Aims: This study examines the evidence for similar increases in psychosomatic complaints among 15-year-olds in the Nordic countries over the period 2002-2022. A distinction is made between the level and shape of these time trends.
Methods: A dataset from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey from 2002 to 2022 was used.
Background: The role of eating habits in adolescent mental health has become a growing area of interest for researchers and health professionals. Recent studies suggest that healthy eating habits may play a role in the development and management of mental health. However, existing literature is largely based on clinical populations, and comparisons are challenged by sociocultural differences and methodological issues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Studies of time trends in Nordic adolescents' mental health have often relied on analyses of adolescents' psychosomatic symptoms. In this study, we examine adolescents' self-reports on mental health in the context of the dual factor model, which encompasses both overt manifestations of mental health symptoms and subjective perception of one's health status.
Method: The objective of this study was to employ a person-oriented approach utilizing cluster analysis to discern time trends in mental health profiles of Nordic adolescents, using their psychosomatic complaints and their perception of their overall health as cluster variables.
Objectives: This repeated cross-sectional study aimed to (a) report trends in adolescents' perceived family, friend, classmate, and teacher support, (b) estimate the extent to which each source of support related to life satisfaction across space and time, and (c) ascertain whether sociodemographic factors moderated the relationship in question.
Methods: We relied on data pertaining to the 2013/14, 2017/18, and 2021/22 waves of the study. The examined sample covered 44 countries and regions ( = 716,083; = 13.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child emphasizes the importance of allowing children and adolescents to influence decisions that are important to them following their age and maturity. This paper explores the principles, practices, and implications around using parental versus child/adolescent consent when participating in social science research and policy development. Experiences from two studies are presented: The Confronting Obesity: Co-creating policy with youth (CO-CREATE) and the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, a World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborative Cross-National study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFScand J Public Health
June 2023
Background: Studies that have examined time trends in adolescents' mental health have frequently been based on analyses of adolescents' psychosomatic symptoms. Adolescents' reports of psychosomatic complaints need to be seen in the light of their overall evaluations of their health. The objectives of this study were to apply a person-centred approach to identifying adolescents' mental-health profiles based on evaluations of their overall health and psychosomatic complaints.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Public Health
March 2023
Background: Studies of secular trends in mental unhealth indicate that adolescents in the Nordic countries, especially girls, have an increased reported prevalence of mental health problems the last decades. This increase needs to be seen in the light of the adolescents' assessments of their perceived overall health.
Objective: To investigate whether a person-centered approach to research can enhance understanding of changes over time in the distribution of mental health problems among Swedish adolescents.
Background and Objectives: Despite the importance of life satisfaction for health and well-being, there is a paucity of cross-national comparative studies in life satisfaction related to the family environment. The present research examined the pathways of life satisfaction association with perceived family support and other family environment variables among adolescents aged from 11 to 15 years in 45 countries. Materials and Methods: Samples from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey in 2017/2018 were analysed (n = 188,619).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Straightlining, or identical responses across all items within a multi-item scale, is often taken as an indication that responses to all items in a questionnaire are of poor quality. The purpose of this study was to examine straightlining on two scales: The Sense of Unity Scale (SUS) and the short version of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS).
Methods: Data stem from the 2017-2018 data collections in four Nordic countries of the Health Behaviour in School-children study (HBSC) (15-year-old students only; 50.
Scand J Public Health
November 2022
Purpose: This study aims to identify distinct typologies of joint family activities and the associations with mental health and wellbeing among adolescents across four countries from the World Health Organization European region.
