Geir Scott BrunborgNorwegian Institute of Public Health · Division of Mental and Physical Health
Geir Scott Brunborg
PhD
About
72
Publications
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Introduction
I study substance use, mental health, and leisure time activities among young people.
Additional affiliations
January 2023 - present
January 2014 - December 2016
March 2013 - present
Publications
Publications (72)
Introduction: Although adolescents’ nicotine addiction from
e-cigarettes is a concern, few studies differentiate between vaping with and without nicotine. This study examines the prevalence of nicotine and nicotine-free vaping, maps transitions between vaping behaviors, and assesses dif�ferences in the personal characteristics of vapers in a sampl...
Background and aims
Research into the association between use of social media (SoMe) and alcohol use among adolescents is still in its infancy. The aim of the current longitudinal study was to examine if time spent on SoMe was prospectively associated with alcohol use among adolescents, and whether these associations differed for boys and girls.
D...
Background
Alcohol use is a leading cause of reduced health among young people. Consumption of energy drinks might be a risk factor for alcohol use. The aim of this study was to examine if more frequent consumption of energy drinks in early adolescence was associated with higher concurrent alcohol consumption, and with stronger increase in alcohol...
Background
Even though mental health problems and alcohol use remain major challenges facing adolescents, our understanding of their developmental progressions primarily stems from cohorts coming 1 of age in the early 2000’s. We aimed to examine and describe normative developmental trajectories of depression, conduct problems, and alcohol use acros...
Background. Whether the recent rise in adolescent self-reported depressive symptoms isinfluenced by changing reporting behavior is much debated. Most studies use observed sum scores to document trends but fail to assess whether their measures are invariant acrosstime, a prerequisite for meaningful inferences about change. We examined whether measur...
Background: An increase in adolescent self-reported depressive symptoms has been reported in many countries. Whether these trends are influenced by changing reporting of symptoms has been
much debated yet rarely examined from a measurement perspective. We examined whether measurement noninvariance, as indicative of changing perceptions and reportin...
The current study examined personal barriers that can prevent early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals from reporting concerns of child maltreatment to child welfare services (CWS). The objectives were to identify different types of personal barriers and to examine differences in reporting according to employee characteristics. Norwe...
Background
This systematic review aimed to identify effective methods to increase adolescents’ response to surveys about mental health and substance use, to improve the quality of survey information.
Methods
We followed a protocol and searched for studies that compared different survey delivery modes to adolescents. Eligible studies reported respo...
Background
Cyberbullying has been widely studied and is associated with poor mental health outcomes in adolescents. However, adolescents frequently also experience a range of other negative experiences, such as name-calling, exclusion, and unwanted attention or contact from others. Few previous studies have investigated how adolescents’ mental heal...
Introduction
Cyberbullying has been extensively studied and is associated with adverse mental health outcomes in adolescents. However, adolescents may also experience a range of other negative experiences, such as name-calling, threats, exclusion, and unwanted attention or contact from others. Few studies have investigated how adolescents’ mental h...
Drawing on the framework of alcohol expectancies and their importance for drinking behaviors, this longitudinal mixed-methods study examined changes and continuities in development of alcohol expectancies during adolescence. Quantitative and qualitative data were prospectively collected at four time points between 2015 and 2020 from nationwide, soc...
Aims
This study aimed to examine and compare the use of energy drinks, over-the-counter (OTC) painkillers and misuse of prescription drugs in two cohorts of Norwegian adolescents entering high school (i.e. grade 11) immediately prior to and during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
Accelerated longitudinal design and multi-cohort s...
Background
Adolescents’ presence on Social Media (SoMe) facilitates peer connections making them susceptible to peer-influences and approval. Negative experiences on SoMe can affect adolescent stress and wellbeing, impelling their use of alcohol. This paper provides a novel understanding of the relationship between negative experiences on SoMe and...
Introduction:
We examined a range of alcohol use indicators among Norwegian adolescents before and during the early COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods:
We examined two cohorts of Norwegian 16-year-olds from the nationwide MyLife study who entered high school in fall 2020 (i.e., COVID-19 pandemic cohort; n = 915) and fall 2019/18 (i.e., prepandemic cohor...
