Silje E Reme

• PsyD, PhD
• Professor (Full) at University of Oslo

Background Women undergoing breast cancer surgery frequently experience postsurgical pain and fatigue, which reduces their quality of life. Although psychological factors have been shown to play a role in predicting postsurgical outcomes, the subacute recovery phase often remains underexplored. In this secondary analysis of data from a randomised c...

Bullying, physical violence, sexual abuse, loss of loved ones, accidents, disasters or other potentially traumatic events or situations in childhood are associated with a range of health problems and related functional impairment. New research findings suggest that such childhood trauma can lead to young people developing chronic pain with frequent...

This study investigates how university students perceived the state of affairs after the sudden campus lockdown in Norway due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and how those perceptions affected students’ experiences of stress and self-perceived mental health. We report the results of a survey study among 8907 students at a large Norwegian university. As i...

Mental health care that is open to patients’ existential needs requires well-trained professionals who work in teams and use an open conceptualization of spirituality, religion and other meaning-making domains. Using a mixed methods approach, this article explores how professionals (n = 262) in secular Norway perceive obstacles and opportunities in...

Pain, a widespread challenge affecting daily life, is closely linked with psychological and social factors. While pain clearly influences daily function in those affected, the complete extent of its impact is not fully understood. Given the close connection between pain and psychosocial factors, a deeper exploration of these aspects is needed. In t...

Administration mode of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) may influence responses. We assessed if Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale – Depression subscale (HADS-D) item responses and scores were associated with administration mode. We compared (1) self...

Objectives Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is a common postoperative sequela. Despite the increasing popularity of cosmetic surgeries, there is a notable lack of research on CPSP in this context, with existing studies focusing on breast surgeries only. To address existing gaps in knowledge, the objective of the present study was to investigate the...

Objectives Establishment of effective evidence-based interventions in rehabilitation of working memory (WM) deficits after acquired brain injury (ABI) is sorely needed. Despite robust evidence for the efficiency of clinical hypnosis in a wide range of clinical conditions, and improved understanding of mechanisms underlying its effects, the potentia...

Objectives In Metacognitive therapy (MCT), homework is used, for example, to increase awareness of thoughts and thought processes, to challenge metacognitive beliefs in real‐life situations, and to practice new ways of processing thoughts, feelings, and symptoms. All MCT treatment manuals include homework assignments to be given between each sessio...

Background Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms (MUPS) are prevalent among primary care patients and frequently lead to diminished quality of life, increased healthcare costs, and decreased work participation. We aimed to examine the effects of a work-focused structured communication tool based on cognitive-behavioral therapy in patients with MU...

The ‘Oslo Chronic Fatigue Consortium’ consists of researchers and clinicians who question the current narrative that chronic fatigue syndromes, including post-covid conditions, are incurable diseases. Instead, we propose an alternative view, based on research, which offers more hope to patients. Whilst we regard the symptoms of these conditions as...

Background: Opioid exposure after surgery increases risk of persistent opioid use. Here, we characterize at-home use of opioid rescue medication during 1-2 days after outpatient surgery (N=270) in a postoperative opioid-sparing context at a Norwegian hospital. Methods: The postsurgical pain management plan included non-steroidal anti-inflammator...

Objective: To estimate the causal effect of executive functioning on the remission of depression and anxiety symptoms in an observational dataset from a vocational rehabilitation program. It is also an aim to promote a method from the causal inference literature and to illustrate its value in this setting. Method: With longitudinal (four-time po...

This study aimed to explore the influence of chronic stress, measured through hair cortisol, on executive functions in individuals with chronic pain. We expected that there would be significant differences in chronic stress and executive functioning between pain patients and healthy controls, as well as between primary and secondary pain classifica...

Objectives: Establishment of effective evidence-based interventions in rehabilitation of working memory (WM) deficits after acquired brain injury (ABI) is sorely needed. Despite robust evidence for the efficiency of clinical hypnosis in a wide range of clinical conditions, and improved understanding of mechanisms underlying it ́s effects, the pote...

