Childhood experiences of companion animal abuse and its co-occurrence with domestic abuse: Evidence from a national youth survey in Norway

It is increasingly acknowledged that companion animal abuse often occurs in the same contexts as other types of abuse, particularly domestic abuse. However, the co-occurrence and strengths of these associations in the general population have not been well established in research. With data from a large representative sample of Norwegian adolescents, we aimed to determine 1) the extent to which Norwegian children are exposed to companion animal abuse in the family, 2) whether and how companion animal abuse is linked to other forms of domestic abuse that children experience, and 3) background factors associated with companion animal abuse. A total of 9240 adolescents aged 12–16 years (Mage 14.7) participated in the digital school-based survey. Four percent (n = 380) reported that they had ever witnessed a parent being violent towards a family companion animal, whereas 1% (n = 125) had experienced that an adult in the household had threatened to harm a companion animal. There was a substantial overlap between companion animal abuse and child abuse, and it most frequently co-occurred with psychological abuse and less severe forms of physical child abuse. This resonates with conceptualizations of domestic abuse as an ongoing pattern of psychological abuse and coercive control. The risk factors identified for companion animal abuse in this representative sample of adolescents were similar to known risk factors for domestic abuse. Low socioeconomic status and parents’ substance abuse, parents’ psychiatric illness, and parents’ history of incarceration entailed a greater risk of experiencing companion animal abuse. We conclude that companion animal abuse co-occurs with other forms of domestic abuse and that it may be considered a part of the repertoire of domestic abuse that impacts children.publishedVersio

Childhood experiences of companion animal abuse and its co-occurrence with domestic abuse: Evidence from a national youth survey in Norway

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Predictors of Disordered Eating in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: A Population-Based, Longitudinal Study of Females and Males in Norway

We investigated longitudinal predictors for disordered eating from early adolescence to young adulthood (12–34 years) across gender and different developmental phases among Norwegian young people. Survey data from a population-based sample were collected at four time points (T) over a 13-year time span. A population-based sample of 5,679 females and males at T1 and T2, 2,745 at T3 and 2,718 at T4 were included in analyses, and linear regression and random intercept models were applied. In adolescence, initial disordered eating and parental overprotectiveness were more strongly related to disordered eating among females, whereas loneliness was a stronger predictor for adolescent males. Initial disordered eating during early adolescence predicted later disordered eating more strongly in late- than mid-adolescence. In young adulthood, no significant gender-specific risk factors were found. The findings provide support for both shared and specific risk factors for the developmental psychopathology of disordered eating.Norges forskningsråd 19622

Study protocol: the Norwegian Triple-S Cohort Study - establishing a longitudinal health survey of children and adolescents with experiences of maltreatment

Background Child maltreatment is prevalent and associated with both short- and long-term health problems. Previous studies have established child maltreatment as a risk factor for a wide range of problems over the life course such as mental- and somatic health problems, self-harm, alcohol- and drug abuse and decreased work-life participation. Still, there are few large and well-conducted longitudinal studies focusing on describing prevalence and identifying risk factors and long-term consequences of child maltreatment. The purpose of the current study is to recruit a large number of children and adolescents exposed to maltreatment and follow them long-term. Methods/design The current study is a longitudinal cohort study and will use a multi-informant design (child/adolescent, caregiver, and administrative data). Participants will be recruited from the Stine Sofie Centre (SSC), a learning and coping centre for children and adolescents (≤18 years) exposed to maltreatment, which includes physical and emotional abuse, neglect and/or sexual abuse. Questionnaire-based assessments from self-reports (as well as parent-reports) will be carried out at regular time intervals throughout their lives, on topics such as abuse, negative life events, mental and somatic health problems, resilience and coping, satisfaction with health services, social-, family-, and school function, as well as self-harm and substance abuse. Participants will be assessed upon entry to the centre and followed up annually until they reach 18 years and bi-annually after. Given written consent, participants’ responses will be linked to relevant national registries in order to examine predictive factors and important outcomes in terms of subsequent health, education, criminal records and work affiliation. Discussion This study will examine short- and long-term consequences of child maltreatment across a range of health-related outcomes in a longitudinal perspective. Results from the current study might have implications for the development of preventive and intervention programs related to child maltreatment and the organization and follow-up of the services these children receive. The current study will hopefully contribute with knowledge of risk-factors, short- and long-term health-related and other issues that can contribute to practices aimed at improving the overall life-course for children and adolescents who have experienced childhood maltreatment.publishedVersio

