<jats:sec> <jats:title>Background:</jats:title> <jats:p>Adolescents and p... more <jats:sec> <jats:title>Background:</jats:title> <jats:p>Adolescents and parents often disagree about the perception of bullying victimization since adults tend to underestimate its occurrence. </jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Objective:</jats:title> <jats:p>This study identifies factors that can influence maternal perception of bullying victimization experienced by her son/daughter in the past 12 months.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods:</jats:title> <jats:p>This Norway-Brazil collaborative cross-sectional study evaluated a probabilistic community-based sample of 669 in-school 11-to-15-year-olds residing in a Brazilian low-income city of about 218,000 inhabitants. A 3-stage probabilistic sampling procedure (random selection of census units, eligible households and target child) generated sampling weights. Trained lay interviewers individually applied semi-structured questionnaires to mothers and adolescents in the household. Multivariable logistic regression analysis examined factors potentially influencing maternal perception of bullying victimization experienced by her son/daughter: adolescent's gender and age, adolescent self-perceived bullying victimization, exposure to severe physical punishment by parents, internalizing/externalizing behaviour problems identified by the Youth Self-Report/YSR, maternal education and maternal anxiety/depression identified by the 20-item Self-Reporting Questionnaire/SRQ-20. </jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results:</jats:title> <jats:p>Univariable logistic regression analysis identified a strong association between adolescent self-perceived bullying victimization and maternal perception of bullying victimization experienced by her son/daughter. Multivariable models showed that adolescents' perception influenced maternal perception when adolescents had no clinical internalizing behaviour problems and when mothers had higher education.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion:</jats:title> <jats:p>Anxious/depressive adolescents may hide victimization incidents, while those with no problems probably reveal these incidents to the mother. Considering that maternal low education is an indicator of low socioeconomic status, which implicates in multiple stressors, less educated mothers may be more likely to interpret these incidents as a common part of growing-up.</jats:p> </jats:sec>
INTRODUCTION Exposure to peer aggression (PA) and bullying victimization (BV) are both expression... more INTRODUCTION Exposure to peer aggression (PA) and bullying victimization (BV) are both expressions of peer victimization. OBJECTIVES In four age-sex groups, (1) Can exposure to PA and BV be considered distinct experiences?; (2) In what extent adolescents exposed to PA consider themselves bullying victims?; (3) What is the effect of the number of experienced PA events on BV? METHODS This cross-sectional study evaluated a probabilistic community-based sample of 669 adolescents (11-15 years, 51.7% girls). A three-stage probabilistic sampling plan involved a random selection of census units, eligible households, and target child. A 15-item scale investigated exposure to PA events (physical aggression, verbal harassment, social manipulation) occurring more than once in the past six months. BV occurring more than once a week or most days in the past six months was investigated after presenting a BV definition to respondents which required them to feel harmed by their victimization experiences. RESULTS Adolescents exposed to PA and/or BV reported PA only (76.2%), BV only (4.7%) and both (19.1%). Rates of BV among those exposed to PA: 11-to-12-year-old boys (22.7%), 13-to-15-year-old boys (9.7%), 11-to-12-year-old girls (46.5%) and 13-to-15-year-old girls (13.2%). Multiple logistic regression analysis (outcome = BV) found a significant interaction between PA, age, and sex. PA events had a significant effect on BV for all except older girls. CONCLUSIONS Exposure to PA and BV are different constructs; few older boys exposed to PA consider themselves bullying victims; and older girls are less affected by PA when it comes to BV.
Background: Adolescents and parents often disagree about the perception of bullying victimization... more Background: Adolescents and parents often disagree about the perception of bullying victimization since adults tend to underestimate its occurrence. Objective: This study identifies factors that can influence maternal perception of bullying victimization experienced by her son/daughter in the past 12 months. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved a representative sample of in-school adolescents (n=669, 11-15-years) living in Itaboraí city, Brazil (mean age±SE: 13.01±0.07 years; 51.7% females). A 3-stage probabilistic sampling procedure (random selection of census units, eligible households and target child) generated sampling weights. Trained lay interviewers individually applied semi-structured questionnaires to mothers and adolescents in the households. Multivariable logistic regression analysis examined factors potentially influencing maternal perception of bullying victimization experienced by her son/daughter: adolescent gender and age, adolescent self-perceived bullying ...
