Implementing the Rights of the Child

[EN] Although the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) has been ratified by almost all countries, and children’s rights have been well documented, the rights of many children are neglected and violated on a daily basis. We propose to initiate several pilot projects and corresponding studies, followed by dissemination and implementation activities, in order to raise awareness of children’s rights among youth professionals and children, and implement children’s rights in professional practice. We have some options and ideas to perform these research activities in the Netherlands, but we are looking for international partners so we can a) learn from previous experiences and b) accomplish that more people and organizations benefit from the projects and findings. At the 2019 CARPE conference, our aim is to find universities of applied sciences that have expertise on children’s rights, and that are willing to collaborate with us on further developing and carrying out the proposed research.Hoefnagels, C.; Van Spanje, A.; Wijsbroek, S. (2019). Implementing the Rights of the Child. En Proceedings 5th CARPE Conference: Horizon Europe and beyond. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 154-158. https://doi.org/10.4995/CARPE2019.2019.10187OCS15415

Ontwikkelingstrajecten van angstsymptomen: Een vijfjarig prospectief onderzoek onder adolescenten in de algemene populatie

Achtergrond: Het relatief recente gebruik van moderne statistische analysemethoden zoals een latent groeimodel (lgm) maakt het mogelijk om verschillen in individuele ontwikkelingstrajecten over tijd te bestuderen. doel Prospectief en longitudinaal onderzoeken van de ontwikkelingstrajecten van angstsymptomen over een periode van vijf jaar in een grote steekproef (n = 1318) uit de algemene adolescentenpopulatie. Methode: Er werd onderscheid gemaakt tussen een cohort jongeren in de vroege adolescentie (gemiddeld 12 jaar oud tijdens de eerste meting) en in de midden adolescentie (gemiddeld 16 jaar oud tijdens de eerste meting). Leeftijds- en sekseverschillen in de ontwikkelingstrajecten van angstsymptomen werden onderzocht met lgm. resultaten Uit de analyses bleek dat de symptomen van de paniekstoornis, schoolangst en separatieangst voor alle adolescent

Observing interactions between children and adolescents and their parents: the effects of anxiety disorder and age

Parental behaviors, most notably overcontrol, lack of warmth and expressed anxiety, have been implicated in models of the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders in children and young people. Theories of normative development have proposed that different parental responses are required to support emotional development in childhood and adolescence, yet age has not typically been taken into account in studies of parenting and anxiety disorders. In order to identify whether associations between anxiety disorder status and parenting differ in children and adolescents, we compared observed behaviors of parents of children (7–10 years) and adolescents (13–16 years) with and without anxiety disorders (n=120), while they undertook a series of mildly anxiety-provoking tasks. Parents of adolescents showed significantly lower levels of expressed anxiety, intrusiveness and warm engagement than parents of children. Furthermore, offspring age moderated the association between anxiety disorder status and parenting behaviors. Specifically, parents of adolescents with anxiety disorders showed higher intrusiveness and lower warm engagement than parents of non-anxious adolescents. A similar relationship between these parenting behaviors and anxiety disorder status was not observed among parents of children. The findings suggest that theoretical accounts of the role of parental behaviors in anxiety disorders in children and adolescents should distinguish between these different developmental periods. Further experimental research to establish causality, however, would be required before committing additional resources to targeting parenting factors within treatment

The direction of effects between perceived parental behavioral control and psychological control and adolescents’ self-reported GAD and SAD symptoms

This study examined the direction of effects and age and sex differences between adolescents’ perceptions of parental behavioral and psychological control and adolescents’ self-reports of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and separation anxiety disorder (SAD) symptoms. The study focused on 1,313 Dutch adolescents (early-to-middle cohort n = 923, 70.3%; middle-to-late cohort n = 390, 29.7%) from the general population. A multi-group, structural equation model was employed to analyze the direction of the effects between behavioral control, psychological control and GAD and SAD symptoms for the adolescent cohorts. The current study demonstrated that a unidirectional child effect model of the adolescents’ GAD and SAD symptoms predicting parental control best described the data. Additionally, adolescent GAD and SAD symptoms were stronger and more systematically related to psychological control than to behavioral control. With regard to age–sex differences, anxiety symptoms almost systematically predicted parental control over time for the early adolescent boys, whereas no significant differences were found between the late adolescent boys and girls

