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The aim of this article is to review the psychometric properties of the psychological tests that are being used in the Nordic countries during pregnancy and the child’s first two years of life. A systematic literature search was performed for 33 identified tests routinely used in health care, using specific review databases as well as PsycInfo, Embase and Medline. The trained authors conducted an overall assessment of quality for each test which was then verified by the editors. A total of 12% of the tests were rated at Level 1 ‘Low level of quality’, 61% at Level 2 ‘Some evidence of Quality’, 15% at level 3 ‘Good level of Quality’ and 12% at Level 4 ‘High level of quality’. This indicates that the evidence for the psychometric properties is insufficient for many tests used in the Nordic countries for this purpose.

Background: The aim of the present study was to examine the factor structure and reliability of a six-item scale of rule-breaking behaviour, and to test for measurement invariance across gender, age, survey year and geographical location. Methods: Data were from three yearly cross-sectional and population-based collections of the Ungdata surveys (2017 to 2019) including a total of 297,102 Norwegian adolescents aged approximately 13 to 19 years. Measurements included respondent’s rule-breaking behaviour, time, gender, age and geographical location. Results: Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that a one-factor solution of the rule-breaking behaviour scale had good fit to data (comparative fit index 0.98; Tucker–Lewis index 0.96; root mean square error of approximation 0.049 (95% confidence interval 0.048, 0.050)), with factor loadings ranging from 0.60 to 0.81 for all items (mean factor loading 0.72). Similar results were found across survey years for both genders. Several multiple group confirmatory factor analyses showed indications of measurement invariance for the scale across gender, age groups, geographical locations and survey years. The ordinal alpha and omega coefficients for internal consistency of the scale were both 0.86. Conclusions: The six-item scale for self-reported rule-breaking behaviour demonstrated good psychometric properties and appears to constitute a reliable measure of adolescent rule-breaking behaviour for use in population-based surveys in a Norwegian setting.

Purpose Evidence is emerging on the importance of psychological readiness to return to sport after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. The ACL-Return to Sport after Injury scale (ACL-RSI) is developed to assess this. The aim of the current study was to translate ACL-RSI into Norwegian and examine the measurement properties of the Norwegian version (ACL-RSI-No). Methods ACL-RSI was translated according to international guidelines. A cohort of 197 ACL-reconstructed patients completed ACL-RSI-No and related questionnaires nine months post-surgery. One hundred and forty-six patients completed hop tests and 142 patients completed strength tests. Face and structural validity (confirmative factor analysis and explorative analyses), internal consistency [Cronbach’s alpha (α)], test–retest reliability [Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC)], measurement error [Standard error of measurement (SEM) and smallest detectable change at individual (SDCind) and group level (SDCgroup)] and construct validity (hypotheses testing; independent t tests, Pearson’s r) were examined. Results ACL-RSI-No had good face validity. Factor analyses suggested that the use of a sum score is reasonable. Internal consistency and test–retest reliability were good (α 0.95, ICC 0.94 (95% CI 0.84–0.97) and measurement error low (SEM 5.7). SDCind was 15.8 points and SDCgroup was 2.0. Six of seven hypotheses were confirmed. Conclusions ACL-RSI-No displayed good measurement properties. Factor analyses suggested one underlying explanatory factor for “psychological readiness”—supporting the use of a single sum score. ACL-RSI-No can be used in the evaluation of psychological readiness to return to sport after ACL injury. Level of evidence III.

Several meta-analyses have demonstrated that bullying prevention programs are successful in reducing bullying. However, scant research addresses if and how such anti-bullying efforts affect long-term internalizing health problems and even less on later use of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. This study explores how the school-based Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) affects the likelihood of being prescribed antidepressant drugs, anxiolytics, hypnotics, and sedatives, using a difference-in-difference design with population-wide Norwegian register data, including the Norwegian Prescription Database. Generally, we find that student cohorts from schools with a higher proportion of victimized students have more prescribed drugs at ages 17–22. Although OBPP substantially reduces victimization, and, hence, assumedly internalizing problems, our results indicate that the OBPP increased the likelihood of being prescribed drugs for internalizing problems between ages 17 and 19. Our interpretation of these findings is that the OBPP had increased awareness of bullying in school and its damaging consequences, and thereby reduced the mental and attitudinal barriers that often prevent students from seeking help for internalizing problems. It should be noted, however, that the victimization data in our study were linked to schools only and not to register data for individual students. Accordingly, we were restricted to studying average program effects at the school level. The power to detect long-term effects would have been better with student-linked data for both the victimization and register variables.

