Self-rated mental health and socio-economic background: a study of adolescents in Sweden

BMC Public Health

Petra Svedberg¹  Jens M Nygren¹  Maria Nyholm¹  Katrin Hutton¹ 

[1] School of Social and Health Sciences, Halmstad University, SE 301 18 Halmstad, Sweden

关键词: Family affluence scale;    Socio-economic status;    Self-rated mental health;    Adolescents;   

Others  :  1131488
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-394

 received in 2013-12-18, accepted in 2014-04-17,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Adolescents’ mental health is a major public health issue. Previous research has shown that socio-economic factors contribute to the health status of adolescents. The present study explores the association between socio-economic status and self-rated mental health among adolescents.

Methods

Cross sectional data from the Halmstad Youth Quality of Life cohort was collected in a town in Sweden. In all, 948 adolescents (11–13 younger age group and 14–16 older age group) participated. Information on self-rated mental health was collected from the subscale Psychological functioning in the Minneapolis Manchester Quality of Life instrument. The items were summarized into a total score and dichotomized by the mean. Indicators measuring socio-economic status (SES) were collected in a questionnaire using the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) and additional factors regarding parents’ marital status and migration were added. Logistic models were used to analyze the data.

Results

Girls were more likely to rate their mental health below the mean compared to boys. With regard to FAS (high, medium, low), there was a significantly increased risk of self-rated mental health below the mean among younger boys in the medium FAS score OR; 2.68 (95% CI 1.35;5.33) and among older boys in the low FAS score OR; 2.37 (1.02;5.52) compared to boys in the high FAS score. No such trend was seen among girls. For younger girls there was a significant protective association between having parents born abroad and self-rated mental health below mean OR: 0.47 (0.24;0.91).

