Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Child sexual abuse is a well-documented social crime that influences every aspect of the survivor and their family's lives. The parents are then confronted with a child that presents behavior that may include scholastic challenges, antisocial behaviour, sexual explorative behaviour as well as adult mannerisms. In addition, parents are then 'expected' to cope with their own feelings of guilt in relation to their child's affected behaviour. The aim of the study was to explore parental coping with childcare post the disclosure of child sexual abuse. This study used a qualitative methodological framework. A group of twelve (12) heterogeneous parents were purposively sampled from Childline case registers. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with the parents, using an interview schedule and a voice recorder. The parents' interviews were transcribed verbatim, translated and verified with the parents. The data was analysed using thematic analysis in order to explore parents' experiences. The findings of the study reveal the participants' emotional responses to the disclosure of child sexual abuse, parental coping post the disclosure of CSA and available resources. These themes highlight the experiences of the parents who care for children post the disclosure of child sexual abuse. The study discusses the needs and challenges of the parents, and offers recommendations regarding provisions that can be made for these parents.

Parent involvement in school has proven its effectiveness (Jeynes, 2012). Students whose parents are involved tend to present better behavior at school and achieve higher quality of homework and schoolwork (Cancio, West and Young, 2004; Epstein 2001). In the case of children transitioning to kindergarten, parent involvement can help them overcome adjustment difficulties and receive the support they need to succeed (Patel and Corter, 2013). In order to increase parent involvement among parents of children transitioning to kindergarten, school counselors, teachers and other school personnel can benefit from understanding how parents perceive parent involvement and what experiences they are having as their children transition to kindergarten. The purpose of this study was to describe, using a qualitative approach, how parents of children transitioning to kindergarten perceive parent involvement and how they have been experiencing parent involvement during this transition. This study included the participation of ten parents whose children were enrolled in kindergarten in a public school in Southern California. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed through the process of coding. Findings showed that there are different ways of parent involvement and that such involvement is the result of a teamwork that happens through interactions between the parent, the child, and the school. Moreover, discussions of the findings also revealed that schools that offer services and support to parents during the kindergarten transition help them become more involved parents. Lastly, it was brought to knowledge that parents of children transitioning to kindergarten do not always know about the existence or the role of the school counselor, who could be serving as an important support to these parents and their children. Important implications are offered for school counselors, counselor educators, and kindergarten teachers, as well as recommendations for future research. / Ph. D.

Bakgrund: ADHD är idag en vanlig funktionsnedsättning hos barn. Störningen påverkar dock inte enbart barnet utan också dess familj negativt. Föräldrarnas välbefinnande står även i relation med barnets välbefinnande. Denna störning innebär dock en försämrad livskvalité hos föräldrarna. Med familjecentrerad omvårdnad, socialt och professionellt stöd kan sjuksköterskan hjälpa föräldrar i deras krävande livssituation.Syftet: Syfte med denna studie var att belysa föräldrars erfarenheter av att leva med ett barn som har ADHD diagnos.Metod: En litteraturbaserad studie där 10 kvalitativa artiklar har analyserats.Resultat: Ur analysen av datamaterialet framkom två huvudkategorier: bemötande från omgivningen och svårt att ta beslut om medicinsk behandling med sju underkategorier.Slutsats: Denna studies resultat bidrar med kunskap om föräldrars erfarenheter av att leva med barn som har ADHD. Detta kan vara påfrestande på grund av de bemötanden som uppkommer med omgivningen. Föräldrar har även svårt att acceptera barnets diagnos och behandling. Behov av stöd har dock betydelse för avgörandet av att behandla barnet med medicin. Stödgrupper samt utbildning till föräldrarna förbättrar föräldrarnas välbefinnande.

