Shared parenting in Sweden and elsewhere

Shared parenting in Sweden and elsewhereare kids different?
Malin Bergström
Agenda
• Are Swedish kids different?
• Shared parenting for Swedish school children
• Shared parenting for babies and preschoolers
The Elvis-project
• Since 2011
• 7 published studies on school
children
• 2 manuscripts under review
• 3 manuscripts on preschoolers
•
Report and review
• Next step: babies and
preschoolers
Publications
Bergström, M. (2012). Barn med växelvis boende. I Berlin, M (red) Skolans betydelse för barns och ungas psykiska hälsa – en
studie baserad på den nationella totalundersökningen i årskurs 6 och 9 hösten 2009. Socialstyrelsen. (In Swedish)
Bergström, M., B. Modin, E. Fransson, L. Rajmil, M. Berlin, P. A. Gustafsson and A. Hjern (2013). "Living in two homes-a
Swedish national survey of wellbeing in 12 and 15 year olds with joint physical custody." BMC Public Health 13(1): 868.
Bergström, M., E. Fransson, A. Hjern, L. Köhler and Wallby, T. (2014). "Mental health in Swedish children living in joint physical
custody and their parents' life satisfaction: A cross-sectional study." Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 55(5): 433-439.
Låftman, S. B., M. Bergström, B. Modin and V. Östberg (2014). "Joint physical custody, turning to parents for emotional
support, and subjective health: A study of adolescents in Stockholm, Sweden." Scand J Public Health.
Fransson, E., L. Folkesson, M. Bergström, V. Östberg and P. Lindfors (2014). "Exploring salivary cortisol and recurrent pain in
mid-adolescents living in two homes." BMC Psychology 2(46).
Bergström, M., E. Fransson, B. Modin, M. Berlin, P. A. Gustafsson and A. Hjern (2015). "Fifty moves a year: is there an
association between joint physical custody and psychosomatic problems in children?" Journal of Epidemiology and Community
Health.
Fransson, E., Turunen, J. Hjern, A., Östberg, V. and Bergström, M. (2015). "Psychological complaints among children in joint
physical custody and other family types: considering parental factors.” Scand J Public Health (e-pub ahead of print).
Fransson, E., Hjern A., Bergström M. (2015). “Barn I växelvis boende-en forskningsöversikt”. CHESS, Stockholms Universitet &
Karolinska Institutet. (In Swedish)
Bergström, M., Hjern, A., Fransson, E. (2015). Växelvis boende – ett socialt experiment eller tryggast för barnen?
Länsförsäkringsbolagens Forskningsfond. (In Swedish)
Fransson, E., Sarkadi, A., Hjern,, A., Bergström, M.(under review at Journal of child and family studies) .“Why should they live
more with one of us when they are children to us both?” - Parents’ experiences and practical solutions of equal joint physical
custody for children 0-4 years of age.
Fransson, E., Brolin Låftman, S., Bergström, M., Hjern, A., & Östberg, V. (Manuscript). ”Children’s living conditions in joint
physical custody – the Swedish example”.
Turunen, J., Bergström, M. & Fransson, E. (Manuscript). "Children’s self-esteem in relation to living arrangements after a
parental separation.”
Bergström M, Hjern A, Fransson E. (Manuscript) Children with two families-psychological problems in relation to living
arrangements in Nordic 2-7 year olds.
Bergström, M, Sarkadi, A, Hjern, A, Fransson, E. (Manuscript) “We also communicate through a book in the diaper bag”separated parents´ways of arranging shared parenting for their 0-4 year olds
Societal level
• Dual incomes
• Women’s paid labour
Parental leave
• Gender neutral since 1974
• Legal right to stay home until
child age 18 months
• 16 months paid parental leave
• 8 for one parent, 8 for the other
• 2-3 months excusive for each
parent
• Legal right to work part-time
until child age 8 years
• Sick leave until child age 12 yrs
Preschool
Relationship level
Separation
• 500.000 (25%) children have separated parents
• 14% of children 05 years of age
• 14% of parents in mediation
• 2 % custody disputes in court
A majority lives with both parents
%
Bergström M, Modin B, Fransson E, Rajmil L, Berlin M, Gustafsson PA, Hjern A. Living in two homes-a Swedish national survey of
wellbeing in 12 and 15 year olds with joint physical custody. BMC Public Health. 2013 Sep 22;13:868.
Co-parenting as a norm
It said click!
Satisfaction in Swedish parents with
children 0-18 år, N=1444
Child level
Shared parenting for the youngest
our next step
Preliminary analyses of 2-7 year olds
Study population 2767 Nordic children 2-7 years.
Shared parenting 3,7% n=99 (22 age 2-3 years)
Single care 6,8 % n=187
Nuclear family 89,7% n=2767
No statistically significant difference in mean SDQ scores
between nuclear and shared. Single care-more problems
Thanks!
malin.bergstrom@ki.se
www.chess.su.se/elvis