Ruth K Raanaas - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Ruth K Raanaas

Journal of Occupational Science

Adolescent Research Review

Journal of Occupational Science

HortScience

Effects of an indoor plant intervention in a Norwegian rehabilitation center were assessed in a q... more Effects of an indoor plant intervention in a Norwegian rehabilitation center were assessed in a quasi-experiment. During a 2-year period, coronary and pulmonary patients (N = 282) completed self-report measures of health, subjective well-being, and emotion on arrival, after 2 weeks, and at the end of a 4-week program. The intervention involved the addition of indoor plants for the second year. On average, patient physical and mental health improved during the program, but the addition of plants did not increase the degree of improvement. Subjective well-being did, however, increase more in patients who went through their program after the addition of plants, although the effect was only apparent in the pulmonary patients. The patients reported more satisfaction with indoor plants and the interior generally after the intervention. Room for the intervention to affect outcomes may have been limited by the well-designed interior and the center's location in a scenic mountain area, b...

International journal of circumpolar health, Dec 1, 2018

Although high school graduation is important for living conditions and health throughout life, ma... more Although high school graduation is important for living conditions and health throughout life, many students do not complete. In Norway's northern most county, Finnmark, up to 45% of students do not complete high school. Contrary to prior research that has primarily focused on causes for dropout, this study's aim was to deepen understanding of factors that support high school attendance. A strengths-based participatory approach using photovoice addressed attendance factors as perceived by seven participating students from one high school in Finnmark. Qualitative content analysis of data generated through group dialogue about participant-generated photos and individual interviews identified six factors important for students' school attendance: a supportive school environment, a good learning environment, recuperation and recreation, family and friends, goals and ambitions, and place attachment. Related aspects of a supportive environment and belongingness, where school s...

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening

Tidsskrift For Psykisk Helsearbeid, Jun 3, 2013

Work (Reading, Mass.), Jan 13, 2015

Improving social support, and providing nature contact at work are potential health promoting wor... more Improving social support, and providing nature contact at work are potential health promoting workplace interventions. The objective was to investigate whether nature contact at work is associated with employee's health and participation, and to study whether the possible associations between nature contact and health can be explained by perceived organizational support. Data were collected through a web-based, cross-sectional survey of employees in seven public and private office workplaces in Norway (n = 707, 40% response rate). Multiple linear and logistic regression analysis were performed on 565 participants fulfilling inclusion criteria. A greater amount of indoor nature contact at work was significantly associated with less job stress (B = -0.18, CI = -0.318 to -0.042), fewer subjective health complaints (B = -0.278, CI = -0.445 to -0.112) and less sickness absence (B = -0.061, CI = -0.009 to -0.002). Perceived organizational support mediated the associations between indo...

Work (Reading, Mass.), Jan 13, 2015

Work (Reading, Mass.), Jan 13, 2015

Stress and mental fatigue are major health threats to employees in office-based occupations. Phys... more Stress and mental fatigue are major health threats to employees in office-based occupations. Physical activity is widely used as a stress-management intervention for employees. Moreover, experiences in contact with nature have been shown to provide stress-reduction and restoration from mental fatigue. In a pilot study designed as a randomized controlled trial we investigated the impact of a green-exercise intervention on psychological and physiological indicators of stress in municipality employees. Fourteen employees (7 females and 7 males, 49±8 yrs) volunteered in an exercise-based intervention in workplace either outdoors in a green/nature area or in an indoor exercise-setting. The intervention consisted of an information meeting and two exercise sessions, each including a biking bout and a circuit-strength sequence using elastic rubber bands (45-minutes, at about 55% of HR reserve, overall). Main outcomes were perceived environmental potential for restoration, affective state, b...

