A Safe Home? A Qualitative Study into the Experiences of Adolescents Growing Up in the Dutch Area Impacted by Earthquakes Induced by Gas Extraction.

For decades, the Netherlands has experienced minor earthquakes due to gas extraction. This study aims to obtain insight into the experiences of adolescents and the impact of these earthquakes on their well-being and living environment. Focus groups were held with 24 adolescents, and interviews were held with 3 adolescents (N = 27; M = 15 years). Through qualitative analysis, we identified six themes. The adolescents shared experiences of anxiety related to the earthquakes and their consequences and considered these to be a normal part of their life. Anxiety and feelings of endangerment not only related to their own experiences but were also connected to the impact of earthquakes on their social environment, such as the restoration of buildings. Several sources of support (e.g., talking, social cohesion) were mentioned to deal with the negative consequences of the earthquakes. A lack of trust in the government was an additional main theme, with adolescents mentioning several needs, potentially relevant to policymakers in the Netherlands. Growing up in the gas extraction area of Groningen had many consequences on the adolescents in the study, who felt inhibited from expressing feelings of anxiety and fear. To support their needs, interventions at the individual, family, educational, societal, and policy levels are recommended.

Lifelines COVID-19 cohort: investigating COVID-19 infection and its health and societal impacts in a Dutch population-based cohort.

PURPOSE: The Lifelines COVID-19 cohort was set up to assess the psychological and societal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and investigate potential risk factors for COVID-19 within the Lifelines prospective population cohort. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were recruited from the 140 000 eligible participants of Lifelines and the Lifelines NEXT birth cohort, who are all residents of the three northern provinces of the Netherlands. Participants filled out detailed questionnaires about their physical and mental health and experiences on a weekly basis starting in late March 2020, and the cohort consists of everyone who filled in at least one questionnaire in the first 8 weeks of the project. FINDINGS TO DATE: >71 000 unique participants responded to the questionnaires at least once during the first 8 weeks, with >22 000 participants responding to seven questionnaires. Compiled questionnaire results are continuously updated and shared with the public through the Corona Barometer website. Early results included a clear signal that younger people living alone were experiencing greater levels of loneliness due to lockdown, and subsequent results showed the easing of anxiety as lockdown was eased in June 2020. FUTURE PLANS: Questionnaires were sent on a (bi)weekly basis starting in March 2020 and on a monthly basis starting July 2020, with plans for new questionnaire rounds to continue through 2020 and early 2021. Questionnaire frequency can be increased again for subsequent waves of infections. Cohort data will be used to address how the COVID-19 pandemic developed in the northern provinces of the Netherlands, which environmental and genetic risk factors predict disease susceptibility and severity and the psychological and societal impacts of the crisis. Cohort data are linked to the extensive health, lifestyle and sociodemographic data held for these participants by Lifelines, a 30-year project that started in 2006, and to data about participants held in national databases.

The best interest of the child-questionnaire, reliability and validity: preliminary data on the question 'where to live after detention or secure treatment?'.

BACKGROUND: The Best Interest of the Child-Questionnaire (BIC-Q) has been designed as an instrument for screening the quality of the rearing situation of children with behavioural problems or delinquency. It is intended to aid legal decisions in juvenile and family law. AIMS: The aim of the study was to establish the reliability and validation of the BIC-Q. METHODS: Records of 83 children in detention or secure treatment centres and 58 children with no delinquent behaviours were rated by trained researchers. Interrater reliability was tested with a sub-sample of 31 of the former. Content validity was evaluated across the whole group, using Cronbach's alpha to check internal consistency, Spearman's rho to examine correlations and explorative principal component analysis (PCA) to test the extent to which variance in the 14 underlying conditions could be accounted for by a single factor 'quality of rearing'. RESULTS: Interrater reliability was good (r = 0.89). The PCA lent support to the content validity of the questionnaire with four factors, which together explained 66% of the variance in child rearing: (1) attachment and bonding; (2) rules and provisions; (3) health care and physical care in the family context; and (4) care and models provided for in the societal environment. CONCLUSIONS: The BIC-Q is a reliable and valid measure of the overall quality of child rearing. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Preliminary results indicate that the BIC-Q may be applied to support court decisions on where the child should live after detention or secure treatment.