Academic Performance, Health and Support Needs: Comparing Foster Care Alumni and Peers in Higher Education in Norway.

The completion rates of higher education are low among young adults with a history of foster care. Understanding how students from foster care alumni fare is imperative for facilitating attainment and preventing drop-out. The aim of this study was to compare students from foster care alumni and the general student population by examining (1) sociodemographic characteristics, academic functioning and need for special assistance; (2) contextual factors important for student life; and (3) mental and somatic health, loneliness, life satisfaction and use of cannabis and alcohol.

Young Adults with a History of Residential Youth Care: A Cohort Profile of a Hard-to-Reach Population.

Adults with a history of living in residential youth care (RYC) face elevated risks across various life domains. In this cohort profile paper, we outline the design of a comprehensive follow-up study-the VINGO study-targeting young adults (22-30 years) with a history of living in RYC (T2). We describe the recruitment strategy and present sample characteristics.

Validation of the Reactive Attachment Disorder and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder Assessment (RADA): A -5 Semistructured Interview.

Very few empirically validated tools exist for assessing reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disinhibited social engagement disorder (DSED). The RAD and DSED assessment interview (RADA), a semistructured diagnostic interview, was updated in 2018 from the CAPA-RAD interview to reflect the diagnostic criteria changes in the (5th ed.; ).

Parental stress during the COVID-19 pandemic: A one-year follow-up.

Objective: This two-wave longitudinal study aimed at increasing knowledge about levels of parental stressors and rewards among mothers and fathers of children aged 1-18 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and infection-control measures have caused changes to family life. Managing homeschooling or caring for younger children while working from home may have posed significant strain on parental stress, negatively impacting the quality of parent-child relationships and parents' sensitivity to their children's needs.

Quality of life among young people in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic. A longitudinal study.

In this study, we aimed to examine health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic among a general sample of young people in Norway aged 11-19 years. More specifically, we examine: (1) Change over 2 time-points in five health-related quality of life dimensions, (2) Whether sociodemographic- and COVID-19-related factors contributed to change in these five dimensions, (3) Whether parental stress and socioeconomic status at T1 interacted with change in health-related quality of life across T1 and T2. Data collection lasted from April 27th to May 11th, 2020 (T1), and from December 16th, 2020, to January 10th, 2021 (T2).

Increased Gaming During COVID-19 Predicts Physical Inactivity Among Youth in Norway-A Two-Wave Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Background: A concern for the COVID-19 measures and the potential long-term consequences the measures may have on physical inactivity and gaming among youth.

Objectives: Examine the stability and change in internet and offline gaming and the association with physical inactivity among adolescents in Norway during the pandemic.

Methods: A total of 2940 youth (58% girls) aged 12-19 years participated in an online longitudinal two-wave survey during the first Norwegian national lockdown in April 2020 (t1) and in December 2020 (t2).

Emerging mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic among presumably resilient youth -a 9-month follow-up.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic may have multifarious adverse effects on the mental health of some youth. To our knowledge, no study has followed young people beyond the first 6 months of the pandemic outbreak. The aim of this study was to examine 1) Change in internalizing, externalizing, and total mental health problems over two time-points with a nine-month interval during the COVID-19 outbreak and 2) Whether contextual and COVID-19-related factors contribute to change in mental health problems.

'We are unlikely to return to the same world, and I do not want it to destroy my future.' Young people's worries through the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aims to explore what worries youth were having during the seventh to ninth week of the COVID-19 lockdown. Our findings build on the responses to an open-ended survey question from 1314 youths. The worries covered three main themes: 'That my mom dies, then I am left all alone': worries related to COVID-19 virus infection; 'To me, this is lost youth': worries about the consequences of measures for the present life and near future; and 'I will face a very difficult life in the future': worries about the consequences of measures for the outlook on life.

Potential traumatic events and symptoms of post-traumatic stress in unaccompanied refugee minors-a comparison with youth in foster care.

Building knowledge on how child welfare services (CWS) should tailor services for unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) is important. URMs and youth in foster care are high-risk groups taken care of by the CWS in Norway. Little is known on whether knowledge gained from youth in foster care can inform services for URMs, and if these groups are comparable in terms of experiences of potential traumatic events (PTEs) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom load.

Internalizing Symptom Profiles Among Youth in Foster Care: A Comparison Study.

A high prevalence of anxiety and depression is found among youth in foster care. There is limited knowledge on the anxiety and depression symptom profiles of youth in foster care. We examined latent profiles of anxiety and depression symptoms across three unique youth samples and whether youth in foster care were more or less likely to belong to specific symptom profiles than their peers recruited from clinical or general youth populations.

How the Norwegian population was affected by non-pharmaceutical interventions during the first six weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Aims: The aim of this study was to examine how the Norwegian general adult population was affected by non-pharmaceutical interventions during the first six weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown. We assessed quarantine, symptoms, social distancing, home office/school, work status, social contact and health-care contact through digital access and knowledge.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was performed of 29,535 adults (aged 18-99) in Norway after six weeks of non-pharmaceutical interventions in March/April 2020.

