A two-week monitoring of self-reported arousal, worry and attribution among persons with annoyance attributed to electrical equipment and smells

Non-patients attributing annoyance to either smells (smell annoyed; SA, n= 29) or electrical equipment (electrically annoyed; EA, n= 17), or both (generally annoyed; GA, n= 38), were monitored for 2 weeks through daily self-ratings of arousal (stress), sleep disturbances, health complaints, worry about hypersensitivity reactions, avoidance behaviors, and attributions of health complaints to electrical equipment and smells. In parallel, a demographically matched reference group was followed (n= 56). GA persons reported higher arousal (stress), more subjective health complaints, and more sleep disturbances than the other groups. About 60% in the GA and EA groups reported intentional avoidance behavior, compared to 31% in the SA group and 2% of the referents. Worry and attribution to environmental factors was also more frequent among GA persons than in the other groups. Thus, even at sub-clinical levels, environmental annoyance generalized to several triggers seems to be associated with behaviors commonly observed among patients with idiopathic environmental intolerance.     

Religious Change over the Generations in an Extremely Secular Society: The Case of Sweden

The main argument of this paper is that religious change caused by modifying supply in the religious market takes time due to intergenerational value change. Unlike previous research, this study suggests that not only do religious agents on the supply side need time to adjust, but that the time lag is probably even greater among individuals on the demand side of the religious market. Using time series data, the study demonstrates that, despite shrinking church attendance, interest in religious concepts such as “salvation” has increased in the generations born after 1970 in Sweden. Describing the transformation of the Swedish religious market from a regulated religious monopoly before 1970 to an increasingly deregulated and competitive religious supply since 1970, the study explains this revival in religious interest on the part of generations whose formative years were after 1970. As these generations replace previous generation with less religious interest, religious interest is rising in the Swedish population. The conclusion holds even when controlling for period and lifecycle effects, as well as alternative explanations of religious change such as increased migration and the existential security thesis.     

Discovering hidden time patterns in behavior: T-patterns and their detection

This article deals with the definition and detection of particular kinds of temporal patterns in behavior, which are sometimes obvious or well known, but other times difficult to detect, either directly or with standard statistical methods. Characteristics of well-known behavior patterns were abstracted and combined in order to define a scale-independent, hierarchical time pattern type, called aT-pattern. A corresponding detection algorithm was developed and implemented in a computer program, called Theme. The proposed pattern typology and detection algorithm are based on the definition and detection of a particular relationship between pairs of events in a time series, called acritical interval relation. The proposed bottom-up, level-by-level (or breadth-first) search algorithm is based on a binary tree of such relations. The algorithm first detects simpler patterns. Then, more complex and complete patterns evolve through the connection of simpler ones, pattern completeness competition, and pattern selection. Interindividual T-patterns in a quarter-hour interaction between two children are presented, showing that complex hidden T-patterns may be found by Theme in such behavioral streams. Finally, implications for studies of complexity, self-organization, and dynamic patterns are discussed.     

Internet-provided cognitive behaviour therapy of posttraumatic stress symptoms following childbirth—a randomized controlled trial

The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of trauma-focused guided Internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy for relieving posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms following childbirth, a problem that about 3% women encounter postpartum. Following inclusion, 56 traumatized women were randomized to either treatment or to a waiting list control group. Primary outcome measures were the Traumatic Event Scale (TES) and Impact of Event Scale—Reversed (IES-R). Secondary measures were Beck depression inventory II, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Beck Anxiety Inventory, Quality Of Life Inventory and the EuroQol 5 Dimensions. The treatment was guided by a clinician and lasted eight weeks and comprised eight modules of written text. The between-group effect size (ES) was d = .82 (p < .0001) for the IES-R. The ES for the TES was small (d = .36) and not statistically significant (p = .09). A small between-group ES (d = .20; p = .02) was found for the PHQ-9. The results from pre- to post-treatment showed large within-group ESs for PTSD symptoms in the treatment group both on the TES (d = 1.42) and the IES-R (d = 1.30), but smaller ESs in the control group from inclusion to after deferred treatment (TES, d = .80; IES-R d = .45). In both groups, the treatment had positive effects on comorbid depression and anxiety, and in the treatment group also on quality of life. The results need to be verified in larger trials. Further studies are also needed to examine long-term effects.     

Educational level, socioeconomic status and aphasia research: a comment on Connor et al. (2001)--effect of socioeconomic status on aphasia severity and recovery

Is there a relation between socioeconomic factors and aphasia severity and recovery? describe correlations between the educational level and socioeconomic status of aphasic subjects with aphasia severity and subsequent recovery. As stated in the introduction by, studies of the influence of educational level and literacy (or illiteracy) on aphasia severity have yielded conflicting results, while no significant link between socioeconomic status and aphasia severity and recovery has been established. In this brief note, we will comment on their findings and conclusions, beginning first with a brief review of literacy and aphasia research, and complexities encountered in these fields of investigation. This serves as a general background to our specific comments on, which will be focusing on methodological issues and the importance of taking normative values in consideration when subjects with different socio-cultural or socio-economic backgrounds are assessed.