School completion and progression to higher education in adolescents with social anxiety: a linkage between Young-HUNT3 and national educational data (2008-2019), Norway.

BACKGROUND: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) most commonly develops in adolescence-a period of life that includes a transition to upper secondary school. The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which social anxiety in adolescence is associated with the completion of upper secondary school and progression to higher education. METHODS: This longitudinal study includes 8,192 adolescents aged 13-19 years who participated in the Norwegian Young-HUNT 3 population-based study. Social anxiety is measured employing (1) diagnostic interview screening questions (interview) and (2) a self-reported symptom index (questionnaire). Notably, we define the cohorts based on these two methods. Using national educational data (2008-2019), we follow educational attainment among the cohorts until they turn 25 years of age. RESULTS: We found that adolescents who screened positive (SP) for SAD had a predicted probability of upper secondary school completion at 21 years of age that was 14% points lower than those who screened negative (SN). Further, differences remained when looking at completion rates at age 25 years. Moreover, predicted probabilities for completion were inversely associated with increasing levels of self-reported social anxiety symptoms. Similarly, the proportion of the completers of an academic program in the SP group that were enrolled in higher education by 25 years of age, were lower than for the SN group (87 vs. 92%). CONCLUSION: Social anxiety in adolescence, both self-reported symptoms and diagnostic screening, has long-term negative impact on upper secondary school completion and to some extent enrollment to higher education.

A Psychological Investigation of Selection Criteria for Learning Agents (Super Users) and Allocation of Responsibilities in the Implementation of Technological Change.

Purpose: In the introduction of new technologies into organizations, there has been an increasing trend to recruit and make use of the so-called "super users" to help ensure the future use of the technology in question. Little is known about the criteria that should ideally be considered in the selection of these super users, or about the best way to carve up the roles and responsibilities in this process between super users and middle management. In this study, we investigated (1) which criteria should be emphasized in the selection of super users, and (2) how middle management and super users understand and negotiate the responsibilities of their respective roles during implementation of technological change. Methods: We conducted 10 individual semi-structured interviews and used thematic analysis of this data set to identify selection criteria, roles, and responsibilities. Results: We found that the main selection criteria for super users should be: (1) availability and local knowledge, (2) technological skills, (3) pedagogical skills, and (4) proactiveness. The main roles and responsibilities that should be carved up between management and super users can be grouped into two overarching categories, each with several subcategories. Within the Learning culture category, the responsibilities are to (1) facilitate collective learning, (2) engage with criticism, and (3) promote collective sharing; and within the Individual learning category, to (4) facilitate individual learning, (5) provide instrumental support, and (6) provide emotional support. Discussion and Conclusion: Based on the findings, we propose a conceptual model of technological implementation and the construction of a culture of organizational learning, entitled ECo-System Of Learning in Organizations (ECSO-Learn); we additionally show how a learning agent (previously known as a super user) can be recruited to best fit into this model of long-term organizational learning.