Academic interests
- Behavioral problems among children and adolescents
- Aggression
- Motivation and learning
- Motivation, personality and achievement
- Evaluation Research
Teaching
- SPED4300 - Specialisation in psychosocial difficulties
- SPED4093 - Master's thesis in Special Education - Specialisation in psychosocial difficulties
Background
- Professor at ISP, UiO from 2018
- Senior Researcher at the The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development (NUBU) and Assistant Professor II at the Department of Educational Sciences
- Dr. Politics of Education at UiO in 2008. The thesis title: Motivation-related factors and time: Your effect on cognitive and affective manifestations
Publications
-
Olseth, Asgeir Røyrhus; Hagen, Kristine Amlund; Keles, Serap & Bjørnebekk, Gunnar
(2024).
Functional family therapy for adolescent disruptive behavior in Norway: Results from a randomized controlled trial.
Journal of Family Psychology.
ISSN 0893-3200.
38(4),
p. 548–558.
doi:
10.1037/fam0001213.
-
Bjørnsen, Hanne Nissen; Bjørnebekk, Gunnar & Brandmo, Christian
(2023).
Schools as a Source of Mental Health Literacy: Adjusting and Validating a Mental Health Literacy Scale.
Health Promotion Practice.
ISSN 1524-8399.
doi:
10.1177/15248399231161090.
Show summary
Over the last decade, there has been a growing interest in mental health literacy (MHL) in health promotion, largely motivated by increased awareness of MHL as a modifiable determinant of mental health. Accordingly, MHL has been associated with the health-promoting school approach emerging over the last 20 years. To succeed in promoting MHL, it is of vast importance to evaluate working strategies and interventions to address MHL using validated instruments. The current study describes the revision and psychometric testing of a modified version of the 10-item adolescents’ positive MHL measure, the MHPK-10, the only identified instrument measuring adolescents’ positive MHL. The MHPK-10 was adjusted to address the previously documented ceiling effects and was further optimized for use in schools by reworking it to measure learning rather than self-reported knowledge, becoming the new nine-item Mental Health Learning Scale (MHLS-9). The MHLS-9 was tested on a national sample of N = 2,012 Norwegian ninth graders. Data were analyzed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and tests of reliability and validity. The revised CFA model for the MHLS-9 showed an improved fit over the original CFA model for the MHPK-10. The MHLS-9s’ CFA model revealed excellent factor determinacy (.95) and scale reliability (ω = .91). Thus, the MHLS-9 is an improved measure for the positive component of MHL for use in school settings, enabling researchers and practitioners to evaluate and focus positive MHL interventions in schools using a short, reliable, and valid measure for adolescents’ learning about the factors promoting good mental health.
-
Thøgersen, Dagfinn Mørkrid; Elmose, Mette; Viding, Essi; McCrory, Eamon & Bjørnebekk, Gunnar
(2022).
Behavioral Improvements but Limited Change in Callous-Unemotional Traits in Adolescents Treated for Conduct Problems.
Journal of Child and Family Studies.
ISSN 1062-1024.
doi:
10.1007/s10826-022-02435-6.
Full text in Research Archive
-
-
-
Bjørnebekk, Gunnar & Dagfinn, Mørkrid Thøgersen
(2022).
Possible Interventions for Preventing the Development of Psychopathic Traits among Children and Adolescents?
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH).
ISSN 1661-7827.
19(1).
doi:
10.3390/ijerph19010409.
Full text in Research Archive
Show summary
Individuals with the combination of psychopathy and severe conduct disorder often get in a lot of trouble from their early childhood, and can cause great suffering and problems for other people and their immediate environment. Their antisocial behaviour has a tendency to develop into a chronic pattern early in life, and the treatment prognosis in adulthood is poor. A large proportion of serious violent crimes in society can be attributed to this group of perpetrators. Until recently, it has been unclear whether traits of this type can be prevented or changed, so that these individuals and their surroundings can benefit from targeted treatments at an early stage. To reduce serious crime in a society, it is very important to develop effective measures for this particular group. A lack of empathy, indifference to others, and a lack of concern about their own performance appear to be key early signs in children and adolescents with persistent behavioural problems and more serious norm violations who continue into a criminal career upon reaching adulthood. These characteristics have been termed callous−unemotional (CU) traits, and they are considered to be a precursor to psychopathic traits in adulthood. In recent years, several studies have evaluated the degree to which treatments that have been proved effective for children and adolescents with severe behavioural problems also show effectiveness for children and adolescents with CU traits. Interventions specifically tailored to children with CU traits have also been developed with the aim of directly changing the ongoing development of this precursor to psychopathy. In this paper, we will address the extent to which current evidence-based treatment methods developed for children and adolescents with behavioural difficulties are equally effective when a child has CU traits. We will also take a closer look at the effects of interventions designed to change this trait. There will be a discussion regarding what seems relevant for a change in the trait itself, as well as a change in their antisocial behaviour.
View all works in Cristin
Published
Oct. 30, 2018 2:14 PM
- Last modified
Oct. 30, 2018 2:20 PM
