Publications by authors named "Harpa Runarsdottir"
Importance: Comprehensive data on the prevalence of various life stressors and their role in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among women are lacking.
Objective: To determine the prevalence of a broad range of life stressors and their association with PTSD in a large nationally representative cohort of women.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional analysis used data from the population-based Stress-And-Gene-Analysis, which invited women in Iceland to complete an online survey from March 1, 2018, to July 1, 2019.
Sexual violence in the workplace and associated health outcomes: a nationwide, cross-sectional analysis of women in Iceland.
Lancet Public Health
June 2024
Background: Workplace sexual violence against women is a pressing global issue with scarce knowledge on its health implications. Existing research is largely limited to specific occupations, which calls for comprehensive, population-based studies. This study aimed to examine the associations between self-labelled workplace sexual violence and a variety of health outcomes in a nationally representative sample of Icelandic women aged 18-69 years.
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- The study investigates how perceived disruptions in healthcare services during COVID-19 are linked to socio-demographic factors, pre-existing health conditions, and related physical and psychological symptoms among 15,754 Icelandic participants.
- It was found that those with pre-existing psychiatric or chronic health conditions reported higher perceived disruptions, while individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 did not experience an increase in perceived disruption.
- Additionally, perceived disruptions were associated with worsening mental health symptoms, indicating that vulnerable populations faced significant challenges during the pandemic, although the healthcare system in Iceland largely remained accessible to COVID-19 patients.
Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are well-known risk factors for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Aims: The aim was to study the associations between specific ACEs and psychological functioning in women with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
Method: Among 29 367 women (mean age 44 years) from the Icelandic Stress-And-Gene-Analysis (SAGA) study, 534 (1.
Background: A growing literature, mostly based on selected populations, indicates that traumas may be associated with autoimmune diseases, yet few studies exist on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and multiple sclerosis (MS) in the general population.
Objective: We assessed cross-sectional associations between self-reported ACEs and MS among Icelandic women in the population-based Stress-And-Gene-Analysis (SAGA) cohort.
Methods: Participants (n = 27,870; mean age 44.
Background: Sexual harassment and violence in the workplace are a serious public health concern for women worldwide with substantial costs due to sick leave and personnel turnover. Yet little is known about the prevalence of sexual harassment and violence at a population level, especially across work sectors. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of workplace sexual harassment and violence by demographic factors and work sectors among Icelandic women.
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- Childhood abuse and other adverse experiences (ACEs) are linked to premenstrual disorders (PMDs), specifically premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), with a stronger correlation seen among those with multiple ACEs.
- A study involving nearly 12,000 menstruating women showed that for every additional ACE experienced, the risk of PMDs increased by 12%, with women having four or more ACEs facing over double the risk compared to those with none.
- The study found that all types of ACEs were associated with PMDs, but the strongest connections occurred in women lacking PTSD, anxiety, or depression, and those with lower social
Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have consistently been associated with elevated risk of multiple adverse health outcomes, yet their contribution to coping ability and psychiatric resilience in adulthood is unclear.
Methods: Cross-sectional data were derived from the ongoing Stress-And-Gene-Analysis cohort, representing 30% of the Icelandic nationwide female population, 18-69 years. Participants in the current study were 26,198 women with data on 13 ACEs measured with the ACE-International Questionnaire.
Objective: To test if patients recovering from COVID-19 are at increased risk of mental morbidities and to what extent such risk is exacerbated by illness severity.
Design: Population-based cross-sectional study.
Setting: Iceland.