Childhood and Families

In the department we work to develop and evaluate measures that promote healthy relationships and positive development among children, adolescents, and families. The department collaborates closely with colleagues in the Department for Child Health and Development at NIPH.

We are interested in how factors such as living conditions, family, school, and children’s individual traits affect their wellbeing and development. We are also interested in parental mental health and wellbeing; for instance, how does birth and the transition to parenthood, parenting practices, and children’s health affect parents’ own mental health and quality of life?

Research

We have several key research projects that include topics such as:

• Family, and how parental mental and physical health, parenting practices, and family conflict relate to child development
• How families have coped and continue to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic
• Children and families who have experienced migration, identity development among minority youth, and mental health among unaccompanied refugee minors
• Children with disabilities
• Internationally adopted children and their families
• Family functioning following parental divorce or separation, and children’s participation in decision-making within the family and in society
• How various aspects of parenting affect parents’ mental health and quality of life, in particular among parents of children with increased care needs
• Universal and low threshold services for families

Communications

Our research is communicated to the public though scientific articles in peer-reviewed national and international journals, popular science articles in the media and our own website, and through direct communication with stakeholders and funding partners. We also publish a range of reports commissioned by government departments and ministries.

The department contributes with professional input to the “childhood profiles” (only in Norwegian). These profiles contain various indicators for monitoring child and adolescent living conditions, such as childcare, schools, family, recreation, and community resources on a local, municipal, regional and national level.

The department contributes to an interdisciplinary collaboration (together with several directorates and institutes) to improve services and resources for vulnerable children and families.