Thoroddur Bjarnason is an Icelandic sociologist and professor at the

University of Akureyri The University of Akureyri ( is, Háskólinn á Akureyri , regionally also ) was founded in 1987 in the town of Akureyri in the northeastern part of Iceland. It is today a school of health sciences, humanities and social science, and a school of b ...

. He is most well known for his international comparative

survey Survey may refer to: Statistics and human research * Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population * Survey (human research), including opinion polls Spatial measurement * Surveying, the techniq ...

research on

adolescents Adolescence () is a transitional stage of Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majo ...

and their living and custody arrangements,

alcohol consumption An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The cons ...

and

substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

Education and career

Bjarnason studied sociology at the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) 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' s ...

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, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...

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 ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

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

University at Albany, SUNY The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

, he returned to Iceland in 2004 for a faculty position at the

Scientific research

Alcohol use and substance abuse

Bjarnasson has studied adolescent

alcohol use An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol that acts Alcohol (drug), as a drug and is produced by Ethanol fermentation, fermentat ...

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 Sole custody is a child custody arrangement whereby only one parent has custody of a child. In the most common use of the term, sole custody refers to a context in which one parent has sole physical custody of a child. Types of custody Depending ...

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 Icelandic sociologists Living people Family sociologists University of Akureyri faculty

Thoroddur Bjarnason 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 and their living and custody arrangements, alcohol consumption ...

Alumni of the University of Essex University of Notre Dame alumni Year of birth missing (living people)