Work (Reading, Mass.), Jan 11, 2015

Socialmedicinsk Tidskrift, Jun 17, 2014

To evaluate the most effective way to present (telephone) numbers, factors of practical and theor... more To evaluate the most effective way to present (telephone) numbers, factors of practical and theoretical relevance were studied. This includes list length (i.e. number of digits); visual vs. auditory presentation; duration of the presentation; and digit-grouping format (chunking). In the present study, auditory (i.e. sequential) presentation was compared directly with simultaneous visual presentation (all digits together). Not surprisingly, list length is the most critical factor for immediate recall (the more digits, the less recalled), and a longer presentation time favours both modalities. An effect of the digit-grouping format was found only for auditory presentations, where ungrouped numbers did worse. Plots of serial-position effects for different digit-grouping formats show that the digits in ungrouped, visually presented numbers are, in fact, subjectively grouped in twos.

Journal of Occupational Science, 2015

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2015

The aims of this study were to examine associations between reported exposure to psychological an... more The aims of this study were to examine associations between reported exposure to psychological and physical violence and psychological distress (PD) among men and women, and to explore the possible mediating or moderating roles of sense of mastery and social support. We used data from the nationally representative Norwegian Health and Level of Living Survey in 2005 and 2012 (Weighted N = 19,386). PD was measured with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25, using the subscales for anxiety and depression separately and in combination. Analyses were conducted using hierarchical logistic regression with complex sample adjustment. Altogether, 3.8% of men and 5.4% of women reported psychological violence during the last 12 months, while 2.3% and 1.6% reported physical violence, respectively. Both forms of violence were associated with excess risk of comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms above clinical cut-point (CAD) in men and women alike, and CAD occurred more frequently than anxiety or depressive problems separately. Sense of mastery, but not social support, partly mediated the association between both forms of violence and CAD in men, whereas both partly mediated the association between psychological violence and CAD in women. No moderator role was indicated. Overall, the results provide evidence for excess risk of PD, particularly CAD, in men and women reporting exposure to violence. Sense of mastery and to a lesser degree social support were shown to constitute significant mediators, underscoring the importance of systems for strengthening coping strategies and social support among violence victims, such as psychological and practical support by the health services.

Journal of studies on alcohol, 1999

Moderate doses of alcohol will have detrimental effects on memory functions used in various aspec... more Moderate doses of alcohol will have detrimental effects on memory functions used in various aspects of human interaction with information technology. The need to deal with multidigit numbers while under alcohol intoxication (e.g., making telephone calls) is a reality of life. To determine these relations, the effects of alcohol on immediate ordered recall were studied in a practical number-dialing task. Immediate ordered recall of eight-digit numbers, presented visually or auditorily, was tested in read-and-dial or listen-and-dial forced ordered recall tasks with male subjects (N = 11) under two levels of blood alcohol concentration (BrAC = 0.05% and BrAC = 0.1%) and a no-alcohol placebo control condition (BrAC = 0.0%). With increasing alcohol level, immediate ordered recall of whole numbers (all eight digits correct and in the right order) fell by 9% (visual presentation) and 15% (auditory presentation). No significant interaction effect between alcohol level and digit position in ...

Septentrio Reports, 2015

Reciprocal benefits of physical activity and exposure to nature for greater gain in health promo... more Reciprocal benefits of physical activity and exposure to nature for greater gain in health promotion. Theoretical assumptions and description of a pilot study.Recent studies have highlighted that health problems connected to inactivity are not just associated to lack of exercise, but rather to sedentary behaviour in a broader sense. In a large longitudinal study in the U.S.A., it was found that the amount of time spent in sedentary behaviour, such as watching television, was associated with cause-specific mortality in normal adults, even in subjects who did engage in some exercise program including intensive physical activity PA (Matthews et al., 2012).Therefore, in health promotion, it is important to promote active lifestyles characterized by higher activity levels across the day, increasing the time and frequency one is engage in any body movement, rather than only promoting participation in exercise sessions taking place two or three times a week.

