Evaluating a School-Based Intervention on Adolescents' Ethnic-racial Identity in Sweden.

Finding developmentally appropriate ways to support youth in understanding their own ethnic-racial identity is needed, particularly in contexts like Sweden where such support is not the norm. This preregistered longitudinal study examined whether an 8-week school-based intervention, the Identity Project, impacted youth ethnic-racial identity exploration (participation and search), resolution, private regard, and centrality. Participants were 509 adolescents in the 10th grade (Mage = 16.28, SD = 0.80; 65% self-identified girls; 52% minoritized ethnic background), who were randomized into an intervention or wait-list control group and assessed at baseline and three times post-intervention. The findings indicated an initial and simultaneous effect of the intervention only for exploration participation and resolution but did not show the expected chain of effects with earlier exploration predicting later resolution. Growth models indicated a greater increase in exploration participation over time for the intervention group than the control group. The findings indicate a mixed picture about the effectiveness of the intervention, with effects primarily narrowly targeted to exploration participation, but nevertheless highlight the potential for supporting Swedish youth in engaging with their ethnic-racial identities.

Ethnic-Racial Identity and Attitude Change: Assessments of Outgroup and Diversity Attitudes among Adolescents in Sweden.

Outgroup and diversity attitudes are important components of intercultural understanding and well-being. Despite the potential of ethnic-racial identity development as a means to foster positive outgroup and diversity attitudes, little is known about its effectiveness in rapidly diversifying contexts such as Sweden. This pre-registered study filled this gap by examining if adolescents taking part in an intervention focused on ethnic-racial identity exploration, the Identity Project, also reported change in outgroup and diversity attitudes, and whether migration background, education type, and ethnic-racial identity development predicted such change. Twenty-three tenth-grade classes in Sweden (N = 509; Mage = 16.28; SDage = 0.80; 66% female; 51% migration background) participated in the intervention and were assessed in four waves over a period of 26 weeks. Whereas ethnic-racial identity exploration and resolution increased for the intervention group, the adolescents reported no change in outgroup and diversity attitudes when compared to a control group. Increases in ethnic-racial identity exploration and resolution co-varied with increases in attitudes, but only at Time 3. The results do not provide support for the link between ethnic-racial identity development and positive outgroup and diversity attitudes, and challenge the notion of attitude change as a cascading effect of the Identity Project intervention in non-US sociocultural contexts. All aspects of the study were pre-registered on the Open Science Framework platform ( https://osf.io/f5896 ).

Different contexts - different stories: Adolescents' experiences of how ethnicity is addressed in schools and sports and on social media in Sweden.

Ethnicity plays a significant role in adolescents' everyday lives, but there is a limited understanding of adolescents' own experiences with how ethnicity is addressed in different contexts. Three contexts of importance during adolescence are investigated in the present study: schools, social media, and sports. A closer contextual examination has the potential to provide insights into how multiple contexts shape experiences with ethnicity. The aim of the study was to understand more about adolescents' experiences of how ethnicity is addressed in schools, on social media, and in sports. Six focus groups with a total of 21 adolescents (Mage = 14.5, SDage = 0.5, female = 76%) discussed their experiences. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a close-to-data, inductive thematic analysis. The analysis resulted in three main themes and seven subthemes, indicating that ethnicity was addressed differently in the three studied contexts. For the main theme of how ethnicity was addressed in schools, the subthemes were: Addressing ethnicity is important; Ethnicity is addressed through stereotypes and Everyday racism. The main theme of ethnicity on social media consisted of two subthemes: Sharing ethnic and cultural narratives and Hateful remarks. The main theme of ethnicity in sports also consisted of two subthemes: On equal terms and Clear consequences for racist behaviors. To better understand the multiple contexts, the results are discussed guided by the ecological systems theory. The adolescents highlighted that there are many benefits of addressing ethnicity and that it is important to do so in multiple contexts of adolescent life, just not in the same way. When ethnicity was addressed carelessly, such as through stereotypes or via racism masked as jokes, it had the potential to cause harm. When ethnicity was addressed with reflection, it instead had the potential to build understanding, lead to positive experiences, and provide learning opportunities.

Do stimulation and support in the early childhood home environment and best friendship quality in adolescence predict adult personality?

