It is a well-known fact that family background characteristics affect school achievement, and according to Swedish law, school should play a compensatory role to outweigh such differences. Previous research has demonstrated that a strong school ethos is associated with higher student achievement, but whether school ethos can play a compensatory role for family background has not been investigated to the same extent. This study examines whether the predictive capacity of students’ family background on school achievement is moderated by school ethos. Data were derived from 9,349 ninth grade students (15–16 years) and 2,176 teachers in 159 school units in Stockholm. Multilevel linear regression analyses showed that family background characteristics, as well as school ethos, were associated with student achievement. School ethos did not, however, moderate the association between family background and school achievement. The results suggest that school ethos does not play a compensatory role, but rather, promotes school achievement for all students alike.

This study investigated mental health in schoolchildren in different living arrangements after parental separation. The study population included 31,519 children from the Danish National Birth Cohort, followed-up at age 11 in 2010-2014. Child mental health was measured with a maternal report of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Associations between living arrangements and mental health were analyzed using logistic and linear regression models, taking into account early childhood indicators of the parents' relations, income, education and psychiatric care. At age 11, children living in a nuclear family had the lowest rate of total SDQ score, 8.9%. Of the children who had experienced parental separation, children in joint physical custody had the lowest adjusted odds ratio (OR)1.25 (95%-CI 1.09-1.44), for a high SDQ score relative to children living in a nuclear family, with adjusted ORs of 1.63 (1.42-1.86) and OR 1.72 (1.52-1.95) for sole physical custody arrangements with and without a new partner. An analysis of change in SDQ scores between ages 7 and 11 in children showed a similar pattern. This study indicates that joint physical custody is associated with slightly more favorable mental health in schoolchildren after parental separation than sole physical custody arrangements.

Father involvement and joint physical custody in post-separation families are increasingly common. In Sweden, 35 percent of the children of separated parents live equally much with both parents. Since parenthood is gendered, the associations between child living arrangement and parental health may vary between women and men. This study analyzes the association between children's living arrangement and mental health of parents, and how this interacts with material and social circumstances. Drawing on The Swedish Survey of Living Conditions (ULF) 2008-2013, the association between child living arrangements and mental health (worry/anxiety) of parents in five family structures: two biological parents, reconstituted with joint or main/sole custody arrangements, single with joint physical custody, and single with main or sole custody, were analyzed. Data on 9,225 mothers and fathers with resident children aged 0-17 were analyzed by logistic regressions for average marginal effects adjusting for socio-demographic, socio-economic and social factors. Analyses of interaction effects were made using the synergy index. Substantial family type differences were found in mental health between two biological parent family and all other family types for mothers, and two biological parent family and single parents for fathers. For the single mothers, the higher risk for worry and anxiety was still found following controls for socioeconomic factors. For fathers, the only differences that remained following control for socioeconomic factors was that of single fathers with children in joint physical custody. Interaction effects were found for the combination of single motherhood and non-employment, indicating a higher risk of mental health problems for single mothers (both with joint and sole custody), than would be expected from a simple addition of these exposures, suggesting that this is a vulnerable group. The results indicate that joint custody is associated with higher risk for worry and anxiety for the parents, especially for mothers both re-partnered and single, but also for single fathers.

Aim: Joint physical custody, children spending equal time in each parents’ respective home after a parental divorce, is particularly common in Nordic compared with other Western countries. Older children have been shown to fare well in this practice but for young children there are few existing studies. The aim of this paper is to study psychological problems in 2- to 9-year-old Nordic children in different family forms. Methods: Total symptom score according to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire as well as scores showing externalizing problems were compared among 152 children in joint physical custody, 303 in single care and 3207 in nuclear families through multiple linear regression analyses. Results: Children in single care had more psychological symptoms than those in joint physical custody (B = 1.08; 95% CI 0.48 to 1.67) and those in nuclear families had the least reported symptoms (B = −0.53; 95% CI −0.89 to −0.17). Externalizing problems were also lower in nuclear families (B = −0.28, 95% CI −0.52 to −0.04) compared with joint physical custody after adjusting for covariates. Conclusions: Young children with non-cohabiting parents suffered from more psychological problems than those in intact families. Children in joint physical custody had a lower total problem score than those in single care after adjusting for covariates. Longitudinal studies with information on family factors before the separation are needed to inform policy of young children’s post-separation living arrangements.

Background: There is a strong call for clinically useful standardized assessment tools in everyday child and adolescent psychiatric practice. The attitudes of clinicians have been raised as a key-facilitating factor when implementing new methods. An explorative study was conducted aimed to investigate the clinicians' attitudes regarding standardized assessments and usefulness of diagnoses in treatment planning.

Methods: 411 mental health service personnel working with outpatient and inpatient assessment and treatment within the specialist child and adolescent mental health services, Stockholm County Council were asked to participate in the study, of which 345 (84%) agreed answer a questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions regarding Attitudes toward Standardized Assessment and Utility of Diagnosis. Descriptive analyses were performed and four subscales were compared with information from a similar study in US using the same instruments. The demographic and professional characteristics (age, working years, gender, education, profession, management position, involvement in assessment, level of service) in terms of prediction of attitudes were studied by univariate and multivariate linear regressions.

