0000000000269824
AUTHOR
Pernille Due
Trends in perceived school stress among adolescentsin five Nordic countries 2002–2014
Abstract Associations between school-related stress and poor health, risk behaviours and low well-being are well documented. The aim of this paper was to estimate trends of perceived school stress experienced by boys and girls of different ages in the Nordic countries, and to describe trends in school stress between the Nordic countries. Nordic data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (HBSC) between 2002 and 2014 were used. The participants were aged 11–16 years. School stress was measured by a single item; “How pressured do you feel by schoolwork?” The participants answering “some” or “a lot” were categorised as reporting school stress. Sweden, Norway and Denmark had …
Trends in excellent self-rated health among adolescents: A comparative Nordic study
Abstract Background: Excellent self-rated health (SRH) can be seen as an important component of positive health among adolescents. The aim of this paper is to examine time trends of excellent health among adolescents in five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) between 2002 and 2014, including differences between countries, gender and age. Methods: Nordic data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey (including 11-, 13- and 15-year-olds) from 2002 (n = 19,009), 2006 (n = 29,656), 2010 (n = 33,232) and 2014 (n = 31,540) were analysed by design-adjusted binomial logistic regression models. Results: The trend analysis of excellent SRH for Nordi…
Towards enhancing research on adolescent positive mental health
The positive mental health and well-being perspective represents innovative public health research of first-rank priority in Europe. Good mental health is both a state and a resource for everyday life. Hence, the concept often refers to a subjective feeling (hedonic component) as well as positive functioning (eudaimonic component). Different conceptualisations of mental health-related issues are a background to this paper, which gives a brief overview of three research issues in the Nordic countries. First, the development in the occurrences of adolescent mental health-related indicators such as life satisfaction, health, sleep, and school pressure. Second, review of Nordic methodological s…
Trends in high life satisfaction among adolescents in five Nordic countries 2002–2014
Abstract Life satisfaction is an important indicator when assessing positive mental health aspects in populations, including among adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate trends over time in prevalence of high life satisfaction among adolescents from five Nordic countries: Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden. We used data from four waves of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study from 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 (n=109,847). HBSC is a school-based study examining social circumstances, health and health behaviour among 11-, 13- and 15-years olds every four years in many European and North American countries. The Cantril Ladder, an 11-step visual analogue sc…
On the art of doing surveys among adolescents
Abstract The aim is to discuss methodological challenges for research on adolescent positive mental health. A first consideration is which questions should the measurement instrument answer. In the clinical context it should have the properties of giving enough information for making a diagnosis of high quality. In the public health context, its objective may be to give information that enables the researcher to describe trends at the population level and provide guidance on areas of intervention. The HBSC study is monitoring the health and health behaviour of school-aged children in a public health context. It is a population survey, defined by the form of data collection and the method of…
Setting the scene: controversies on trends in mental health among adolescents in the Nordic countries
Abstract At present there are different positions regarding trends in adolescent mental health. Can we trust trend data on the mental health among adolescents in the Nordic countries? Some question the trustworthiness of adolescent self-reports, which describe ordinary daily hassles as health complaints, which cannot be interpreted as signs of mental disorders. In addition, today there is a more open climate for talking about mental issues, which can lead to an overestimation of the prevalence of mental disorders. Statistics on mental health services statistics report increased psychopharmaceutic prescriptions as well as consumption of professional care. Such data argues for increased gover…
The impact of structural and functional characteristics of social relations as determinants of functional decline.
Objectives This study examines whether aspects of social relations at baseline are related to functional decline at 5-year follow-up among nondisabled old men and women. Methods The investigation is based on baseline and follow-up data on 651 nondisabled 75-year-old persons in Jyvaskyla (Finland) and Glostrup (Denmark). The analyses are performed separately for men and women. Possible selection problems were considered by using three outcome measures: first, functional decline among the survivors (n = 425); second, functional decline, including death, assuming that death is part of a general decline pattern (n = 565); and third, mortality (n = 651). Social relations were measured at baselin…
Cross-country comparisons of trends in adolescent psychosomatic symptoms : a Rasch analysis of HBSC data from four Nordic countries
BACKGROUND: To analyse the psychometric properties of the HBSC Symptom Checklist (HBSC-SCL) on psychosomatic symptoms with a focus on the operating characteristics of the items, and on the impacts of measurement distortions on the comparisons of person measures across time and between countries.METHODS: Data were collected in 1993/94, 1997/98, 2001/02, 2005/06, 2008/09, 2013/14 in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden as part of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. Data comprised 116,531 students 11, 13 and 15 years old. Rasch analysis was conducted of the HBSC-SCL consisting of eight items with a focus on Differential Item Functioning (DIF) and item threshold ordering. …