Publications by authors named "Stensland S"

Maladaptive appraisals, such as thoughts about experiencing a permanent and disturbing change and about being a fragile person in a scary world, are associated with posttraumatic stress reactions (PTSR) for trauma-exposed children and adolescents. Less is known about what puts young people at risk for developing such appraisals, and the differential relationship between the types of appraisals and PTSR The primary aim was to examine the role of age, gender and exposure to potentially traumatizing events (PTEs) for the levels of maladaptive appraisals. The secondary aim was to investigate the association between the levels of maladaptive appraisals (appraisals of a permanent change and appraisals about a scary world) and PTSR.

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  • The study looked at healthcare workers (HCW) during the Covid-19 pandemic and how they faced tough ethical decisions (ECS).
  • About half of the HCW felt moral distress from these situations, especially younger nurses and those working closely with Covid-19 patients.
  • A manageable workload and the chance to follow best practices helped reduce the feelings of moral distress among HCW.
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  • The study investigated how childhood trauma, particularly interpersonal violence, influences the development of psychiatric disorders in young people over a period of 13-15 years.
  • About 24.3% of the adolescents studied were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder by the time they reached young adulthood, with a strong link between childhood trauma exposure and various psychiatric conditions.
  • The results highlight the urgency of incorporating insights about childhood trauma into mental health services for youth to improve prevention and treatment strategies.
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Objective: A better understanding of the development of prolonged grief disorder can help professionals identify bereaved in need of intervention efforts and improve the efficiency of services. We aimed to examine the prevalence of and risk factors for prolonged grief disorder in a sample of young, bereaved terrorist attack survivors almost a decade postloss.

Method: In total, 165 bereaved survivors ( = 27.

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Background: The high public demand for healthcare services during the COVID-19 pandemic and strict infection control measures, coupled with threat of severe illness and death, and limited resources, led to many healthcare workers (HCWs) experiencing ethically challenging situations (ECSs).

Objective: To systematically explore first-hand accounts of ECS-evoking moral distress among HCWs during this public health emergency.

Research Design: This was an open cohort study.

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  • PTSD genetics have been difficult to study compared to other psychiatric disorders, limiting our biological understanding of the condition.
  • A large-scale meta-analysis involving over 1.2 million individuals identified 95 genome-wide significant loci, with 80 being new discoveries related to PTSD.
  • Researchers identified 43 potential causal genes linked to neurotransmitter activity, developmental processes, synaptic function, and immune regulation, enhancing our knowledge of the neurobiological systems involved in PTSD.
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Background: There is scarce knowledge on the health care follow-up of parents of terror attack survivors. This study focused on the mothers and fathers of survivors and examined (1) their perceived health care needs relative to their psychological reactions, physical health problems (unmet health care needs), and adaptation to work; (2) whether sociodemographic characteristics, health problems and social support were associated with unmet health care needs; and (3) how unmet health care needs, sociodemographic characteristics, and experiences with health services associated with overall dissatisfaction during the health care follow-up.

Methods: Interview and questionnaire data from three waves of the Utøya parent study were analyzed (n = 364).

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The long-term impact of mass violence attacks is practically unknown, especially in children and adolescents. In a previous study, we found that 8.5 years after a terror attack targeting mainly adolescents, nearly half of the survivors met diagnostic criteria for insomnia.

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  • Opioid and nonopioid analgesics are often prescribed to teenagers and young adults, but even short-term use can increase the risk of future misuse, especially for opioids.
  • A study linked childhood trauma experiences with higher rates of analgesic prescriptions, finding that adolescents exposed to trauma had significantly increased prescription rates, particularly for sexual abuse and physical violence.
  • The findings highlight the need for a trauma-informed approach in pain management to ensure safe and effective treatment strategies, as trauma survivors may have a higher pain symptom load and are at increased risk for misuse of prescription medications.
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Article Synopsis
  • PTSD genetics are harder to study compared to other mental health disorders, resulting in limited biological insights from past research.
  • A large-scale analysis involving over 1.2 million individuals found 95 significant genetic loci related to PTSD, with 80 being new discoveries.
  • The study identified 43 potential causal genes linked to neurotransmitters, synaptic function, and immune responses, enhancing understanding of PTSD's biological mechanisms and suggesting new research directions.
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Problematic alcohol use (PAU) severely impacts the health, functioning, and long-term prospects of young people. Prior research indicates that childhood trauma exposure may be an important risk factor for PAU, but few longitudinal studies have looked at how specific trauma types influence this risk. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between childhood trauma exposure and PAU in a large, population-based cohort of young people.