Memorializes Dan Olweus (1931-2020). Olewus was a founder of the study of bullying. At the University of Bergen, starting in 1970, he served as Professor of Psychology (until 1995) and Research Professor (1996 to 2010), then moved on to the Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare until 2016. He was affiliated with the Department for Health Promotion and Development at the University of Bergen from 2019 until his death. In 1970, Olweus conducted what is widely viewed as the first scientific study on bullying, which involved 1,000 boys in Stockholm, Sweden. Findings were published in his 1978 book, Aggression in Schools: Bullies and Whipping Boys. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

BACKGROUND Adolescents exposed to negative online events are at high risk to develop mental health problems. Little is known about what is effective for treatment in this group. NettOpp is a new mobile app for adolescents who have been exposed to cyberbullying or negative online experiences in Norway. OBJECTIVE The aim of this paper is to provide a description of the content of the intervention and about a randomized controlled trial that will be conducted to examine the effectiveness of NettOpp. This protocol is written in accordance with the Spirit 2013 Checklist. METHODS An effectiveness study with a follow-up examination after 3 months will be conducted to evaluate the mobile app. Adolescents will be recruited through schools and will be randomly assigned to the intervention (NettOpp) group and a waiting-list control group. The adolescents (aged 11 to 16 years) will respond to self-report questionnaires on the internet. Primary outcomes will be changes in mental health assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the WHO-Five Well-being Index, and the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen. RESULTS Recruitment will start in January 2022. The results from this study will be available in 2023. CONCLUSIONS There are few published evaluation studies on app-based interventions. This project and its publications will contribute new knowledge to the field. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04176666; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04176666 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT PRR1-10.2196/31789

Students report that teachers often do not intervene against homophobic language. Among 283 teachers in 16 Norwegian schools, several factors distinguished which teachers reported more consistently intervening and more frequently discussing homophobic language with students. Women, but not men, who more strongly believed that homophobic language should not be allowed and who believed it was harmful reported more consistent intervention. Women and men who reported greater self-efficacy to intervene reported more consistent intervention. In a second model, teachers who reported receiving education on homophobic bullying and who reported greater self-efficacy to intervene more frequently discussed homophobic language with students.

The effectiveness of bullying prevention programs has led to expectations that these programs could have effects beyond their primary goals. By reducing the number of victims and perpetrators and the harm experienced by those affected, programs may have longer-term effects on individual school performance and prevent crime. In this paper, we use Norwegian register data to study the long-term impact of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) on academic performance, high school dropout, and youth crime for the average student, which we call population-level effects. The OBPP program is widely acknowledged as one of the most successful programs reducing school-level bullying; yet, using a difference-in-difference design, no statistically significant population-level effects of the OBPP were found on any of the long-term outcomes in this study. When studied at the population level, as in the current project, the base rate prevalence of bullying is a major explanatory factor for these results. Earlier studies have shown that OBPP reduces bullying prevalence by 30–50%. This decrease translates into absolute reductions in bullying victimization and perpetration at the population level of “only” four and two percentage points, respectively. Our results suggest the average causal effects of school bullying involvement are too small to translate this reduction in bullying into a sizeable population-level impact on students’ long-term outcomes. However, a limited potential of anti-bullying programs to prevent population-level adversity can very well be compatible with substantial program effects for individual bullies and victims. Further, our results do not speak to the main objective of anti-bullying programs of limiting childhood abuse and safeguarding children’s human rights. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11121-021-01254-3.

