Christina Cliffordson

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at University West

Purpose – Healthcare professionals’ conscious or unconscious norms, values and attitudes have been identified as partial explanations of healthcare inequity. Norm criticism is an approach that questions what is generally accepted as “normal” in society, and it enables professionals to identify norms that might cause prejudice, discrimination and ma...

Aims and objectives: The aim of the present study was twofold: 1) to measure changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL), two dimensions of illness perceptions (i.e., consequences and emotional representations), fatigue and self-efficacy in persons treated for CRC during the first year after surgical treatment, and 2) to study how fatigue, i...

In Dörnyei’s (2009a) theorizing, motivation is conceptualized to be generated by discomfort associated with the learner’s experience of a discrepancy between their current L2 self, and their ideal L2 self. However, in the L2 Motivational Self System, this discrepancy is not operationalized. A questionnaire containing measures of current L2 selves w...

Aims and objectives To translate the Self‐care Ability Scale for the Elderly into Simplified Chinese and to test the Chinese version of the scale regarding its reliability and validity among older people. Background Self‐care is an important topic in nursing. When assessing older people's self‐care ability, it is essential that a reliable and vali...

English is today learnt in multitudes of settings worldwide, making it difficult to characterize relationships between motivation and context in generalized terms (Ushioda 2013). In settings where students have extensive encounters with English outside school, a reluctance to invest effort in formal learning has been observed. To investigate ways i...

The aim of this study was to test the homogeneity and construct validity of the Sense of Coherence 29-item scale (SOC-29) among older home-dwelling Norwegians. A postal questionnaire, consisting of background variables, five health-related questions, the SOC-29, and three other instruments measuring mental health, self-care ability, and risk for un...

Background: Cardiac self-efficacy is a person's belief in his/her ability to manage the challenges posed by a coronary disease, and its role has been evaluated in several coronary populations using the Cardiac Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE Scale). Self-efficacy has an important role in person-centred care, however there is a lack of appropriate instrume...

The purpose of the study was to investigate how grading of students in primary school affected achievement measured by grades one year later, and how the effect varied as a function of cognitive ability, gender and socio-economic status. The data derive from The Evaluation Through Follow Up longitudinal project. Through a national curriculum change...

Background Cattell's Gf-Gc distinction is quite generally recognized. However, the developmental part of the Gf-Gc theory of intelligence has not gained the same recognition. Results are inconsistent, but recent discussions emphasize the importance of homogeneity of samples with regard to education and language when investigating the developmental...

There is evidence that both personality traits and personal beliefs about medications affect adherence behavior. However, limited research exists on how personality and beliefs about asthma medication interact in influencing adherence behavior in people with asthma. To extend our knowledge in this area of adherence research, we aimed to determine t...

Despite the consistency with which gender differences have been found in second language motivation, little systematic research has taken place on motivation and gender to date. Permeating self-concept development, gender impacts not only current selves but also future-oriented possible selves. In construing possible selves, females tend to emphasi...

Despite the consistency with which gender differences have been found in second language motivation, little systematic research has taken place on motivation and gender to date. Permeating self-concept development, gender impacts not only current selves but also future-oriented possible selves. In construing possible selves, females tend to emphasi...

The purpose of this study was to translate and test the psychometric properties of the Norwegian-language version of the Risk Assessment Pressure Sore (RAPS) scale. Risk assessment scales for pressure ulcer (PU) prevention have become an aspect of quality improvement in healthcare, but their effectiveness depends on the reliability and validity of...

Purpose Personality traits are rather stable dispositions in adulthood, while self-efficacy and adherence may be modified through targeted interventions. Health-related quality of life (HRQL) serves as a vital outcome measure. The present aim was to explore the function of self-efficacy and adherence as mediators for the influencing effect of perso...

Research has found that grades are the most valid instruments for predicting educational success. Why grades have better predictive validity than, for example, standardized tests is not yet fully understood. One possible explanation is that grades reflect not only subject-specific knowledge and skills but also individual differences in other aspect...

Fatigue after myocardial infarction (MI) has been found to be distressing. A person's self-efficacy will influence his/her health behavior and plays an active role in tackling illness consequences. This study investigated associations between fatigue, disturbed sleep, general self-efficacy, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a sample of...

Over the years, governments of various political persuasions have influenced all levels of the educational system from pre-school to higher education (HE). A majority of the Swedish higher education institutions (HEIs) are state-owned and state-regulated. However, the regulations also apply to private institutions.

Brink, E., Alsén, P. & Cliffordson, C. (2011). Validation of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) in a sample of persons recovering from myocardial infarction – the Swedish version. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 52, 573–579. When people’s health is threatened, they generally develop illness perceptions to make sense of their il...

The aim of this study was to investigate the construct validity of the Moral Development Scale for Professionals (MDSP) using structural equation modeling. The instrument is a 12-item self-report instrument, developed in the Scandinavian cultural context and based on Kohlberg's theory. A hypothesized simplex structure model underlying the MDSP was...