The Tromsø Intervention Study on Preterms (TISP) randomized 146 preterm-born children either to t... more The Tromsø Intervention Study on Preterms (TISP) randomized 146 preterm-born children either to the Mother-Infant Transaction Program (MITP) or to a preterm control group. Previously, significant reductions of child behavior problems and maternal stress have been reported in the intervention group. This follow-up study examines whether the MITP may have affected the longitudinal adaptation between mothers and their children from two until nine years, expressed as associations between different behavioral problems and parenting stress reported by mothers. Associations between internalizing, attentional, and social problems and different dimensions of parenting stress were analyzed in separate models that included effects of time and group status. The MITP did not influence the development of longitudinal associations as no significant three-way interaction (stress*group*time) was found. Significant stress by group interactions was only found in reports on children’s attentional probl...
Et utvalg av barne-og ungdomsskoler (alder 9-16 år) deltar i forskningsprosjektet «Trivsel i Trom... more Et utvalg av barne-og ungdomsskoler (alder 9-16 år) deltar i forskningsprosjektet «Trivsel i Tromsø». Disse skolene gjennomfører over flere år en omfattende undersøkelse av elevmiljøet. Denne artikkelen presenterer noen av resultatene fra prosjektets første skoleår (2013/14, N=878) og viser funn som er gjort om sammenhengen mellom psykiske vansker og ulike former for mobbing og trakassering. Våre hovedfunn: Det er signifikant forskjell i den rapporterte psykiske helse mellom gruppene «Mobbet» og «Ikke mobbet». Elever som rapporterer å bli mobbet, har større forekomst av spesielt emosjonelle vansker, adferdsvansker og venneproblemer. Dette forholdet er tydelig for alle typer trakassering (fysisk, verbal, sosial, digital), og den digitale har negative effekter på lik linje med de tradisjonelle formene. Gode vennerelasjoner er den enkeltfaktoren som synes å ha størst beskyttelseseffekt mot mobbing.
Digital Expectations and Experiences in Education, 2016
Research on bullying and harassment in Scandinavia has been going on for several decades, and is ... more Research on bullying and harassment in Scandinavia has been going on for several decades, and is appearing in new frameworks and forms since the new categories of "cyber harassment" or "cyberbullying" has been introduced. Bullying is a phenomenon of great importance, as it seems to affect persons negatively in their everyday functioning. We designed a questionnaire on cyber harassment, which was answered by pupils, at five schools in Tromsø (N=878). This questionnaire included a section of questions concerning traditional forms of harassment and bullying, as well as a set of quality of life (QoL) questions. The main questions asked here are: 1) What is the prevalence in percentages of classical bullying and cyberbullying; 2) Are there gender and/or age differences; 3) What percentage of children bullied classically were also cyber-bullied; 4) In what way was the quality of life affected for those that were classically bullied or cyber-bullied? Our main finding is that students who report being cyber-harassed or cyber-bullied, report a significantly lower QoL-score than their non-harassed peers, and thus share the same negative characteristics in relation to quality of life as classical harassment and bullying. Cyberbullying is less common than classical bullying, but it now affects some 3.5% of the pupils, and nearly half of the cyberbullying comes in addition to traditional bullying.
Digital Expectations and Experiences in Education, 2016
Cyberbullying is commonly measured by either an inventory of manifest variables (i.e. cyber haras... more Cyberbullying is commonly measured by either an inventory of manifest variables (i.e. cyber harassment) or the use of global items covering cyberbullying in general. This study aimed to compare these two approaches in terms of how they predict academic achievement. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to build recursive models including variables of academic achievement, traditional and cyber harassment, cyberbullying, socioeconomic status, perceived quality of life at school, and sex. Our findings reveal an impact of cyberbullying and cyber harassment on academic skills, and furthermore suggest that the choice of method (manifest variables vs. global items) is of less importance in this regard. Furthermore, the impact of cyberbullying and cyber harassment on academic achievement appears to be mainly mediated through the victims' perceived quality of life at school.
The purpose of this study is to estimate the percentage of mental health problems in a pediatric ... more The purpose of this study is to estimate the percentage of mental health problems in a pediatric outpatient Norwegian clinic. We used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to screen for mental health problems. Families of children aged 4-11 took part in the study, and 380 out of 982 possible families consented to take part, and 349 families contributed with questionnaire data. The main referral reasons for the patients were asthma, eneuresis and stomach pain. Mothers reported that 17.4% of boys and 17.8% of girls displayed mental clinical problems. The prevalence of problems did not differ significantly between somatic diagnostic groups. Although the study has low participation, it underlines the necessity of screening all pediatric patients for mental health problems. Future research in pediatric clinics should include factors of psychology because pediatric problems are not caused by somatics alone.