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Frequent and increasing use of over-the-counter analgesics (OTCA) is a public health concern. Pain conditions and psychological distress are related to frequent OTCA use, and as exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTE) in childhood appears to increase risk of experiencing such symptoms, we aimed to assess childhood PTEs and related symptoms in adolescence as predictors for frequent OTCA use in young adulthood. Prospective population survey data were used (n = 2947, 59.

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Terror exposure increases the risk of somatic and psychological health problems in survivors. Yet, knowledge of how such exposure affects survivors' ability to stay in school is lacking. This study examined whether exposure to the 2011 Utøya terrorist attack in Norway impacted survivors' ability to complete high school.

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Introduction: Pain-related fear, anxiety, and avoidance may play key roles in the chronification of pain and related disability. For practitioners, knowledge about the source or drivers of these fears, including patients' exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and related posttraumatic stress symptoms, could be particularly helpful in guiding their treatment approach.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate whether the use of a brief screening for PTEs could help inform chronic pain treatment.

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Unlabelled: To manage for more sustainable wildlife viewing tourism, a better understanding of tourists' behaviour that might disturb and negatively affect wildlife such as birds is needed. We conducted a qualitative case study of visitors to Hornøya, a protected bird cliff in Northern Norway. Behaviours with the potential to disturb seabirds at the site were explored using the theory of planned behaviour as a guiding framework.

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Background: For healthcare workers, working through a pandemic may include both challenges, such as coping with increased demands and a lack of control, and rewards, such as experiencing a sense of achievement and meaningfulness. In this study, we explore the accomplishments healthcare workers themselves are proud of achieving at work, in order to elucidate the positive aspects of working through a pandemic.

Methods: In June 2020 (T1), December 2020 (T2), and May 2021 (T3), healthcare workers (n = 1,996) at four Norwegian hospitals participated in a web-based survey assessing job strain, psychological health, and support during the pandemic.

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Article Synopsis
  • Trauma exposure among adolescents is linked to higher use of over-the-counter analgesics (OTCA) for headaches and musculoskeletal pain, with significant associations found for bullying, physical violence, and sexual abuse.
  • A school-based survey in Norway involved 10,608 adolescents aged 13-19, achieving a 76% participation rate, and utilized self-reported data on trauma and pain.
  • The study concluded that adolescents who have experienced trauma tend to use OTCA more frequently, with a notable dose-response relationship indicating that those exposed to multiple forms of violence show even greater OTCA use for pain conditions.
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Background: Interpersonal violence (IPV) is found to be associated with mental health problems and pain disorders such as headache among children and adolescents. It is well-known that adolescents in need of mental health services have experienced IPV more often than adolescents in the general population. However, there has not been much focus on pain conditions in child and adolescent psychiatric populations.

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The ongoing opioid epidemic has been a global concern for years, increasingly due to its heavy toll on young people's lives and prospects. Few studies have investigated trends in use of the wider range of drugs prescribed to alleviate pain, psychological distress and insomnia in children, adolescents and young adults. Our aim was to study dispensation as a proxy for use of prescription analgesics, anxiolytics and hypnotics across age groups (0-29 years) and sex over the last 15 years in a large, representative general population.

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Background: Insomnia is a global health concern, associated with many mental and physical health conditions. Prevalence of insomnia is reported to increase during adolescence and early adulthood. High levels of insomnia are also reported in adolescents up to 2.

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Background: Musculoskeletal pain has a high prevalence in adolescence and causes huge consequences for the individuals and the society. Little knowledge exists on social risk factors for musculoskeletal pain in adolescents. This study aimed to investigate if low social acceptance among peers during the first year of upper secondary school was associated with persistent and severe persistent musculoskeletal pain 2 years later and if psychological distress modified this association.

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Objective: Knowledge about the temporal relationship between disturbed grief and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may have important implications for clinicians working with bereaved trauma survivors. We aimed to investigate the longitudinal association between symptoms of complicated grief and PTSD in a bereaved trauma-exposed sample.

Method: In total, 275 bereaved survivors ( age = 19.

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