In the aftermath of a disaster : Meaning making and posttraumatic growth in Norwegian children and adolescents who were exposed to the 2004 tsunami

Every year, a large number of children are exposed to disasters of some sort. These experiences may profoundly affect the children’s lives, and knowledge about processes which may facilitate their coping and adaptation in the aftermath is crucial. The primary aim of this study was to examine narrative construction, meaning making, and posttraumatic growth in children and adolescents after they had been exposed to the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia. A second aim was to explore ways in which the parents may contribute to their children’s coping and adaptation. Children and their parents were interviewed face-to-face ten months and two and a half years following their return home. The interviews comprised information about the degree of trauma exposure, trauma narratives, and indicators of post-trauma adjustment in parents and their children, including measures of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Qualitative and quantitative analyses were applied in exploring the research questions. The first research aim was to examine how the parents supported their children’s coping in the aftermath of the disaster (paper I). We found that parents described an increased awareness of the fact that their children could display behavioral or emotional changes. When parents detected any changes in their children, they attempted to understand the nature and severity of these changes by attributing these to either the disaster experience, or to familiar characteristics of the child. The parents reported a range of strategies aimed at either preventing or reducing symptoms. Their main strategies included re-establishing a sense of safety in their children, resuming their normal family routines, and providing specific coping assistance aimed at children’s distress symptoms. Despite the traumatic exposure the children had experienced, most parents believed in the healing effect of resuming normal life. The findings suggest that parents constitute valuable resources for assessing and interpreting distress in their children, and provide coping support. The second aim was to explore how children and adolescents constructed meaning in this traumatic experience through the construction of narratives (paper II). Three themes seemed to be of particular significance to the creation of meaning in the narratives: a) the reconstruction of control and predictability through narratives, b) the importance of the relational aspects of an experience, including protection and separation from parents and siblings, and c) the distinction between the shared and the private narrative. The latter findings suggest some of the personal meaning may disappear as a narrative is co-constructed and rehearsed. Contrary to expectations, there were few age differences in the way children and adolescents constructed their narratives and made meaning of their experience. The third aim of this project was to examine the extent to which the children and adolescents exposed to the tsunami reported PTG, and how reports of PTG related to the disaster exposure, their posttraumatic stress symptoms, and indicators of their parents’ symptoms and post-trauma functioning (papers III and IV). The children and adolescents reported PTG as a result of their experience with the tsunami, although to a lesser extent than what has been reported in other disaster studies. The level of fear experienced during the disaster was associated with higher levels of PTG, while their objective exposure was not. Furthermore, posttraumatic stress symptoms were positively related to PTG when assessed concurrently, and PTG was not associated with a greater decrease in symptoms over time. Finally, two indicators of parental post-trauma functioning were positively related to PTG in children. While parents’ own PTG was associated with higher levels of growth in the children, parents who had been on sick leave due to the disaster had children who reported lower levels of PTG. Collectively, the findings in the study contribute to a broadened understanding of the pathways for children’s trauma recovery and how parents can contribute to their children’s adaptation after disasters

Kan posttraumatisk vekst være en beskyttelsesfaktor mot selvmord?

Posttraumatisk vekst er positive personlige endringer etter møte med alvorlige belastninger. Endringene kan ofte beskrives som å falle innenfor et eller flere av områdene: bedre relasjoner til andre, økt personlig styrke, økt åndelighet, nye muligheter i livet og økt tilfredshet med livet. Suicidologien har vist at selvmordsatferd og selvmord er relatert til tidligere belastninger og posttraumatisk stress. Men ikke alle psykologiske endringer i møtet med belastninger trenger å være relatert til økt selvmordsfare. Denne artikkelen drøfter muligheten for at posttraumatisk vekst kan tilføre suicidologien en økt forståelse for posttraumatisk tilpasning og mer kunnskap om mulige beskyttelsesfaktorer for selvmord etter belastninger. Empirisk forskning og teoretiske sammenhenger diskuteres. Posttraumatic growth can be defined as positive personal changes after highly challenging events. These changes will often be reported within one or more of five thematic areas; personal strength, appreciation of life, new possibilities, improved relationships and spirituality. Previous research has reported significant relationships among exposure to potentially traumatizing event, posttraumatic stress and suicidal behaviour. Adaptive trajectories related to posttraumatic growth after encountering highly challenging events are less studied. In this paper we explore, by reviewing empirical research and theoretical models of suicidal behaviour, how posttraumatic growth might be a protective factor for suicidal behaviour

