Papers by Marianne Nilsen Kvande
Assessing Spirituality in a Diverse World, 2020
NORSK SAMMENDRAG Bakgrunn: I en Skandinavisk sammenheng kan tradisjonell religiøsitet sies å ha h... more NORSK SAMMENDRAG Bakgrunn: I en Skandinavisk sammenheng kan tradisjonell religiøsitet sies å ha hatt en nedgang de siste tjue årene, noe som har skjedd parallelt med økonomisk vekst og modernisering av samfunnet. Fordi religiøsitet og åndelighet er forbundet med bedre helse slik som økt velvære, kan mangelen av et eksistensielt rammeverk for mange være en utfordring. Selv om antallet internasjonale studier som omhandler sammenhenger mellom religion, åndelighet og helse har økt betraktelig siden 1990-tallet, har det vært gjennomført få studier i Norge. Vi trenger derfor mere kunnskap om dette feltet i en Norsk kontekst. Er det slik at religion henger sammen med helse, og på hvilken måte gjør det i så fall det? Mål: Hensikten med denne avhandlinga var å øke kunnskapen om sammenhengen mellom religiøsitet og helse i Norge ved å undersøke hvordan religiøsitet er forbundet med sosial støtte på den ene siden og eksistensielt velvære på den andre siden. Spesifikke mål for avhandlinga var å undersøke om det var noen forskjell på grupper av religiøse- og ikke religiøse mennesker på deres nivå av opplevd sosial støtte, og videre om dette forholdet ble moderert av alder, kjønn, eller grad av berikelse fra ens livssyn. Det andre spesifikke målet var å undersøke om, og i så fall på hvilken måte optimisme og pessimisme er mellomliggende variabler i forholdet mellom religiøs mestring og eksistensielt velvære, og også om disse sammenhengene var like for mennesker med og uten langvarige helseproblemer. Det tredje og siste spesifikke målet var å undersøke om kirkedeltagelse og religiøse opplevelser var relatert til eksistensielt velvære på ulike måter for kvinner og menn. Metode: Avhandlingen består av tre artikler med tverrsnittdesign, og er basert på data fra en spørreundersøkelse som omhandler religion og helse. Spørreskjemaet ble våren 2009 sendt per post til 3000 personer mellom 18-75 år som var tilfeldig trukket fra folkeregisteret. Av de spurte ønsker 653 personer å delta i studien, og responsraten var derfor på 22%. Resultater: Eldre personer som betegner seg som ikke religiøse rapporterte å ha mere sosial støtte sammenlignet med religiøse personer. Blant de yngre var det slik at religiøse menn opplevde mere sosial støtte sammenlignet med menn som ikke var religiøse. For yngre kvinner var det motsatt. Religiøs mestring hadde en indirekte sammenheng med eksistensielt velvære gjennom pessimisme, men optimisme hadde ikke innvirkning på dette forholdet. Disse mekanismene var stort sett like for personer med og uten langvarige helseproblemer, men forholdet mellom religiøs mestring og eksistensielt velvære var sterkere for gruppen med langvarige helseproblemer. Generelt kan man si at gruppen av positive religiøse mestringsstrategier var relatert til høyere nivå av velvære, mens negative mestringsstrategier var relatert til lavere grad av velvære. Det siste funnet viste at mere frekvent deltagelse i kirken hadde sammenheng med høyere nivå av eksistensielt velvære for menn, men ikke for kvinner. Flere negative religiøse opplevelser var relatert til en lavere grav av eksistensielt velvære for både kvinner og menn, mens flere positive religiøse opplevelser hadde sammenheng med økt eksistensielt velvære kun for kvinner. Konklusjon: I en internasjonal sammenheng ser man at religiøsitet og åndelighet kan ha stor betydning for utvikling av helse. Resultatene fra denne avhandlingen er ikke helt konsistent med en slik fremstilling. I litteraturen finner man at religiøsitet ofte er en faktor som har betydning for grad av sosial støtte, og at religiøsitet via sosial støtte har betydning for folks helse. Man finner ikke en sammenheng mellom religiøsitet og sosial støtte i denne avhandlingen siden de som ikke var religiøse rapporterte generelt høyere nivå av sosial støtte sammenlignet med religiøse personer. På en annen side, fant man i tråd med internasjonale studier at religiøs mestring, deltagelse i kirken og religiøse opplevelser var forbundet med eksistensielt velvære. I tillegg ser man også i studier internasjonalt at religiøs mestring kan være funksjonelt for personer med langvarige helseproblemer. En sterkere sammenheng mellom religiøs mestring og eksistensielt velvære fant man også her. For videre studier blir det spesielt relevant å undersøke betydningen av religiøsitet for menns opplevelse av sosial støtte og velvære, samt på hvilke måter et ikke religiøst livssyn kan ha betydning for ens opplevelse av sosial støtte, og videre for folks helse
European Journal of Special Needs Education, 2018
As traditional teaching methods may fail to serve children with special needs, special education ... more As traditional teaching methods may fail to serve children with special needs, special education (SE) services aim to compensate for the shortcomings of conventional schooling. However, despite of numerous studies on the effectiveness of SE services, the influence of potential selection bias remains a real challenge, and only a few studies have applied methodology aiming to surmount these shortcomings. Therefore, by combining two methods (i.e. propensity score and fixed effects regression) to account for potential confounders, we examined the effects of receiving SE services in first and third grades on Norwegian students' academic achievement and task motivation in third and fifth grades (n = 745). Thus, we controlled for a propensity score that was calculated based on observed selection into SE, and combined this with fixed effects regression that has the advantage of ruling out all time-invariant confounders (e.g. genetics). Results revealed that SE in third grade adversely affected math achievements in fifth grade, and SE had no effect on reading and writing achievements or task motivation for reading, writing and math. The efficacy of SE services is called into question, and potential explanations and solutions are explored.
