Experiences of occupational balance in individuals with highly sensitive personality traits

Syfte: Undersöka och beskriva aktivitetsbalans hos individer med högkänsligt personlighetsdrag. Metod: En kvantitativ enkätstudie genomfördes. Webbenkäten utformades efter Occupational Balance Questionnaire 11 [OBQ11]. Fyra bakgrundsvariabler lades till. Vid analys av data tillämpades en kvantitativ bearbetning. I studien deltog 203 högkänsliga individer. Resultat: De högkänsliga individerna skattade i genomsnitt låg aktivitetsbalans. Resultatet visade att det fanns en signifikant skillnad i skattad aktivitetsbalans mellan de individer som har barn mot de individer utan barn samt mellan de som bor ensam eller är sammanboende. Vissa delar av OBQ11 utmärkte sig mer då de visade lägre skattad aktivitetsbalans än andra. Inget samband mellan ålder och skattad aktivitetsbalans kunde urskiljas. Slutsats: Deltagarna i studien har en genomgående låg aktivitetsbalans. Mer forskning behövs för att undersöka kopplingen mellan arbetsterapi och högkänslighet. Däremot skulle arbetserapeuters kunskap om hur miljön påverkar en individ kunna vara till nytta för högkänsliga individer. Aim: Examine and describe occupational balance in individuals with highly sensitive personality traits. Method: A quantitative questionnaire study was conducted. The web survey was designed according to Occupational Balance Questionnaire 11 [OBQ11]. Four background variables were added. In the analysis of data, a quantitative processing was applied. The study involved 203 highly sensitive individuals. Result: The highly sensitive individuals estimated an average low occupational balance. The results showed that there was a significant difference in the estimated occupational balance between the individuals who have children against the individuals without children and between those who live alone or live together. Some parts of OBQ11 excelled more as they showed lower estimated occupational balance than others. No relationship between age and estimated occupational balance could be discerned. Conclusion: The participants in the study have a consistently low occupational balance. More research is needed to investigate the link between occupational therapy and highly sensitive personality traits. On the other hand, occupational therapists' knowledge of how the environment affects an individual could be useful for highly sensitive individuals