Becoming a parent is a lifechanging event that can be demanding in todays' stressful living. Carrying babies with baby-carrier/baby-slings is becoming more and more acceptable in the society. To meet the requirements of promoting health and growth among children the nurse need greater understanding of parent's experiences of carrying their babies close with the help of a baby-carrier or baby-sling. The aim of this study was to exam parent's experience of carrying their child with the help of a baby-carrier or baby-sling. In this qualitative study eleven parents were interviewed with the help of a semi-structured question guide. Content analyse where used as a method and two themes emerged; Parent-perspective and Child-perspective. The parent's perception of using a baby-carrier or baby-sling was that it is a tool in everyday life as well as a good way to promote bonding and attachment. Parents need information about carrying babies with the help of a baby-carrier or baby-sling and desire it from healthcare professionals. The nurse specialist has a great responsibility in promoting good cooperation with parents and to promote health and growth for the children. It is therefore important that the nurse encourages parents to have their babies close. Using a baby-carrier or baby-sling is an easy tool that can help parents to have their baby close.

Background About 7000 children and teenagers live with type 1 diabetes in Sweden. Parents take a big responsibility when it comes to their child's diabetes care. Nurses play an important role when it comes to supporting parents during this time. In order to increase knowledge about how nurses can develop their support for this group, it’s important to study parents' experiences of living with and supporting their teenager with the disease.Aim The aim of this study was to investigate parents' experiences of being a parent to a teenager with type 1 diabetes.Method A qualitative literature review method was chosen to investigate parents' experiences of being a parent to a teenager with type 1 diabetes. The literature review included nine scientific articles from CINAHL and PUBMED.Results Two main themes emerged: (1) Concerned parents and (2) Lack of knowledge about diabetes and diabetes management. Parents felt that they did not have time to take care of their own well-being which resulted in mental illness among many parents. Most parents experience difficulties in handing over the responsibility of the diabetes care to their teenager,as they are worried about what the future. Most parents feel insecure in several daily situations, showing evidence of a lack of knowledge.Conclusion Nurses need to focus more on caring for parents. It is important that the nurse pays attention to parents' need for support. By involving parents in the care, a good relationship is created between the nurses and the parents. / I denna litteraturstudie undersöks upplevelser av att vara förälder till en tonåring med diabetes typ 1. Diabetes typ 1 drabbar till största del barn och ungdomar, och att drabbas av en kronisk sjukdom i tonåren är en utmaning för de flesta. Genom att analysera tidigare forskning om föräldrars upplevelser visades två huvudteman kring att föräldrar känner oro och uppleverokunskap. Resultatet visade att när ett barn eller tonåring drabbas av diabetes typ 1 spelar föräldrarna en central roll i vårdandet, de är ofta närvarande och får ta det största ansvaret till en början. Föräldrar upplever ofta sjukdomshanteringen som krävande och stressande, vilket påverkar föräldrarnas psykiska mående. Daglig ångest och oro plågar många tonåringar och föräldrar som lever med diabetessjukdomen nära, tonåringar upplever ofta skamkänslor vilket upprör föräldrarna. Psykisk ohälsa bland föräldrar är vanlig, speciellt hos mödrar då det största ansvaret ofta läggs på dom när det kommer till att hantera diabetessjukdomen. En stor oro över att deras tonåring ska drabbas av lågt blodsocker påverkade många föräldrar, denna oro gör det svårt att släppa kontrollbehoven. Konflikter mellan tonåring och förälder var vanlig då föräldrar upplever tonåringen som krävande och svårhanterad. När ens barn blir tonåring vill de gärna ta eget ansvar, över sitt liv men också över sin sjukdom. Föräldrar berättar att det är väl medvetna om att tonåringen kommer klara det och att överlämningen av ansvaret måste ske, men är oroliga över vissa situationer en tonåring kan hamna i. Föräldrar upplevde också en rädsla över dagliga situationer som rörde diabetessjukdomen, vilket kunde förklaras med okunskap och osäkerhet hos föräldrarna. Föräldrar hade önskat en mer lättillgänglig källa att hitta snabb och lätt information på, då de upplever att information de tidigare fått inte uppfattats ordentligt på plats. Sjuksköterskor behöver hitta en bra balans av att vårda tonåringen i samband med föräldrarna. Resultatet visar att föräldrarna behöver stöd och hjälp, det är sjuksköterskans ansvar att se till att föräldrarna får ordentligt med stöd under denna stressiga tid.