Employment of caregivers as trainers is an imperative in the training and treatment of mentally r... more Employment of caregivers as trainers is an imperative in the training and treatment of mentally retarded persons. Besides being taught specific behavior modification skills, these paraprofessional trainers have to obtain a set of general skills in order to adjust their specific skills to new clients, situations, and behaviors across time. Empirical research on the characteristics of therapeutic problem-solving skills are scarce. This may be due to a reluctance of behavior researchers against including cognitive factors in the analysis of behavior influence. However, the development of basic knowledge on the existence of therapeutic problem-solving skills should be one of the primary research goals. This article dekribes the development and application of four scales assumed to be representative of an important set of general skills-therapeutic problem-solving skills. By means of these four scales 21 caregivers were evaluated before and after extensive training. A multifaceted measuring operation is employed with the main objective of empirically testing the dimensionality of problem-solving skills. Rater consistency and individual differences in change from preto post-training level are also uncovered. It is concluded that the four scales of therapeutic skills, largely reflect the same underlying concept of a rather general therapeutic problem-solving skill. Discussion of the findings also pointed to future research.
This study examined whether the Mother-Infant Transaction Program prevents behavioral problems am... more This study examined whether the Mother-Infant Transaction Program prevents behavioral problems among preterm children (birth weight < 2000 g) until age 9. The program was administered to 72 preterms, while 74 preterms and 75 full-terms formed control groups (N = 221). Behavior was reported by parents (Child Behavior Checklist) and teachers (Teachers Report Form) and by all on selected Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) questions. Long-term behavioral development appeared to be qualitatively unaffected by the intervention. At ages 7 and 9, fewer attention problems and better adaptation to school were reported from parents and teachers of the intervention group compared to preterm controls. At age 9, teachers reported fewer difficulties in the intervention group and better academic performance. In these areas they were reported as being at the statistically same level as term controls.
Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition, 2015
Examine the effect of an early intervention programme on cognitive outcome at 7 and 9 years in ch... more Examine the effect of an early intervention programme on cognitive outcome at 7 and 9 years in children with birth weight (BW) <2000 g. A randomised controlled trial of a modified version of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program. A single tertiary neonatal unit. 146 infants were randomised into a preterm control group (74) or a preterm intervention group (72). The intervention consisted of eight sessions shortly before discharge and four home visits by specially trained nurses focusing on the infants' unique characteristics, temperament, developmental potential and the interaction between infants and parents. Outcomes were assessed with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III). Mean BWs were 1396 (429) g in the intervention group and 1381(436) g in the control group. After adjusting for the possible clustering effects of twin pairs and maternal education, there were no significant differences in WISC-III scores at age 7 or 9. The mean difference was 4.1 points ...
Background: It is well documented that heightened levels of parenting stress have a negative infl... more Background: It is well documented that heightened levels of parenting stress have a negative influence on children's socio-emotional and behavioral development. Parenting stress may therefore be regarded as an outcome variable in its own right. This study investigated whether a sensitizing intervention influences stress reported by parents of prematurely born children until the children were age nine. Methods: Preterm infants (N =146, birth weight <2,000 g) were randomized to intervention (N =72) with the Mother-Infant Transaction Program (MITP) or a preterm control group (N =74) that received standard hospital care. A term reference group comprised 75 healthy, full-term neonates. Parents reported on the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) when the children were 6 months, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 years old and on the PSI-Short Form (PSI-SF) at age 9. Main outcomes were the mother's and father's reports of total, child and parent-related stress. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were performed using linear mixed models (LMM), taking dependency in the data caused by twin pairs and repeated measures into account. Response rates were high across all follow-ups, and still reached 85% from mothers and 72% from fathers at 9 years. Results: Mothers in the intervention group reported better longitudinal development of child-related stress than mothers of preterm controls, as they perceived their children as being more adaptable and less moody throughout childhood until the age of seven. Less stress in the intervention group was revealed by cross-sectional analysis of maternal reports at all ages, while fathers reported similar differences at ages three and five. Parents in the intervention group reported stronger agreement on several stress scores on several occasions. Fathers with high interventional participation (mean 54%) reported significantly less stress at age nine than those who participated less. Both parents in the intervention group reported levels of stress similar to those experienced by the term reference group at all follow-ups, while differences between the preterm control and term reference groups increased. Conclusions: This early intervention reduces stress among parents of prematurely born children to a level reported by parents of term-born children and enhances agreement between parents.