Background
Adolescents’ presence on Social Media (SoMe) facilitates peer-connections making them susceptible to peer-influences and approval. Negative experiences on SoMe can affect adolescent stress and wellbeing, impelling their use of alcohol. This paper provides a novel understanding of the relationship between negative experiences on SoMe and...
Introduction
Recent developments in health behavior among adolescents may have been accompanied by changes in risk factors for alcohol use. Focusing on postmillennial cohorts of adolescents, we revisit the question of whether sports participation is a risk factor for alcohol use.
Method
This study analyses data from four waves (2017−2020) of the M...
This cohort study examines the association of individual, family, and community characteristics among Norwegian high school students with COVID-19–specific worry.
Objectives: The decline in adolescent drinking in the past two decades has coincided with substantial changes in the use of digital media. This suggests that certain types of digital media use may have replaced drinking among adolescents. We hypothesized negative associations between adolescent drinking and country-level changes in frequency of int...
Importance
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting conditions may negatively affect adolescents.
Objective
To examine aspects of self-reported mental and physical health among adolescents in Norway before and during the pandemic, including the role of pandemic-associated anxiety.
Design, Setting, and Participants
This cohort study examined a diverse...
Introduction
No previous studies have examined the cross-sectional association between fear of missing out (FOMO) and binge-drinking among adolescents. The aim of the present study was: (i) to estimate the magnitude of this association; (ii) to assess the impact of potential confounders (i.e. sensation-seeking, symptoms of depression and self-regul...
Background
In order to curb alcohol’s harm to others, it is important to identify the contexts where people experience such harm. Objectives: To examine whether frequency of drinking in four different locations was associated with increased likelihood of experiencing harm from others’ drinking. Methods: Data stem from surveys conducted in the five...
Introduction
There is currently no good explanation for the decline in adolescent drinking reported for many Western countries in recent years. As modern computer gaming is highly exciting and socially rewarding, it may function as a substitute for adolescent binge drinking. We hypothesized a negative correlation between country‐level changes in co...
Background and aims
No previous studies have examined the prospective association between disposable income and binge‐drinking initiation among adolescents. We aimed to examine whether there is such an association and, if so, whether it is robust to confounders, uniform across individual characteristics and linear versus non‐linear.
Design
Prospec...
Aims:
The aims of the article are (a) to estimate coverage rates (i.e. the proportion of 'real consumption' accounted for by a survey compared with more reliable aggregate consumption data) of the total, the recorded and the beverage-specific annual per capita consumption in 23 European countries, and (b) to investigate differences between regions...
Purpose
The M onitoring Y oung Life styles (MyLife) project was initiated as an integrated quantitative and qualitative prospective investigation of correlates, causes, and consequences of adolescent substance use and other addictive behaviours in Norway.
Participants
The MyLife cohort was recruited from middle schools in Norway, which were select...
Aims: The aim of the current study was to provide estimates of the distribution of alcohol-related problems in a large sample of college and university students. We also sought to examine trends in the distribution of alcohol-related problems from 2010 to 2018. Methods: Data stem from a recent national health survey from 2018 for higher education i...
Introduction
Adolescent use of social media has been linked to a range of negative outcomes, but it is still unclear whether the associations are spurious. To address this issue, we examined if within‐individual change in time spent on social media was associated with within‐individual changes in depression, conduct problems, and episodic heavy dri...
Issues
Today’s teenagers have been described as a sober generation and we asked: ‘What is known about the recent decline in youth drinking?’
Approach
A literature review (2005–2017).
Key Findings
Research from wealthier parts of the world provides solid evidence of less alcohol use by youth since the millennium shift. Some studies show that this...
Introduction and aims:
To identify latent developmental episodic heavy drinking (EHD) trajectory groups for Norwegian adolescents, investigate risk factors associated with group membership and to assess differences in alcohol problems between different groups in early adulthood.
Design and methods:
Data were from 1266 individuals measured at fou...
