in a sample of Norwegian university students

Social and emotional loneliness negatively impact several areas of health, including sleep. However, few comprehensive population‐based studies have evaluated this relationship. Over 12,000 students aged 21–35 years who participated in the student survey for higher education in Norway (the SHoT study) were assessed. Loneliness was assessed using the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale. Difficulty initiating and maintaining sleep (DIMS) was assessed by a single‐item subjective response on the depression scale of the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (HSCL‐25). Social loneliness was associated with more serious DIMS (unadjusted proportional odds‐ratio [OR] = 2.69, 95% CI = 2.46–2.95). This association was attenuated following adjustment for anxiety (adjusted OR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.75–2.10) and depression (adjusted OR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.34–1.63), however was not substantially altered when all demographics and psychological distress were accounted for (fully adjusted OR = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.30–1.63). Emotional loneliness was also associated with more serious DIMS (unadjusted proportional OR = 2.33, 95% CI = 2.12–2.57). Adjustment for anxiety (adjusted OR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.78–2.15) and depression (adjusted OR = 1.64, 95% CI = 1.48–1.80) attenuated, but did not extinguish this relationship in the fully adjusted model (adjusted OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.09–1.31). Mediation analyses revealed that the social loneliness‐DIMS association was fully attributed to psychological distress, while the emotional loneliness‐DIMS association was only partially mediated, and a direct association was still observed. Associations between social and emotional loneliness and subjective DIMS were embedded in a larger pattern of psychological distress. Mitigating underlying feelings of loneliness may reduce potentially deleterious effects on sleep health and psychological wellbeing in young adults.