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2008
To examine cross-informant agreement and whose information (parents, teachers, children) about ch... more To examine cross-informant agreement and whose information (parents, teachers, children) about childhood bullying and victimization carry the strongest weight to late adolescent psychiatric outcome. The importance of frequency of bullying in such predictions is addressed. Information from 2,713 boys about bullying and victimization at the age of eight was correlated with information about psychiatric disorder at 18-23. Agreement between informants was poor. Teachers reported higher levels of frequent bullying than others, whereas children reported the highest percentage of victimization. All three informant groups&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; reports of &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;frequent bullying&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; predicted later psychiatric disorder. Teachers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; reports of &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;frequent victimization&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; was the strongest predictor of later psychiatric disorder. Informants&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; report about &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;infrequent bullying&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; showed at most a rather low risk of adverse outcome. When the associations between bullying/victimization and psychiatric outcome were adjusted with total psychopathology score at age 8, none of the associations remained significant. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;Frequent bullying&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; behaviour of boys is a marker of present and later psychopathology. The education system and school health-care service in mid- childhood are of great importance for the early detection of bullying and prevention of later adverse outcomes. A closer integration of these systems in the context of school should be promoted.
Responsiveness in prematurely and term-born infants was studied cross-sectionally in relation to ... more Responsiveness in prematurely and term-born infants was studied cross-sectionally in relation to maternal confidence. Orientation and arousal were measured in 140 prematurely (mean BW 1,398 g, GA 30.1 weeks) and 75 term-born infants (mean BW 3,613 g, GA 39.3 weeks) with the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scales. Mothers filled out the Maternal Confidence Questionnaire and a modified version of the Parenting Stress Index. Prematurely born infants had a significantly lower level of arousal than term-born neonates. Responsiveness was not associated with maternal confidence. Lower confidence was associated with primiparity in both groups of mothers. Multiparous mothers of prematurely born infants had significantly lower levels of confidence than multiparous mothers of term-born infants. Confidence was significantly associated with stress for mothers of prematurely and term-born infants, and may be focused in follow-up after giving birth. Prematurely born infants should be examined more thoroughly in aspects of arousal at the time of discharge.
BACKGROUND. Very low birth weight survivors are at increased risk of developing emotional and beh... more BACKGROUND. Very low birth weight survivors are at increased risk of developing emotional and behavioral problems and low social and academic competencies. Information on such problems in very low birth weight adolescents is still sparse. OBJECTIVES. Our purpose for this work was to study gender-specific emotional and behavioral problems and social and academic competencies in a cohort of very low birth weight adolescents in north Norway. METHODS. Families with very low birth weight adolescents aged 13 to 18 years, born between 1978 and 1989 (n = 162) were addressed by mail and asked to complete the Child Behavior Check List and the Youth Self-Report. Data were compared with 2 normative adolescent populations (Child Behavior Check List, n = 540; Youth Self-Report, n = 2522). Scores given by very low birth weight adolescents and their parents on identical items in Child Behavior Check List and Youth Self-Report (cross-informant syndrome constructs) were compared in pairs. To explore ...
In a 7-year follow-up birth cohort from the general population in the Sami core area in Finnmark,... more In a 7-year follow-up birth cohort from the general population in the Sami core area in Finnmark, Arctic Norway, we examined mothers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; and teachers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; reports of social competence and emotional/behavioral problems among 71 indigenous Sami and 77 Norwegian 11-12-year-olds. The instruments used were the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for parents and the Teacher Report Form (TRF). No ethnic differences were found on competence scales. Total Problems reported by Sami and Norwegian mothers were low in comparison with the overall mean found in multicultural meta-studies. Sami mothers reported lower Total Problems and Attention Problems than did Norwegian mothers. There were no ethnic differences on the TRF measures. Consistent with other international studies, mothers and teachers rated girls higher than boys on social competence and boys higher than girls on Externalizing and Attention Problems. Gender differences were larger on the TRF than on the CBCL. The very low problem ratings made by the Sami mothers indicate that there is a need for specific clinical cut-off points to distinguish between clinically referred and non-referred children in this indigenous Arctic population.
Life events, self-reported psychopathology and sense of coherence among young men*A population-ba... more Life events, self-reported psychopathology and sense of coherence among young men*A population-based study. Nord J Psychiatry 2008;62:464Á471. Oslo.