This study explored the potential contribution of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)-based Patient Health Questionnaire-9 item (PHQ-9) instrument to the developmental epidemiology research in Norway, by examining depressive symptoms in a school sample of adolescents (N = 846). The average PHQ-9 scores were 6.89 (SD...
Objectives: Little is known about the consequences of adolescent social media use. The current study estimated the association between the amount of time adolescents spend on social media and the risk ofepisodic heavy drinking (EHD).Methods: A school-based self-report cross-sectional study including 851 Norwegian middle-and high-school students (46...
Aims:
To estimate the prospective relations between levels of propensity to experience positive affect (PA) and propensity to experience negative affect (NA) and risk of heavy drinking in a cohort of Norwegians aged 40-80 years.
Design:
Clustered sampling was used to draw Norwegians aged 40-79 years in 2002/03 (t1). The relationship between PA a...
Debut with, and increased use of, alcohol is common in adolescence, and most will not develop long-lasting
problems associated with the use of alcohol. Nevertheless, many adolescents will have a consumption
pattern that may be problematic, with negative short- and long-term consequences. This paper presents
research on the development of alcohol us...
Background and aims:
Knowledge of the personality characteristics of individuals who develop gambling problems is important for designing targeted prevention efforts. Previous studies of the relationship between the five-factor model of personality and gambling problems were based on small samples not representative of the general population. We es...
Although many studies have addressed adverse outcomes in children of parents with alcohol abuse/dependence, less is known about the possible long-term effects of more normative patterns of parental alcohol consumption, including drinking at lower risk levels and heavy episodic or binge drinking. The extent of harm from parental drinking may therefo...
Although many studies have addressed adverse outcomes in children of parents with alcohol abuse/dependence, less is known about the possible long-term effects of more normative patterns of parental alcohol consumption, including drinking at lower risk levels and heavy episodic or binge drinking. The extent of harm from parental drinking may therefo...
There has been debate about which type of measurement instrument gives the best alcohol consumption estimates. This study used alcohol consumption data for a simulated population to compare the last drinking occasion (LDO) method against the true alcohol consumption. The LDO method requires respondents to indicate the quantity consumed at the LDO,...
Assessment of video game addiction often involves measurement of peripheral criteria that indicate high engagement with games, and core criteria that indicate problematic use of games. A survey of the Norwegian population aged 16-74 years (N=10,081, response rate 43.6%) was carried out in 2013, which included the Gaming Addiction Scale for Adolesce...
Previous studies investigating human values and alcohol consumption have focused on adolescents, so the current study examined associations between human values and alcohol consumption in a cohort of Norwegians in the second half of life (40 years and above). Human values were studied within Schwartz’ theory [Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in t...
AimsWe investigated if increased drinking frequency among adults in the second half of life co-occurred with increased usual quantity, and increased intoxication frequency.DesignTwo-wave panel study.SettingNorway.ParticipantsNorwegian adults (1,017 women and 959 men) aged 40 to 79 years.MeasurementsDrinking frequency, usual quantity, and intoxicati...
The aim of the study was to assess prevalence and factors associated with binge drinking, cannabis use and tobacco use among ethnic Norwegians and ethnic minority adolescents in Oslo. We used data from a school-based cross-sectional survey of adolescents in junior- and senior high schools in Oslo, Norway. The participants were 10,934 adolescents ag...
Background and aims:
A long existing notion is that the presence of music might affect gambling behavior. In spite of this, little empirical research on the subject exists. The main aim of the present study was to corroborate and elaborate on the existing findings concerning gambling and music through a laboratory based experiment.
Methods:
A no...
Background and aims: While the relationships between video game use and negative consequences are debated, the relationships between video game addiction and negative consequences are fairly well established. However, previous studies suffer from methodological weaknesses that may have caused biased results. There is need for further investigation...
AIMS – The aim of the current study was to test empirically two predictions from Skog’s theory
of collectivity of drinking behavior, using time series data from Norwegian adolescents. The two
specific predictions were: 1) A change in mean alcohol consumption is positively associated with a
change in the proportion of heavy drinkers, and 2) A change...
