Anton Dahlberg

Uppsala University | UU · Child Health and Parenting (CHAP), Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences

Background The most common mental health problems in preschool children are emotional and behavioral problems, and one of the most common chronic inflammatory diseases in children is asthma. Most research on the relationship between emotional and behavioral problems and asthma includes school-aged children. The current study aimed to explore the as...

Aim There is limited research on the impact of preschool attendance on socio‐emotional problems. This study aimed to investigate the association between not attending preschool and emotional and behavioural problems among children aged 3–5 years in Sweden. Methods We analysed cross‐sectional data from 9395 children, rated by both parents or by one...

Purpose To explore the association between early emotional and behavioural problems and use of habilitation services among children in Sweden. Methods In this longitudinal cohort study, we used data on children, 3–5 years of age, whose mothers (n = 7343) and fathers (n = 6322) had responded to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for...

Despite extensive research assessing parenting support, there is a lack of knowledge about the perspectives of the youngest children. In this study, we explored changes in preschool children’s emotional and relational experiences at home before and after their parents participated in a parenting intervention, the Triple P parenting programme. Nine...

Background Communication and language disorders are common conditions that emerge early and negatively impact quality of life across the life course. Early identification may be facilitated using a validated screening tool such as the Infant-Toddler Checklist (ITC). We introduced the ITC at the 18-month visit to child health services (CHS) in a Swe...

Aim Language difficulties in children can have enduring impacts on their academic and emotional well‐being. Consequently, early identification and intervention are critical. This study aimed to investigate the impact of introducing Språkfyran, a language screening tool, on the identification and referral rates for speech and language assessment com...

Aims The aim of this study was to explore the association between preschool-level socio-economic deprivation and emotional and behavioural problems among preschool children in Sweden using a multilevel approach. Methods In this cross-sectional study, we used data on 2267 children whose parents and preschool teachers had responded to items measurin...

Parenthood can be defined by the contradiction that it is one of the most satisfying yet stressful experiences in life. Many parents experience stress during parenthood, and some to the extent that they display symptoms of parental burnout. Nevertheless, research on parental burnout is scant and many studies have only examined the condition in West...

Over the past 50 years, extensive research has been published on the parent–child relationship and parenting. However, there are very few examples where young children are at the centre of attention for describing family dynamics, relationships and conflicts. This study aimed at addressing this research and knowledge gap through exploring the emoti...

A changing view of children, accelerated by the Convention of the Rights of the Child (UN in Convention on the rights of the child, UN Doc. A/RES/44/25, 1989, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/pdf/crc.pdf) has shifted the landscape of child and family research over the last few decades. Once viewed with low credibility and operating outside the int...

Background Child mental health problems are considered the second highest cause of burden of disease in Europe and the Americas. Children’s own opinions and experiences are pivotal in addressing these problems. However, including young children as active informants in health research and practice not only requires a well-trained and highly qualifie...

Although emotional and behavioural problems among young children are common and, if unaddressed, can lead to multi-facetted problems later in life, there is little research investigating the implementation of parenting programs that target these problems. In this study, the RE-AIM framework was used to evaluate the implementation of the Triple P pa...

Introduction: Multiple neurodevelopmental problems affect 7–8% of children and require evaluation by more than one profession, posing a challenge to care systems. Description: The local problem comprised distressed parents, diagnostic processes averaging 36 months and 28 visits with 42% of children >4 years at referral to adequate services, and no...

Aim To explore the relations between asthma, allergies and mental health problems in preschool children, aged 3‐5 years. Methods In this cross‐sectional Swedish study, we used data on 4649 children in Uppsala municipality whose parents and preschool teachers had responded to questions measuring asthma and allergies, and the Strengths and Difficult...

Aim: At present there is no reliable method to screen for communication difficulties at age 18-months in the Swedish child health care. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile Infant-Toddler Checklist (ITC) when used at the 18-month visit in the child health care settin...

Evaluation of new initiatives to tackle mental health problems in children requires instruments that are both valid and reliable. One such instrument is the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), an assessment tool for child emotional and behavioural problems. The instrument was developed by Goodman in the 1990's and is being used worldwid...

Low participation in evidence-based parenting programs not only presents a major challenge for population trials where a minimum level of intervention exposure is necessary to detect population-level impact, but also undermines the incorporation of these programs into routine practice settings. As part of a large population trial, we aimed to incre...

The high number of asylum seekers in Sweden highlighted the need to develop and evaluate structured assessment tools for children and adolescents. In a series of studies, we aimed to explore the utility of (i) the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire with a trauma supplement of six items (SDQ-T) for preschool children; (ii) the Children's Revis...

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a widespread tool for assessing behavior problems in children and adolescents. Despite being investigated thoroughly concerning both validity and reliability, peer reviewed studies that provide norms, especially for preschool children, are lacking. This paper provides Swedish norms using data fr...

The high number of asylum seekers in Sweden has highlighted the need to develop and evaluate structured assessment tools for children. In this study, we aimed to explore the utility of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) with a trauma supplement of six items for preschool children in routine care. Parents of two- to six-year-olds (N...

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a well-established instrument for measuring social and behavioural problems among children, with good psychometric properties for older children, but less validity reports on pre-schoolers. In addition, there is a knowledge gap concerning fathers as informants. The present work is one of the few...

Interviewing young children presents a challenge because they tend to provide incomplete accounts and are easily misled. Therefore there is a need for techniques to improve young children's recall, while maintaining accuracy and increasing completeness. The computer-assisted interview In My Shoes (IMS) is an aid that potentially offers a way for yo...