Background Fear of surgery has been associated with more postoperative pain, disability, and a lower quality of life among patients undergoing various surgical procedures. While qualitative studies indicate breast cancer patients to be afraid of surgery, detailed quantitative analyses are lacking. The present research aimed at investigating the pre...

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 gui...

Background The EQ-5D is a commonly used generic measure of health but evidence on its responsiveness to change in mental health is limited. This study aimed to explore the responsiveness of the five-level version of the instrument, the EQ-5D-5 L, in patients receiving treatment for depression and anxiety. Methods Patient data (N = 416) were collec...

Introduction Job exposure matrices (JEM) for physical workload, developed in several European countries, have been utilized to examine associations between physical work demands and ill-health. However, it is unclear whether the exposure measures in these JEMs could be internationally generalizable. The aim was to construct a European JEM (EuroJEM)...

Introduction Client-perpetrated violence is a detrimental workplace hazard among child-welfare workers. As an important first step in providing them a healthy and safe work environment, it is essential to ensure that implemented procedures are based on a proper assessment of what this exposure entails, and how prominent the exposure is. Material a...

Introduction Vulvodynia, a chronic genital pain disorder with a high lifetime prevalence among women, has a significant negative impact on both women and their partners. Although there is a growing body of literature on the experiences of women with vulvodynia, there has been little research on the condition's implications for partners and romantic...

The seven-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression subscale (HADS-D) and the total score of the 14-item HADS (HADS-T) are both used for major depression screening. Compared to the HADS-D, the HADS-T includes anxiety items and requires more time to complete. We compared the screening accuracy of the HADS-D and HADS-T for major depressio...

The seven-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression subscale (HADS-D) and the total score of the 14-item HADS (HADS-T) are both used for major depression screening. Compared to the HADS-D, the HADS-T includes anxiety items and requires more time to complete. We compared the screening accuracy of the HADS-D and HADS-T for major depressio...

Introduction:. Women who undergo breast cancer surgery risk suffering from postsurgical pain long after their surgery. Still, research on postsurgical pain in the subacute phase has been neglected. Objective:. This study aims to investigate the incidence, intensity, unpleasantness, and presurgical predictors of acute and subacute postsurgical pain...

Purpose Pain and stress-related ill-health are major causes of long-term disability and sick leave. This study evaluated the effects of a brief psychosocial program, which previously has been tested for an at-risk population of employees. Methods The Effective Communication within the Organization (ECO) program, where supervisors and employees were...

This study compared how two different measurement methods of client-perpetrated violence influence findings on prevalence rates and mental health outcomes in a probability sample of 660 Norwegian public sector child welfare workers. Using a single-item self-labeling approach, 15.4% reported exposure to physical violence, and 19.3% reported exposure...

Opioid exposure after surgery increases risk of persistent opioid use. Here, we characterize at-home use of opioid rescue medication during acute recovery after day surgery (N=270) in an opioid sparing context. The post-surgical pain management plan included non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and up to 6 pills of 5mg oxycodone to be taken as nee...

Background: Victims of workplace bullying represent a group characterised by severe negative health complaints at risk of losing their foothold in working life. To date, very few studies have investigated the effect of psychological treatment of the health-related problems often facing victims of bullying. Objective: The aim was to investigate i...

Objective To explore whether using a single matched or composite outcome might impact the results of previous randomised controlled trials (RCTs) testing exercise for non-specific low back pain (NSLBP). The first objective was to explore whether a single matched outcome generated a greater standardised mean differences (SMD) when compared to the or...

Background Breast cancer is the most common cancer type among women worldwide with over a million new cases each year. More than 40% of these women will struggle with chronic pain and fatigue after surgery, regardless of surgical procedure. These consequences are detrimental and result in distress and disability, including work disability. Few atte...

Background: Recently a new classification system for chronic pain was included in the 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). This study aims to investigate how expectancies of coping, i.e. pain catastrophizing and general self-efficacy, are associated with ICD-11 chronic pain categories in a large pain clinic popula...