The UK currently has the highest number of premature births (babies born before 37 weeks gestation age and below 2.5kg) in Europe affecting around 70,000 babies and their caregivers each year. Consequently many interventions have been created to support the development of the preterm newborn and minimise the complications of prematurity. Many of the interventions developed have been predominantly tactile and have almost exclusively focused upon their effect upon the baby and not, for example considered the effect that this type of intervention might have upon the parents; specifically the mother, when they are the ones who perform the therapy. In fact there is a severe lack of systematic studies investigating the latter. Hence, the aim of this thesis was to search for research-based evidence on the benefits of environmental support to both babies (e.g. increased weight gain or awake periods) and their mothers (e.g. higher perceptions of themselves as a mother) during hospital confinement and within the context of Neonatal Health Psychology (NNHP). For this reason, the main hypothesis investigated whether mothers’ cognitions and emotions; specifically Maternal Self-Efficacy, Self-Esteem and Attachment, would be affected by environmental mediators in the form of structured or non-structured tactile sensory nurturing interventions. The empirical work reported in this thesis is divided into 3 distinct phases. Firstly, as their was no appropriate measure of maternal Self-Efficacy for mothers of hospitalised preterm neonates the main aim of Phase-1 was to develop and validate an appropriate measure. Using a prospective survey method and a mixed design (between/within and correlational) a total of 160 mother-preterm dyads (pooled from 2 cohorts; cohort 1, N=100; cohort 2, N=60) were recruited. The results demonstrated that the Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy (PMPS-E) tool had good initial psychometric properties (including internal/external reliability and construct validity) for its use with mothers of relatively healthy hospitalised preterm neonates. Secondly, in order to investigate mothers’ perceived maternal parenting self-efficacy beliefs further Phase-2 examined whether the type of feeding a mother chose to give to her baby mediated her self-efficacy beliefs. The results suggested that breastfeeding a preterm neonate during hospital confinement may adversely affect mothers’ perceptions of their efficacy in all aspects of parenting. Finally, using an experimental method Phase-3 tested the main hypothesis of this thesis and used a randomised cluster control trial (RCCT) design to allocate 60 mothers and their preterms equally to one of three cluster groups; consisting of either structured (e.g. TAC-TIC therapy or Using a Toy) or non-structured (Placebo/Control) tactile sensory nurturing interventions. The main findings illustrate that tactile sensory nurturing interventions do mediate maternal cognitions and emotions, preterm weight gain and behavioural state. In particular, mothers who performed TAC-TIC demonstrated significantly higher self-reported perceptions in their self-efficacy, self-esteem and attachment, which was attributed to the fact that these babies spent increased amounts of time in an alert and responsive behavioural state, and gained more weight throughout the study period. Thus, the work presented throughout this thesis has implications for Neonatal Health Psychologists and other Health Care professionals’ practice within neonatal units, the use of Neonatal Health Psychology as a framework to study the preterm neonate and their family, and also the way in which both mothers and their hospitalised preterm neonates are supported during hospital confinement.

Background: Cancer is a disease that brings many emotions along just by naming it. The onset is increasing annually. When a child becomes ill in cancer, the parents go through a difficult time while supporting their child throughout the treatment. The healthcare professionals need more knowledge about how to support the parents through this time. Aim: The purpose of the study was to describe parents' experiences of living with a child who has cancer. Method: A method designed by Friberg (2012), aimed to contribute to evidence-based care based on the analysis of qualitative research, was used. Analysis of 11 scientific articles were performed. The analysis resulted in six main categories and seventeen sub categories. Results: The main categories that emerged was: information is everything in the disease process, life changed radically, to manage the disease they need support from others, the fight against the disease, the nurse´s role in the meeting and a sea of emotions. Conclusion: From these categories, the parents' struggles became highlighted and explained. The healthcare professionals had a role in providing the best care available for the parents and child.