Results: Overall, the clinicians had quite positive attitudes and were more positive compared to a similar study conducted in the US earlier. There were differences in attitudes due to several characteristics but the only characteristic predicting all subscales was type of profession (counselor, nurse, psychiatrist, psychologist, other), with counselors being less positive than other groups.

Conclusion: The overall positive attitudes toward standard assessment are of importance in the development of evidence-based practice and our study implies that clinicians in general value and are willing to use standardized assessment. Nevertheless, there are specific issues such as adequate training and available translated assessment instrument that need to be addressed. When implementing new methods in practice, there are general as well as specific resistances that need to be overcome. Studies in different cultural settings are of importance to further extend the knowledge of what is general and what is specific barriers.

Truancy is a problem associated with a range of negative consequences at the individual and societal level, both in the short and the long term. Few earlier studies have investigated the association between school effectiveness and truancy. The aim of this study is to examine the links between three teacher-rated features of school effectiveness – school leadership, teacher cooperation and consensus, and school ethos – and student-reported truancy. Data were collected in 2016 among 4,956 students and 1,045 teachers in 46 upper secondary schools in Stockholm. Results from two-level binary logistic regression analyses show that higher teacher ratings of the school leadership and of the school ethos (but not of teacher cooperation and consensus) are associated with a lower likelihood of truancy at the student-level, even when adjusting for student- and school-level sociodemographic characteristics. The findings indicate that effective school characteristics may contribute to reducing students’ inclination to play truant.

Joint physical custody (JPC) refers to a practice where children with separated parents share their time between the parents' respective homes. Studies on parents' views of JPC for young children are scarce. The aim of this interview study was to explore parents' perceptions on how they experience and practice equally shared JPC for their 1-4 year-olds in Sweden. Forty-six parents (18 fathers and 28 mothers) of 50 children (31 boys and 19 girls) under 5 years of age were interviewed. Parents were recruited through information in the media and represented a broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as both voluntary and court-ordered custody arrangements. The interviews were semi-structured and analyzed using systematic text condensation. Two themes emerged regarding the research question. In the first theme, Always free, never free, parents described their striving to coparent without a love relationship. While they appreciated the freedom of being a half-time parent, doing things one's own way, they felt constrained by the long-term commitment to live close to and keep discussing child rearing issues with the ex-partner. Good communication was key and lessened parent's feelings of being cut-off from half of the child's life. When JPC was ordered by court or conflicts were intense, parents tried to have less contact and worried when the children were in the other home. The second theme, Is it right, is it good?, included descriptions of how the parents monitored the child's responses to the living arrangement and made changes to optimize their adjustment. Adaptations included visits for the child with the other parent mid-week, shared meals or adapting schedules. In conclusion, these parents worked hard to make JPC work and cause minimal damage to their children. Most parents were pleased with the arrangements with the notable exception of couples experiencing ongoing conflict.

AimJoint physical custody (JPC), where children spend about equal time in both parent's homes after parental separation, is increasing. The suitability of this practice for preschool children, with a need for predictability and continuity, has been questioned.

MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, we used data on 3656 Swedish children aged three to five years living in intact families, JPC, mostly with one parent or single care. Linear regression analyses were conducted with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, completed by parents and preschool teachers, as the outcome measure.

ResultsChildren in JPC showed less psychological problems than those living mostly (adjusted B 1.81; 95% CI [0.66 to 2.95]) or only with one parent (adjusted B 1.94; 95% CI [0.75 to 3.13]), in parental reports. In preschool teacher reports, the adjusted Betas were 1.27, 95% CI [0.14 to 2.40] and 1.41, 95% CI [0.24 to 2.58], respectively. In parental reports, children in JPC and those in intact families had similar outcomes, while teachers reported lower unadjusted symptom scores for children in intact families.

ConclusionJoint physical custody arrangements were not associated with more psychological symptoms in children aged 3–5, but longitudinal studies are needed to account for potential preseparation differences.

Among children with separated parents, shared residence–i.e., joint phys-ical custody where the child is sharing his or her time equally between two custodialparents’homes–is increasing in many Western countries and is particularly commonin Sweden. The overall level of living among children in Sweden is high; however, thepotential structural differences between children in various post-separation familyarrangements have not been sufficiently studied. Potential risks for children with sharedresidence relate to the daily hassles and stress when having two homes. This study aimsat investigating the living conditions of children with shared residence compared withchildren living with two custodial parents in the same household and those living withone custodial parent, respectively. Swedish national survey data collected from childrenaged 10–18 years (n≈5000) and their parents were used. The outcomes were groupedinto: Economic and material conditions, Social relations with parents and peers, Healthand health behaviors, Working conditions and safety in school and in the neighbor-hood, and Culture and leisure time activities. Results from a series of linear probabilitymodels showed that most outcomes were similar for children with shared residence andthose living with two custodial parents in the same household, while several outcomeswere worse for children living with one parent. However, few differences due to livingarrangements were found regarding school conditions. This study highlights the in-equalities in the living conditions of Swedish children, with those living with oneparent having fewer resources compared with other children.