ScienceNot yet confirmed elsewhere1 publisher2 min readPublished
Norwegian teens with more father conflict were less likely to use specialized mental health services
Norwegian researchers following 822 adolescents found that more conflict with their father predicted lower later use of specialized mental health services. The authors hope fathers get more attention, but say the study cannot show the conflict causes the gap.
The Scientist · Science desk
What happened
- The data come from the Trondheim Early Secure Study, which surveyed the adolescents four times between ages 12 and 18.
- The team measured how close each adolescent felt to mother, father and best friend, along with the amount of conflict in those relationships.
- Mother and best-friend relationships showed no association with service use, and closeness to father did not matter either; conflict with father was the one measure that stood out.
- The analysis also considered prior service use, emotional symptoms, functional impairment, perceived need for help and stressful life events, among other factors.
- The authors propose that conflict may make it harder for teens to disclose problems or get support in seeking help, and may also shape how parents perceive the need for professional care.
Why it matters
- decision Acting on this would mean picking a target before the evidence does: the teen's ability to disclose a problem, or the parents' judgement of need.
- constraint The finding is about specialized services. The authors say relationships can still matter earlier, when teens share problems or seek emotional support, a stage this result does not cover.
- constraint In these data, a questionnaire that asked only how close teens feel to their fathers would have found no link; the conflict item is what picked up the signal.
The lead author's framing is wider than the result. Moeineslam said a good relationship with the people around a teen "may therefore play a critical role in encouraging youth to seek professional care." [15] Set against the null results for mother and best friend, only one measure in these data supports that: conflict with the father [4].
Silje Steinsbekk, a professor in NTNU's Department of Psychology, gave a narrower reading. She said: "Our study suggests that need-related factors and clinical criteria are more important in determining admission to specialist services than relational factors are." [9] We read the two statements as compatible if father conflict acts before clinical assessment for admission, on whether a teen discloses a problem or on how parents judge need, the two channels the authors propose [8]. The exact nature of the link is still unclear [13].
The adjustment list matters because it answers the first objection, that teens who fight with their fathers simply differ in need. Associate professor Vera Skalicka said: "The association between father-teen conflict and less use of specialized services persists even when we account for other risk factors." [6] That rules out the measured factors [5] as the explanation, though not unmeasured ones.
We think the result justifies more research on fathers' role in help-seeking, which is what the authors ask for [14]. It justifies much less of a push for programs aimed at father-teen conflict until the pattern replicates.
The phys.org account of the paper, published in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry [12], does not report an effect size or how many of the 822 adolescents used specialized services at all [2].
Lars Wichstrøm, a professor and head of the Trondheim Early Secure Study, said: "We need more research to understand the connections." [11]
What to watch
- A replication in another cohort or country showing whether father-teen conflict still predicts lower specialized service use after the same adjustments.
- Work that tests the two proposed channels, teen disclosure and parents' perception of need, since only that would show where an intervention could act.
- The full paper's effect size and the share of the 822 adolescents who used specialized services, neither of which the phys.org account reports.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+12
- Incentives
- Insufficient
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Among 822 Norwegian adolescents, more conflict with their father predicted lower later use of specialized mental health services.
ReportedSupportedSource: Mina Moeineslam et al., European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2026), as reported by phys.orgView cited source - [2]
The data came from Norway's Trondheim Early Secure Study (TESS); the researchers followed 822 adolescents ages 12 to 18 across four surveys.
- [3]
The researchers examined how close adolescents felt to their mother, father and best friend, and the amount of conflict they experienced in these relationships.
- [4]
The researchers found no association between youths' use of mental health services and their relationships with their mother or best friend; closeness to father did not appear to matter either, but the level of conflict with father stood out.
- [5]
The researchers also considered prior use of health services, gender, parental employment and relationship status, parents' mental health, the adolescents' own emotional health symptoms, functional impairments, perceived need for help and stressful life events.
- [6]
"The association between father-teen conflict and less use of specialized services persists even when we account for other risk factors," said associate professor Vera Skalicka.
- [7]
Skalicka said the study does not determine whether the relationship with the father is the cause of the difference in service use.
- [8]
Possible explanations are that father-adolescent conflict may make it more difficult for youth to disclose mental health problems or receive support in seeking help, and that it may influence how parents perceive the adolescent's need for professional help.
- [9]
"Our study suggests that need-related factors and clinical criteria are more important in determining admission to specialist services than relational factors are," said Silje Steinsbekk, professor in NTNU's Department of Psychology.
ReportedSupportedSource: Silje Steinsbekk, professor, NTNU Department of Psychology, quoted by phys.orgView cited source - [10]
Relationships with parents and friends can still play a significant role earlier in the help-seeking process, such as when youth share their problems or seek emotional support.
- [11]
"We need more research to understand the connections," said professor Lars Wichstrøm, head of the Trondheim Early Secure Study (TESS).
ReportedSupportedSource: Lars Wichstrøm, professor and head of TESS, quoted by phys.orgView cited source - [12]
The article is in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2026) and is titled as a prospective community study.
- [13]
The exact nature of the link between father conflict and lower use of specialized services is still unclear.
- [14]
The researchers hope the findings will draw more attention to the role of fathers when adolescents need help.
- [15]
Moeineslam said a good relationship with the people around adolescents "may therefore play a critical role in encouraging youth to seek professional care."
ReportedInsufficientSource: Mina Moeineslam, lead author and Ph.D. candidate at NTNU's Department of Psychology, quoted by phys.orgView cited source
Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- phys.orgConflict with father can influence whether teens receive mental health support
1 article · October 13, 2026
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