Effectiveness of a stress management program in reducing anxiety and depression in nursing students.

This study sought to develop a stress management program based on the arousal-attribution stress model and to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in reducing anxiety and depression experienced by nursing students. Forty-two sophomore and 34 senior nursing students in a private, sectarian, liberal arts college were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. All subjects were given pre- and posttests consisting of the State form of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing Depression Scale. Posttest analysis indicated that the experimental group had significantly lower anxiety and depression than the control group (p less than .05). These results support the use of the arousal-attribution stress model as a theoretical framework for stress management training.     

Informal caregiving for elders in Sweden: an analysis of current policy developments

In Sweden, care of elderly people is a public responsibility. There are comprehensive public policies and programs providing health care, social services, pensions, and other forms of social insurance. Even so, families are still the major providers of care for older people. In the 1990s, the family was "rediscovered" regarding eldercare in Sweden. New policies and legislative changes were promoted to support family caregivers. The development of services and support for caregivers at the municipal level has been stimulated through the use of national grants. As a result, family caregivers have received more recognition and are now more visible. However, the "Swedish model" of publicly financed services and universal care has difficulty addressing caregivers. Reductions in institutional care and cutbacks in public services have had negative repercussions for caregivers and may explain why research shows that family caregiving is expanding. At the same time, a growing "caregivers movement" is lobbying local and national governments to provide more easily accessible, flexible, and tailored support. In 2009, the Swedish Parliament passed a new law that states: "Municipalities are obliged to offer support to persons caring for people with chronic illnesses, elderly people, or people with functional disabilities." The question is whether the new legislation represents a paradigm shift from a welfare system focused on the individual to a more family-oriented system. If so, what are the driving forces, motives, and consequences of this development for the different stakeholders? This will be the starting point for a policy analysis of current developments in family caregiving of elderly people in Sweden.     

Which trees have a differentiating-paired dominating set?

In this paper, we continue the study of paired-domination in graphs introduced by Haynes and Slater (Networks 32 (1998), 199–206). A paired-dominating set of a graph G with no isolated vertex is a dominating set S of vertices whose induced subgraph has a perfect matching. The set S is called a differentiating-paired dominating set if for every pair of distinct vertices u and v in V(G), N[u]∩S≠N[v]∩S, where N[u] denotes the set consisting of u and all vertices adjacent to u. In this paper, we provide a constructive characterization of trees that do not have a differentiating-paired dominating set.     

Paired versus double domination in K 1,r -free graphs

A vertex in G is said to dominate itself and its neighbors. A subset S of vertices is a dominating set if S dominates every vertex of G. A paired-dominating set is a dominating set whose induced subgraph contains a perfect matching. The paired-domination number of a graph G, denoted by γ _pr(G), is the minimum cardinality of a paired-dominating set in G. A subset S?V(G) is a double dominating set of G if S dominates every vertex of G at least twice. The minimum cardinality of a double dominating set of G is the double domination number γ _×2(G). A claw-free graph is a graph that does not contain K _1,3 as an induced subgraph. Chellali and Haynes (Util. Math. 67:161–171, 2005) showed that for every claw-free graph G, we have γ _pr(G)≤γ _×2(G). In this paper we extend this result by showing that for r≥2, if G is a connected graph that does not contain K _1,r as an induced subgraph, then $\gamma_{\mathrm{pr}}(G)\le ( \frac{2r^{2}-6r+6}{r(r-1)} )\gamma_{\times2}(G)$ .     

k-tuple total domination in cross products of graphs

For k??1 an integer, a set S of vertices in a graph G with minimum degree at least?k is a k-tuple total dominating set of G if every vertex of G is adjacent to at least k vertices in S. The minimum cardinality of a k-tuple total dominating set of G is the k-tuple total domination number of G. When k=1, the k-tuple total domination number is the well-studied total domination number. In this paper, we establish upper and lower bounds on the k-tuple total domination number of the cross product graph G×H for any two graphs G and H with minimum degree at least?k. In particular, we determine the exact value of the k-tuple total domination number of the cross product of two complete graphs.     

Independent domination in subcubic graphs

Journal of Combinatorial Optimization - A set S of vertices in a graph G is a dominating set if every vertex not in S is adjacent to a vertex in S. If, in addition, S is an independent...     