<jats:sec> <jats:title>Background:</jats:title> <jats:p>Adolescents and p... more <jats:sec> <jats:title>Background:</jats:title> <jats:p>Adolescents and parents often disagree about the perception of bullying victimization since adults tend to underestimate its occurrence. </jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Objective:</jats:title> <jats:p>This study identifies factors that can influence maternal perception of bullying victimization experienced by her son/daughter in the past 12 months.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods:</jats:title> <jats:p>This Norway-Brazil collaborative cross-sectional study evaluated a probabilistic community-based sample of 669 in-school 11-to-15-year-olds residing in a Brazilian low-income city of about 218,000 inhabitants. A 3-stage probabilistic sampling procedure (random selection of census units, eligible households and target child) generated sampling weights. Trained lay interviewers individually applied semi-structured questionnaires to mothers and adolescents in the household. Multivariable logistic regression analysis examined factors potentially influencing maternal perception of bullying victimization experienced by her son/daughter: adolescent's gender and age, adolescent self-perceived bullying victimization, exposure to severe physical punishment by parents, internalizing/externalizing behaviour problems identified by the Youth Self-Report/YSR, maternal education and maternal anxiety/depression identified by the 20-item Self-Reporting Questionnaire/SRQ-20. </jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results:</jats:title> <jats:p>Univariable logistic regression analysis identified a strong association between adolescent self-perceived bullying victimization and maternal perception of bullying victimization experienced by her son/daughter. Multivariable models showed that adolescents' perception influenced maternal perception when adolescents had no clinical internalizing behaviour problems and when mothers had higher education.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion:</jats:title> <jats:p>Anxious/depressive adolescents may hide victimization incidents, while those with no problems probably reveal these incidents to the mother. Considering that maternal low education is an indicator of low socioeconomic status, which implicates in multiple stressors, less educated mothers may be more likely to interpret these incidents as a common part of growing-up.</jats:p> </jats:sec>
INTRODUCTION Exposure to peer aggression (PA) and bullying victimization (BV) are both expression... more INTRODUCTION Exposure to peer aggression (PA) and bullying victimization (BV) are both expressions of peer victimization. OBJECTIVES In four age-sex groups, (1) Can exposure to PA and BV be considered distinct experiences?; (2) In what extent adolescents exposed to PA consider themselves bullying victims?; (3) What is the effect of the number of experienced PA events on BV? METHODS This cross-sectional study evaluated a probabilistic community-based sample of 669 adolescents (11-15 years, 51.7% girls). A three-stage probabilistic sampling plan involved a random selection of census units, eligible households, and target child. A 15-item scale investigated exposure to PA events (physical aggression, verbal harassment, social manipulation) occurring more than once in the past six months. BV occurring more than once a week or most days in the past six months was investigated after presenting a BV definition to respondents which required them to feel harmed by their victimization experiences. RESULTS Adolescents exposed to PA and/or BV reported PA only (76.2%), BV only (4.7%) and both (19.1%). Rates of BV among those exposed to PA: 11-to-12-year-old boys (22.7%), 13-to-15-year-old boys (9.7%), 11-to-12-year-old girls (46.5%) and 13-to-15-year-old girls (13.2%). Multiple logistic regression analysis (outcome = BV) found a significant interaction between PA, age, and sex. PA events had a significant effect on BV for all except older girls. CONCLUSIONS Exposure to PA and BV are different constructs; few older boys exposed to PA consider themselves bullying victims; and older girls are less affected by PA when it comes to BV.
Background: Adolescents and parents often disagree about the perception of bullying victimization... more Background: Adolescents and parents often disagree about the perception of bullying victimization since adults tend to underestimate its occurrence. Objective: This study identifies factors that can influence maternal perception of bullying victimization experienced by her son/daughter in the past 12 months. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved a representative sample of in-school adolescents (n=669, 11-15-years) living in Itaboraí city, Brazil (mean age±SE: 13.01±0.07 years; 51.7% females). A 3-stage probabilistic sampling procedure (random selection of census units, eligible households and target child) generated sampling weights. Trained lay interviewers individually applied semi-structured questionnaires to mothers and adolescents in the households. Multivariable logistic regression analysis examined factors potentially influencing maternal perception of bullying victimization experienced by her son/daughter: adolescent gender and age, adolescent self-perceived bullying ...
