
Areas of Expertise
– complex traumatization
– forced migration
– refugee mental health
– psychosocial functioning and need for therapy among refugees and traumatized persons
– trauma and cognitive functioning
– loss and grief
– grief
– loss
Projects
- 2016-2026 REFUGE-studien: Helse og livskvalitet blant syrere i Norge
- 2018-2025 RefugeesWellSchool: Preventive school-based interventions to promote the mental well-being of refugee and migrant adolescents (Horizon 2020)
- 2006-2025 Treatment and rehabilitation of traumatized refugees (TR-REFUGEES)
- 2018-2025 Trauma and adult learning. Re(gu)lation – refugees’ experiences with helpful strategies for emotional regulation, learning and well-being
- 2015-2020 Educational and psychosocial transitions encountered by young refugees upon resettlement in Norway (TURIN)
Academic Articles
Kankaanpää, R., Vänskä, M., Opaas, M., Spaas, C., Derluyn, I., Jervelund, S. S., Skovdal, M., Durbeej, N., Osman, F., De Haene, L., de Smet, S., Andersen, A. J., Hilden, P. K., Verelst, A., Peltonen, K., (2024). Psychometric properties of the Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-8) among refugee adolescents from Afghanistan, Syria, and SomaliaTaylor & Francis. doi:10.1080/20008066.2024.2349445
Aalto, S., Kankaanpää, R., Peltonen, K., Derluyn, I., Szelei, N., Verelst, A., De Haene, L., de Smet, S., Spaas, C., Jervelund, S. S., Skovdal, M., Andersen, A. J., Hilden, P. K., Opaas, M., Durbeej, N., Osman, F., Sarkadi, A., Soye, E., Vänskä, M., (2024). The effect of teacher multicultural attitudes on self-efficacy and wellbeing at workSpringer. doi:10.1007/s11218-024-09886-3
Tomren, J. F., Opaas, M., (2024). Adult refugees’ perspectives on the impact of trauma and post-migration hardships on learningTaylor & Francis. doi:10.1080/20008066.2024.2403249
Opaas, M., Wentzel-Larsen, T., Nissen, A., Hilden, P. K., Punamäki, R., Spaas, C., Jervelund, S. S., Kankaanpää, R., Skovdal, M., Peltonen, K., De Haene, L., de Smet, S., Verelst, A., Derluyn, I., Andersen, A. J., (2024). Migrant students’ self-reported executive function skills in relation to mental health, postmigration stress, and positive appraisals of self and the social contextTaylor & Francis. doi:10.1080/20008066.2024.2430923
Hartmann, E. J., & Opaas, M. (2023). Convergence in a multi-method study between Rorschach and self-report data of traumatized refugees assessed before and after psychotherapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology. doi:10.1002/jclp.23484
Spaas, C., Said-Metwaly, S., Skovdal, M., Primdahl, N. L., Jervelund, S. S., Hilden, P. K., Andersen, A. J., Opaas, M., Soye, E., Watters, C., Verelst, A., Derluyn, I., Colpin, H., De Haene, L., (2023). School-based Psychosocial Interventions’ Effectiveness in Strengthening Refugee and Migrant Adolescents’ Mental Health, Resilience, and Social Relations: A Four-country Cluster Randomized StudyIntervención psicosocial. doi:10.5093/pi2023a12
Opaas, M., Wentzel-Larsen, T., & Varvin, S. (2022). Predictors of the 10 year course of mental health and quality of life for trauma-affected refugees after psychological treatment. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 13(1). doi:10.1080/20008198.2022.2068910
Szelei, N., Devlieger, I., Verelst, A., Spaas, C., Jervelund, S. S., Primdahl, N. L., Skovdal, M., Opaas, M., Durbeej, N., Osman, F., Soye, E., Colpin, H., De Haene, L., Aalto, S., Kankaanpää, R., Peltonen, K., Andersen, A. J., Hilden, P. K., Watters, C., & Derluyn, I. (2022). Migrant Students Sense of Belonging and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Implications for Educational Inclusion. Social Inclusion, 10(2), 172-184. doi:10.17645/si.v10i2.5106