The report provides an overview and short systematic review of the psychosocial interventions and psychological tests used in the Nordic countries during the first 1000 days of a child’s life, i.e. ...

To examine the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), randomly selected individuals from a larger registry study were invited. We assessed the reliability and validity of the instrument in a sample of 1089 adults in Norway (response rate 73%). Internal consistency measured by Cronbach’s alpha (0.88) was acceptable. Omega alphaHierarchical (ωt = 0.69) was lower indicating that the general factor is less reliable, explaining 69% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the FCV-19S is not strictly unidimensional. Exploratory graph analysis and confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor model (cognitive and somatic fear), which were highly correlated (r = 0.84). The Norwegian version of the FCV-19S showed an underlying two-factor structure. However, the high correlation means the two latent factors (cognitive and somatic fear) act as indicators for a second-order general factor and support use of the FCV-19S sum score. The FCV-19S appears to be a valid instrument to assess fear of COVID-19 with good psychometric properties. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11469-020-00454-2.

Due to the rapid development of nanotechnology and its integration into dentistry, there is a need for information on the factors influencing the decision of dental health-care workers to use nanomaterials. Based on a national survey among Norwegian dentists and dental hygienists, this study applied the theory of planned behavior (TPB), augmented with past behavior and perceived risk, to predict the intention to use dental nanomaterials in the future and to assess whether an augmented TPB model operates equivalently across professional groups. Structural equation modelling was used to assess whether the hypothesized model fits the data. Of 1792 eligible participants, 851 responded to an electronic survey. Attitudes and perceived behavioral control had the strongest effect on intention, followed by past behavior and subjective norms. Risk perceptions had an indirect effect on intention. Multigroup comparison confirmed invariance of the model across professional groups. This study supports the validity of the augmented TPB model to explain the intention of Norwegian dentists and dental hygienists to use nanomaterials. The strongest influence on intention is given by the attitudes toward nanomaterials and perceived confidence in their use. The findings of the study have implications for management of the use of nanomaterials in dentistry by policy makers. publishedVersion

Consequences of nondomestic violence are known to be multifaceted with high rates of emotional and psychological problems in addition to physical injuries, and victims report many trauma related symptoms. This study explore if perceived social support (PSS) (Social Provisions Scale [SPS]) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (Impact of Event Scale [IES-22]) are interrelated among adult victims at four assessment points up until eight years after the exposure to physical assault; soon after the event (T1), three months after T1 (T2), one year after T1 (T3), and eight years after T1 (T4). One hundred and forty-three subjects participated at T1, 94 at T2, 73 at T3, and 47 accepted a follow-up at T4. At T1, 138 of 143 completed the questionnaires within 16 weeks after the incident. PTSD symptoms were highly correlated across time ( p < .001); PSS were significantly correlated only between T1 and T2 ( p < .001), T1 and T3 ( p < .05), and between T2 and T3 ( p < .05). Cross-lagged analyses showed an inverse relationship between prior PSS and later PTSD symptoms across all time points ( ps < .05); not proved between prior PTSD symptoms and later PSS ( ps > .1). PSS at T1 was an independent predictor of PSS one year and eight years after the incident. We conclude that higher perception of social support protects against the development of PTSD symptoms; diminished perception of social support increases the risk of developing PTSD symptoms. These findings suggest that PSS after experiencing a violent assault should be considered as an important factor in natural recovery in the long run, as well as essential alongside psychiatric treatment. Establishing psychosocial interventions for victims of physical violence in the acute phase may prevent prolonged trauma reactions.