Affective Inhibitory Control and Risk for Internalizing Problems in Adolescents Exposed to Physical and Psychological Abuse. A Population-based Study

Background. Adolescents’ emotion regulatory capacities may modulate the relationship between childhood maltreatment experiences and psychopathology. Affective inhibitory control constitutes an important part of emotion regulation and involves the ability to regulate automatic or prepotent responses to irrelevant and potentially distracting emotional information. Aims. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of affective inhibitory control in the relationship between exposure to childhood psychological and physical abuse and internalizing problems in adolescence. Method. A nationally representative sample of adolescents (Mage/SD =14/.8) exposed to physical and psychological abuse (N = 1841; male = 964; female = 877) conducted an Emotional Go/No-go task. Participants were presented with angry facial expressions as emotional no-go stimuli in order to examine their ability to inhibit behavioral responses to threatening task-irrelevant stimuli. Results. Affective inhibitory control problems were uniquely related to internalizing problems in girls, but not in boys. Moreover, affective inhibitory control moderated the relationship between exposure to psychological abuse and internalizing problems in girls. We did not observe any relationship between inhibitory control and internalizing problems when neutral faces were presented as task-irrelevant information. Conclusion. Findings suggest that a reduced ability to inhibit threatening, but task-irrelevant, information is related to internalizing problems in adolescent girls exposed to physical and psychological abuse. This highlights the importance of affective inhibitory control as a potential moderating mechanism in individual risk for experiencing internalizing problems in abused adolescent girls

Caregiver-reported positive changes in young survivors of a terrorist attack

Self-reported positive change in the aftermath of trauma has been the focus of numerous studies, and the literature regarding posttraumatic growth (PTG, positive change resulting from the struggle with trauma) has grown meaningfully in the last decade. However, limited research has described behaviors associated with these positive changes, or documented reports of such changes by people in the survivor’s immediate social network. We sought to extend the extant research by exploring caregivers’ observed positive changes in youth and emerging adults exposed to a terrorist attack and detailing the nature of these changes. As part of a large-scale, longitudinal study of survivors of the terrorist attack at Norway’s Utøya Island, 284 caregivers (62.3% females, M age = 47.23 years, SD = 5.79) were asked whether they had observed any positive changes in their youth 2.5 years post-terror and, if so, if they could provide examples of these changes from their daily life. Caregivers’ statements were systematically coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. Most caregivers (64%) reported that they had observed positive post-trauma changes in their youth, and the dimensions described largely align with findings from the existing PTG literature. The caregivers most commonly described relational and personal changes in their children, including a stronger bond with family (e.g., more expressed affection); heightened compassion (e.g., greater interpersonal sensitivity); and greater maturity (e.g., increased reflectiveness). These findings suggest that PTG is an observable phenomenon among youth and emerging adults exposed to terror, and the rich examples of positive behavioral changes support the validity of the PTG construct

Cross-Lagged Association Between Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Perceived Centrality of a Terrorist Attack

Numerous cross-sectional studies have found a positive association between level of event centrality and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the temporal course of this relationship is unclear. We aimed to investigate the concurrent and longitudinal association between event centrality and symptoms of PTSD in a trauma-exposed sample. In total, 319 survivors of the 2011 massacre on Utøya island, Norway, were interviewed 14 to 15 and 30 to 32 months after the event. A cross-lagged panel model was used to explore the association between event centrality and PTSD symptoms over time. Level of event centrality was significantly associated with concurrent PTSD symptoms at both time points. PTSD symptoms were significantly associated with prospective levels of event centrality but not vice versa. This finding indicates that the degree to which survivors perceive a terrorist attack as central to their identity may be an effect, not a cause, of their PTSD symptoms