Nordic Research on Children and Young People
NordForsk's initiatives on children and young people is focused on increasing our knowledge and get a better understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected children and young people, reducing negative effects, promoting resilience, and strengthening crisis preparedness. The research activities have an emphasis on education, wellbeing, mental health, and living conditions of children and young people.
Eight Research projects
Psychosocial problems, service barriers, participation and interventions during crises: solutions for children and young people (CrisesSolutions)
Multi-method research project that will compare mental wellbeing trends within, and between, four Nordic countries (Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Post-pandemic mental health: Risk and resilience in young people (covidmentYOUNG)
The Project is aiming to build solid knowledge to optimize future societal responses and promote resilience in the young population, focusing on eating problems and disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, selfharm, depression, anxiety and wellbeing.
Children's and adolescents' responses to the pandemic– future risks of increasing inequalities in learning and mental health (YoungEqual)
Project aiming to improve our understanding of the welfare for children and young people and the consequences of the pandemic and the restrictions on education, wellbeing, mental health, and living conditions.
Post-Pandemic Vulnerability and Resilience: A bioecological approach towards youth wellbeing in Nordic schools and communities (SISU)
Project aiming to improve the well-being of young people by increasing our understanding of vulnerabilities and resilience in determining post-pandemic outcomes.
Exploring Practices in Early Childhood of Tomorrow Develop resilience in social sustainable childhoods after Covid-19 (EXPECT)
The EXPECT project aims to deepen knowledge about the experiences and consequences of COVID- 19 to prepare Nordic preschools in maintaining social sustainability for future pandemics or crises.
Education of Refugees and Asylum Seekers under and post the Pandemic in Nordic Countries (ERAPAN)
Project aiming to to address the impact of COVID-19 on children and youth with forced migration backgrounds.
Children First: Nordic policies and children’s well-being (ChildrenFirst)
Multidisciplinary project with the aim of producing new scientific knowledge on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on child wellbeing and identifies policy options to enhance child-wellbeing and resilience in Nordic countries.
Mental health and life satisfaction among youth with disabilities and experiences of services in the post-pandemic period (D-youth)
Project with the aim to improve understanding of mental health, life satisfaction, and services received among youth with disabilities in the Nordic countries during the post-pandemic period.
Other research activities
Childhood morbidity and potential non-specific effects of the childhood vaccination programmes in the Nordic countries
Which vaccines should children get? New research results show that each Nordic country has its own recommendations. For the first time, researchers have also investigated the effect vaccines have on the consumption of antibiotics and hospital admissions.
Matching relapsed/refractory cancers with more phase 1-2 clinical trials (NOPHOmatch)
Cancer in children is rare. But cancer remains the disease causing the most deaths in children over the age of 1 year. Over the last 10 years, doctors in the Nordic countries have started testing new drugs for children with cancer as part of clinical trials.
How the pandemic affected children and young people with refugee and asylum backgrounds
We pride ourselves on a Nordic school model where everyone has equal access to education, but that was not necessarily the case for all students when the pandemic was upon us, new research suggests.
High number of young people with mental health problems
Many young people in the Nordic region have symptoms of anxiety, depression, and social anxiety, according to a new Nordic study. Girls are particularly affected, and more help is needed, according to the researchers behind the study.
Kindergartens must prepare for the next pandemic
How did the pandemic restrictions affect pedagogues and children of pre-school age? New research shows that the pandemic challenged the daily practices of daycare centres in several areas.
Light to be shed on living conditions of vulnerable children and young people during pandemic
It was children who were hardest hit by measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated earlier this year. However, there’s a lack of knowledge about how mentally vulnerable youngsters were affected.
