About me
I am a postdoctoral researcher at CHESS (Centre for Health Equity Studies) at Stockholm University. I defended my PhD thesis at Karolinska Institutet and I have a background in epidemiology, public health science and sociology. My research is mainly focused on children and youth in vulnerable life situations and consequences for health, education and social adjustment across the life course.
Read more here: www.chess.su.se/about-us/staff/personal-websites/berg-lisa
Traumatic stress in refugee parents and consequences for their children
One of the biggest challenges for the Swedish refugee reception in the long term is to create equal opportunities for labour market participation and a good health in adulthood for children who arrive as refugees in Sweden. Previous research suggests that a good education and good mental health are key factors in such a favourable development. Many refugees suffer from mental health problems related to war experiences or torture, i.e. post-traumatic stress. Clinical studies have shown that this can affect parents' relationships with their children. Potentially, these problems can lead to higher levels of mental illness in children and also to poorer school performance.
The aim of this project is to investigate whether severe post-traumatic stress in refugee parents increases the risk of school failure and mental health problems in their children. The study population consists of about 300000 children residing in Stockholm County in the year they turned 16 during 2001-2016, and their parents. Information on school performance at age 16, care related to mental illness for the children and their parents, and social characteristics of the family was retrieved. Children of parents treated at the Red Cross center for tortured refugees in Stockholm, the crisis and trauma center and/or other care units in Stockholm County Council with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder were compared with children in other refugee families, children of Swedish-born parents with another type of psychiatric problems, and other school children in the county.
There is a lack of prevention strategies for children of refugee parents with severe traumatic stress in Stockholm County, as well as in most other counties in Sweden. This study will form the basis for decisions on such preventive measures. The results are also likely to receive significant international interest since previous population-based studies on these issues are lacking in the international scientific literature.