What, me worry? Adolescent generalized anxiety disorder symptoms and problemematic interactions in the family

Research has shown that Generalized Anxiety Disorder is one of the most common anxiety disorders found in adolescents today. Its main symptoms are disproportionate fear and anxiety (worrying) about work-related or school-related events or activities and social relations. Adolescents suffering from GAD symptoms have difficulty keeping fear and worries in check. This causes mounting stress and impairs their functioning. GAD sufferers tend to worry about issues stemming from social relationships in their immediate surroundings. This dissertation examined the relationship between adolescent GAD symptoms and problematic interactions in the family. The studies used data from longitudinal samples taken from the CONAMORE and RADAR-old projects. In CONAMORE, 1,313 adolescents filled out questionnaires for five consecutive years. In RADAR-old, 327 adolescents and their parents filled out questionnaires for three consecutive years. Chapter 2 examined the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) questionnaire and evaluated its psychometric characteristics when applied to a general adolescent population in the Netherlands. The SCARED is a self-assessment questionnaire designed to measure five symptom-dimensions of anxiety, i.e. Panic Disorder, Social Phobia, GAD, Separation Anxiety Disorder and School Anxiety. The research findings supported the five symptom-dimensions for the group of adolescents as a whole and for different age, gender and ethnic subgroups. These research findings confirmed the SCARED's suitability for measuring anxiety symptoms such as those associated with GAD in adolescents. Chapter 3 focused on a longitudinal study into the interaction between GAD symptoms in adolescents on the one hand and perceived parental control on the other. A reliable child effect model was established: adolescent GAD symptoms predicted adolescent perception of parental control one year later. Adolescents with GAD symptoms perceived their parents as increasingly controlling during their adolescence. Chapters 4 and 5 investigated the relationship between GAD symptoms and problematic interactions in family relationships. The study in Chapter 4 focused on the relationship between GAD symptoms and the use of exiting statements as a conflict resolution style in parent-child conflicts. Exiting statements are statements that express the adolescent’s wish to minimize or cut off contact with his or her parents. In late adolescence, when the parent-child relationship becomes less hierarchical and more equal, girls in particular tend to use the ineffective and destructive conflict resolution strategy of exiting statements in arguments with their parents. Chapter 5 zoomed in on a longitudinal study into the mutual effects of parental marital conflict, the adolescent’s perception of those conflicts and the adolescent’s GAD symptoms. These effects can be explained using a bi-directional effect model. In short, the studies in this dissertation confirm the hypothesis that GAD symptoms in adolescents contribute to problematic interactions in families. An overarching theme in these studies is the importance of adolescent perception in the relationship between these GAD symptoms and problematic interactions. The child effects established by these studies confirm recent theories about the development of GAD symptoms in adolescents

Waar is de stem van het kind?

Reactie op artikel Botsende perspectieven van Annemarie van Dijk. De samenwerking tussen onderwijs en jeugdzorg verloopt moeizaam. Hoe komt dat en hoe organiseer je deze wel op een goede manier? Scenario 1 schetst de manier waarop er nu wordt gereageerd op het – verzonnen – verhaal van Tom. Scenario 2 belicht hoe dat anders zou kunnen. Vier deskundigen reageren

Het speelveld van en voor de jeugd

Openbare les Dr. Saskia A.M. Wijsbroek. Verschuivende ideeën over ontwikkeling en identiteit van jeugdigen kunnen voortvarender geïntegreerd worden in het denken en handelen binnen het jeugddomein. Bestaande concepten en werkwijzen dienen daartoe verder ontwikkeld te worden, om zo meer ruimte te maken voor het combineren van kennis uit drie kennisbronnen: wetenschappelijke kennis, ervaringskennis van burgers en praktijkkennis van professionals. Dit proces wordt optimaal zichtbaar in de alliantie tussen professional, jeugdige en gezinsleden