Methods: The 2017/2018 data from adolescents from Armenia (n = 3,977, M = 13.5 ± 1.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
December 2021
Family support has a beneficial impact on protecting health-risk behaviour in adolescents. This study aimed to explore whether family support is associated with risk of smoking during transition from early (11 years) to late (15 years) adolescence across 42 countries. The data from the cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in 2017/2018 were employed (N = 195,966).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPositive mental health is central to adolescent well-being. The present study examines the prevalence of loneliness and positive mental health indicators (mental well-being and self-esteem) in four Nordic countries and associations between loneliness, mental well-being, and high self-esteem. This study is based on data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study which was conducted in 2018 in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe context is highly relevant to the implementation of new health-related programs and is an implicit or explicit part of the major implementation models in the literature. The Resilience Curriculum (RESCUR) program was developed to foster the psychosocial development of children in early and primary education. RESCUR seeks specifically to decrease children's vulnerability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough previous research established a positive association between perceived social support and adolescent life satisfaction, little is known about the relative importance of different sources of support for adolescent life satisfaction and cross-country variations in this respect. Using large-scale representative samples from the 2017/18 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, this study examined to what extent the association between social support and life satisfaction in early adolescence varied across different social sources and countries. Also, it examined whether cross-country variations are explained by national-level generalized trust, a sociocultural factor that shapes adolescent socialization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Palestine, like other low-income countries, is confronting an increasing epidemic of non-communicable disease (NCD) and trend of war injury. The management of health problems often presents a critical challenge to the Palestinian health system (PHS). Understanding the perceptions of healthcare providers is essential in exploring the gaps in the health system to develop an effective healthcare intervention.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Improving access to optimal quality of care is a core priority and ambitious health policy goal in spite of impediments, threats and challenges in Palestine. Understanding the factors that may impede quality of care is essential in developing an effective healthcare intervention for patient with non-communicable disease (NCD) or war-injured survivors.
Methods: Qualitative interviews were performed using a purposive sampling strategy of 18 political-key informants, 10 patients with NCD and 7 war-injured survivors from different health facilities in Gaza Strip.
Background: This research program aims to investigate the implementation and effects of a theoretically promising prevention method. It is being developed in a European research collaboration within a Comenius project (2012-2015) between 6 European universities (in Malta, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Portugal and Sweden) with the purpose of enhancing European children's resilience.
Methods/design: RESCUR in Sweden consists in a RCT study of the Resilience Curriculum (RESCUR) that is taking place in Sweden 2017-2019.
Aims: The aim of this paper is to advocate for the importance of meaningful leisure time for young people from a health-promotion perspective using experiences from two youth centres in multicultural neighbourhoods in Sweden.
Methods: In this practice-based study, data were collected between 2012 and 2014 at two youth centres in multicultural, socially deprived suburbs in Sweden using surveys with 12- to 16-year-old adolescents ( n = 207), seven individual interviews with staff and three cooperation partners in the neighbourhoods, and six group interviews with adolescents (50% girls). Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods were used for analysis.
Background: Qualitative studies have aimed to understand why some women continue to drink during pregnancy; however, there is a lack of comparative cross-cultural research. We aimed to explore perceptions and practices of alcohol use during pregnancy in England and Sweden.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 parents in Merseyside, England and 22 parents in Örebro County, Sweden.
Introduction: Maternal and neonatal death review (MNDR) introduced in Bangladesh and initially piloted in a district during 2010. MNDR is able to capture each of the maternal, neonatal deaths and stillbirths from the community and government facilities (hospitals). This study aimed to estimate the cost required to implement MNDR in a district of Bangladesh during 2010-2012.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The aim of the study was to address the lack of evaluations of school-based substance use prevention programs and to conduct a quasi-experimental evaluation of the alcohol use part of the Triad intervention.
Methods: Eleven Swedish intervention schools (285 pupils) and three control schools (159 pupils) participated in the evaluation. Baseline measurements were conducted in 2011 before the alcohol part in the prevention program was implemented in the intervention schools (school year 6, ages 12-13).
Objectives: Social Autopsy (SA) is an innovative strategy where a trained facilitator leads community groups through a structured, standardised analysis of the physical, environmental, cultural and social factors contributing to a serious, non-fatal health event or death. The discussion stimulated by the formal process of SA determines the causes and suggests preventative measures that are appropriate and achievable in the community. Here we explored individual experiences of SA, including acceptance and participant learning, and its effect on rural communities in Bangladesh.
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