Mental Health of Children and Adolescents

The course provides knowledge about mental health and illness in children and young people, and important prerequisites for further developing and improving children and young people’s abilities to cope with life crises and psychosocial stress. Knowledge about risk and protective factors for children and young people’s mental health is emphasized, and health-promoting thinking and measures are central. The subject also provides an overview of common complaints and disorders, as well as triggering and maintaining factors related to mental complaints and disorders among children and young people.

Knowledge:

• has in-depth knowledge of social science perspectives on children and young people’s living conditions

• has advanced knowledge about children and youth’s mental health and the risk and protective factors associated with the development of psychosocial problems

• has in-depth knowledge about children living in families with neglect, abuse, and trauma

• has knowledge about central health-promoting perspectives and basic conditions for promoting children and young people’s growth and learning

Skills:

• can analyze and use relevant perspectives on children and young people’s daily life and upbringing conditions

• can implement preventive measures for children living in families characterized by insecurity and insecurity

• ability to identify conditions that can potentially lead to skewed development in children and young people, and capacity to intervene early in a development course

• ability to recognize and take advantage of protective factors and resources in the child and its immediate environment, as central elements in the psychosocial work with children and young people

General competence:

• can analyze factors that affect children and families’ psychosocial health

• can apply knowledge about living conditions among children and young people and social marginalization processes, poverty and social inequality in terms of health

• can analyze various conditions that promote and further develop children and young people’s ability to cope with life crises and psychosocial stress

Lecture, group work and self studies.