Understanding and helping children who resist or refuse post-separation parental contact: A systematic mapping review
Project
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This project will map and describe research about the reasons children resist or refuse to meet a parent after separation, and to map and describe tools or interventions to identify, prevent and treat the refusal or resistance to spend time with a parent.
Summary
Parental separation is a serious event in a child’s life that has consequences for both parents and children. In some cases, children may resist or refuse contact with one or both of their parents. Refusal to have contact means that a child, over time, develops a strong sense of refusal to meet with one of the parents. The reasons for a child to refuse or resist meeting a parent are often complex and can be difficult to understand, identify or treat. After parental separation, children can experience a conflict of loyalty. This may be because they perceive one parent as being weaker (and want to protect them), to be more prone to have an unhealthy attachment, or a parent that may influence their child to refuse or resist meeting the other parent. Another reason may be previous neglect or abuse. The main aim of this project is to map and describe research about the reasons children resist or refuse to meet a parent after separation, and to map and describe tools or interventions to identify, prevent and treat the refusal or resistance to spend time with a parent.
Project leader
Heather Melanie R Ames, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Project participants
Gyri Hval, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Christine Hillestad Hestevik, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Tor Atle Rosness, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Lars Jørun Langøien, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Start
24.08.2020
End
05.04.2021
Status
Active
Project owner/ Project manager
Norwegian Institute of Public Health