This study aims to describe staff experiences of nature as a tool for working with people with mental illnesses. A qualitative study consisting of nine interviews with staff working with nature as a tool was conducted. The data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Two themes with six subthemes emerged. The first theme, making the invisible visible with subthemes, getting in touch with nature, getting in touch with feelings and acceptance of time and lack of demands, and the second theme, working with what we have with subthemes, nature becomes a tool for resiliency, the surrounding environment becomes a safe setting and important relationships for good treatment. The healthcare staffs' experiences of incorporating nature as a caring tool for patients with mental illness showed that nature could contribute to a patient's recovery. For psychiatric nursing, this study observed that having the knowledge and awareness of nature's effect on patients, and using it as complementary care and treatment-tool may inspire both staff, and their patients to further include nature-assisted care and therapy in their treatment of mental illnesses on the road to improved mental health.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown varying effects on adolescents’ mental health, psychosocial functioning, risk behaviours, and victimisation. This study aims to examine the changes reported by a sample of Swedish adolescents (N = 1607) at the end of the first year of the pandemic in relation to these factors. Data were collected with an electronic survey between September 2020 and February 2021, targeting upper-secondary high school students (aged 15–19 years). The results indicate a relatively low overall impact of the pandemic on Swedish upper-secondary school students, with notable gender differences. Compared to adolescent women, a higher percentage of adolescent men reported experiencing elevated levels of anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, anger, and increased illicit drug use as consequences of the pandemic. In contrast, women demonstrated an increase in several salutogenic behaviours. Victimisation rates generally decreased during this period. These findings underscore the importance of heightened awareness among professionals within schools, social services, and healthcare settings regarding the distinct challenges encountered by a larger portion of adolescent men during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden.

Background: The detrimental impacts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on health have been extensively studied, mainly focusing on the effects of ACEs on adults. However, there is a dearth of studies exploring their influences on adolescents. Objective: This study aims to investigate the associations between ACEs and psychological distress among Swedish adolescents. Participants and setting: At the end of 2020, 1561 Swedish adolescents (15-19-years-old) participated in an electronic survey. The survey encompassed questions about alcohol and drug use problems within the students' families, questions about the students' experiences of physical and psychological abuse, and the administration of the Brief Symptom Inventory to assess their mental health. Methods: Descriptive and comparative non-parametric statistics were applied. Results: Nearly half of the study population reported experiencing one or more ACEs. Exposure to any ACE was significantly associated with a higher level of psychological distress. Of the ACEs examined, the experience of psychological abuse was the most substantial risk factor for psychological distress (with medium effect sizes of epsilon 2 between 0.07 and 0.12 on each domain and a large effect size of epsilon 2 = 0.14 on the General Severity Index scale). There was a positive correlation (r = 0.36) between the number of ACEs experienced and worsened mental health. Conclusions: The significant impacts of any ACE, the cumulative number of ACEs, and, particularly, psychological abuse on adolescent mental health are discussed. To further enhance the understanding of these associations and identify effective interventions to prevent and mitigate the negative impact of ACEs on mental health, additional research is warranted.

Providing care and support to persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) requires in-depth knowledge about ID and challenging behaviour (CB) as well as communication and interaction. Knowledge deficiencies in these areas may prevent staff from understanding their clients and their behaviours, particularly those behaviours considered to be challenging. The aim of this study was to explore staff’s perceptions about CB among clients with ID in residential settings before and after a web-based training programme using the survey instrument ‘Checklist of Challenging Behaviour’ (CCB). The CRe-DEPTH guideline has served as a guide in this study. Upon completion of the training, staff perceived a reduced frequency of CB as well as reduced management difficulty of CB among clients. As such, training should routinely be offered to all staff in residential settings, but also healthcare professionals in general responsible for caring for clients exhibiting CB to ensure, improve and reinforce the quality of care and support provided to them.