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine whether stimulation and support in early childhood and best friendship quality in adolescence predict adult personality. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: We used data from 123 individuals from an ongoing longitudinal study, with multiple assessment phases and modalities (observation, parental rating, self-report) to investigate prospective associations between stimulation and support in the home in early childhood (age 1-2), best friendship quality in adolescence (age 15), and the Big Five personality traits in adulthood (age 29) controlling for temperament, socioeconomic status (SES), and gender. RESULTS: After controlling for temperament, SES, and gender, we found that early childhood stimulation and support was related to adult openness to experiences, but not the other four traits, and that best friendship quality in adolescence was related to adult extraversion and agreeableness, but not conscientiousness, neuroticism, or openness to experiences. CONCLUSIONS: The study contributes to research indicating that while personalities are relatively stable, they are not fixed at an early age and may be related to experiences and salient relationships throughout development. There is a dearth of research investigating such associations and the available findings are inconsistent. Conclusions about the relations between experiences such as stimulation and support in the home in early childhood or best friendship quality in adolescence and adult personality should thus be viewed skeptically until replicated.

Within family patterns of relative parental involvement across two generations of Swedish parents.

This prospective longitudinal study investigated father involvement relative to mother involvement in parent dyads across two generations from the same family. Relative parental involvement was operationalized using measures of how much parents shared parenting responsibilities and to whom their children turned preferentially in various situations. We hypothesized mean level increases towards more equal involvement for fathers and mothers across generations as well as intergenerational continuity of within-family patterns for both aspects of parental involvement. The longitudinal study involved 144 families and their first-born children, followed since 1982. The analyses involved the families of the 74 children who were parents themselves by age 33. Father involvement was lower than mother involvement in both generations. Results revealed mean level changes towards more equal sharing of responsibilities in the second generation, but no intergenerational changes in the likelihood that children would be more likely to turn to their fathers in various situations. There was intergenerational continuity within families in child preferences but not in the sharing of responsibilities. Together these findings imply that child preferences are related to within-family influences whereas other factors affect parents' sharing of responsibilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Sexual risk-taking among young Swedish men testing for STI.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates sexual risk-taking among young men testing for sexually transmitted infections (STI). SAMPLING METHOD: 452 participants (aged 18-30) completed surveys concerning their backgrounds, sexual risk-taking, and experience with STI. RESULTS: Over one-third had used alcohol during their last sexual encounter, one-fifth were reluctant to use condoms due to concerns about erection difficulties, 14.7% had experienced sexual coercion and one-fifth reported having had contracted the most common STI, chlamydia trachomatis (CT). Older participants (aged 25-30) were more reluctant to use condoms because of erection worries and to report having had CT. Immigrant men reported more unprotected sex while men who have sex with men (MSM) were more exposed to sexual coercion than others, but less likely to use alcohol when having sex. CONCLUSIONS: There are important differences in sexual risk-taking within the group of young men testing for sexually transmitted infections which need to be taken into account in developing effective counselling and promotion strategies in sexual and reproductive health care. Further research on young men's sexual risk-taking is needed to broaden understanding of factors associated with young men's sexual health.

Personality development from age 2 to 33: Stability and change in ego resiliency and ego control and associations with adult adaptation.

The purpose of this study was to examine the developmental course and implications of the personality metatraits ego resiliency and ego control across the first 3 decades of life. The sample consisted of 139 participants who were assessed 9 times between ages 2 and 33. Participants completed measures of ego resiliency, ego control, Big Five personality traits, identity development, and positive and negative well-being. The findings indicated strong stability of ego resiliency, in terms of both rank-order and mean-level change. Ego control also demonstrated stability over the full time span, but there was greater change in childhood relative to adolescence and adulthood. Ego resiliency and control were associated with adult well-being, but these associations were generally accounted for by the Big Five traits. Finally, there were small relations between ego resiliency and control in childhood and later adult identity development processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Fathers' depressive symptoms in the postnatal period: Prevalence and correlates in a population-based Swedish study.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and correlates of depression in new fathers. METHODS: A population-based sample of 885 Swedish fathers and their partners completed a questionnaire, including the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at three months postpartum. Correlates of depressive symptoms were analysed with univariate and multiple variable regression models. RESULTS: Symptoms of depression were found in 6.3% of the fathers and 12.0% of the mothers, and the point prevalence of major depression in fathers was 1.3%. The strongest correlates of depressive symptoms in fathers were problems in the partner relationship, a low educational level, previous depression, stressful life events and low partner support. The cross-sectional design could affect the magnitude of the results, and causal inferences cannot be made. CONCLUSIONS: Although the rate of depressive symptoms is lower in fathers than in mothers at three months postpartum, the associated factors are similar to those found in studies of mothers. The first visits at the child health centre could include a discussion with both parents about normal transition problems; balancing work, personal and family needs; and distress. When signs of distress or partner relationship difficulties are picked up, this should be followed up and support interventions offered.

Child and Adolescent Predictors of Personality in Early Adulthood.

