Edvard Hauff

Publications (6)8.75 Total impact

• Article: Seeking balance between the past and the present: Vietnamese refugee parenting practices and adolescent well-being.

  Laila Tingvold, Edvard Hauff, James Allen, Anne-Lise Middelthon
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  ABSTRACT: This qualitative study examines the resources that Vietnamese refugee parents use in raising their adolescent youth in exile and how they, and their adolescents, regard their experiences of different parenting styles. The study is based on 55 semi-structured interviews and several focus groups performed with a small sample of Vietnamese refugee parents and their adolescent children. Three main themes from the interviews were identified: the role of the extended family and siblings in bringing up children; language acquisition and cultural continuity and, finally, religion and social support. Our findings suggest extended kin are involved in the raising of adolescent children, providing additional family ties and support. Parents regarded Vietnamese language acquisition by their youth as facilitating both communication with extended kin and cultural transmission. Several parents stressed the importance of religious community to socialising and creating a sense of belonging for their youth. Vietnamese refugee parents seek a balance between Vietnamese values and their close extended family social networks, and the opportunities in Norway to develop autonomy in pursuit of educational and economic goals. Together these parenting practices constituted a mobilization of resources in support of their youth. These findings may have important implications for future research on resiliency and the role of these strategies as protective factors mediating mental health outcomes. They may also have implications for treatment, in terms of the types of resources treatment can access and for prevention strategies that maximize key cultural resources for Vietnamese refugee youth.
  International Journal of Intercultural Relations 07/2012; 36(4):563-574. · 1.14 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: PubMed Central

  Article: Paternal predictors of the mental health of children of Vietnamese refugees.

  Aina B Vaage, Per H Thomsen, Cécile Rousseau, Tore Wentzel-Larsen, Thong V Ta, Edvard Hauff
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  ABSTRACT: Intergenerational transmission of trauma as a determinant of mental health has been studied in the offspring of Holocaust survivors and combat veterans, and in refugee families. Mainly negative effects on the children are reported, while a few studies also describe resilience and a possible positive transformation process. A longitudinal prospective cohort study of Vietnamese refugees arriving in Norway in 1982 reports a 23 years follow-up, including spouses and children born in Norway, to study the long-term effects of trauma, flight, and exile on the offspring of the refugees.Objectives of the study:1. To study the association between the psychological distress of Vietnamese refugee parents and their children after 23 years resettlement.2. To analyse paternal predictors for their children's mental health. Information from one or both parents at arrival in 1982 (T1), at follow-up in 1985 (T2), and 23 years after arrival (T3) was included. The mental health was assessed by the Global Severity Index (GSI) of the self-report Symptom Check List-90-R (SCL-90-R) for parents (n = 88) and older children (age 19-23 yrs, n = 12), while children aged 4-18 (n = 94) were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Thirty percent of the families had one parent with a high psychological distress score ("probable caseness" for a mental disorder), while only 4% of the children aged 10 - 23 years were considered as probable cases. In spite of this, there was an association between probable caseness in children and in fathers at T3. A significant negative paternal predictor for the children's mental health at T3 was the father's PTSD at arrival in Norway, while a positive predictor was the father's participation in a Norwegian network three years after arrival. Children of refugees cannot be globally considered at risk for mental health problems. However, the preceding PTSD in their fathers may constitute a specific risk for them.
  Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 01/2011; 5:2.
• Article: Long-term mental health of Vietnamese refugees in the aftermath of trauma.

