Health-Related Adjustment of Adolescents in Various Postdivorce Family Structures With Main Focus on Father Custody With and Without a Stepmother

It is well established that adolescents living in father custody are more likely to be involved in antisocial behavior and substance use, as compared to adolescents living in mother custody. This study assessed whether these differences also pertain to a wider spectrum of health-related outcomes. A second aim was to investigate the role of a stepparent on adolescents' health-related adjustment. A total of 6,447 Norwegian adolescents between ages 11 and 16 participated in the study. The findings revealed that the differences between adolescents in father versus mother custody might be somewhat more comprehensive than previous studies have observed, indicating increased risks for adjustment problems among adolescents living with a single father on various health-related outcomes. Generally, a stepmother does not seem to compensate for the risks of adjustment problems, but might have a positive influence on certain health-related behaviors.     

Stability and change – a 7‐ to 8‐year follow‐up study of mental health problems in Norwegian children in long‐term out‐of‐home care

The aim of the study was to explore stability and change in mental health problems in Norwegian children aged 6–12 years old (n = 70) in long‐term out‐of‐home care. The children's mental health problems were assessed shortly after the placement and 7–8 years later by the caregivers and the teachers on the Revised Rutter Scales. Information on pre‐placement and placement factors were collected from the child welfare workers. At a group level the children's mental health problems had improved significantly over time according to the teachers' reports. According to the caregivers' reports, however, the children's problems were high and stable across time. Analyses aimed at detecting individual changes revealed a great variability in development according to both informants, indicating that treating the placed children as a homogenous group could be misleading. Several pre‐placement and placement variables were associated with the change in the children's mental health problems from the time of placement to the follow‐up time according to both informants' reports. However, all the predictors were accounted for by the strong effect of the children's problem scores when entering care.     

Does the Quality of Parent–Child Relationships Mediate the Increased Risk for Antisocial Behavior and Substance Use Among Adolescents in Single-Mother and Single-Father Families?

This study focuses on how specific parent–child relationship variables may function as mediators of the association between two postdivorce family structures and antisocial behavior and substance use. Five parent–child relationship variables (mother/father–child conflict, parental monitoring, and mother/father–child closeness) were tested as potential mediators of the relationship between living in a single-mother or single-father household and the outcome variables in a sample of 4,117 students with modal ages of 11 to 15 years. The applied multimediating path approach proved to be a useful method for identification of the relative importance of the included mediators. As hypothesized, there was a clear tendency for mother–child conflict and parental monitoring to be the most potent mediators between residing in a divorced single-mother household and the adolescents' antisocial behavior and substance use. In the single-father household, on the other hand, only parental monitoring was a clear mediator.     

Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse in the Nordic Countries: A Literature Review

This review examined child sexual abuse in the Nordic countries focusing on prevalence rates and victims’ age and relationship to the perpetrator. The results show a prevalence of child sexual abuse (broadly defined) between 3–23% for boys and 11–36% for girls. The prevalence rates for contact abuse were 1–12% for boys and 6–30% for girls, while 0.3–6.8% of the boys and 1.1–13.5% of the girls reported penetrating abuse. The findings suggest an increased risk of abuse from early adolescence. In adolescence, peers may constitute the largest group of perpetrators. The results highlight the need for preventive efforts also targeting peer abuse. Future research should include cross-national and repeated studies using comparable methodology.     

Divorce and Family Structure in Norway: Associations With Adolescent Mental Health

The aim of this study was to examine the association between family structure and adolecent mental health, after the considerable increase in divorced parents choosing joint physical custody (JPC) in Norway. Data stem from the youth@hordaland study, a population-based survey conducted in Norway in 2012. A total of 7,707 adolescents (47% male) 16 to 19 years old were included in this study. The adolescents were classified into 6 family structures. Mental health was measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). No significant differences between nondivorced families (reference) and JPC were observed. Adolescents from single-parent and stepfather families scored significantly higher on all 3 SDQ scales, and adolescents from stepmother families scored significantly higher on the SDQ total and SDQ externalizing scales. In conclusion, the results of this study indicated that adolescents living in JPC did not have more adjustment problems compared to their peers living in nondivorced families.     

Why do children placed out-of-home because of parental substance abuse have less mental health problems than children placed for other reasons?

The purpose of this paper was to compare children placed out-of-home because of parental substance abuse (PSA) with children placed for other reasons (NPSA), and to explore the association between PSA and mental health problems in a Norwegian sample of 6- to 12-year-old children in out-of-home care (N = 109). Several group differences were found related to the children themselves, their families and the Child Welfare case. The PSA children had less total difficulties, conduct problems and emotional problems than the NPSA children assessed by the teachers on the Revised Rutter Scale. However, both groups had far more mental health problems than children in general. The most important variable explaining the group difference in all subgroups of mental health problems was the extent of prosocial behavior in the children, but being placed for behavioral problems also explained a significant part of total difficulties and conduct problems. Variables like gender, discipline problems and socioeconomic conditions did not have a significant effect. The conclusion of the study was that prosocial behavior might be regarded as an important protective factor against mental health problems, which is an argument for investing in programs focusing on enhancing the placed children's mastering strategies.