The Tromsø Intervention Study on Preterms (TISP) randomized 146 preterm-born children either to t... more The Tromsø Intervention Study on Preterms (TISP) randomized 146 preterm-born children either to the Mother-Infant Transaction Program (MITP) or to a preterm control group. Previously, significant reductions of child behavior problems and maternal stress have been reported in the intervention group. This follow-up study examines whether the MITP may have affected the longitudinal adaptation between mothers and their children from two until nine years, expressed as associations between different behavioral problems and parenting stress reported by mothers. Associations between internalizing, attentional, and social problems and different dimensions of parenting stress were analyzed in separate models that included effects of time and group status. The MITP did not influence the development of longitudinal associations as no significant three-way interaction (stress*group*time) was found. Significant stress by group interactions was only found in reports on children’s attentional probl...
Et utvalg av barne-og ungdomsskoler (alder 9-16 år) deltar i forskningsprosjektet «Trivsel i Trom... more Et utvalg av barne-og ungdomsskoler (alder 9-16 år) deltar i forskningsprosjektet «Trivsel i Tromsø». Disse skolene gjennomfører over flere år en omfattende undersøkelse av elevmiljøet. Denne artikkelen presenterer noen av resultatene fra prosjektets første skoleår (2013/14, N=878) og viser funn som er gjort om sammenhengen mellom psykiske vansker og ulike former for mobbing og trakassering. Våre hovedfunn: Det er signifikant forskjell i den rapporterte psykiske helse mellom gruppene «Mobbet» og «Ikke mobbet». Elever som rapporterer å bli mobbet, har større forekomst av spesielt emosjonelle vansker, adferdsvansker og venneproblemer. Dette forholdet er tydelig for alle typer trakassering (fysisk, verbal, sosial, digital), og den digitale har negative effekter på lik linje med de tradisjonelle formene. Gode vennerelasjoner er den enkeltfaktoren som synes å ha størst beskyttelseseffekt mot mobbing.
Digital Expectations and Experiences in Education, 2016
Research on bullying and harassment in Scandinavia has been going on for several decades, and is ... more Research on bullying and harassment in Scandinavia has been going on for several decades, and is appearing in new frameworks and forms since the new categories of "cyber harassment" or "cyberbullying" has been introduced. Bullying is a phenomenon of great importance, as it seems to affect persons negatively in their everyday functioning. We designed a questionnaire on cyber harassment, which was answered by pupils, at five schools in Tromsø (N=878). This questionnaire included a section of questions concerning traditional forms of harassment and bullying, as well as a set of quality of life (QoL) questions. The main questions asked here are: 1) What is the prevalence in percentages of classical bullying and cyberbullying; 2) Are there gender and/or age differences; 3) What percentage of children bullied classically were also cyber-bullied; 4) In what way was the quality of life affected for those that were classically bullied or cyber-bullied? Our main finding is that students who report being cyber-harassed or cyber-bullied, report a significantly lower QoL-score than their non-harassed peers, and thus share the same negative characteristics in relation to quality of life as classical harassment and bullying. Cyberbullying is less common than classical bullying, but it now affects some 3.5% of the pupils, and nearly half of the cyberbullying comes in addition to traditional bullying.
Digital Expectations and Experiences in Education, 2016
Cyberbullying is commonly measured by either an inventory of manifest variables (i.e. cyber haras... more Cyberbullying is commonly measured by either an inventory of manifest variables (i.e. cyber harassment) or the use of global items covering cyberbullying in general. This study aimed to compare these two approaches in terms of how they predict academic achievement. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to build recursive models including variables of academic achievement, traditional and cyber harassment, cyberbullying, socioeconomic status, perceived quality of life at school, and sex. Our findings reveal an impact of cyberbullying and cyber harassment on academic skills, and furthermore suggest that the choice of method (manifest variables vs. global items) is of less importance in this regard. Furthermore, the impact of cyberbullying and cyber harassment on academic achievement appears to be mainly mediated through the victims' perceived quality of life at school.
The purpose of this study is to estimate the percentage of mental health problems in a pediatric ... more The purpose of this study is to estimate the percentage of mental health problems in a pediatric outpatient Norwegian clinic. We used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire to screen for mental health problems. Families of children aged 4-11 took part in the study, and 380 out of 982 possible families consented to take part, and 349 families contributed with questionnaire data. The main referral reasons for the patients were asthma, eneuresis and stomach pain. Mothers reported that 17.4% of boys and 17.8% of girls displayed mental clinical problems. The prevalence of problems did not differ significantly between somatic diagnostic groups. Although the study has low participation, it underlines the necessity of screening all pediatric patients for mental health problems. Future research in pediatric clinics should include factors of psychology because pediatric problems are not caused by somatics alone.
