News archive

Every year worldwide, around 1 billion children aged 2–17 experience physical, sexual or psychological violence or neglect, representing approximately half of the global child population. Sociologist Sergio Keita Nhassengo investigates epidemiology of violence against children in Mozambique and the readiness of stakeholders across organisations to counter and prevent child maltreatment. Meet the PhD student who wants a future where all children can live in a safe environment free from violence.

Jiloan Hamad is a midfielder with Örebro SK and plays on Iraq’s national team, but getting the opportunity to play in a team at a young age was not obvious. Here he talks about how football became a big part of his life, and why he is passionate about being an ambassador for Generaion Pep, an organisation which works for health equity.

Both humans and other animals learn quickly about dangers in their environment by observing the behavior of other individuals. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet now show that both rats and humans can use such social information to reactivate memories about threats that have been previously acquired through their own experiences.

Early intervention for disruptive behaviour disorders in children reduces the risk of antisocial development and psychiatric problems later in life. Parental training and child CBT are two interventions about which more needs to be known concerning the effects on disruptive behaviour disorders. According to a new doctoral thesis from Karolinska Institutet, both have a positive effect on such disorders, where severity should determine the choice of treatment.

Sweden was the first country in the world to introduce open-identity sperm donation, whereby adult children are entitled to obtain information about their donors. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now explored how such contacts and relations affect the parents of these young men and women. The study, which is published in Human Reproduction, shows that mothers often find it easier to accept the new situation.

More knowledge is needed about risk factors for recurrent cardiovascular disease and myocardial infarction. In his thesis, doctor Joel Ohm at the Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, describes how socio-economic factors have a major impact on secondary prevention efforts and prognosis. The results may have an impact on people who have survived myocardial infarction.

Patients with low income have a higher risk of death following surgery for lung cancer compared with patients with high income. The association remains even after taking prevalence of common comorbidities, and other factors that are known to influence the risk of death, into account. This is according to a study published in the journal Thorax by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

An international network of researchers in 10 countries are to study the effectiveness of homeschooling during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The gathering of data via online surveys in the various languages is being led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. The aims of the study are to look at the challenges facing families during the COVID-19 pandemic and to produce recommendations and technical methods for both homeschooling and teaching in general.