SPED4303 ¨C Psychological, social and emotional difficulties from a global perspective ¨C Prevalence, causes, and prevention

Course content

Psychological and social difficulties negatively affect education, employment, health, wellbeing, and life expectancy and are associated with large personal and economic costs for both individuals and society. Psychological and social difficulties include a wide range of behavioural, emotional, and social problems such as ADHD, conduct disorder, anxiety, depression, substance misuse, antisocial behavioural and aggression. This course will focus on the classification, prevalence, and causes of clinically significant psychological and social problems (i.e., diagnoses) including evidence-based prevention and intervention approaches for the most common types of problems.?

Learning outcome

Knowledge:??

After completing this course, you will have in depth knowledge about:??

• the prevalence and distribution of psychological and social difficulties nationally and internationally?

• causes of psychological and social difficulties including the role of genetic and environmental factors (and interactions between them) through a biopsychosocial lens

• the social determinants of psychological and social problems?

• assessment and classification of psychological and social problems (e.g., ICD, DSM, CBCL)?

• evidence-based prevention and intervention

• prevention of psychological and social difficulties at the population level

• Psychological and social difficulties and the role of climate change and the environment?

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Skills:?

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:?

• appreciate the distribution of psychological and social problems and know where to find prevalence estimates and related statistics?

• apply a biopsychosocial perspective to understanding the role of genes and environments as risk factors for psychological and social problems?

• recognise measurement tools and classification frameworks for common psychological and social problems??

• identify evidence-based approaches and programs to lower the burden of psychological and social difficulties through prevention and intervention?

• appreciate the importance of prevention at the population level?

• identify the role of broader systemic factors, such as climate change, in shaping risks for psychosocial problems?

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General competences:??

Upon completion of the course, you should have acquired:?

• the ability to evaluate and critically discuss psychological and social difficulties from an individual and global perspective?

• the capacity to independently investigate, plan, implement, carry out, and critically reflect on evidence-based interventions in accordance with ethical requirements and guidelines?

• the skill to seek new knowledge about relevant research and its application in the field of special education practices and related psychological and social difficulties?

• the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of implemented interventions?

• the aptitude to convey the rationale behind an intervention to "service users" (e.g., clients, patients) and utilise different methods to ensure the service users involvement in the choice of assessment and intervention?

Admission to the course

Admission to the Master¡¯s programme in Special Needs Education or Master in Research in Special Needs Education. The course is compulsory for students on the specialisation Psykososiale vansker.

Recommended previous knowledge

SPED4301

Overlapping courses

• 10 credits overlap with SPED4300 ¨C Fordypning i psykososiale vansker.

Teaching

This course consists of:

• Lectures?

• Seminars

Compulsory activities:

• Attendance at seminars

• Group assignment

The compulsory components must be completed and approved before you are allowed to take the exam.

Examination

School exam (4h).

Language of examination

You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about?the grading system.

Resit an examination

Re-sit exam:

Students who do not pass an exam may have a second attempt as soon as it is possible to arrange. This is called a re-sit examination. The re-sit examination is held within 3 months of the original examination.

Students who have passed their exam, but who wish to improve their grade may not participate in a re-sit examination. You may take an exam to improve your grades at the next time the course has an ordinary exam, as long as you have not already used all three attempts. The Department will provide information and guidelines about the re-sit examination.

More about examinations at UiO

• Use of sources and citations
• Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
• Withdrawal from an exam
• Illness at exams / postponed exams
• Explanation of grades and appeals
• Resitting an exam
• Cheating/attempted cheating

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.