Although the effectiveness of treatments for pathological gamblers is gaining support, only 10% of pathological gamblers seek treatment. Providing treatment via the Internet may lower the thresholds for treatment seeking. A new telephone and Internet based treatment programme for pathological gamblers is presented in this article, along with a pre-...
Distinguishing high engagement with games from gaming addiction has been a challenge for researchers. We present evidence that an established self-report instrument can be used to distinguish addicted gamers from highly engaged gamers. The study used data
from the World Health Organization’s survey, Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children. A natio...
Background and aims: Electronic gaming machines (EGM) may be a particularly addictive form of gambling, and gambling speed is believed to contribute to the addictive potential of such machines. The aim of the current study was to generate more knowledge concerning speed as a structural characteristic in gambling, by comparing the effects of three d...
The Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (BFAS), initially a pool of 18 items, three reflecting each of the six core elements of addiction (salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse), was constructed and administered to 423 students together with several other standardized self-report scales (Addictive Tendencies Scale, O...
Impaired ability to form associations between negative events in gambling and aversive somatic reactions may be a predisposing factor for pathological gambling. The current study investigated whether a group of pathological gamblers and a control group differed in aversive classical conditioning.
A differential aversive classical conditioning parad...
This study investigated the relationship between evaluative conditioning (EC), reinforcement sensitivity, and risk-taking on a simulated slot machine in a lab setting. Participants (51 female, 49 male, mean age 21.01years [SD=2.49] healthy adults) completed an EC paradigm with both negative unconditioned stimuli (negative EC) and positive unconditi...
This postal questionnaire study investigated the use of media in the bedroom and its relationships with sleep habits and symptoms of insomnia. The sample comprised 2500 individuals aged 16-40 years drawn randomly from the Norwegian national register. A total of 816 (34.0%) completed and returned the questionnaire. Respondents were asked how often t...
A nationwide survey was conducted to investigate the prevalence of video game addiction and problematic video game use and their association with physical and mental health. An initial sample comprising 2,500 individuals was randomly selected from the Norwegian National Registry. A total of 816 (34.0 percent) individuals completed and returned the...
It has been claimed that perceived academic control (AC) in combination with preoccupation with failure (PWF) produces a strong motivation for success, and the interaction (AC × PWF) has been shown to predict academic achievement. In a prospective study, 442 first year psychology students completed a questionnaire about their background, study habi...
This study investigated the relationship between multiple predictors of academic achievement, including course experience,
students’ approaches to learning (SAL), effort (amount of time spent on studying) and prior academic performance (high school
grade point average—HSGPA) among 442 first semester undergraduate psychology students. Correlation an...
This study investigated the relationship between aversive conditioning, heart rate variability suppression, behavioral activation system/behavioral inhibition system and risk-avoidance on the Iowa gambling task (IGT) in a nonclinical sample (29 male, 29 female, mean age = 20.7). A laboratory based Pavlovian aversive conditioning paradigm was used w...
Cognitive distortions have been thought to play an important role in the development and maintenance of pathological gambling. The present study investigated whether severity of gambling problems and gamblers' preference for chance or skill games were related to two sub-factors of cognitive distortions as measured by the Gamblers Belief Questionnai...
In this study terms of abuse are investigated in 11 different cultures. Spontaneous verbal aggression is to a certain extent reminiscent of the values of a certain culture. Almost 3000 subjects from Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Great Britain, USA, Norway, Greece, and The Netherlands were asked to write down terms of abuse that th...
Core self-evaluations (CSE), a personality construct underlying self-esteem, locus of control, generalized self-efficacy, and neuroticism, has previously been found to relate strongly to job satisfaction. While previous research has shown relationships between personality traits and various adverse psychosocial job outcomes, no published studies ha...
Questions
Questions (2)
Hi, I'm looking for papers that show time trends in adolescent use of social media. My dream would be a paper that shows how many hours per day/week/month adolescents spent on social media on average in several countries for each year since, say the year 2000! I might have to settle for single countries over a shorter time-span, but if you have any suggestions, please let me know.
I've heard it's supposed to be much better than Cronbach's alpha as an indicator of scale reliability.