This study investigated development of the Big Five personality traits from early childhood into adulthood. An initial group of 137 Swedish children were assessed eight times between ages 2 and 29 years. Initial decreases in extraversion leveled off in early adulthood; agreeableness and conscientiousness increased from ages 2 to 29; neuroticism initially increased, leveled off in later childhood and adolescence, and decreased throughout early adulthood; while openness to experience showed an initial increase, then decreased and leveled off in early adulthood. Individual developmental trajectories varied significantly, particularly in relation to gender. Personality traits became increasingly stable, and the fact that childhood scores predicted scores in adulthood indicated that personalities are fairly stable across this portion of the life span.

How well does the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale identify depression and anxiety in fathers? A validation study in a population based Swedish sample.

BACKGROUND: Fathers are increasingly involved in infant care, and depression in postnatal fathers as well as mothers may have negative effects on child development and behaviour. The EPDS has been validated to identify depression in new mothers, but few validation studies have involved fathers and there is doubt as to whether the EPDS measures the same constructs in men as in women. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A population-based sample of 1014 couples were sent the EPDS and the HAD-A subscale 3 months postnatally. All high-scoring fathers and a random sample of fathers scoring low were invited for a diagnostic interview to assess the presence of any depression or anxiety disorder. A factor analysis of the EPDS data was conducted for mothers and fathers. FINDINGS: A factor analysis of the EPDS data revealed a different factor structure for fathers, implying that the scale picks up more worry, anxiety and unhappiness than depression. The EPDS yields high sensitivity and specificity, but low positive predictive value when screening for probable major depression at the optimal cut-off score of 12 or more. The accuracy of the EPDS, however, is modest for minor depression, and low for anxiety disorders. Neither the EPDS-3A score nor the HAD-A subscale reached acceptable validity in this study. CONCLUSIONS: The EPDS seems to pick up more distress than pure depression in new fathers. It is a valid instrument for screening for probable major depression, but it is questionable if it should be used to screen for minor depression. Neither the EPDS nor the HAD-A subscale can be recommended for screening for anxiety in postnatal fathers. LIMITATIONS: Confidence intervals around the estimates are wide and the interviewed fathers were selected preferentially.

Fathers' involvement in Swedish child health care - the role of nurses' practices and attitudes.

AIM: To investigate how nurses in Swedish child health care perceived working with fathers, and to what extent they offered support to, and included fathers in clinical encounters. METHODS: A random sample of all nurses in Swedish child health care, 499 nurses, were asked to complete a postal questionnaire. The response rate was 70%. Data were analysed with content analysis, the chi-square test and logistic regression models. RESULTS: Almost all of the nurses found working with fathers positive. Fathers' participation in child health care was much lower than that of mothers'. Almost 90% of the nurses estimated that it rarely came to their attention that a father was distressed, and less than one of five nurses had offered supportive counselling to any distressed father in the previous year. Nurses with regular supervision on mental health issues and nurses with a paediatric specialization were more likely to offer supportive counselling to fathers. Approximately 50% of the nurses had an ambivalent attitude towards fathers' caring capacity when compared to that of mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Fathers received less support from child health nurses, and many nurses were ambivalent about fathers' caring abilities. Methods need to be developed to involve both parents in child health care.

Ten-year-old girls' and boys' body composition and peer victimization experiences: prospective associations with body satisfaction.

This study examined prospective associations between 10-year-olds' weight and height, their perception of shape and stature, frequent experiences of peer victimization, and different aspects of body esteem at age 13. Participants were 474 girls and 400 boys participating in a two-wave longitudinal questionnaire study. Main results were that whereas actually being heavier built at age 10 was associated with girls' increments in body dissatisfaction, the mere perception of being too heavy was associated with boys' poorer body satisfaction. Also, boys who believed that they were too short were more dissatisfied at follow-up. Whereas frequent peer victimization had long-term associations with girls' weight-esteem, teasing targeted towards appearance was associated with boys' more negative beliefs about what others think about their appearance. Finally, participants had become significantly more dissatisfied at age 13, suggesting that this is a time in life when both girls and boys risk becoming increasingly critical towards their appearance.

Body-esteem in Swedish 10-year-old children.

This study examined body-esteem in 10-yr.-old children. The study group comprised 960 schoolchildren, 515 girls and 445 boys (M age= 10.4, SD=0.5). Analysis showed that girls who were overweight had more negative body-esteem on all dimensions (weight, appearance, and attribution). The overweight boys had more negative perceptions on only two dimensions (weight and appearance). Twice as many girls perceived themselves as too fat (20%) as too skinny (10%). Of the girls who perceived themselves as fat, only 31% were overweight; similarly only 33% of the boys who perceived themselves as fat were overweight. The children's perception of their weight seemed as important as their actual weight and was associated with their body-esteem in the same way. Although few children had dieted (7% of the girls and 5% of the boys), the ones who had dieted had more negative body-esteem than children who had not dieted.