WOMEN'S CAREER PATTERNS IN SWEDEN

Although research on and models of career patterns are often implicitly assumed to be of general validity, they are usually coloured by their cultural, ethnic and historical background and by a lack of gender perspective. One of the most critical research gaps concerns changes and transitions in women's careers. The general aim of this paper is to describe career patterns over the life course of women born in the 1950s in Sweden — in terms of shape, level and stability. Data were collected from work histories in the interviews of a sample of Swedish women aged 43 (n?=?109) as part of a longitudinal study. Career patterns were plotted based on life events related to education, family and work. Results revealed relative stability of labour force participation, but not of work hours over the life course. Most of the women worked part time taking care of children for a varying number of years. Continuous full-time work (from 16 to 43) was highly unusual and almost entirely limited to women without children. Nevertheless, career progress in terms of moving to higher career levels was a common feature of the cohort albeit largely restricted to female-dominated occupations. The significance of a generous welfare state supportive for women's career opportunities as well as a highly gender-segregated labour market are discussed. A tentative new model of career patterns, taking account of women's experiences and sensitive to welfare state context, is proposed, as a basis for future research with larger and more diverse samples.

Con frecuencia se asume implícitamente que la investigación y los modelos de los patrones profesionales tienen validez general. Sin embargo, estos estan generalmente matizados por sus antecedentes culturales, étnicos e históricos, y por la ausencia de perspectiva de género. Una de las brechas mas críticas en la investigación concierne a los cambios y transcisiones en la carrera de las mujeres. El objetivo general de este artículo es describir los patrones profesionales en el transcurso de la vida de las mujeres nacidas en Suecia en los años 1950s, en función de forma, nivel y estabilidad. Los datos fueron obtenidos de historias laborales procedentes de entrevistas en una muestra de 109 mujeres suecas de 43 años de edad, como parte de un estudio longitudinal. Los patrones profesionales fueron graficados en base a los eventos de la vida relacionados con educación, familia y trabajo. Los resultados revelaron una relativa estabilidad en la participación en la fuerza laboral, pero no en las horas de trabajo durante la vida. La mayoría de las mujeres trabajaron a tiempo parcial cuidando los hijos por un numero variable de años. El trabajo contínuo a tiempo completo (desde los 16 a los 43 años) resultó sumamente inusual y casi totalmente limitado a las mujeres sin hijos. No obstante, el progreso hacia mejores niveles profesionales resultó un rasgo común de la cohorte, aunque muy restringido a las ocupaciones dominantemente femeninas. Se discuten la significancia de un sistema de asistencia social estatal generoso en el apoyo a las oportunidades profesionales de la mujer y la amplia segregación de género en el mercado laboral. Como base para futuras investigaciones con muestras mayores y diversas, se propone un modelo tentativo de patrones profesionales que toma en cuenta las experiencias de las mujeres y que es sensible al contexto de la asistencia social estatal.     

Return to work still possible after several years as a disability pensioner due to musculoskeletal disorders: a population-based study after new legislation in Sweden permitting "resting disability pension"

Different strategies have been used to stimulate a return to work (RTW) among individuals suffering from long-term ailments. In Sweden a new law on "resting disability pension" permits disability pensioners to go back to work without jeopardising their benefits. In this study different variables related to RTW during 2000 by means of this legislation were identified among disability pensioners with musculoskeletal disorders. Individuals in the study group, when compared to a control group, had more often been disability pensioners for several years, had additional education, estimated their previous job to have been physically strenuous to a lesser degree, were more satisfied with the treatment at the social insurance office and had a more positive self-image. This study shows that it may be meaningful to continue/resume rehabilitation efforts and to try to motivate an individual suffering from musculoskeletal disorders to return to work even after several years as a disability pensioner.     

Policies and practices in support of family caregivers - filial obligations redefined in Sweden

This article provides an overview of how the expression of filial obligations has shifted over time in Sweden. Historically, and currently in many countries, the family, next of kin, and the social network are the only or major sources of help, as it was in Sweden till half a century ago. The article also explores how various aspects of solidarity-public and private-have developed and are changing in Sweden, known for its extensive welfare programs, with "from cradle to grave" security. It concludes that intergenerational solidarity has not vanished in Sweden; just the manifestations have changed.     

Firm-level indicators of instrumental and political CSR processes – A multiple case study

Recent studies have been increasingly distinguishing between instrumental and political approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, few studies have explored the firm-level processes generating these types of CSR engagements. Using Basu and Palazzo’s (2008) proposition to model CSR as a process of sensemaking, we suggest that multinational enterprises use different processes in developing capabilities around instrumental and political CSR. Our qualitative multiple case–study analysis is based on data from 42 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 27 senior managers from British American Tobacco, Nestlé, and Hewlett Packard. Our findings from the three cases indicate that instrumental and political CSR are characterised by different sensemaking processes. We also find evidence for overlapping of processes between instrumental and political CSR.