Employment of caregivers as trainers is an imperative in the training and treatment of mentally r... more Employment of caregivers as trainers is an imperative in the training and treatment of mentally retarded persons. Besides being taught specific behavior modification skills, these paraprofessional trainers have to obtain a set of general skills in order to adjust their specific skills to new clients, situations, and behaviors across time. Empirical research on the characteristics of therapeutic problem-solving skills are scarce. This may be due to a reluctance of behavior researchers against including cognitive factors in the analysis of behavior influence. However, the development of basic knowledge on the existence of therapeutic problem-solving skills should be one of the primary research goals. This article dekribes the development and application of four scales assumed to be representative of an important set of general skills-therapeutic problem-solving skills. By means of these four scales 21 caregivers were evaluated before and after extensive training. A multifaceted measuring operation is employed with the main objective of empirically testing the dimensionality of problem-solving skills. Rater consistency and individual differences in change from preto post-training level are also uncovered. It is concluded that the four scales of therapeutic skills, largely reflect the same underlying concept of a rather general therapeutic problem-solving skill. Discussion of the findings also pointed to future research.
This study examined whether the Mother-Infant Transaction Program prevents behavioral problems am... more This study examined whether the Mother-Infant Transaction Program prevents behavioral problems among preterm children (birth weight < 2000 g) until age 9. The program was administered to 72 preterms, while 74 preterms and 75 full-terms formed control groups (N = 221). Behavior was reported by parents (Child Behavior Checklist) and teachers (Teachers Report Form) and by all on selected Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) questions. Long-term behavioral development appeared to be qualitatively unaffected by the intervention. At ages 7 and 9, fewer attention problems and better adaptation to school were reported from parents and teachers of the intervention group compared to preterm controls. At age 9, teachers reported fewer difficulties in the intervention group and better academic performance. In these areas they were reported as being at the statistically same level as term controls.
Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition, 2015
Examine the effect of an early intervention programme on cognitive outcome at 7 and 9 years in ch... more Examine the effect of an early intervention programme on cognitive outcome at 7 and 9 years in children with birth weight (BW) <2000 g. A randomised controlled trial of a modified version of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program. A single tertiary neonatal unit. 146 infants were randomised into a preterm control group (74) or a preterm intervention group (72). The intervention consisted of eight sessions shortly before discharge and four home visits by specially trained nurses focusing on the infants' unique characteristics, temperament, developmental potential and the interaction between infants and parents. Outcomes were assessed with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III). Mean BWs were 1396 (429) g in the intervention group and 1381(436) g in the control group. After adjusting for the possible clustering effects of twin pairs and maternal education, there were no significant differences in WISC-III scores at age 7 or 9. The mean difference was 4.1 points ...
Background: It is well documented that heightened levels of parenting stress have a negative infl... more Background: It is well documented that heightened levels of parenting stress have a negative influence on children's socio-emotional and behavioral development. Parenting stress may therefore be regarded as an outcome variable in its own right. This study investigated whether a sensitizing intervention influences stress reported by parents of prematurely born children until the children were age nine. Methods: Preterm infants (N =146, birth weight <2,000 g) were randomized to intervention (N =72) with the Mother-Infant Transaction Program (MITP) or a preterm control group (N =74) that received standard hospital care. A term reference group comprised 75 healthy, full-term neonates. Parents reported on the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) when the children were 6 months, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 years old and on the PSI-Short Form (PSI-SF) at age 9. Main outcomes were the mother's and father's reports of total, child and parent-related stress. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses were performed using linear mixed models (LMM), taking dependency in the data caused by twin pairs and repeated measures into account. Response rates were high across all follow-ups, and still reached 85% from mothers and 72% from fathers at 9 years. Results: Mothers in the intervention group reported better longitudinal development of child-related stress than mothers of preterm controls, as they perceived their children as being more adaptable and less moody throughout childhood until the age of seven. Less stress in the intervention group was revealed by cross-sectional analysis of maternal reports at all ages, while fathers reported similar differences at ages three and five. Parents in the intervention group reported stronger agreement on several stress scores on several occasions. Fathers with high interventional participation (mean 54%) reported significantly less stress at age nine than those who participated less. Both parents in the intervention group reported levels of stress similar to those experienced by the term reference group at all follow-ups, while differences between the preterm control and term reference groups increased. Conclusions: This early intervention reduces stress among parents of prematurely born children to a level reported by parents of term-born children and enhances agreement between parents.