Child Development, 2019
Electronic games are popular and many children spend much time on this activity. Here we investig... more Electronic games are popular and many children spend much time on this activity. Here we investigate whether the quantity of time children spend on gaming is related to their social development, making this the first study to examine this relationship in children. We examine prospective relations between time spent gaming and social competence in a community sample of Norwegian 6 year olds (n = 873) followed up at ages 8, 10, and 12, controlling for socioeconomic status, body mass index, and time spent gaming together with friends. Results revealed that greater social competence at both 8 and 10 years predicted less gaming 2 years later and that more age‐10 gaming predicted less social competence at age 12 but only among girls.
Schizophrenia bulletin, Jan 11, 2018
The motor system in its manifold articulations is receiving increasing clinical and research atte... more The motor system in its manifold articulations is receiving increasing clinical and research attention. This is because motor impairments constitute a central, expressive component of the mental state examination and a key transdiagnostic feature indexing disease severity. Furthermore, within the schizophrenia spectrum, the integration of neurophysiological, developmental, and phenomenological perspectives suggests that motor impairment is not simply a generic, extrinsic proxy of an altered neurodevelopment, but might be more intimately related to psychotic risk. Therefore, an increased understanding, conceptualization, and knowledge of such motor system and its anomalies could empower contemporary risk prediction and diagnostic procedures.
European Journal of Special Needs Education, 2017
Children from some demographic groups disproportionately receive special education (SE) services.... more Children from some demographic groups disproportionately receive special education (SE) services. Due to methodological shortcoming in existing work, it remains unclear whether this is due to real differences in academic needs or cultural selection/bias. Hence, in a community sample of 1250 Norwegian children, we examined the role of third grade SE services, academic test scores, behavioural problems, and teacher's level of helplessness in mediating the effect of family socioeconomic status (SES) and students' gender on fifth-grade SE services. Results revealed no direct effects of either gender or SES on fifth-grade SE, but four mediated pathways were identified: (1) Boys had a greater likelihood of receiving fifth-grade SE services when (a) they previously received SE and (b) they experienced more ADHD symptoms, both in third grade. (2) Students from low-SES families were more likely to receive SE services in fifth grade when (a) they performed poorly in math in third grade and (b) their teacher reported greater feelings of helplessness when teaching these students. The findings are discussed with respect to the differential-needs hypothesis, mechanisms of cultural selection and the possibility of gendered selection for SE at younger ages. Special education (SE) is the most important support system for enhancing the learning and development of students who require extra support and services to succeed academically. About 10% of US students and 8% of students in Norway and Finland receive SE services (OECD 2012), involving considerable resources; consider two examples in this regard: $50 billion was spent annually on SE for the schoolyear of 1999-2000 in the US and one-sixth of yearly expenses for compulsory schooling in Norway is expended on SE, equal to $1.1 billion (Norwegian Directorate of Education and Training 2013; Union of Education 2016). Given such expenditures, it is important to ensure that those in need of SE are indeed offered it. It is equally important to ensure that those not in need of SE are not offered it, and to recognise that such students may have other needs that could be better met with different approaches and policies. Previous research indicates that boys, students
SAGE Open, 2015
Previous studies have shown that gender may moderate the relationship between religiousness and m... more Previous studies have shown that gender may moderate the relationship between religiousness and mental health in most countries, but few studies have been conducted in Norway and Denmark. This study examined gender differences in religious experiences and church attendance as predictors of existential well-being among 295 women and 233 men from the general Norwegian population. Analyses showed that the structural equation models for women and men did not differ significantly on the global level. The models for women and men, however, showed different patterns. Among men, church attendance and negative religious experiences predicted existential well-being; among women, positive and negative religious experiences were related to existential well-being, but church attendance was not. The present findings suggest that men may benefit more from active religiousness, whereas women may benefit more from affective religiousness. Comparing these results with research in other cultural conte...
Review of Religious Research, 2014
Previous research has shown that religiousness is related to social support, but most studies on ... more Previous research has shown that religiousness is related to social support, but most studies on this subject have been conducted in highly religious contexts. In the secular culture of Norway, we investigated the level of perceived social support among religious and non-religious individuals using the scale from the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey. Of the 3,000 randomly selected persons aged 18-75 years, 653 (22 %) participated in this cross-sectional postal questionnaire study in 2009. The results showed that the association between religiousness and social support differed by age, and was moderated by gender and by one's view of life enrichment. Among older adults (60-75 years), non-religious people reported higher levels on all five dimensions of social support compared to religious people, and for affectionate support, positive social interaction and tangible support this relationship depended on high view of life enrichment. In contrast, no differences in soci...
The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 2014
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Papers by Marianne Nilsen Kvande