Background Breast cancer is the most common cancer type among women worldwide with over a million new cases each year. More than 40% of these women will struggle with chronic pain and fatigue after surgery, regardless of surgical procedure. These consequences are detrimental and result in distress and disability, including work disability. Few atte...

Objective In this study, we examined exposure to workplace bullying as a predictor of registry-based benefit recipiency among workers struggling with work participation due to common mental disorders. Further, we examined if the experience of receiving social support moderated the association between workplace bullying and benefit recipiency. Desi...

Aim: To validate child-adapted shortened versions of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Behavioral Responses Questionnaire (IBS-BRQ; short scale denoted BRQ-C) and the Visceral Sensitivity Index (VSI; short scale denoted VSI-C) for children with functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs). Methods: A child psychologist supervised by a child gastroente...

Background Depression highly impairs function and reduces quality of life. Therefore, both symptomatic and functional recovery are important treatment goals. Depression consists of several cognitive, somatic, and affective symptom factors that differently affect function. However, it is unclear whether changes in these domains predict return to wor...

Objectives Although complex pain conditions require an interdisciplinary approach, employment services are rarely provided in pain centers. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an effective approach to increase work participation among patients with severe mental illness, and recent evidence suggests that this method may be successfully repurp...

The Injustice Experience Questionnaire (IEQ) assesses the degree to which chronic pain sufferers perceive injustice in relation to their pain. The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence and relevance of the IEQ and its association to perceived recovery and deterioration in a naturalistic pain clinic population. Data was obtained from...

Introduction Research suggests that current care for shoulder pain is not in line with the best available evidence. This project aims to assess the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and the implementation of an evidence-based guideline for shoulder pain in general practice in Norway. Methods and analysis A stepped-wedge, cluster-randomised trial w...

Objectives Perceived injustice is a theoretical construct comprising elements of loss, attribution of blame, and sense of unfairness. Patients with chronic pain often report high levels of perceived injustice, which can have negative impact on physiological and psychosocial aspects and treatment outcome. The Injustice Experience Questionnaire (IEQ)...

Purpose To investigate the effect of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) according to diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, substance use disorders, or forensic psychiatric conditions. Methods A systematic search of the literature was conducted in June 2017 and repeated in December 2020. The systematic review included...

Background Common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety are major contributors to the global burden of disease. Affected individuals suffer reduced quality of life, impaired functioning and reduced capacity to work. Maintaining employment is an important determinant for health and wellbeing, and the economic impact of depression and anxie...

Background Preoperative hypnosis has shown promising effects in controlling side effects from breast cancer surgery, but the feasibility and effects are largely unknown outside the US. Methods A mixed-methods approach was applied involving a large-scale population survey and a small-scale pilot study. The survey assessed attitudes toward hypnosis...

Background Employment is associated with better outcomes of substance use treatment and protects against relapse after treatment completion. Unemployment rates are high for people with substance use disorders (SUD) who undergo treatment, with Norwegian estimates ranging from 81 to 91%. Evidence-based vocational models are lacking for patients in SU...

Background: Groups in society that are under-represented in the workforce encounter various barriers in the job-seeking process. Some of these barriers are found on the employer's side of the table. Objective: This study investigates supervisors' and employees' assessments of job seekers with different forms of disabilities, health issues, or wi...

Purpose This study aimed to evaluate the validity of the Return-to-Work Self-efficacy Questionnaire (RTW-SE) in a Norwegian sample of patients with common mental disorders. The secondary aim was to provide validated cut-off scores for the RTW-SE. Methods Among patients receiving work-focused therapy ( N = 626), the RTW-SE was measured pre-and post-...

Objectives Sick leave due to anxiety and depression is a heterogeneous process constituting a pressing public health issue. This longitudinal study aimed to identify sick leave trajectories among patients before, during and after work-focused treatment, in all 29.5 months. We then aimed to determine the background and clinical characteristics of th...