Depression is a public health concern among youth, and it is pertinent to identify factors that can help prevent development of depressive symptoms in adolescence. This study aimed to investigate the association between negative life events and depressive symptoms among adolescents, and to examine the influence and relative contributions of personal, social and family protective factors related to resilience. Methods Data stem from the cross-sectional youth@hordaland-survey, conducted in Hordaland, Norway. In all, 9,546 adolescents, aged 16–19 years old (52.8% girls) provided self-report information on depressive symptoms, negative life events and protective factors related to resilience. Results Experiencing a higher number of negative life events was related to increases in depressive symptoms, while the potential protective factors goal orientation, self-confidence, social competence, social support, and family cohesion individually were associated with fewer symptoms. Although there were small moderating effects of goal orientation and self-confidence, the results mainly supported a compensatory resilience model. When considering the potential protective factors jointly, only self-confidence and family cohesion were significantly associated with fewer depressive symptoms for both genders, with the addition of social support for girls. There were significant interactions between all the potential protective factors and gender, indicating a greater reduction of depressive symptoms with higher levels of protective factors among girls. Conclusions Interventions aimed at fostering self-confidence and family cohesion could be effective in preventing depressive symptoms for adolescent boys and girls, regardless of their exposure to negative events. Results further indicate that preventive interventions targeting these potential protective factors could be especially beneficial for adolescent girls. Copyright: © 2020 Askeland et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

The measurement of user experience has gained international attention as a tool for improving quality of care. Because foster families have a high need for service support, we examined quality of care from the foster parent's perspective and associated characteristics. We collected information about type and frequency of service use in the last 2 years and standardized measures of user‐reported experiences and outcomes from foster parents of youths aged 11–18 years in Norway (N = 290). We analysed the data using descriptive statistics, independent samples t‐tests and multiple regressions. Overall, foster parents had positive service experiences, and around half reported improvement in youth condition and function compared with before the service contact. The foster parents gave similar evaluations of child welfare services and specialized mental health services but indicated different strengths and weaknesses of the providers. Younger age, more frequent service contact and less waiting time were associated with positive service experiences, while less mental health problems and fewer years in current foster home were related to positive perceptions of outcomes. Our results indicate focus areas for increasing quality of care from the user perspective, for example, sharing information, cooperation between services, having frequent enough service contact and reducing waiting time. The study was supported by Stiftelsen Dam (149980) and Norges Forskningsråd (256598).

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ( DSM) 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. In this study, an international team of researchers modified the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment for RAD to update it from DSM-IV to DSM-5 criteria for RAD and DSED. We renamed the interview the reactive attachment disorder and disinhibited social engagement disorder assessment (RADA). Foster parents of 320 young people aged 11 to 17 years completed the RADA online. Confirmatory factor analysis of RADA items identified good fit for a three-factor model, with one factor comprising DSED items (indiscriminate behaviors with strangers) and two factors comprising RAD items (RAD1: failure to seek/accept comfort, and RAD2: withdrawal/hypervigilance). The three factors showed differential associations with clinical symptoms of emotional and social impairment. Time in foster care was not associated with scores on RAD1, RAD2, or DSED. Higher age was associated with lower scores on DSED, and higher scores on RAD1.

Aims: The structure of adolescents’ families has become more complex over the last decades in several western countries. In parallel, health complaints among adolescents appear to have risen in the Nordic countries. This study aimed to examine the association between family structure and health complaints among Norwegian adolescents while capturing biological, half-, and stepsiblings (sibship-type) in the families. Methods: Data stem from the youth@hordaland study, an epidemiological study of adolescents aged 16–19 years ( N = 10,257; participation rate = 53%) conducted in 2012. This study is based on a subsample of 8808 adolescents who lived with parent(s). The adolescents provided detailed information on sociodemographics, family structure, sibship-type, and common health complaints among youth (headache, dizziness, and abdominal, neck, back, and shoulder pain). Results: Adolescents in nuclear families and joint physical custody (JPC) reported significantly lower levels of health complaints compared to peers in single- or stepparent families. Independent of family structure, biological siblings were associated with lower levels of health complaints, while stepsiblings were associated with higher levels of health complaints, but only among girls. These findings were robust to adjustments of sociodemographic variables. Conclusions: Health complaints are frequent but unequally distributed across family structures. Adolescents in nuclear families and JPC report lower levels of health complaints compared to peers in single- or stepparent families. Considering siblings appears to be relevant, as biological- and stepsiblings were related to adolescents’ symptoms, independent of family structure. In combination, knowledge about family structure and sibship-type may aid the identification of adolescents at risk of experiencing health complaints.

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to evaluate a large-scale implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program with children and youth in grades 3–11 in the U.S. Two major sets of analyses are presented, one following 210 schools over two years (Study 1; n = 70,998 at baseline) and the other following a subsample of 95 schools over three years (Study 2; n = 31,675 at baseline). Schools were located in 49 counties in central and western Pennsylvania. The Mplus 7.0 program was used to analyze the data which had a multilevel structure, with students nested in schools and program effects based on school-aggregated outcome variables. For almost all grades, there were clear reductions in the two key dimensions, being bullied and bullying other students. Average Absolute Change amounted to approximately 3%, implying that almost 2000 students had escaped being bullied in the two-year study. School-level Cohen's d's were large or fairly large. The longitudinal analyses documented increases in students' expressions of empathy with bullied peers, marked decreases in their willingness to join in bullying, and perceptions that their primary teacher had increased his or her efforts to address bullying. Overall, effects were stronger the longer the program had been in place. The analyses provided strong support for the effectiveness of the OBPP with U.S. students in elementary, middle, and early high school grades in Pennsylvania schools. Future research is warranted to assess program effectiveness in different racial/ethnic and community settings and to examine the relation between fidelity of implementation and outcomes.

The aim of this study was to examine the association between family structure and adolecent mental health, after the considerable increase in divorced parents choosing joint physical custody (JPC) ...

Background Adolescents exposed to negative online events are at high risk to develop mental health problems. Little is known about what is effective for treatment in this group. NettOpp is a new mobile app for adolescents who have been exposed to cyberbullying or negative online experiences in Norway. Objective The aim of this paper is to provide a description of the content of the intervention and about a randomized controlled trial that will be conducted to examine the effectiveness of NettOpp. This protocol is written in accordance with the Spirit 2013 Checklist. Methods An effectiveness study with a follow-up examination after 3 months will be conducted to evaluate the mobile app. Adolescents will be recruited through schools and will be randomly assigned to the intervention (NettOpp) group and a waiting-list control group. The adolescents (aged 11 to 16 years) will respond to self-report questionnaires on the internet. Primary outcomes will be changes in mental health assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the WHO-Five Well-being Index, and the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen. Results Recruitment will start in January 2022. The results from this study will be available in 2023. Conclusions There are few published evaluation studies on app-based interventions. This project and its publications will contribute new knowledge to the field. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04176666; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04176666 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/31789

Psychometric evaluations of the Resilience Scale for Adolescents (READ) have yielded inconsistent support for the original five-factor solution, with different modifications being proposed. The aim of the present article was to investigate the psychometric properties and factor structure of the READ using both confirmatory and exploratory methods, and to evaluate how the scale fits within the theoretical framework of resilience. Data stem from the population-based youth@hordaland-study of 9,596 adolescents from 16 to 19 years of age. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the original five-factor model yielded relatively poor fit. A better model fit was identified for a different five-factor structure using exploratory methods including two new personal factors measuring (a) Goal Orientation and (b) Self-Confidence. This division was supported by low secondary loadings and moderate correlations between the factors, and gender differences in the mean scores. Although the READ is a multidimensional measure that includes individual, family, and social factors related to the resilience process, some important aspects of resilience have not been included. © 2019. This is the authors' accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1073191119832659

Adolescents’ involvement in bullying is associated with both sleep and mental health problems, but the nature of this association remains unclear; further, its association with academic outcomes has received little attention. Thus, the aims of the current study were to (a) determine whether involvement in bullying as a victim, bully, or bully-victim was associated with greater sleep and mental health problems and (b) explore the potential mediating effect of sleep and mental health problems on the association between bullying and academic outcomes. A large 2012 population-based study in Hordaland County, Norway, surveyed 10,220 adolescents (16-19 years; 54% girls) about bullying involvement using the revised version of the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire, detailed sleep assessment, and mental health questionnaires. Academic outcomes were obtained from official administrative registries. 1.7% of the adolescents (n = 156) reported being victims of bullying, 1.0% (n = 92) reported being a bully, and 0.5% (n = 50) reported being a bully-victim. All categories of bullying involvement had higher rates of mental health problems compared with adolescents not involved in bullying. Victims reported more symptoms of anxiety and depression, whereas bullies reported higher rates of conduct problems. Adolescents in all bullying categories also reported significantly shorter sleep duration and higher prevalence of insomnia as well as lower grade point average (GPA) compared with adolescents not involved; however, school absence was not associated with bullying involvement. Bullying involvement and GPA showed complete mediation for bullies and bully-victims and partial mediation for victims through sleep duration, conduct problems, and symptoms of depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Bullying is strongly associated with mental health and sleep problems, in addition to lower academic performance. Findings support the importance of addressing bullying involvement during this important developmental period. © 2019. This is the authors' accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0886260519853409

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. 2. Associations between single/multiple PTEs and PTSD, DSED, and the two symptom-clusters that constitute RAD: Failure to seek/accept comfort (RAD A), and Low social-emotional responsiveness/ emotion dysregulation (RAD B). Participants, setting and methods Foster youth 11–17 years (N = 303) in Norway completed The Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen. Foster parents completed the RAD and DSED Assessment interview. Results Foster youth reported experiencing, on average, 3.44 PTEs each (range 0–15, SD 3.33), and 52.9 % reported PTSD symptoms at or above clinical cut off. The PTE sum score was associated with the latent factors PTSD (r = .66, p

BACKGROUND The 7-item Game Addiction Scale (GAS) has been validated under standard confirmatory factor analysis and exhibits good psychometric properties. Whether this scale satisfies the necessary conditions for consideration by item response theory (IRT) modeling remains unknown. However, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) recently proposed criteria, in its section 3, to define internet gaming disorder (IGD) to promote research on this possible condition. OBJECTIVE The objective of our study was to (1) analyze GAS in the context of IRT (graded-response) modeling; (2) investigate differential item functioning (DIF), a feature of IRT modeling, in 2 subsamples; and (3) contribute to the ongoing (IGD) debate related to the validity of the DSM-5 criteria using GAS items as a proxy. METHODS We assessed 2 large representative samples of Swiss men (3320 French-speaking and 2670 German-speaking) with GAS. RESULTS All items comprised high discrimination parameters. GAS items such as relapse, conflict, withdrawal, and problems (loss of interests) were endorsed more frequently in more severe IGD stages, whereas items related to tolerance, salience (preoccupation), and mood modification (escape) were endorsed more widely among participants (including in less severe IGD stages). Several DIF effects were found but were classified as negligible. CONCLUSIONS The results of the analyses partly support the relevance of using IRT to further establish the psychometric properties of the GAS items. This study contributes to testing the validity of the IGD criteria, although cautious generalization of our findings is required with GAS being only a proxy of the IGD criteria.

Background: The 7-item Game Addiction Scale (GAS) has been validated under standard confirmatory factor analysis and exhibits good psychometric properties. Whether this scale satisfies the necessary conditions for consideration by item response theory (IRT) modeling remains unknown. However, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) recently proposed criteria, in its section 3, to define internet gaming disorder (IGD) to promote research on this possible condition. Objective: The objective of our study was to (1) analyze GAS in the context of IRT (graded-response) modeling; (2) investigate differential item functioning (DIF), a feature of IRT modeling, in 2 subsamples; and (3) contribute to the ongoing (IGD) debate related to the validity of the DSM-5 criteria using GAS items as a proxy. Methods: We assessed 2 large representative samples of Swiss men (3320 French-speaking and 2670 German-speaking) with GAS. Results: All items comprised high discrimination parameters. GAS items such as relapse, conflict, withdrawal, and problems (loss of interests) were endorsed more frequently in more severe IGD stages, whereas items related to tolerance, salience (preoccupation), and mood modification (escape) were endorsed more widely among participants (including in less severe IGD stages). Several DIF effects were found but were classified as negligible. Conclusions: The results of the analyses partly support the relevance of using IRT to further establish the psychometric properties of the GAS items. This study contributes to testing the validity of the IGD criteria, although cautious generalization of our findings is required with GAS being only a proxy of the IGD criteria.