Spaas, C., Verelst, A., Devlieger, I., Aalto, S., Andersen, A. J., Durbeej, N., Hilden, P. K., Kankaanpää, R., Primdahl, N. L., Opaas, M., Osman, F., Peltonen, K., Sarkadi, A., Skovdal, M., Jervelund, S. S., Soye, E., Watters, C., Derluyn, I., Colpin, H., & De Haene, L. (2021). Mental Health of Refugee and Non-refugee Migrant Young People in European Secondary Education: The Role of Family Separation, Daily Material Stress and Perceived Discrimination in Resettlement. Journal of Youth and Adolescence. doi:10.1007/s10964-021-01515-y
Opaas, M., & Hartmann, E. J. (2021). Traumatized Refugees in Psychotherapy: Long-Term Changes in Personality, Mental Health, Well-Being, and Exile Life Functioning. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. doi:10.1097/NMD.0000000000001396
Sarpong, S. P., & Sarpong, S. P., & Opaas, M. (2021). Forced Migration and the Quest for Normality: Post-Migratory Experiences of Traumatized Iraqi Refugees in Norway. Journal of Refugee Studies, 34(4), 4092-4120. doi:10.1093/jrs/feab024
Opaas, M., Wentzel-Larsen, T., & Varvin, S. (2020). The 10-year course of mental health, quality of life, and exile life functioning in traumatized refugees from treatment start. PLOS ONE, 15(12), 1-21. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0244730 Summary
Gulliksen, S., Hekne, I., Råbu, M., & Opaas, M. (2020). "Når jeg føler meg trygg, prøver jeg å si litt om det jeg har vært utsatt for". Traumatiserte flyktningers opplevelse av tillit i psykoterapi. Tidsskrift for psykisk helsearbeid, 4, 227-238.
Opaas, M., Hartmann, E. J., Wentzel-Larsen, T., & Varvin, S. (2016). Relationship of Pretreatment Rorschach Factors to Symptoms, Quality of Life, and Real-Life Functioning in a 3-Year Follow-Up of Traumatized Refugee Patients. Journal of Personality Assessment, 98(3), 247-260. doi:10.1080/00223891.2015.1089247 Summary
Opaas, M., & Varvin, S. (2015). Relationships of Childhood Adverse Experiences with Mental Health and Quality of Life at Treatment Start for Adult Refugees Traumatized by Pre-Flight Experiences of War and Human Rights Violations. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 203(9), 684-695. doi:10.1097/NMD.0000000000000330 Summary
Opaas, M., & Hartmann, E. J. (2013). Rorschach Assessment of Traumatized Refugees: An Exploratory Factor Analysis. Journal of Personality Assessment, 95(5), 457-470. doi:10.1080/00223891.2013.781030 Summary
Books and dissertations
Opaas, M. (2016). Trauma, personality function, and posttraumatic reactions: A retrospective and prospective study of traumatized refugee patients. (Doktorgradsavhandling).
Reports
Ulvik, O. S., & Opaas, M. (1995). Støtte til egen mestring. En veileder om organsiering av støtte i lokalsamfunnet, basert på erfaringer fra samarbeidsprosjektet Sorg og Omsorg Norwegian only.
Other publications
Opaas, M. (2020). Flyktninger med traumerelaterte plager – En kunnskapsoversikt. In A. O. Berg & K. HoltK. Holt (Red.) Kultur og kontekst i praktisk psykologarbeid (pp. 89-120). Gyldendal Norsk Forlag A/S.
Opaas, M. (2019). Med traumer i bagasjen. In R. Dybdahl, L. Lien, H. Siem, H. H. Bakke & I. Julardzija (Red.) Asylsøkere og flyktninger. Psykisk helse og livsmestring (pp. 121-143). Universitetsforlaget.
Opaas, M., & Grønlie, R. (2018). Samtaleterapi – kan det hjelpe deg? Animert opplysningsfilm om samtaleterapi for flyktninger, innvandrere og andre []. Zoaring.
Paulsen, C. T., Opaas, M., (2016). Flyktninghelse: – Barndommen viktigst.
Digernes, A. G., Opaas, M., (2015). Forskar på flyktningtraume.
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