International epidemiology of child and adolescent psychopathology ii: integration and applications of dimensional findings from 44 societies.

Objective: To build on Achenbach, Rescorla, and Ivanova (2012) by (a) reporting new international findings for parent, teacher, and self-ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist, Youth Self-Report, and Teacher's Report Form; (b) testing the fit of syndrome models to new data from 17 societies, including previously underrepresented regions; (c) testing effects of society, gender, and age in 44 societies by integrating new and previous data; (d) testing cross-society correlations between mean item ratings; (e) describing the construction of multisociety norms; (f) illustrating clinical applications.

Method: Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) of parent, teacher, and self-ratings, performed separately for each society; tests of societal, gender, and age effects on dimensional syndrome scales, DSM-oriented scales, Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems scales; tests of agreement between low, medium, and high ratings of problem items across societies.

Results: CFAs supported the tested syndrome models in all societies according to the primary fit index (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation [RMSEA]), but less consistently according to other indices; effect sizes were small-to-medium for societal differences in scale scores, but very small for gender, age, and interactions with society; items received similarly low, medium, or high ratings in different societies; problem scores from 44 societies fit three sets of multisociety norms.

Sexual abuse and associations with psychosocial aspects of health. A population-based study with Swedish adolescents.

Background: Few population-based Nordic studies with adolescents investigate the associations between sexual abuse (SA) and psychosocial health.

Aim: Associations between adolescents' self-reported experiences of SA different severity and aspects of psychosocial health such as emotional and behavioral problems, sense of coherence and self-esteem were investigated.

Methods: A school-based study with 1107 Swedish high school seniors was conducted.

Understanding the role of personality in explaining associations between marital quality and parenting.

Analyses assessed the degrees to which personality accounts for associations between marital quality and parenting and mediates genetic contributions to these relationships. Participants included 318 male and 544 female same-sex twin pairs from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden. All twins completed self-report measures of marital quality and personality (anxiousness, aggression, sociability).

A long-term follow-up study of adolescents with conduct disorder: Can outcome be predicted from self-concept and intelligence?

Background: This study examines Swedish young adults (age 21) with a history of conduct disorder (CD) in adolescence. Research has established CD as a condition for a range of adverse outcomes. Intelligence, aggression, parent-child conflict, parent-child relation and peer-rejection are known factors influencing the outcome.

Temperament and character associated with depressive symptoms in women: analysis of two genetically informative samples.

Although previous research has explored associations between personality and depressive symptoms, a limited number of studies have assessed the extent to which genetic and environmental influences explain the association. This study investigated how temperament and character were associated with depressive symptoms in 131 pairs of twin and sibling women in early adulthood, as well as 326 pairs of twin women in middle adulthood. Results indicated that genetic influences accounted for a moderate to substantial percentage of the association between these personality features and depressive symptoms, emphasizing the role of genetic influences.

Individual resiliency factors from a genetic perspective: results from a twin study.

This article is part of the Twin Mother's Study, a study that examines influences on maternal adjustment. A number of studies have investigated the importance of genetic factors for mental health, but few of these examine how genes and the environment influence resiliency/salutogenic factors. This article investigates the relative importance of genetic and environmental influences on resiliency/salutogenic factors.

The transportability of multisystemic therapy to Sweden: short-term results from a randomized trial of conduct-disordered youths.

This randomized clinical trial assessed the effectiveness of multisystemic therapy (MST) for 156 youths who met the diagnostic criteria for conduct disorder. Sweden's 3 largest cities and 1 small town served as the recruiting area for the study. A mixed factorial design was used, with random allocation between MST and treatment as usual groups.

A follow-up study of adolescents with conduct disorder: can long-term outcome be predicted from psychiatric assessment data?

This study examines Swedish young adults (mean age 21) with a history of conduct disorder (CD) as adolescents. Using medical records, this study explores the relationship between adolescent inpatients and their outcomes in adulthood. Two outcome variables were used: an indication of non-successful outcome variable (seven undesirable outcomes) and sense of coherence.

Blueprints in Sweden. Symptom load in Swedish adolescents in studies of Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Multisystemic Therapy (MST) and Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC).

The purpose of the present study was to compare symptom load in youth groups treated with three Swedish Blueprint programmes - Functional Family Therapy (FFT), Multisystemic Therapy (MST) and Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) - to see if symptom load matches the intensity of the treatment model as expected. These youth groups were also compared with in- and outpatients from child and adolescent psychiatry, and a normal comparison group. In addition, we compared the symptom load of their mothers.

Treatment of ADHD with amphetamine: short-term effects on family interaction.

Objective: This research seeks to study the impact on family function after 3 months of treatment with amphetamine.

Method: A total of 43 children, 6 to 11 years of age, with ADHD were treated with amphetamine for 3 months. Family function was studied before and after treatment by parent self-rating and independent observer ratings of videotaped parent-child interactions.

The role of temperament and social support in depressive symptoms: a twin study of mid-aged women.