Psyecology: Revista Biling??e de Psicolog??a Ambiental, 2013

Journal of Occupational Science

Adolescent Research Review

Journal of Occupational Science

HortScience

Effects of an indoor plant intervention in a Norwegian rehabilitation center were assessed in a q... more Effects of an indoor plant intervention in a Norwegian rehabilitation center were assessed in a quasi-experiment. During a 2-year period, coronary and pulmonary patients (N = 282) completed self-report measures of health, subjective well-being, and emotion on arrival, after 2 weeks, and at the end of a 4-week program. The intervention involved the addition of indoor plants for the second year. On average, patient physical and mental health improved during the program, but the addition of plants did not increase the degree of improvement. Subjective well-being did, however, increase more in patients who went through their program after the addition of plants, although the effect was only apparent in the pulmonary patients. The patients reported more satisfaction with indoor plants and the interior generally after the intervention. Room for the intervention to affect outcomes may have been limited by the well-designed interior and the center's location in a scenic mountain area, b...

International journal of circumpolar health, Dec 1, 2018

Although high school graduation is important for living conditions and health throughout life, ma... more Although high school graduation is important for living conditions and health throughout life, many students do not complete. In Norway's northern most county, Finnmark, up to 45% of students do not complete high school. Contrary to prior research that has primarily focused on causes for dropout, this study's aim was to deepen understanding of factors that support high school attendance. A strengths-based participatory approach using photovoice addressed attendance factors as perceived by seven participating students from one high school in Finnmark. Qualitative content analysis of data generated through group dialogue about participant-generated photos and individual interviews identified six factors important for students' school attendance: a supportive school environment, a good learning environment, recuperation and recreation, family and friends, goals and ambitions, and place attachment. Related aspects of a supportive environment and belongingness, where school s...

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening

Tidsskrift For Psykisk Helsearbeid, Jun 3, 2013

Work (Reading, Mass.), Jan 13, 2015

Improving social support, and providing nature contact at work are potential health promoting wor... more Improving social support, and providing nature contact at work are potential health promoting workplace interventions. The objective was to investigate whether nature contact at work is associated with employee's health and participation, and to study whether the possible associations between nature contact and health can be explained by perceived organizational support. Data were collected through a web-based, cross-sectional survey of employees in seven public and private office workplaces in Norway (n = 707, 40% response rate). Multiple linear and logistic regression analysis were performed on 565 participants fulfilling inclusion criteria. A greater amount of indoor nature contact at work was significantly associated with less job stress (B = -0.18, CI = -0.318 to -0.042), fewer subjective health complaints (B = -0.278, CI = -0.445 to -0.112) and less sickness absence (B = -0.061, CI = -0.009 to -0.002). Perceived organizational support mediated the associations between indo...

Work (Reading, Mass.), Jan 13, 2015

Work (Reading, Mass.), Jan 13, 2015

Stress and mental fatigue are major health threats to employees in office-based occupations. Phys... more Stress and mental fatigue are major health threats to employees in office-based occupations. Physical activity is widely used as a stress-management intervention for employees. Moreover, experiences in contact with nature have been shown to provide stress-reduction and restoration from mental fatigue. In a pilot study designed as a randomized controlled trial we investigated the impact of a green-exercise intervention on psychological and physiological indicators of stress in municipality employees. Fourteen employees (7 females and 7 males, 49±8 yrs) volunteered in an exercise-based intervention in workplace either outdoors in a green/nature area or in an indoor exercise-setting. The intervention consisted of an information meeting and two exercise sessions, each including a biking bout and a circuit-strength sequence using elastic rubber bands (45-minutes, at about 55% of HR reserve, overall). Main outcomes were perceived environmental potential for restoration, affective state, b...