Background: We report on a pilot intervention study exploring the efficacy of the Lightning Process® training programme for reducing chronic fatigue and improving health-related quality of life in cancer survivors. Methods: 13 adolescent and young adult cancer survivors previously treated for sarcoma or Hodgkin lymphoma were enrolled. A mixed-me...

Purpose The EQ-5D is a commonly used generic measure of health but evidence on its responsiveness to change in mental health is limited. This study aimed to explore EQ-5D responsiveness in patients receiving treatment for depression and anxiety. Methods Patient data (N = 416) were collected at baseline and at end of treatment in an observational st...

Addressing spiritual concerns in psychotherapy might be challenging in secular societies. An additional obstacle may be a possible religiosity gap between psychotherapists and their patients. To explore levels of religiosity and spiritual care competence, the Spiritual Care Competence Questionnaire was given to professionals in Norwegian mental hea...

Background Psilocybin is emerging as a promising therapeutic agent for a wide range of psychiatric conditions, and clinical trials on psilocybin-assisted treatment are forthcoming in Scandinavian countries. However, little is known about attitudes towards this psychedelic compound among the general public in Nordic countries. This might represent a...

Chronic post-surgical pain (CPSP) represents a highly prevalent and significant clinical problem. Both major and minor surgeries entail risks of developing CPSP, and cancer-related surgery is no exception. As an example, more than 40% of women undergoing breast cancer surgery struggle with CPSP years after surgery. While we do not fully understand...

Aims: To develop a questionnaire to examine attitudes among employees and managers to include people with various health problems into their work group, and to test the questionnaire in one relevant population within the labour market. Methods: A questionnaire was developed through a process involving discussions in a scientific forum and pilot...

Background Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based work rehabilitation program helping people with moderate to severe mental illness to obtain ordinary employment. Although IPS has proven superior to other work rehabilitation programs, in many studies, the majority of the participants remain unemployed. Structured process evalua...

Background Many people with moderate to severe mental illness have a desire to obtain ordinary employment. To aid further development of health and social services for this group, the aim of this study was to examine candidate modifiable and prognostic markers of employment, and moderating effects of group allocation in a clinical trial. Method Th...

Background: Common mental disorders (CMD) are leading causes of sickness absence. Treatments for CMD that both reduce symptoms and support work participation urgently need to be developed. Objective: Determine the potential effects of work-focused therapy combining work interventions with either meta cognitive therapy or cognitive behavioural th...

Background and aims A considerable research-literature focuses on pain during labor and associations with postpartum persistent pain and depression, with findings pointing in various directions. The aim of this study was to examine the role of labor pain and overall birth experience in the development of pain and depression 8 weeks after delivery....

Introduction Comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in patients with chronic pain may have a negative effect on the course and outcome of both disorders. Nevertheless, the co-occurrence of the two conditions is often overlooked in clinical settings. Further, little is known about how PTSD is associated with biopsychosocial characteristics in...

Background and aims In the spring of 2019, Professor Steven J. Linton, the founder of the Center for Health and Medical Psychology (CHAMP) at Örebro University, Sweden, formally retired. As a tribute to his scholarly work covering decades of influence and inspiration to the field of pain psychology, the research center organized a topical conferenc...

Exposure to cyberbullying is associated with psychological distress like depressive symptoms, self-injurious behavior and suicidal thoughts. Cyberbullying is thus a major challenge for public health. This study examines the prevalence of cyberbullying and explores the psychological characteristics of adolescents who have experienced cyberbullying....

Background The effect of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) has been widely documented, but in many studies, the majority of participants remains unemployed. Structured process evaluations that use mixed methods are scarce, although they could identify components that may enhance the effect of IPS. The aim of the current study is to provide a d...

Background: Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based work rehabilitation program helping people with moderate to severe mental illness to obtaini ordinary employment. Although IPS has proven superior to other work rehabilitation programs, in many studies, the majority of the participants remains unemployed. Structured process eva...