Background: Although research has found that temperament and social support are associated with depression, these relationships have not been explored in conjunction with one another as they relate to depression using a genetically informative design. This study investigated how the association among the three constructs is mediated.

Methods: The sample in this study consisted of 326 pairs of adult monozygotic and dizygotic twins drawn from the Swedish Twin Registry.

Evaluation of the Incredible Years Series - an open study of its effects when first introduced in Sweden.

Behaviour management problems (BMP) are common among children (4-12%) and the prevalence seems to be rising. Persistent antisocial behaviour often leads to poor long-term psychosocial adjustment. Structured parent-training programmes have proven to be the most effective way of treating BMP in young children.

A long-term follow-up of conduct disorder adolescents into adulthood.

This study focuses on young male and female adults (n=290) who were diagnosed with conduct disorder (CD) during adolescence at the inpatient child and adolescent psychiatric unit in Lund, Sweden. Their adulthood is described using seven outcome variables: in custody, crime, illicit drug use, mental health, teenage parenthood, transference income and educational attainment. Together, the seven outcome variables represent a wide perspective of individual life and known risks for both genders.

Group therapy for women sexually abused as children: mental health before and after group therapy.

Forty-five female outpatients sexually abused in childhood were offered a 2-year phase-divided group therapy. Before and after treatment and at 12 months follow-up, they answered questionnaires designed to elicit responses concerning psychological symptoms (Symptom Checklist; SCL-90) and sense of coherence (SOC). Symptoms for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were assessed before and after treatment.

The development of a systemic school-based intervention: Marte Meo and coordination meetings.

Antisocial behavior is often persistent, and in addition to causing suffering to children and their families, it also poses considerable costs for society. Children who display externalizing behavior in their early years run a high risk of having severe problems later in life. There is a need for treatment methods that may be used in various settings because these children constitute a group that is hard to reach with conventional treatment methods.

Outcomes in couple therapy: reduced psychiatric symptoms and improved sense of coherence.

In Sweden, only a few empirical studies of couple therapy have been performed. This is the hitherto most comprehensive assessment of clinical treatment. Effectiveness of treatment is reported and compared with non-clinical ratings.

Genetic effects on women's positive mental health: do marital relationships and social support matter?

Interpersonal relationships are important factors in mental health. A genetically sensitive design was used to examine associations among marital quality, adequacy of social support, and 2 aspects of positive mental health in a sample of 652 Swedish twin women and their families. There were 3 main findings.

The influence of childhood sexual abuse factors on women's health.

A history of childhood sexual abuse has been shown to be common among adult women, 15-30% in prevalence studies. The childhood sexual abuse variables taken into account are commonly age of onset, duration, abuse forms and relationship between the child and the perpetrator. Within the Department of Psychiatry at Lund University Hospital, 45 women with experiences of childhood sexual abuse were offered a 2-year long trauma-focused group therapy.

Accounting for depressive symptoms in women: a twin study of associations with interpersonal relationships.

Background: This study examined how interpersonal relationships, specifically marital quality and adequacy of social support, are associated with depressive symptoms among women.

Methods: A sample of 326 female monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs and their spouses was drawn from the Swedish Twin Registry. Associations among the three variables were evaluated by comparing similarities among monozygotic and dizygotic female twin pairs.

Genetic and environmental influences on mothering of adolescents: a comparison of two samples.

This study examined 2 samples of adolescents and mothers using a child-based design (Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development [NEAD] project, N = 395 families) and a parent-based design (Twin Moms [TM] project, N = 236 twin family pairs) to compare genetic and environmental influences on mothering. For both samples, the same measures of positivity, negativity, control, and monitoring were used. The use of matched child-based and parent-based samples enabled passive and nonpassive genotype-environment (GE) correlations to be approximated, providing information about process.

Genetic and environmental influences on marital relationships.

As most adults will marry at least once during their lifetime, studying marital quality and its predictors is of great importance. The current study addresses (a) the extent of agreement between husbands and wives on their marital quality, (b) genetic and environmental sources of individual differences on spouse reports of marital quality, and (c) the extent to which genetic and environmental influences account for overlap of spouse reports on marital quality. Adult Swedish twin women and their partners participated in this study.

A salutogenic investigation and treatment of conduct disorder (CD).

This article reports results from a long-term follow-up of adolescents with conduct disorder who have been patients at an inpatient child psychiatric unit in Lund, Sweden. Up to now, a total of 186 adolescents have participated in the follow-up study. The subjects are a heavily symptom-loaded group with many problems during their childhood.

Remembered parental bonding in adult twins: genetic and environmental influences.

One common assumption in psychology is the impact of parenting and parent-child relationships on the child's adjustment throughout the life span. Studies have indicated that there are genetic influences on memories of parenting, but how these influences are mediated has not typically been investigated. A sample of 150 pairs of monozygotic and 176 pairs of dizygotic Swedish twin women reported on personal characteristics and on remembered relationships with their mother and father using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI).