Funding
The project has been funded in its entirety by the Norwegian Research Council project (Project no. 262789).
Academic interests
- Adolescence
- Implementation science
- Quality of Life
- Child Welfare Services
- Public Health
Ill Communication: Adolescents With Co-Occurring Problems and the Systems They Encounter
Overview and background:
Adolescence is the time when most mental health problems arise. Between the ages of 10-24 years, humans experience fundamental biological, social, and cognitive change. Adolescents across the globe increasingly experience mental health problems, yielding detrimental life outcomes within domains such as well-being, social life, vocational, and work participation. The World Health Organization issued a report in 2022, describing deteriorating adolescent health as a main concern and top priority for the organization. Adolescents who experience residential placement are at the highest risk. The rule, rather than the exception, for this population, is co-occurring mental health, conduct and addiction problems. This PhD-project is dedicated to providing scientific knowledge about youth with residential care experiences and the systems they encounter. The project comprises three studies:
Study 1: A systematic review of reviews (published in 2021) on transitional interventions supporting youth who are leaving residential care. The quality of included systematic reviews is assessed, and the confidence in effect estimates for each outcome is reported. Results indicate that there is a need for updated primary studies applying rigorous reporting standards in this field.
Study 2: A thematic analysis based on semi-structured focus group interviews with all therapists piloting the child welfare program Family in Focus (FiF). FiF is based on the U.S. model Family Integrated Transitions and has been implemented and piloted in eight Norwegian municipalities since 2015. The model has undergone substantive adaptations to ensure a suitable cultural fit. The focus of the study is implementation in Norwegian child welfare services, which are divided into state and municipal divisions, carrying out different mandates. The study highlights central themes from therapists’ experiences with the FiF pilot and implementation. The themes are discussed in light of the extant literature on implementation in complex welfare systems.
Study 3: A meta-analysis of common practice elements of treatment programs targeting internalizing and/or externalizing problems in adolescents in therapeutic residential care. The study is based on a systematic search and includes randomized controlled trials investigating relevant treatment programs. Discrete practices described in treatment protocols were coded to identify common practice elements across treatments. The identified elements were subjected to three-level meta-analysis to investigate whether elements were associate with treatment effects. The findings reveal which common elements are most frequently applied across programs, and whether the presence of each element is associated with overall treatment effects.
Research team
Supervisors:
- Ragnhild Bang Nes (PROMENTA; UiO; FHI)
- John Kjøbli (UiO; RBUP)
- Ottar Ness (NTNU)
Appointments
Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway (RBUP)
Gullhaugveien 1-3, 0484 Oslo
RBUP Øst og Sør, Pb. 4623 Nydalen, 0405 Oslo
Web: www.r-bup.no