Lars Roar Frøyland

About

Lars Roar Frøyland is a Research Professor at NOVA – Norwegian Social Research, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University (Section for Youth Research). He earned his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Oslo (2020), with a dissertation on adolescent perpetrators of violence. He also holds a Master’s degree in sociology from the University of Oslo, awarded in 2009.

Research Interests and Projects

Frøyland’s main research interests include violence and abuse, both within families and among peers, youth sexuality, and crime and other forms of problem behavior among adolescents. He has led several key projects as the Principal Investigator (PI), focusing on societal trends in violence and abuse, long-term outcomes of violent victimization, technology-facilitated sexual abuse, and the public sentiments on justice.

In 2024, Frøyland received a prestigious grant from the Research Council of Norway's call for groundbreaking research for early-career researchers. This grant supports a comprehensive project on youth sexuality, commencing in the fall of 2025, which will investigate how the digitalization of society has influenced youth sexual practices and sexual risks (DIGISEX).

Publications and Data Expertise

Frøyland’s most recent publications cover areas such as childhood maltreatment and revictimization in young adulthood, violence and sexual health, sexting, technology-facilitated sexual abuse, incapacitated sexual assaults, and societal trends in adolescent problem behavior. He has extensive experience in the collection and analysis of quantitative data and was the PI of the YouthViolence 2023 survey. Additionally, he has contributed significantly to surveys such as Ungdata, Young in Norway, and the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS).

Field of study

Violence Quanitative research methods Sexuality Youth Youth surveys Juvenile crime

Research groups

Youth Research

Research projects

Ongoing research projects

DRUGTREND: Youth cultures and emerging patterns of drug use in a digital age
The main objective of DRUGTREND is to enhance understanding of the cultural and social factors driving changes in youth drug use patterns, with a specific focus on the role of social media platforms.
Sexual Culture in Youth
The project will investigate how young people negotiate, experience and handle issues related to sexuality, sexual health and risk - in light of both contemporary youth culture, and other social and societal conditions.
Sexual Harassment in Young People’s Digital Everyday Lives
In this project the researchers will investigate how young people aged 13–19 experience and cope with sexual harassment online.
The Domestic Violence Research Programme
The programme studies time trends in the prevalence of violence and assault, violence as phenomenon, and how violence is approached by the welfare- and justice systems.
Youth Sexuality and Sexual Risk in a Digital Era (DIGISEX)
The project will shed light on how digital media has created both new opportunities and new forms of risk concerning youth sexuality.

Completed research projects

Adolescent Physical Violence. Understanding Societal Trends and Life Outcomes for Perpetrators
This project covers the use of violence among Norwegian adolescents and is financed through the Domestic Violence Research Program at NOVA.
Changing Drug Use and Drug Policy
The project aims to provide new insights into young people's patterns of alcohol and illegal drug use, the social meaning of drugs, and the consequences of drug-related sanctions.
Digital Sexual Violence against Children and Adolescents
The project will, in a comprehensive literature review, map existing knowledge about digital sexual violence against children and adolescents.
International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016 (ICCS)
The ICCS 2016-study investigates students’ knowledge and understanding of societal values, civic society and political systems.
Knowledge on Technology-facilitated Sexual Abuse against Children and Adolescents – Offenders, the Offended, and Arenas
The project will generate new knowledge about sexual abuse of children and adolescents, with the main emphasis on technology-facilitated sexual abuse.
Parental Restrictions and Violence – A Study Based on UngVold 2023
The project aims to map the relationship between growing up with strict parental restrictions and domestic violence based on data from the YouthViolence 2023 survey.
The Public Sense of Criminal Justice
The project aims to provide new knowledge on different aspects of the public sense of criminal justice in the Norwegian population.
The Work of Child Welfare Services When There is Concern About the Child's Sexual Behaviour
The project aim is to discuss what can be good measures in the child welfare services work with children and young people with problematic or harmful sexual behaviour and their parents.
UngVold 2023 – Trends in Exposure to Violence
In 2023, NOVA collected new data for the Youth Violence survey from more than 16,000 Norwegian youth, mapping Norwegian children and adolescents’ experience of violence and abuse during their upbringing.

Scientific publications

Nygård, Stine; Nysæter, Maren Kristin; Ferreira, Ligia Ribeiro; Frøyland, Lars Roar ; Kvalem, Ingela Lundin (2025). Identifying Drivers of Nonconsensual Intimate Image Sharing: A Mixed-Methods Synthesis of Perpetrator Research. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.
https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380251375912

Frøyland, Lars Roar ; Pedersen, Willy ; Enstad, Frøydis ; Soest, Tilmann Martin von (2025). School party culture as a driver of cocaine use among Norwegian adolescents: A cross-classified multilevel analysis. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Vol. 271.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2025.112627

Helgheim, Emilie Pascale Bloin; Frøyland, Lars Roar (2025). Conceptualizing “grooming” in child sexual abuse: A scoping review of Scandinavian and non-Scandinavian research. Nordic Journal of Criminology. Vol. 26.
https://doi.org/10.18261/NJC.26.2.7

Pedersen, Willy ; Frøyland, Lars Roar ; Enstad, Frøydis ; Soest, Tilmann Martin von (2024). Oslo – den delte byen: ungdom, rus og sosioøkonomisk status. Forebygging.no.
https://doi.org/10.21340/pe70-hr10

Frøyland, Lars Roar ; Tokle, Rikke ; Andreas, Jasmina Burdzovic; Brunborg, Geir Scott (2024). Sexting and Mental Health in Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study. Journal of Adolescent Health. Vol. 75.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.04.018

Frøyland, Lars Roar ; Heggebø, Kristian (2024). Childhood Maltreatment and Revictimization in Young Adulthood: Is Problematic Substance Use a Mediator? A Linked Survey–Register Data Study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605241301787

Strandbu, Åse; Solstad, Gerd Marie ; Stefansen, Kari ; Frøyland, Lars Roar (2023). Seksuell trakassering og andre krenkelser i ungdomsidretten: Forekomst og mønstre i utsatthet. Nordisk tidsskrift for ungdomsforskning (NTU). Vol. 4.
https://doi.org/10.18261/ntu.4.1.2

Frøyland, Lars Roar ; Stefansen, Kari ; Andersen, Patrick Lie (2023). Distinguishing Types of Sexual Assault Among Young People: A Latent Class Analysis Approach. Young - Nordic Journal of Youth Research.
https://doi.org/10.1177/11033088231171494

Frøyland, Lars Roar ; Pedersen, Willy ; Stefansen, Kari ; Soest, Tilmann Martin von (2023). Sexual and Physical Victimization and Health Correlates Among Norwegian Adolescents. Archives of Sexual Behavior. Vol. 52.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02604-8

Frøyland, Lars Roar ; Stefansen, Kari (2023). Unges utsatthet for digitale seksuelle krenkelser. Nordisk tidsskrift for ungdomsforskning (NTU).
https://doi.org/10.18261/ntu.4.1.1

See all publications

These publications are obtained from Norwegian Research Information Repository. The list may be incomplete.