Barbara Carvalho

Ph.d.-kandidat

Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences

Email: barbara.carvalho@uia.no
Phone: +47 37233239
Mobile phone: +4790946469

Office C5040 (Jon Lilletuns vei 9, 4879 Grimstad, Norway)

Research groups

Areas of responsibility

I am a psychologist with a Master in Work and Organizational Psychology from the University of Coimbra (Portugal). Since 2018, I have been working at the University of Agder as a PhD Research Fellow at the Department of Psychosocial Health. The aim of my research project is to understand the underlying relation of parental alcohol drinking and parenting on child and adolescent mental health. With my study, I hope to increase the knowledge and contribute towards a better mental health promotion and prevention, which can be a difficult challenge but also a very rewarding one. I believe it to be especially relevant when we are working with children and adolescents.

Research

Psychology

Child and adolescent mental health

Family psychology

Alcohol, drugs and addictive behaviors

Interpersonal relationships and group dynamics

Applied statistics in social sciences and quantitative methods

Several topics within social and organizational psychology

Short biography

2018 - present: PhD Research Fellow at University of Agder

2016-2017: Organizational department at Lyngdal Municipality (Norway)

2013-2014: Research assistant: Project concerning behavioral problems and drug use among youth in foster care. (Portugal)

2011-2012: Organizational psychologist – Human resources department at Critical Software

2010-2011: Psychologist at Inoutcister psychological assessment (Portugal)

Publications

Scientific articles and book chapters

Haugland, Siri Håvås; Olivieira Vieira de Carvalho, Barbara; Stea, Tonje Holte; Strandheim, Arve & Vederhus, John-Kåre (2021). Associations between parental alcohol problems in childhood and adversities during childhood and later adulthood: a cross-sectional study of 28047 adults from the general population. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. ISSN 1747-597X. 16. doi: 10.1186/s13011-021-00384-9. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
Background Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are related to adverse physical and mental health outcomes. However, few larger studies based on a general population sample with age groups ranging from young adults to elderly have investigated whether parental alcohol problems increase the risk of offspring subjective reports of ACE both during childhood and current adult adversities. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between parental alcohol problems and adversities during childhood and later in adulthood. Methods The 28,047 respondents were adults (> 18 years old) from the general population who participated in the Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey. The study had a cross-sectional design and included respondents’ evaluations of childhood experiences and current adult adversities. The short version of the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST-6, cut-off ≥3) measured parental alcohol problems. Multivariable logistic regression was adjusted for gender, age, and education. Results Growing up with parental alcohol problems strongly increased the risk of experiencing a dysfunctional family environment during childhood (odds ratio [OR] 6.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] 6.36–7.36), perceiving childhood as difficult (OR 5.01; 95% CI 4.58–5.49), and reporting a lack of support from a trusted adult (OR 3.07; 95% CI 2.86–3.29). Parental alcohol problems were associated with a modestly increased risk of harmful alcohol use (OR 1.38; 95% CI 1.29–1.48), but the association with struggling with bad memories was strong (OR 4.56; 95% CI 4.17–4.98). Conclusions Parental alcohol problems increased the risk of offspring experiencing adversities during both childhood and adulthood. Providing supportive services to these children and their families and addressing this issue as part of treatment is important to prevent alcohol related harm.

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Published Apr. 16, 2024 11:27 AM