Work (Reading, Mass.), Jan 11, 2015

Socialmedicinsk Tidskrift, Jun 17, 2014

To evaluate the most effective way to present (telephone) numbers, factors of practical and theor... more To evaluate the most effective way to present (telephone) numbers, factors of practical and theoretical relevance were studied. This includes list length (i.e. number of digits); visual vs. auditory presentation; duration of the presentation; and digit-grouping format (chunking). In the present study, auditory (i.e. sequential) presentation was compared directly with simultaneous visual presentation (all digits together). Not surprisingly, list length is the most critical factor for immediate recall (the more digits, the less recalled), and a longer presentation time favours both modalities. An effect of the digit-grouping format was found only for auditory presentations, where ungrouped numbers did worse. Plots of serial-position effects for different digit-grouping formats show that the digits in ungrouped, visually presented numbers are, in fact, subjectively grouped in twos.

Journal of Occupational Science, 2015

Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2015

The aims of this study were to examine associations between reported exposure to psychological an... more The aims of this study were to examine associations between reported exposure to psychological and physical violence and psychological distress (PD) among men and women, and to explore the possible mediating or moderating roles of sense of mastery and social support. We used data from the nationally representative Norwegian Health and Level of Living Survey in 2005 and 2012 (Weighted N = 19,386). PD was measured with the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25, using the subscales for anxiety and depression separately and in combination. Analyses were conducted using hierarchical logistic regression with complex sample adjustment. Altogether, 3.8% of men and 5.4% of women reported psychological violence during the last 12 months, while 2.3% and 1.6% reported physical violence, respectively. Both forms of violence were associated with excess risk of comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms above clinical cut-point (CAD) in men and women alike, and CAD occurred more frequently than anxiety or depressive problems separately. Sense of mastery, but not social support, partly mediated the association between both forms of violence and CAD in men, whereas both partly mediated the association between psychological violence and CAD in women. No moderator role was indicated. Overall, the results provide evidence for excess risk of PD, particularly CAD, in men and women reporting exposure to violence. Sense of mastery and to a lesser degree social support were shown to constitute significant mediators, underscoring the importance of systems for strengthening coping strategies and social support among violence victims, such as psychological and practical support by the health services.

Journal of studies on alcohol, 1999

Moderate doses of alcohol will have detrimental effects on memory functions used in various aspec... more Moderate doses of alcohol will have detrimental effects on memory functions used in various aspects of human interaction with information technology. The need to deal with multidigit numbers while under alcohol intoxication (e.g., making telephone calls) is a reality of life. To determine these relations, the effects of alcohol on immediate ordered recall were studied in a practical number-dialing task. Immediate ordered recall of eight-digit numbers, presented visually or auditorily, was tested in read-and-dial or listen-and-dial forced ordered recall tasks with male subjects (N = 11) under two levels of blood alcohol concentration (BrAC = 0.05% and BrAC = 0.1%) and a no-alcohol placebo control condition (BrAC = 0.0%). With increasing alcohol level, immediate ordered recall of whole numbers (all eight digits correct and in the right order) fell by 9% (visual presentation) and 15% (auditory presentation). No significant interaction effect between alcohol level and digit position in ...

Septentrio Reports, 2015

Reciprocal benefits of physical activity and exposure to nature for greater gain in health promo... more Reciprocal benefits of physical activity and exposure to nature for greater gain in health promotion. Theoretical assumptions and description of a pilot study.Recent studies have highlighted that health problems connected to inactivity are not just associated to lack of exercise, but rather to sedentary behaviour in a broader sense. In a large longitudinal study in the U.S.A., it was found that the amount of time spent in sedentary behaviour, such as watching television, was associated with cause-specific mortality in normal adults, even in subjects who did engage in some exercise program including intensive physical activity PA (Matthews et al., 2012).Therefore, in health promotion, it is important to promote active lifestyles characterized by higher activity levels across the day, increasing the time and frequency one is engage in any body movement, rather than only promoting participation in exercise sessions taking place two or three times a week.

Psyecology: Revista Biling??e de Psicolog??a Ambiental, 2013