Thoroddur Bjarnason is an Icelandic sociologist and professor at the University of Akureyri. He is most well known for his international comparative survey research on

adolescents Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with ...

and their living and custody arrangements,

alcohol consumption Drinks containing alcohol (drug), alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and Distilled beverage, spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered Non-al ...

and

substance abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definition ...

Education and career

Bjarnason studied sociology at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

obtaining his BA degree in 1991. In 1995, he received an MA degree in social science data analysis from the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

in England, followed by a PhD in sociology from the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in 2000. After four years as an assistant professor at the

University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a Public university, public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the St ...

, he returned to Iceland in 2004 for a faculty position at the University of Akureyri.

Scientific research

Alcohol use and substance abuse

Bjarnasson has studied adolescent alcohol use and

, comparing different European countries.

Child custody and living arrangements

In a 2005/06 international comparison of 36 western countries, Bjarnasson studied the proportion of 11-15-year-old children living in different child custody arrangements. The percent of children living in intact families with both their mother and father was highest in Macedonia (93%), Turkey (89%), Croatia (89%) and Italy (89%), while it was lowest in the United States (60%), Romania (60%), Estonia (66%) and Latvia (67%). Among the children who did not live with both their parents, the percent in a

shared parenting Shared parenting, shared residence, joint residence, shared custody, joint physical custody, equal parenting time (EPT) is a child custody arrangement after divorce or separation, in which both parents share the responsibility of raising their ...

versus

sole custody Child custody is a legal term regarding '' guardianship'' which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of ''legal custody'', which is the ri ...

arrangement was highest in Sweden (17%), Iceland (11%), Belgium (11%), Denmark (10%), Italy (9%) and Norway (9%), while it was lowest in Ukraine, Poland, Croatia, Turkey, the Netherlands and Romania, all with 2% or less.Bjarnason T, Arnarsson AA
''Joint Physical Custody and Communication with Parents: A Cross-National Study of Children in 36 Western Countries''
, Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 2011, 42:871-890.

Selected publications

* Aldous J, Mulligan GM, Bjarnason T. ''Fathering over time: What makes the difference?''. Journal of Marriage and the Family. 1998 Nov 1:809-20. * Bjarnason T, Andersson B, Choquet M, Elekes Z, Morgan M, Rapinett G. ''Alcohol culture, family structure and adolescent alcohol use: multilevel modeling of frequency of heavy drinking among 15-16 year old students in 11 European countries''. Journal of studies on alcohol. 2003 Mar;64(2):200-8. * Hibell B, Guttormsson U, Ahlström S, Balakireva O, Bjarnason T, Kokkevi A, Kraus L
''The 2007 ESPAD report. Substance Use Among Students in 35 European Countries''
2009;35:1-408. * Bjarnason T, Arnarsson AA
''Joint Physical Custody and Communication with Parents: A Cross-National Study of Children in 36 Western Countries''
, Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 2011, 42:871-890. * Bjarnason T, Bendtsen P, Arnarsson AM, Borup I, Iannotti RJ, Löfstedt P, Haapasalo I, Niclasen B
''Life satisfaction among children in different family structures: a comparative study of 36 western societies''
Children & Society. 2012 Jan;26(1):51-62. * Arnarsson A, Kristofersson GK, Bjarnason T. ''Adolescent alcohol and cannabis use in Iceland 1995–2015''. Drug and alcohol review. 2018 Apr;37:S49-57.

External links

* Google Scholar
Thoroddur Bjarnason

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bjarnason, Thoroddur Thoroddur Bjarnason Living people Family sociologists Thoroddur Bjarnason Thoroddur Bjarnason Alumni of the University of Essex University of Notre Dame alumni Year of birth missing (living people)