"Hvem skal jeg være - her?" : en kvalitativ studie av identitetsintervjuer med unge, alenekommende flyktninger bosatt i Norge

Den foreliggende studien er en kvalitativ analyse av identitetsintervjuer med unge mennesker som har ankommet Norge som enslige, mindreårige asylsøkere. Studien tar sikte på å øke kunnskapen om identitetsdannelse, og om hvordan unge, alenekommende flyktninger forstår seg selv i det norske samfunnet: Hvordan reflekterer disse unge rundt temaer relatert til identitet? Hvordan forstår de seg selv i det norske samfunnet? Hvordan beskriver de tilhørighet til sin opprinnelige kultur og til den norske kulturen? Hvordan opprettholdes følelsen av kontinuitet i selvet, når omgivelsene blir drastisk endret? Og hvordan gjennomlever disse unge, som ufrivillig har flyktet til et annet land uten foreldre eller andre omsorgspersoner, ungdomstiden og den tilhørende identitetsutviklingsoppgaven? Analysene viste at de unge beskriver seg som tokulturelle: De føler tilhørighet både til sin opprinnelige kultur og den norske kulturen. Informantene vektla ulike aspekter for å uttrykke dette, og de beskrev også ulike prosesser av endring i kulturell tilhørighet i løpet av årene i Norge. Videre beskrev de ønsker om å bli økonomisk selvstendige, leve et normalt liv og bli værende i Norge. Mange fortalte om vanskelige livserfaringer og at de opplevde at de tidlig ble voksne og måtte klare seg selv, men at de synes de likevel har klart seg bra. De unge beskrev forståelser av seg selv som mestrende individer og som medvirkende aktører i egne liv. Informantenes beskrivelser blir knyttet til teorier om kontinuitet i selvet, akkulturasjon og resiliens. Avslutningsvis diskuteres implikasjoner av funnene. Undersøkelsen baserer seg på semistrukturerte intervjuer, utført av forfatterne selv, med 20 informanter i alderen 17-26 år. Intervjuene fant sted etter at informantene hadde fått innvilget oppholdstillatelse og etter en gjennomsnittlig botid i Norge på 5,6 år, og utforsker de unges beskrivelser av seg selv innenfor domenene skole/jobb, tilhørighet til opprinnelig kultur og tilhørighet til norsk kultur. Fenomenologiske analyser av datamaterialet ble utført ved hjelp av systematisk tekstkondensering. Studien er tilknyttet ”Ungdom, Kultur og Mestring, UngKul”-prosjektet ved Nasjonalt Folkehelseinstitutt

A systematic review of social support for siblings of children with neurodevelopmental disorders

Background Social support is a protective factor for siblings of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Aims We reviewed studies on social support received by siblings of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Methods and procedures We conducted a pre-registered systematic review (CRD42020207686), searching PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus. Outcomes and results Fifteen articles were eligible for the review, 13 of which used cross-sectional designs. Two studies investigated sibling social support after an intervention. Multiple variables were negatively related to social support (e.g., sibling depression, loneliness, stress). Variables that were positively related to social support included prosocial behavior, competence (academic, social, and activity-related), problem-focused coping, and family quality of life. Potential moderators of the relationship between social support and psychosocial adjustment included the type of disorder of the affected sibling and the type of social support provider. We conclude with an overview of the reliability and validity of the seven social support measurements used across the studies. Conclusions and implications Lower levels of social support are associated with more negative psychosocial adjustment among siblings of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. We encourage future researchers to further investigate ways to increase social support for siblings to improve outcomes. Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.A systematic review of social support for siblings of children with neurodevelopmental disorderspublishedVersio

Etter bosettingen: Psykisk helse, mestring og sosial integrasjon blant ungdom som kom til Norge som enslige mindreårige asylsøkere

Målsettingen med rapporten har vært å få mer kunnskap om stabilitet og endring i psykiske plager, og om enslige flyktningers mestring og psykososiale integrasjon. Rapporten beskriver noen av de viktige utviklingsoppgavene enslige flyktninger står overfor når de skal innrette seg i sin nye tilværelse i Norge. Rapporten baserer seg på informasjon fra 660 ungdommer som har deltatt i prosjektet Ungdom, Kultur og Mestring (UngKul) på minst ett tidspunkt

