Youth Mind Health
The research in Child and Adolescent psychiatry at the University of Bergen is singular in the world, with four merited professors, corresponding to probably the highest per capita academic competence in the world within the field of child psychiatry.
About the research group
Research in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UiB has had a formidable development in the last 10-year period. The overall trend within the department at UiB has been a large overall reduction in main faculty positions reducing the teaching and research staff considerably.
The group houses a unique combination of competence in developmental psychiatry, psychiatric epidemiology, and intervention research, as well as an extensive national and international collaboration.
The group will continue using this productive and fertile combination to further develop and foment our developmentally appropriate intervention research in youth mental health. The group consists of two 50% professors (Posserud and Wergeland) and two 20% professors (Bjelland and Elgen). The group is currently supervising more than 10 PhD students.
Other Projects
There are several innovation projects including “Tjenester på Tvers”, the dialogue-based early detection and parenting programmes.
The group and the research herein contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 1,3,4,5,8,10 and 11.
Network and Collaboration
The group is highly productive and has a wide national, international and societal network. The activity is highly relevant to and interlinked with the development and demands of the society, as exemplified by projects addressing diverse and societally deeply relevant projects such as the effects of the pandemic, the child premise within criminal justice, sleep, somatic health and neurodevelopmental problems. The section both leads and contributes to national and international treatment guidelines, professional and interest associations.
The group collaborates with internationally leading researchers in the fields of neuropsychiatry, music therapy, criminal law and intervention research, sleep, behavioural therapy and anxiety disorders.
Our main collaboration partners (national/international level):
- Westpaed research (pediatric)
- Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre (Sweden)
- NORCE
- NTNU
- Innlandet Hospital Trust
- Faculty of Law UiB
- University of Aberdeen (UK)
- University of Edinburgh (UK)
- University of Strathclyde (UK),
- Yale School of Medicine (USA).
Projects
PRODialog
Pro-Dialog is a research project at Helse Bergen HF aimed at promoting mental health in young children through a dialogue-based approach in kindergartens. The project’s full title is “PROmoting mental health in young children – a DIALOGue based approach in kindergartens.”
The initiative explores a new method that enhances the biannual parent-teacher conversation by making it more systematic and giving parents a more active role. The goal is to identify concerning developmental signs earlier and initiate interventions more promptly.
The method, called Dialogue-Based Early Detection, was developed by Chief Physician and Professor Ingvar Bjelland in collaboration with kindergartens affiliated with Helse Bergen and the City of Bergen.
Main objectives of the project:
- Evaluate the method’s effectiveness compared to other screening tools.
- Assess usability and robustness.
- Examine how the method affects the timing of interventions.
- Measure its impact on children’s mental health development.
CHILDCRIM
Assesments about children's criminal insanity and violence risk: Exploring and advancing the recognition of children's development.
CHILDCRIM is a five-year interdisciplinary research project, combining perspectives from legal research and mental health research. The project is led by Professor Linda Gröning, and is supported by the Research Council of Norway.
Publications
Publications
Recent level 2 publications from Youth Mind Health:
- Wergeland GJH, Haaland ÅT, Fjermestad KW, Öst LG, Gjestad R, Bjaastad JF, Hoffart A, Husabo E, Raknes S, Haugland BSM. Predictors of school-based cognitive behavior therapy outcome for youth with anxiety. Behav Res Ther. 2023 Oct;169:104400. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2023.104400. Epub 2023 Sep 1. PMID: 37690362.
- Elgen SKF, Røiseland MA, Bircow EI, Vollsæter M, Hysing M. Symptoms and antecedents of autism in children born extremely premature: a national population-based study. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2023 Sep;32(9):1579-1588. doi: 10.1007/s00787-022-01953-4. Epub 2022 Mar 10. Erratum in: Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2022 Jun 21;: PMID: 35267101; PMCID: PMC10460365.
- Haugland BSM, Haaland ÅT, Baste V, Bjaastad JF, Hoffart A, Rapee RM, Raknes S, Himle JA, Husabø E, Wergeland GJ. Effectiveness of Brief and Standard School-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions for Adolescents With Anxiety: A Randomized Noninferiority Study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2020 Apr;59(4):552-564.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2019.12.003. Epub 2020 Jan 8. PMID: 31926224.
- Posserud MB, Skretting Solberg B, Engeland A, Haavik J, Klungsøyr K. Male to female ratios in autism spectrum disorders by age, intellectual disability and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2021 Dec;144(6):635-646. doi: 10.1111/acps.13368. Epub 2021 Sep 20. PMID: 34494265.
- Chaulagain A, Lyhmann I, Halmøy A, Widding-Havneraas T, Nyttingnes O, Bjelland I, Mykletun A. A systematic meta-review of systematic reviews on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Eur Psychiatry. 2023 Nov 17;66(1):e90. doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.2451. PMID: 37974470; PMCID: PMC10755583.
People
Group manager
Maj-Britt Rocio Posserud Professor
Gro Janne Henningsen Wergeland Professor
Group members
Ingvar Bjelland Professor
Irene Bircow Elgen Professor