The primary purpose of the study was to examine methodological issues in investigations of the relative effects of schooling and age on school performance. One means of separating these 2 effects involves the use of a between-grade regression discontinuity approach. However, amongst other things, this approach is based on assumptions concerning the...

The purpose of the study was to investigate how different student characteristics such as gender influence grades. In order to answer these questions, multivariate techniques were used. The data derive from The Gothenburg Educational Longitudinal Database (GOLD), and the subjects were 99,070 ninth-grade students born in 1987. The analyses were perf...

This paper is a report of a study to explore health problems, physical and mental functioning, and physical activity in working-age patients after myocardial infarction, in order to assess the possible effects of these factors on return to work. A diagnosis of myocardial infarction may discourage patients from continuing an active working life. Ena...

The purpose of the study was to use multivariate multilevel techniques to investigate whether it was possible to separate different dimensions in grades that relate to subject-matter achievement and to other factors. Data were derived from The Gothenburg Educational Longitudinal Database (GOLD), and the subjects were 99,070 ninth-grade students bor...

The effects of age and schooling on different aspects of intellectual performance, taking track of study into account, are investigated. The analyses were based on military enlistment test scores, obtained by 48,269 males, measuring Fluid ability (Gf), Crystallized intelligence (Gc), and General visualization (Gv) ability. A regression method, rely...

The purpose of the study is to investigate the predictive validity of criterion- and norm-referenced grades and the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (SweSAT) and, in particular, possible differences in the prediction of achievement in higher education across academic programs. The analyses were based on credit points obtained by 164,106 Swedish stu...

The aim of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS) among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and shorten the questionnaire. The empirically developed FIS, which comprised three subscales (cognitive, physical and psychosocial), was tested originally on Pipers' theoretical fr...

A short health complaints measure may provide information on the degree of recovery from acute myocardial infarction. The present study therefore evaluated a questionnaire-called the Somatic Health Complaints Questionnaire (SHCQ)-that includes 13 items concerning health problems common in cardiac patients. The sample included 114 patients in total,...

The purpose of this study is to examine step‐wise admission to two medical programs with regard to selection effects. By using data from a large‐scale longitudinal project, the influence of background variables on regular and step‐wise admission is estimated. Characteristics of both applicants and those admitted are investigated using descriptive s...

The purpose of this study is to examine effects of the admission system to higher education on background diversity of students and study efficiency. By using data from a longitudinal project, the students admitted to medical education on different admission grounds are compared. The results indicate that admissions based on upper secondary grades...

The purpose of the study is to examine effects of repeated test taking over several sessions on the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (SweSAT). Self-selection effects on test performance due to background variables that must be taken into consideration are also investigated. All test repeaters with two and three test scores from three cohorts are in...

Sammanfattning: Att tveksamheter framförts angående mål- och kunskapsrelate- rade betyg liksom till möjligheten att betygskomplettera är väl känt. Likaså att betygsmedelvärdet har ökat sedan införandet av det nya målrelaterade betygssyste- met. Däremot har det varit oklart vad dessa höjningar av betygen representerar; mer kunskaper eller betygsinfl...

The aim of this study was to examine the judgement of empathy based on real selection interviews. Sixteen interviewers conducted panel interviews of 123 applicants. The definition of empathy was based on the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), which is comprised of four sub-scales (empathic concern, perspective taking, fantasy and personal distre...

The purpose of the present study was to examine the structure of empathy using a hierarchical approach, and to compare the dimensions of empathy with measures of social functioning, in order to contribute to the understanding of the nature of empathy. The dimensionality of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, which comprises four subscales (empathic...

According to Orem's self-care deficit theory of nursing, the structure of self-care consists of self-care agency balanced by therapeutic self-care demand. Different conditioning factors constitute these two constructs. The aim of this study was to investigate through secondary analysis the structure of self-care in a group of elderly. Data were ori...

A sample of 221 11th grade students and their parents were asked to complete the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; M. H. Davis, 1980), which is comprised of 4 subscales: empathic concern, perspective taking, fantasy, and personal distress; and a global-item measure containing 4 items, 1 for each subscale. The factorial structure that emerged in...

The Appraisal of Self-care Agency scale measures self-care agency according to Orem´s self-care deficit theory of nursing. The aim of this study was to investigate the internal structure of the Appraisal of Self-care Agency (ASA) scale by means of secondary analysis and to determine critical components for self-reported health among older people. ...

The notion of paradigm has become increasingly important in nursing discourse. It is proposed that this concept is not always properly used in the scientific literature. The aim of this article was to elucidate the use of the notion of paradigm in nursing research. Two Nordic studies are used as examples. It may be argued that there are some seriou...

Includes bibliographical references. Thesis (Doctoral)--Gèoteborg Universitet, 2001.