  Aina Basilier Vaage, Per Hove Thomsen, Derrick Silove, Tore Wentzel-Larsen, Thong Van Ta, Edvard Hauff
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  ABSTRACT: There is no long-term prospective study (>20 years) of the mental health of any refugee group. To investigate the long-term course and predictors of psychological distress among Vietnamese refugees in Norway. Eighty Vietnamese refugees, 57% of the original cohort previously interviewed in 1982 (T(1)) and 1985 (T(2)), completed a self-report questionnaire prior to a semi-structured interview. Mental health was measured using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). The SCL-90-R mean Global Severity Index (GSI) decreased significantly from T(1) to T(3) (2005-6), but there was no significant change in the percentage reaching threshold scores (GSI =1.00). Trauma-related mental disorder on arrival and the trajectory of symptoms over the first 3 years of resettlement predicted mental health after 23 years. Although the self-reported psychological distress decreased significantly over time, a substantial higher proportion of the refugee group still remained reaching threshold scores after 23 years of resettlement compared with the Norwegian population. The data suggest that refugees reaching threshold scores on measures such as the SCL-90-R soon after arrival warrant comprehensive clinical assessment.
  The British journal of psychiatry: the journal of mental science 02/2010; 196(2):122-5. · 6.62 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: PubMed Central

  Article: Better mental health in children of Vietnamese refugees compared with their Norwegian peers--a matter of cultural difference?

  Aina Basilier Vaage, Laila Tingvold, Edvard Hauff, Thong Van Ta, Tore Wentzel-Larsen, Jocelyne Clench-Aas, Per Hove Thomsen
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  ABSTRACT: There are conflicting results on whether immigrant children are at a heightened risk of mental health problems compared with native youth in the resettlement country. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY: To compare the mental health of 94 Norwegian-born children from a community cohort of Vietnamese refugees, aged 4 - 18 years, with that of a Norwegian community sample. The SDQ was completed by two types of informants; the children's self-reports, and the parents' reports, for comparison with Norwegian data from the Health Profiles for Children and Youth in the Akershus study. The self-perceived mental health of second-generation Vietnamese in Norway was better than that of their Norwegian compatriots, as assessed by the SDQ. In the Norwegian-Vietnamese group, both children and parents reported a higher level of functioning. This surprising finding may result from the lower prevalence of mental distress in Norwegian-Vietnamese children compared with their Norwegian peers, or from biased reports and cultural differences in reporting emotional and behavioural problems. These findings may represent the positive results of the children's bi-cultural competencies.
  Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 01/2009; 3(1):34.
• Article: Psychiatric symptoms and service utilization among refugee children referred to a child psychiatry department: a retrospective comparative case note study.

  Aina Basilier Vaage, Ida Garløv, Edvard Hauff, Per Hove Thomsen
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  ABSTRACT: Refugee children may encounter barriers to accessing mental health services. We conducted a case-control study based on a systematic review of clinic records to compare psychopathology and service utilization in refugee and Norwegian children referred to a child psychiatry department in a county in southern Norway. Sixty-one refugee children were compared with 61 Norwegian-born children matched for gender, age and time of referral to the clinic. There was no significant difference in rates of referral or level of service utilization, which were proportional to the population. Compared with Norwegian children, refugee children were diagnosed more frequently with post-traumatic stress disorder and other affective and emotional disorders, and less often with pervasive developmental disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The results are discussed in terms of referral pathways and the need for culturally competent care for refugee children.
  Transcultural Psychiatry 10/2007; 44(3):440-58. · 0.99 Impact Factor
• Article: [General practitioners' experiences with refugee patients].

  Lisbet Grut, Laila Tingvold, Edvard Hauff
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  ABSTRACT: Refugees are likely to suffer from complex medical conditions due to persecution and exile. The symptoms may persist several years after the individual has fled his or her homeland. Knowledge of refugees' health condition in their receptive countries is insufficient. Qualitative interviews with 12 general practitioners (GPs) in and around Oslo. A narrative approach was chosen for the analysis. The GPs' consultations with refugee patients seem to be characterised by uncertainty on the relevance of their refugee experience to their health condition. The GPs were reluctant to invite the patient to talk about traumatic experiences connected to their homelands, the escape and the exile. Rather, they express that unfamiliar culture and foreign language act as barriers to good communication between doctor and patient. Specialised health services seem neither to be accessible to the patients nor to be providers of clinical supervision for the GPs. Cultural status seems to cover up experiences related to escape and exile. A lack of specialised health services seems to place the GP as a single actor in the medical service to refugee patients. The interviews revealed a need for instruction material adapted to the GPs' situation.
  Tidsskrift for den Norske laegeforening 06/2006; 126(10):1318-20.