Evaluation of “SIBS”, An Intervention for Siblings and Parents of Children with Chronic Disorders

Siblings of children with chronic disorders are at increased risk of experiencing family communication problems and poorer mental health. We assessed initial feasibility, acceptability, and outcomes of SIBS; a manual-based group intervention for siblings and parents of children with chronic disorders, aiming to improve parent-sibling communication and sibling mental health. Ninety-nine siblings aged 8–16 years (M = 11.5 years, SD = 2.0; 54.5% girls) and parents (63.6% mothers) of children with chronic disorders participated in three separate group sessions for siblings and parents and two joint sessions with integrated sibling-parent dialogues. We assessed participant satisfaction post-intervention and checked for group leader manual adherence. We measured the following outcomes at baseline, three, and six months post-intervention in an open trial: (1) parent-sibling communication quality; (2) sibling emotional and behavioral problems; (3) sibling adaptation to the disorder; and (4) sibling disorder knowledge. Using growth curve modeling, we found significant improvement in parent-sibling communication quality (p = 0.001), emotional and behavioral problems (p = 0.009), adaptation to the disorder (p = 0.003), and disorder knowledge (p = 0.000) from baseline to follow-up (effect sizes d = 0.22 to 0.64). Improvement in sibling-reported emotional and behavioral problems and adaptation to the disorder was partly explained by communication quality. User satisfaction was high and manual adherence was good. Our evaluation yields support for the SIBS intervention, with initial evidence of acceptability, feasibility, and beneficial outcomes. Our study suggests targeting parent-sibling communication may be a beneficial way of improving siblings’ mental health

Cross-country psychometric study of the Negative Adjustment Scale to measure siblings’ adjustment to their brother’s or sister’s disability.

The Sibling Perceptions Questionnaire was developed three decades ago (Carpenter & Sahler, 1991) to measure the perceptions of children of having a brother or sister with cancer (siblings). The scale has both a child self-report version and a parent proxy-report version. The instrument has been used with different target groups (including siblings of children with chronic illnesses or disabilities) and adapted in several studies ever since, resulting in the composite Negative Adjustment Scale (Lobato & Kao, 2002) to measure sibling negative adjustment to the condition of the brother or sister. The internal consistency of this scale has been reported in several samples (e.g. Haukeland et al., 2020; Havermans et al., 2011; Lobato & Kao, 2002) and the construct and convergent validity were recently studied (Orm et al., 2021). So far the scale appears to be a reliable and valid instrument, that can be used when studying siblings and evaluating sibling targeted interventions. However, it is yet unclear whether the scale operates the same in samples from different countries and different age groups. Furthermore, previous studies found that parents report higher sibling negative adjustment than siblings do themselves (Guite et al., 2004; Taylor et al., 2001). We will investigate if this difference is found in a Dutch sample of siblings as well

A systematic review of parent-child communication measures: Instruments and their psychometric properties

Abstract Parent–child communication represents an important variable in clinical child and family psychology due to its association with a variety of psychosocial outcomes. To give an overview of instruments designed to measure the quality of parent–child communication from the child’s (8–21 years) perspective and to assess the psychometric quality of these instruments, we performed a systematic literature search in Medline and PsycInfo (last: February 25, 2022). Peer-reviewed journal articles published in English with a child-rated instrument measuring the quality of parent–child communication were included. Initial screening for eligibility and inclusion, subsequent data extraction, and quality assessment were conducted by couples of review team members. Based on the screening of 5115 articles, 106 studies reported in 126 papers were included. We identified 12 parent–child communication instruments across the studies. The Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS) was used in 75% of the studies. On average, the evidence for psychometric quality of the instruments was low. Few instruments were used in clinical and at-risk samples. Several instruments are available to rate parent–child communication from the child’s perspective. However, their psychometric evidence is limited and the theoretical foundation is largely undocumented. This review has limitations with regard to selection criteria and language bias. Registration PROSPERO: CRD42021255264