Teresia Ängarne-Lindberg

Parents of Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes - Their Views on Information and Communication Needs and Internet Use. A Qualitative Study

Background Little is known about parents’ views on the use of online resources for information, education and support regarding childhood type 1 diabetes (T1DM). Considering the rapidly evolving new communication practices, parents’ perspectives need to be explored. The main purpose of this paper was to explore parents’ perceptions of their information-seeking, Internet use, and social networking online. This applied to their everyday life, including the contexts of T1DM and contact with peers. A second aim was to identify implications for future development of Internet use in this respect. Methodology/Principal Findings Twenty-seven parents of 24 young persons aged 10–17 with T1DM participated in eight focus group interviews during their regular visits to a county hospital. Focus group discussions were video/audio-taped, transcribed and analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis. Self-reported demographic and medical information was also collected. A main theme was Finding things out, including two sub-themes, Trust and Suitability. The latter were key factors affecting parents’ perceptions of online resources. Parents’ choice of information source was related to the situation, previous experiences and knowledge about sources and, most importantly, the level of trust in the source. A constantly present background theme was Life situation, including two sub-themes, Roles and functions and Emotions and needs. Parents’ information-seeking regarding T1DM varied greatly, and was closely associated with their life situation, the adolescents development phases and the disease trajectory. Conclusions/Significance Health practitioners and system developers need to focus on creating trust and suitability for users’ needs. They should understand the children’s diverse needs, which depend on their life situation, on the children’s development, and on the disease trajectory. To enhance trust in online health information and support services, the participation of local practitioners is crucial.

Fifteen years after parental divorce: mental health and experienced life-events

The children who experienced their parents’ divorce when the divorce rate in Sweden had begun to grow to higher levels than in preceding decades are today adults. The aim of this study was to investigate if adults who had experienced parental divorce 15 years before the time of our study, differed in mental health from those with continuously married parents, taking into account life events other than the divorce. Instruments used were the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90) measuring mental health and the Life Event questionnaire capturing the number and experience of occurred events. Forty-eight persons, who were 7–18 years old when their parents divorced, constituted the divorce group, and 48 persons matched on age, sex and growth environment formed the study groups. The SCL-90 showed a limited difference between the groups, but not concerning total mental health. A main finding was a difference with regard to sex and age; women aged 22–27 in the divorce group displayed poorer mental health than other participants in both groups. The results from the Life Event questionnaire showed that the divorce group had experienced a significantly larger number of events, and more life events were described as negative with difficult adjustment. A regression analysis showed a significant relation between the SCL-90, Global Severity Index and life events experienced as negative with difficult adjustment, divorce events excluded, but not with the divorce itself. It seems highly desirable to pay more attention than has thus far been paid to girls with experience of childhood divorce at age 7–12.

Psychiatric and somatic health in relation to experience of parental divorce in childhood

Background: The outcome of studies about the experience of parental divorce and its effects on mental and physical health differs, a result possibly caused by the use of different questionnaires and instruments, varying length of time since the divorce and divergent drop-out of participants. Aims: To study the presence of psychiatric records and number of diagnosed somatic and mental healthcare visits in a group of young adults with childhood experience of parental divorce in comparison to a group without this experience. Methods: The presence of records at public psychiatric clinics and 10 years of administrative healthcare data (somatic and mental) were checked for both groups. Results: Significantly more persons from the divorce group appeared in child and adolescent psychiatric care; this was most pronounced in females. However, there were no significant differences between the groups in the number of persons seeking adult psychiatry or in the number of psychiatric consultations. Experience of parental divorce was not found to be an indicator of larger somatic health problems. Conclusion: Experience of parental divorce in childhood is not an indicator of adult psychiatric or somatic need of care.

Young adults with childhood experience of parental divorce: Disappointment and contentment

The aim of this study was to use in-depth interviews to identify and describe experiences of parental divorce among adult children whose parents divorced 15 years earlier. Ten out of 76 interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Two categories of experiences were identified: disappointment and contentment. Two subcategories of disappointment were distinguished: disappointment toward mother, father, or both, and disappointment with relatives and other surrounding persons. Four subcategories of contentment were distinguished: contentment in the belief that the members of the original family received a good or even better life after the divorce, contentment with how the divorce was handled by the parents, contentment and inner strength as a part of the childs own personality, and contentment with receiving adequate help during and after the parental divorce.

Sense of Coherence in Young Adults With and Without Experience of Parental Divorce in Childhood

The intent of this study was to look at personal resources, defined in this study as sense of coherence (SOC), as one possible factor explaining equalities and differences in mental health between individuals with and without experience of parental divorce, when traumatic experiences, other than a possibly traumatic parental divorce, were also considered. The results showed a significant connection between a strong SOC-29 and good mental health (Symptom Checklist-90/Global Severity Index), but no significant connection between SOC-29 and Life Incidence of Traumatic Events. Personal resources measured as strong sense of coherence seem to be important in retaining good mental health and for the capacity to deal with life incidences.

Children who lose a parent suddenly: what kind of assistance do they feel provides relief? A content analysis study of children and their parents

ABSTRACT There are few studies that have investigated children and adolescents’ own perceptions of early intervention following the death of a parent, and even fewer that focus on children and adolescents who have lost a parent suddenly. The aim of this study was to use interviews to identify what children and the surviving parent perceived to be helpful or unhelpful in terms of the interventions they received when a parent died suddenly. The children and young people in the study had received help from a team whose work involves early intervention for children and adolescents affected by the sudden death of a parent. Fourteen adolescents and 15 parents were interviewed for this purpose. The interview material was analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results identified one theme (perception of support), two categories (feeling confident and secure; and receiving help to bring about order), and six subcategories (a feeling of being noticed and attended to; a feeling that they knew what they were doing; a feeling of being able to hand over; a feeling of being in a free zone; a feeling of recovery and inner order; and a feeling of clarity and structure).