Individuals from intact and nonintact families were compared regarding their health-related behavior and physical health problems in a prospective study during a 17-year period throughout adolescence and into young adulthood. A total of 983 respondents were included in the study gathering data at 9 different times from the age of 13 until 30 years of age. Significant differences were observed for a number of health-related behaviors, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, nutrition habits, and physical activity, as well as for self-reported health and subjective health complaints, all being less favorable among those who had grown up in nonintact families. The differences were similar across all data collection times for all but 1 outcome, indicating that the effect ts of family structure were stable throughout adolescence and early adulthood. This could have valuable implications for timing or duration of health promotion efforts.

This study aimed to investigate the factor structure and external correlates of the constructs Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) and Disinhibited Social Engagement Disorder (DSED) from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). The following were addressed: First, do our data support the DSM-5 conceptualization of RAD/DSED as two separate constructs? Second, are RAD and DSED distinct from other well-established dimensions of child psychopathology? Third, what are the external correlates of RAD/DSED in this sample? The study sample included 122 foster children aged 6–10 years. Foster parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and the RAD/DSED-scale from the Developmental and Well-Being Assessment. Child protection caseworkers completed a questionnaire regarding exposure to maltreatment and placement history. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the RAD/DSED items identified a good fit for a model with a two-factor structure, which is congruent with the DSM-5 definition of RAD and DSED. A new CFA model, which included the RAD and DSED factors together with the four problem factors of the SDQ (emotional, conduct, hyperactivity-inattention, and peer problems), also demonstrated a good fit with our data. RAD and DSED were associated with the SDQ Impact scale and help seeking behavior. This was partly explained by the SDQ externalizing and peer problem subscales. Our findings lend support for the DSM-5 conceptualization of RAD and DSED as separate dimensions of child psychopathology. Thus, the assessment of RAD and DSED provides information beyond other mental health problems. publishedVersion

In the present article, we used IRT (graded response) modeling as a useful technology for a detailed and refined study of the psychometric properties of the various items of the Olweus Bullying scale and the scale itself. The sample consisted of a very large number of Norwegian 4th-10th grade students (n = 48 926). The IRT analyses revealed that the scale was essentially unidimensional and had excellent reliability in the upper ranges of the latent bullying tendency trait, as intended and desired. Gender DIF effects were identified with regard to girls' use of indirect bullying by social exclusion and boys' use of physical bullying by hitting and kicking but these effects were small and worked in opposite directions, having negligible effects at the scale level. Also scale scores adjusted for DIF effects differed very little from non-adjusted scores. In conclusion, the empirical data were well characterized by the chosen IRT model and the Olweus Bullying scale was considered well suited for the conduct of fair and reliable comparisons involving different gender-age groups. Information Aggr. Behav. 41:1-13, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

There are differences in the prevalence rates of child maltreatment between countries, as well as variation in how these rates change over time. This review examined the prevalence of different forms of intrafamilial child maltreatment in the Nordic countries and possible changes in the prevalence rates over the past two decades. We conducted a systematic search of the databases PsycInfo, ISI Web of Science and PubMed and of self-report studies investigating the prevalence of one or several forms of child maltreatment in non-clinical samples published from 1990 to the present. In addition, we searched for unpublished reports. A total of 24 Nordic studies were included. The findings suggest a prevalence of child sexual abuse by a parent in the range of 0.2–1.2 per cent, a prevalence of severe physical abuse in the range of three to nine per cent and a prevalence of witnessing domestic violence in the range of seven to 12, 5 per cent in the Nordic countries. Markedly more girls than boys were exposed to sexual abuse. The results indicate a decline in the prevalence of sexual abuse by a relative and of parental physical abuse over the past 20 years, but no corresponding changes in the prevalence of witnessing domestic violence. There is a lack of studies on the prevalence of neglect and emotional maltreatment. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ‘A total of 24 Nordic studies were included’ Key Practitioner Messages: Knowledge of intrafamilial child abuse and witnessing domestic violence in the Nordic countries is expanded. Prevalence studies not published in the international scientific literature are included. Time trends in prevalence rates are shown. Differences between Nordic prevalence rates and the rates found in high-income countries as a whole are explored and discussed. Attention is drawn to the influence of contextual factors on the prevalence of child maltreatment. ‘Attention is drawn to the influence of contextual factors on the prevalence of child maltreatment.’