SAMMANFATTNING Bakgrund Barnfetma är ett växande problem och en stor utmaning för folkhälsoarbetet. Dagens samhälle påskyndar viktuppgång; en tydlig minskning i fysisk aktivitetsnivå bland barn och ungdomar och en mer stillasittande livsstil ses, samtidigt som exponeringen av ohälsosamma livsmedel ökar. Beprövade verktyg för föräldrar och sjukvården att tillämpa för att på ett effektivt sätt lyckas behandla barns övervikt saknas. Syfte Att skapa en inblick i och förståelse för hur vården som bedrivs på en överviktsenhet för barn upplevs av föräldrar till patienter. Metod Design för studien är kvalitativ. Föräldrar till barn inskrivna på en överviktsenhet var målpopulation och bekvämlighetsurval tillämpades. Data samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer som spelades in, transkriberades och analyserades med innehållsanalys. Resultat Föräldrarna upplevde att behandlingen gjort deras barn mer självreflekterande beträffande problematiken, men de tyckte samtidigt att personalen hade svårt att nå fram till barnen för att kunna motivera dem till förändring. Bemötandet från personalen ansågs vara respektfullt, professionellt, pedagogiskt, individanpassat och förtroendeingivande. Föräldrarna upplevde att personalen vägledde, men att de inte gavs tillräckligt konkreta råd att omsätta i praktiken. Föräldrarna saknade gemensamma aktiviteter för barnen på överviktsenheten. Slutsats En slutsats av denna studie är att man i behandlingen av barns övervikt behöver satsa mer resurser på att få barnen att vilja röra på sig; att skapa positiva rörelseupplevelser hos barnen. Därför behöver man inom sjukvården satsa mer resurser på att arbeta fram glädjefyllda fysiska aktiviteter särskilt anpassade till barn med övervikt. / ABSTRACT Background Child obesity is a growing global problem and a major challenge to the public health. Today’s society promotes obesity; a clear decrease in physical activity among children is seen with many having adopted a sedentary lifestyle. There is a lack of reliable and tested tools for parents and healthcare personnel to use in order to successfully manage and treat child obesity. Aim                                                                                                                       To gain a better insight into the healthcare at an overweight clinic for children and to obtain a better understanding of the patients' parents' perceptions of the help received. Method The design is qualitative. The target population was parents of children registered at an overweight clinic. Participants were selected based on accessibility. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews later transcribed and content analyzed. Result Parents felt the staff did not succeed in motivating the children to change, but that the treatment made them more reflecting on their own behaviour. Parents thought the staff was trustworthy and pedagogical and that they showed respect and professionalism. Highlighted was the ability among the staff to tailor the treatment to suit the children's individual needs. Parents found that they were provided guidance, but felt a lack of practical advice. Organized activities for the children at the overweight clinic were requested. Conclusion A conclusion is that more resources need to be focused on trying to increase the children’s desire to exercise by creating enjoyable activities specially designed for overweight children, making physical activity a positive experience.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act emphasized the importance of parents’ participation in all educational decisions concerning their children with disabilities. However, parents’ ability to actively participate in, and contribute to, their children’s special education process is influenced by a variety of parent and school related factors. For immigrant Latino parents, these factors may include additional issues related to cultural and linguistic diversity not experienced by most parents. This study examined the experiences of immigrant Latino parents when navigating the special education system as well as the impact that such experiences had on parents’ participation in the special education process of their children with disabilities. A researcher-developed survey (Special Education Parent Participation Survey, SPED-PPS) was used to collect the data. Findings indicated that, although about half of the participants were unable to communicate in English with educators, parents still communicated and collaborated often with school personnel. In addition, most immigrant Latino parents trusted professionals working with their children and had a positive perception of school personnel. A minority of parents believed that teachers knew best about their children’s needs, believed that teachers thought that parents interfered too much in their work, and/or felt uncomfortable with having many professionals in the Individual Educational Plan meetings. Immigrant Latino parents’ participation in their children’s special education process appeared to be influenced by the child’s disability as well as parents’ knowledge of the American education system, perception of school personnel, English language communication skills, and ability to confront school personnel about the child’s needs.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain knowledge about parents of children with substance abuse and their experiences of social services support and treatment. The data collection consists of seven individual qualitative and semi-structured interviews with parents of children with substance abuse. The results were interpreted with a hermeneutic perspective and later on categorised and presented with a qualitative content analysis. The theoretical framework that has been used to analyse this study is systems theory. This study shows that the parents in our study did not get any support from the social services. Instead the parents found support in non-profit support groups and in their family and friends. The results also show that the parents in this study did not feel like the social services worked with them and other support groups, but instead only focused on the child with the substance abuse.