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2008
To examine cross-informant agreement and whose information (parents, teachers, children) about ch... more To examine cross-informant agreement and whose information (parents, teachers, children) about childhood bullying and victimization carry the strongest weight to late adolescent psychiatric outcome. The importance of frequency of bullying in such predictions is addressed. Information from 2,713 boys about bullying and victimization at the age of eight was correlated with information about psychiatric disorder at 18-23. Agreement between informants was poor. Teachers reported higher levels of frequent bullying than others, whereas children reported the highest percentage of victimization. All three informant groups&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; reports of &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;frequent bullying&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; predicted later psychiatric disorder. Teachers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; reports of &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;frequent victimization&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; was the strongest predictor of later psychiatric disorder. Informants&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; report about &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;infrequent bullying&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; showed at most a rather low risk of adverse outcome. When the associations between bullying/victimization and psychiatric outcome were adjusted with total psychopathology score at age 8, none of the associations remained significant. &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;Frequent bullying&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; behaviour of boys is a marker of present and later psychopathology. The education system and school health-care service in mid- childhood are of great importance for the early detection of bullying and prevention of later adverse outcomes. A closer integration of these systems in the context of school should be promoted.
Responsiveness in prematurely and term-born infants was studied cross-sectionally in relation to ... more Responsiveness in prematurely and term-born infants was studied cross-sectionally in relation to maternal confidence. Orientation and arousal were measured in 140 prematurely (mean BW 1,398 g, GA 30.1 weeks) and 75 term-born infants (mean BW 3,613 g, GA 39.3 weeks) with the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scales. Mothers filled out the Maternal Confidence Questionnaire and a modified version of the Parenting Stress Index. Prematurely born infants had a significantly lower level of arousal than term-born neonates. Responsiveness was not associated with maternal confidence. Lower confidence was associated with primiparity in both groups of mothers. Multiparous mothers of prematurely born infants had significantly lower levels of confidence than multiparous mothers of term-born infants. Confidence was significantly associated with stress for mothers of prematurely and term-born infants, and may be focused in follow-up after giving birth. Prematurely born infants should be examined more thoroughly in aspects of arousal at the time of discharge.
BACKGROUND. Very low birth weight survivors are at increased risk of developing emotional and beh... more BACKGROUND. Very low birth weight survivors are at increased risk of developing emotional and behavioral problems and low social and academic competencies. Information on such problems in very low birth weight adolescents is still sparse. OBJECTIVES. Our purpose for this work was to study gender-specific emotional and behavioral problems and social and academic competencies in a cohort of very low birth weight adolescents in north Norway. METHODS. Families with very low birth weight adolescents aged 13 to 18 years, born between 1978 and 1989 (n = 162) were addressed by mail and asked to complete the Child Behavior Check List and the Youth Self-Report. Data were compared with 2 normative adolescent populations (Child Behavior Check List, n = 540; Youth Self-Report, n = 2522). Scores given by very low birth weight adolescents and their parents on identical items in Child Behavior Check List and Youth Self-Report (cross-informant syndrome constructs) were compared in pairs. To explore ...
In a 7-year follow-up birth cohort from the general population in the Sami core area in Finnmark,... more In a 7-year follow-up birth cohort from the general population in the Sami core area in Finnmark, Arctic Norway, we examined mothers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; and teachers&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39; reports of social competence and emotional/behavioral problems among 71 indigenous Sami and 77 Norwegian 11-12-year-olds. The instruments used were the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for parents and the Teacher Report Form (TRF). No ethnic differences were found on competence scales. Total Problems reported by Sami and Norwegian mothers were low in comparison with the overall mean found in multicultural meta-studies. Sami mothers reported lower Total Problems and Attention Problems than did Norwegian mothers. There were no ethnic differences on the TRF measures. Consistent with other international studies, mothers and teachers rated girls higher than boys on social competence and boys higher than girls on Externalizing and Attention Problems. Gender differences were larger on the TRF than on the CBCL. The very low problem ratings made by the Sami mothers indicate that there is a need for specific clinical cut-off points to distinguish between clinically referred and non-referred children in this indigenous Arctic population.
Life events, self-reported psychopathology and sense of coherence among young men*A population-ba... more Life events, self-reported psychopathology and sense of coherence among young men*A population-based study. Nord J Psychiatry 2008;62:464Á471. Oslo.
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