With a view to developing a brief screening instrument for autism symptoms in a general population of adolescents, seven items from the Asperger syndrome (and high-functioning autism) diagnostic interview were adapted for use as self-report in an online questionnaire for youths aged 16–19 years (N = 10,220). The selected items target lack of social understanding (4 items) and rigid and repetitive behavior and interests (RRBI; 3 items). Factor analyses were performed, and the seven items were also validated against self-reported ASD diagnosis. Best statistical model fit was found for a bifactor model with one general factor and two domain specific factors tied to social difficulties and RRBI. Both the general and the domain specific factors were associated with self-reported ASD diagnoses. The scale (referred to as the Autism Symptom SElf-ReporT for Adolescents and Adults – ASSERT) had good screening properties with a receiver operating curve-area under the curve (ROC-AUC) of 0.87 and a diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 15.8. Applying a modified scoring of the scale further improved the screening properties leading to a ROC-AUC of 0.89 and a DOR of 24.9. The ASSERT holds promise as a brief self-report screen for autism symptoms in adolescents, and further studies should explore its usefulness for adults. publishedVersion

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire--Short Form (CTQ-SF) is widely used to measure childhood abuse of all types. In the present study, we examined the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the instrument. The participants constituted four subsamples (n = 517): substance abusers (n = 126), psychiatric patients (n = 210), prisoners (n = 109) and adolescents in out-of-home placements (n = 72). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a reasonable fit of the data to the original five-factor structure of the CTQ-SF. Measurement invariance was found across gender and the four subsamples. It was concluded that the Norwegian version of the CTQ-SF has acceptable psychometric properties, with good reliability and satisfactory accuracy, to assess different dimensions of childhood trauma.

Objective: To examine whether a bifactor model with a general ADHD factor and domain specific factors of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity was supported in a large general population sample of children. We also explored the utility of forming subscales based on the domain-specific factors. Methods: Child mental health questionnaires were completed by both teachers and parents of all children in grades 2–4 in Bergen, Norway. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed on the ADHD items of a modified version of the Swanson, Nolan and Pelham Questionnaire–IV (SNAP-IV) for 6,237 children. Results: The bifactor model showed very good model fit with a strong general ADHD factor and specific factors for impulsivity and inattention. The subfactors, especially hyperactivity, generated from the SNAP-IV ADHD items conveyed little unique variance in the model. Conclusions: The findings in this general population sample with a strong general ADHD factor in the bifactor model supports the view on ADHD as a unitary concept with specific domain factors for inattention and impulsivity, but not for hyperactivity. The bifactor model questions the utility of constructing ADHD subscales by the use of a simple sum score when using the SNAP-IV.

The aim of the study was twofold: (1) to examine how psychosocial support provided by teachers and classmates related to students' self-regulated learning as expressed through self-reported academic initiative, and (2) whether academic competence and school satisfaction mediated these relationships. The data were from a nationally representative sample of 13- and 15-year-old students (n = 3,125) from the Norwegian part of the World Health Organization's survey of Health Behaviour in School-aged Children. Multiple-group structural equation modeling analysis indicated that teacher support and classmate support related to academic initiative. A multi-mediating path approach revealed that school satisfaction partly mediated both these relationships. Perceived academic competence partly mediated the relationships between teacher support and academic initiative, and between school satisfaction and academic initiative.