Information to children and adolescents participating in The Dynamics of Family Conflict Study
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The researchers behind this study want to find out more about how family dynamics affect the lives of children and adolescents. By participating in this study, you help us find out how we can help children and adolescents who are experiencing a difficult time.
We are particularly interested in investigating:
- How children and parents can get better help when families are going through a tough time
- How children can be active contributors in matters that concern them
- Children’s well-being when parents live apart
To gain this knowledge, we need to learn about what makes children and adolescents thrive in their family, and what they find difficult. We need to learn both from those children whose parents live together, and from those whose parents live apart.
What does participation involve?
In total, more than 1300 children and adolescents participate in this study. Children between 7 and 11 years participate by being interviewed, while children 12 years and older participate by responding to a questionnaire on their mobile phone or tablet. Two data collections were carried out between study inception in November 2017 and 2021, approximately one and a half year apart. In addition, we have carried out three separate data collections to learn more about how children and families have experienced the corona pandemic. In autumn 2022, we sent out a sixth survey. The data from the sixth wave of data collection are expected to be available by August 2023.
Participation is voluntary and you can withdraw at any time if you no longer want to be part of the study. You can also skip questions in the questionnaire if you do not want to answer these.
Information about reservation right for young people over the age of 16
From the year you turn 16, it is up to you whether you wish to continue as a participant in the study, or whether you wish to opt out/be deleted from the study. You will automatically continue as a participant if you do not opt out. It is therefore important that you read about your reservation right.
What questions do we ask?
All children and young people who participate in this study are asked the same questions, although this varies slightly with age. The questions are about how you feel in the family, about feelings that children and young people may have, how you feel at school/in your free time, and how you feel with each of your parents.
The questions are often answered on a scale where you indicate how much you agree or disagree, but other times we may ask you to indicate how often something applies to you on a scale from never to always. It will vary how well the various questions suit different children and young people. Some questions may seem like a good fit with how you are feeling, while other questions may seem a bit odd, or they do not suit you very well.
After we have read all the answers we have received, it is easier for us to identify if there are particular things that make children feel good or not so good in their family.
We are also eager to take children's opinions into account when we create future questionnaires in this study. That is why we always thoroughly review what children and young people have answered in the open text questions at the end of the questionnaires. We have for example received information from some children that they would like us to ask more about the relationship they have with their siblings and with their parents' partners (if the parents have re-partnered). We have also received feedback that the questions about conflicts between parents should be adapted to better fit the different family situations children may have. Such inputs mean that we become even better at asking questions that give us important knowledge about the things that affect the everyday lives of children and families.