Conclusions

A complex pattern of associations between SES and self-rated mental health, divergent between age and gender groups, was shown. The total FAS score was only associated with boys’ self-rated mental health in both age groups, whereas parents’ migratory status influenced only the girls’ self-rated mental health. Because of the different association for girls’ and boys’ self-rated mental health and SES, other factors than SES should also be considered when investigating and exploring the mental health of adolescents in affluent communities.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Hutton et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]SBU – Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment: Methods to Prevent Mental ill-Health in Children. Stockholm; 2010. http://www.sbu.se/sv/Publicerat/Gul/Program-for-att-forebygga-psykisk-ohalsa-hos-barn/ webcite
• [2]Patel V, Flisher AJ, Hetrick S, McGorry P: Mental health of young people: a global public-health challenge. Lancet 2007, 14:1302-1313.
• [3]West P: Health inequalities in the early years: is there equalization in youth? Soc Sci Med 1997, 44:833-858.
• [4]Power C, Stansfeld SA, Matthews S, Manor O, Hope S: Childhood and adulthood risk factors for socio-economic differentials in psychological distress: evidence from the 1958 British birth cohort. Soc Sci Med 2002, 55:1989-2004.
• [5]Cheung YB, Khoo KS, Karlberg J, Machin D: Association between psychological symptoms in adults and growth in early life: longitudinal follow up study. BMJ 2002, 5:749.
• [6]Torsheim T, Currie C, Boyce W, Kalnins I, Overpeck M, Haugland S: Material deprivation and self-rated health: a multilevel study of adolescents from 22 European and North American countries. Soc Sci Med 2004, 59:1-12.
• [7]Torsheim T, Ravens-Sieberer U, Hetland J, Välimaa R, Danielson M, Overpeck M: Cross-national variation of gender differences in adolescent subjective health in Europe and North America. Soc Sci Med 2006, 62:815-827.
• [8]Richter M, Erhart M, Vereecken CA, Zambon A, Boyce W, Gabhainn SN: The role of behavioural factors in explaining socio-economic differences in adolescent health: a multilevel study in 33 countries. Soc Sci Med 2009, 69:396-403.
• [9]Poulton R, Caspi A, Milne BJ, Thomson WM, Taylor A, Sears MR, Moffitt TE: Association between children’s experience of socioeconomic disadvantage and adult health: a life- course study. Lancet 2002, 360:1640.
• [10]Melchior M, Moffitt TE, Milne BJ, Poulton R, Caspi A: Why do children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families suffer from poor health when they reach adulthood? A life- course study. Am J Epidemiol 2007, 166:966-974.
• [11]Roberts RE, Roberts Ramsay C, Xing Y: Rates of DM-IV psyhicatric disorders among adolescents in a large metropolitan area. J Psy Res 2007, 41:959-967.
• [12]Glasskock DJ, Andersen J, Labriola M, Rasmussen K, Hansen CD: Can negative life events and coping style help explain socioeconomic differences in perceived stress among adolescents? A cross-sectional study based on the West Jutland cohort study. BMC Public Health 2013, 13:532. BioMed Central Full Text
• [13]Currie C, Molcho M, Boyce W, Holstein B, Torsheim T, Richter M: Researching health inequalities in adolescents: the development of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) family affluence scale. Soc Sci Med 2008, 66:1429-1436.
• [14]Chen E, Martin AD, Matthews KA: Socioeconomic status and health: Do gradients differ within childhood and adolescence? Soc Sci Med 2006, 62:2161-2170.
• [15]Lien N, Friestad C, Klepp K-I: Adolescents’ proxy reports of parents’ socioeconomic status: How valid are they? J Epidemiol Comm Health 2001, 55:731-737.
• [16]Goodman E: The role of socioeconomic status gradients in explaining differences in US adolescents’ health. Am J Public Health 1999, 89:1522-1528.
• [17]Jeynes WH: The challenge of controlling for SES in social science and education research. Educ Psy Rev 2002, 14:205-221.
• [18]Kind P, Dolan P, Gudex C, Williams A: Variations in population health status: results from a United Kingdom national questionnaire survey. BMJ 1998, 316:736-741.
• [19]Breidablick H-J, Meland E, Lydersen S: Self-rated health in adolescence: a multifactorial composite. Scand J Public Health 2008, 36:12-20.
• [20]Giannakopoulos G, Mihas C, Dimitrakaki C, Tountas Y: Family correlates of adolescents emotional/behavioural problems: evidence from a Greek school-based sample. Acta Paediatr 2009, 98:1319-1323.
• [21]Levin KA, Currie C, Muldoon J: Mental well-being and subjective health of 11- to 15-year-old boys and girls in Scotland, 1994–2006. Eur J Public Health 2009, 19:605-610.
• [22]Tobias M, Kokaua J, Gerritsen S, Templeton R: The health of children in sole-parent families in New Zealand: results of a population-based cross-sectional survey. Aust N Z J Public Health 2010, 34:274-280.
• [23]Kwan YK, Ip WC: Adolescent health in Hong Kong: disturbing socio-demographic correlates. Soc Indicators Res 2009, 91:259-268.
• [24]Vingilis ER, Wade TJ, Seeley JS: Predictors of adolescent self-rated health. Analysis of the National Population Health Survey. Can J Public Health 2002, 93:193-197.
• [25]Vollebergh WAM, Have M, Dekovic M, Oosterwegel A, Pels T, Veenstra R, de Winter A, Ormel H, Verhulst F: Mental health in immigrant children in the Netherlands. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2005, 40:489-496.
• [26]Pantzer K, Rajmil L, Tebé C, Codina F, Serra-Sutton V, Ferrer M, Ravens-Sieberer U, Simeoni M-C, Alonso J: Health related qulity of life in immigrants and native school aged adolescents in Spain. J Epidemiol Comm Health 2006, 60:694-698.
• [27]Murad Darwish S, Joung IMA, van Lenthe FJ, Bengi-Arslan L, Crijnen AAM: Predictors of self-reported problem behaviours in Turkish immigrant and Dutch adolescents in the Netherlands. J Child Psychol and Psych 2003, 44:412-423.
• [28]Focus, Swedish news magazine http://www.fokus.se webcite
• [29]Statistics Sweden: Statistical Database. http://www.scb.se webcite
• [30]Bhatia S, Jenney MEM, Wu E, Bogue MK, Rockwood TH, Feusner JH, Friedman DL, Robison LL, Kane RL: The Minneapolis-Manchester quality of life instrument: reliability and validity of the youth form. J Pediatr 2004, 145:39-46.
• [31]Bhatia S, Jenney MEM, Wu E, Bogue MK, Rockwood TH, Feusner JH, Friedman DL, Robison LL, Kane RL: The Minneapolis-Manchester quality of life instrument: reliability and validity of the adolescent form. J Clin Oncol 2002, 20:4692-4698.
• [32]Einberg E-L, Kadrija I, Brunt D, Nygren J, Svedberg P: Psychometric evaluation of a Swedish version of Minneapolis-Manchester quality of life-youth form and adolescent form. Health Qual Life Outcomes 2013, 11:1-8. BioMed Central Full Text
• [33]Rice N, Leyland A: Multilevel models: applications to health data. J Health Serv Res Policy 1996, 1:154-164.
• [34]Nielsen L, Vinther-Larsen M, Nielsen NR, Grönbäck M: Stress Bland Unge. Copenhagen: Sundhedsstyrelsen; 2007.
• [35]Halldorsson M, Kunst AE, Köhler L, Mackenbach JP: Socioeconomic inequalities in the health of children and adolescents. A comparative study of the fie Nordic countries. Eur J Public Health 2000, 10:281-288.
• [36]Goodman E, Huang B, Shafer-Kalkhoff T, Adler NE: Perceived socioeconomic status: a new type of identity that influences adolescents’ self-rated health. J Adolesc Health 2007, 41:479-487.
• [37]Amato PR: Children of divorce in the 1990s: an update of the Amato and Keith (1991) meta-analysis. J Fam Psychol 2001, 15:355-370.
• [38]van Leeuwen N, Rodgers R, Régner I, Chabrol H: The role of acculturation in suicidal ideation among second-generation immigrant adolescents in France. Transcult Psy 2010, 47:812-832.
• [39]Stevens GWJM, Vollebergh WAM: Mental health in migrant children. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2008, 49:276-294.
• [40]Dimitrova R: Children’s social relationships in the Northern Italian school context: evidence for the immigrant paradox. JMIS 2011, 16:478-491.
• [41]Carlsund Å, Eriksson U, Sellström E: Shared physical custody after family split-up: implications for health and well-being in Swedish schoolchildren. Acta Paediatr 2013, 102:318-323.
• [42]Hoffmann JP: Family structure, community context, and adolescent problem behaviors. J Youth Adolesc 2006, 35:867-880.
• [43]Vousoura E, Verdeli H, Warner V, Wickramaratne P, Baily C: Parental divorce, familial risk for depression, and psychopathology in offspring: a three-generation study. J Child Fam Stud 2012, 21:718-725.
• [44]Güngör D, Bornstein MH: Gender, development, values, adaptation, and discrimination in acculturating adolescents: the case of turk heritage youth born and living in Belgium. Sex Roles 2009, 60:537-548.
• [45]Jung S-H, Tsakos G, Sheiham A, Ryu J-I, Watt RG: Socio-economic status and oral health-related behaviours in Korean adolescents. Soc Sci Med 2010, 70:1780-1788.