A Completely Unique Study Worldwide

What is the most important objective of the Triple-S study?

The overall objective is to establish a health cohort of children and young people exposed to violence and abuse, as well as their caregivers. We want to follow the participants for many years to gain better insight into how such stressors affect health, education, working life, and quality of life. By combining questionnaires with registry data over time, we can identify risk factors and protective factors—which is important for developing better support services.

What was the background for starting this study?

This is a vulnerable group that often does not participate in our large population-based surveys, and the knowledge gaps are therefore still significant. This is very unfortunate, given the extensive consequences we know that violence and abuse can have. Although research shows that violence and abuse in childhood are associated with poorer physical and mental health, there have been few large longitudinal studies that systematically follow these children over time. Because we want to follow the participants for many years, this is one of very few studies of its kind worldwide.

How are participants recruited to the study?

Participants are recruited from stays at the Stine Sofie Center. Children and young people between 5 and 18 years of age, as well as their caregivers, are invited to participate in the study upon arrival at the center. They complete questionnaires at the start of their stay and are followed up every other year for the duration of the project. In addition, we have invited previous participants to join, since this survey started a few years after the service at the Stine Sofie Center was established in 2017.

What kind of data do you collect?

We use a multi-informant approach, where we collect data from the children themselves, their caregivers, and various registries over time. We assess, among other things, mental and physical health, sleep, school functioning, substance use, and social relationships. The caregivers also answer questions about themselves, which provides important information about the families.

What registry data is linked to the study?

For participants who give consent, we will link data from national registries, such as primary and specialist health services, as well as data on education and connection to working life. This enables us to follow the participants’ health and life situation over time and identify factors that may influence their development later in life.

What do you hope the study will contribute to?

We hope that the Triple-S study will provide important knowledge that can improve prevention, treatment, and follow-up of children and young people exposed to violence and abuse. Our findings can contribute to the development of better support measures and strengthening of existing services within health, education, and social work.

Are there any limitations to the study?

As in all longitudinal studies, attrition can be a challenge. We therefore make a significant effort to retain participants in the study over time. Another limitation is that the participants come from a specialized service, which may mean that they are not fully representative of all children and young people exposed to violence and abuse. Nevertheless, we believe that the study will provide extremely valuable knowledge.

What are the next steps in the project?

The goal is to continue data collection for many years, both by including new participants from the center to increase the sample, as well as following the participants over time as they grow older and enter adulthood. If we manage to secure continued funding, this will be a completely unique study worldwide, and we will be able to generate a wealth of new and valuable knowledge.

Read more about the study here.