Objective: Two previous individual participant data meta-analyses (IPDMAs) found that different diagnostic interviews classify different proportions of people as having major depression overall or by symptom levels. We compared the odds of major depression classification across diagnostic interviews among studies that administered the Depression s...

Background: Managing labor pain and early postpartum pain has been linked to a reduced risk for postpartum depression and pain. However, the role of labor pain and the overall birth experience in the development of postpartum depression and persistent pain still remains unclear. Methods: The study sample (n=2217) was drawn from the Akershus Birth C...

Background: The Return-To-Work Self-Efficacy Scale questionnaire maps self-efficacy upon return to work following acute lower back pain. We wished to translate and validate the questionnaire, as well as to assess the concordance between the translated form and two other forms. Material and method: The questionnaire was translated into Norwegian...

Objectives Individual placement and support (IPS) is an effective approach for helping people with severe mental illness gain employment. This study aimed to investigate if IPS can be effectively repurposed to support young adults at risk of early work disability due to various social and health related problems. Methods A randomized controlled tri...

Objective: Norway is a high-income and high-cost society with a generous welfare system, and it has the largest mental health–related unemployment gap of the OECD countries. The aim of the current article was to present a short history of Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services to increase work participation in Norway. Method: We provide...

Background and aims Chronic pain is a leading cause to years lived with disability worldwide. However, few of the interventions used in pain medicine have proven efficacy, and evidence from the existing studies may not be valid for the general pain population. Therefore, it is of utmost need that we describe chronic pain conditions in their most re...

Background: Young adults that are not in education, training or employment represent a problem across European countries. While some are cases of temporary transitions or short-term inactivity, others represent a more vulnerable group at risk of early work disability. Early exclusion from the labor market represents long lives exposed to detrimenta...

Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of individual placement and support (IPS) for people struggling with work participation due to moderate-to-severe mental illness. The study was conducted in Norway, a setting characterized by a comprehensive welfare system and strong employment protection legislation. Methods A rand...

Background There is moderate quality evidence that integrating work-directed interventions and components from psychological therapies reduces sickness absence in the medium term. We aimed to extend this evidence by examining objectively ascertained income and work participation status up to 4 years after an intervention to improve outcomes among p...

Background: Work disability involves large costs to the society as well as to the individual. Work disability is common among people with chronic pain conditions, yet few effective interventions exist. Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based work rehabilitation model originally developed to help people with severe mental illnes...

Background: Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based work rehabilitation model with well-documented effects for people with mental illness. The model has, however, never been tested out for people with chronic pain. This pilot study aimed to investigate chronic pain patients' experiences with the IPS job support model. Methods:...

Background Disability benefits and sick leave benefits represents huge costs in western countries. The pathways and prognostic factors for receiving these benefits seen in recent years are complex and manifold. We postulate that mental health and IQ, both alone and concurrent, influence subsequent employment status, disability benefits and mortalit...

Background and aims Pain is not merely an isolated experience occurring within the person. It takes place in a wider social context, including the immediate social relationships that the person is a part of. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of how intercouple interactions might influence pain coping in couples coping with chronic pai...

Background and objective: Cognitive-behavioural treatments (CBT) and physical group exercise (PE) have both shown promising effects in reducing disability and increasing work participation among chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients. A brief cognitive intervention (BI) has previously been demonstrated to reduce work disability in CLBP. The aim of...

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is an evidence-based model of supported employment, originally deve- loped to help people with severe mental illness achieve competitive employment. The methodology challenges common misconceptions about work and mental health, and is supported by a large and growing body of research. This presentation summari...

Background: Early withdrawal or exclusion from the labor market leads to significant personal and societal costs. In Norway, the increasing numbers of young adults receiving disability pension is a growing problem. While a large body of research demonstrates positive effects of Supported Employment (SE) in patients with severe mental illness, no s...

Study design: A randomized controlled trial. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a tailored and manualized cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) or nutritional supplements of seal oil and soy oil had any additional benefits over a brief cognitive intervention (BI) on return to work (RTW). Summary of background data: Brief inter...