Study design: Pathways to Independence - A study of unaccompanied minor refugees settled in a Norwegian city municipality.

Aims: The aim of the 'Pathways to Independence' study was to gain knowledge of how to facilitate a healthy development for unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) after settling in Norwegian municipalities.

Methods: The project is located in the URM child welfare services (URM CWS) of the Bergen municipality. We invited 101 URMs older than 15 years connected to the URM CWS to participate in a comprehensive survey.

Perceived consequences and worries among youth in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

To examine perceived consequences for everyday life, learning outcomes, family relations, sleep problems and worries for infection, for friends and their future, among youth aged 12-19 years during weeks 7 to 9 of the COVID-19 lockdown in Norway. We examine variations by age, gender, socioeconomic status and country of birth. Youth within the municipality of Bergen were invited via SMS to participate in a 15-minute online survey.

Meta-Analyses of the Associations Between Disinhibited Social Engagement Behaviors and Child Attachment Insecurity or Disorganization.

Children with disinhibited social engagement disorder show reduced reticence with strangers, do not check back with their caregiver after venturing away, and may willingly leave with an unfamiliar adult. The recent DSM-5 has moved away from an attachment framework to understand disinhibited social engagement behavior (DSEB) due to studies indicating its presence in previously institutionalized children even after these children are adopted and show a selective, more secure attachment with their substitute caregiver (e.g.

Mental health and use of health care services in opioid-exposed school-aged children compared to foster children.

Given the concerns raised regarding the effects of prenatal exposure to methadone and buprenorphine on the developmental outcomes of the children, this study assessed mental health and use of services in a national sample of school-aged children (N = 78) born to women enrolled in opioid maintenance treatment during pregnancy, compared with a group of foster children (N = 140). The majority of the opioid-exposed children lived with their birth parent(s) at the time of assessment (N = 62), while 16 lived in foster homes. Caregivers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Reactive Attachment Disorder scale.

Internalizing Symptoms Among Youth in Foster Care: Prevalence and Associations with Exposure to Maltreatment.

Among youth in foster care (N = 303, aged 11-17 years), we investigated prevalence of internalizing symptoms; associations between symptom level and maltreatment types and numbers; and the interaction between gender and maltreatment, on internalizing symptoms. Youth completed Spence Children Anxiety Scale, Short Mood Feelings Questionnaire, and Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen. Compared to community samples, symptom levels above clinical cut-off was more frequent, with social- and generalized anxiety (ES = 0.

Development and Validation of a Measure of Attachment Disorders Based on Criteria: The Early TRAuma-Related Disorders Questionnaire (ETRADQ).

Background: A review of the scientific literature showed few valid tools for assessing reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disinhibited social engagement disorder (DSED), two diagnostic entities traditionally grouped under "attachment disorders." The Early TRAuma-related Disorders Questionnaire (ETRADQ), a caregiver report, was developed to assess attachment disorders in school-age children based on the criteria. This study sought to validate this instrument.

Predictors of quality of life among youths in foster care-a 5-year prospective follow-up study.

Purpose: Few studies have investigated possible predictors of positive outcomes for youths in foster care. The aim of this prospective follow-up study was to examine quality of life (QoL) among youths in foster care and to assess whether contextual and child factors predicted QoL.

Methods: Online questionnaires were completed by carers in Norway in 2012 (T1, n = 236, child age 6-12 years) and by youths and carers in 2017 (T2, n = 405, youth age 11-18 years).

Potentially traumatic events in foster youth, and association with DSM-5 trauma- and stressor related symptoms.

Background: In DSM 5, three disorders are related to trauma and/or maltreatment: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder (DSED) but how these disorders relate to each other and to traumatic events is unknown.

Objective: We examined 1. Prevalence of Potentially Traumatic Events (PTEs) and poly-victimization for youths in foster care.

Correction to: Services according to mental health needs for youth in foster care? - a multi-informant study.

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported a misaligning of data in Table 3 (weekly results have been put in the column for monthly results).

Development and Examination of the Reactive Attachment Disorder and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder Assessment Interview.

The fifth edition of the () categorizes reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and disinhibited social engagement disorder (DSED) as two separate disorders, and their criteria are revised. For DSED, the core symptoms focus on abnormal social disinhibition, and symptoms regarding lack of selective attachment have been removed. The core symptoms of RAD are the absence of attachment behaviors and emotional dysregulation.

Services according to mental health needs for youth in foster care? - A multi-informant study.

Background: Foster children have a high risk of mental disorders. This has contributed to increased international attention to service utilization for youth in foster care. The aim of this study is to examine whether youth in foster care receive services according to need, by using a multi-informant design.

The internal structure of foster-parent completed SDQ for school-aged children.

Mental health problems are common in foster-children, and tools to measure the mental health of these children are needed. One candidate instrument is the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), a measure of child psychological adjustment that is increasingly being employed by Child Protection services. The aim of the current study was to examine the structural validity of the foster parent completed SDQ in a sample of 237 school aged foster children.