Abstract
Purpose: Previous research has shown inconsistent time trends in adolescent mental well-being, but potential underlying mechanisms for such trends are yet to be examined. This study investigates cross-national time trends in adolescent mental well-being (psychosomatic health complaints and life satisfaction) in mainly European countries and the extent to which time trends in schoolwork pressure explain these trends. Methods: Data from 915,054 adolescents from 36 countries (50.8% girls; meanage = 13.54; standard deviationage = 1.63) across five Health Behaviour in School-aged Children surveys (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018) were included in the analyses. Hierarchical multilevel models estimated cross-national trends in adolescent mental well-being and schoolwork pressure. We also tested whether schoolwork pressure could explain these trends in mental well-being. Results: A small linear increase over time in psychosomatic complaints and schoolwork pressure was found. No change in life satisfaction emerged. Furthermore, there was large cross-country variation in the prevalence of, and trends over time in, adolescent mental well-being and schoolwork pressure. Overall, declines in well-being and increases in schoolwork pressure were apparent in the higher income countries. Across countries, the small increase in schoolwork pressure over time partly explained the decline in psychosomatic health complaints. Conclusions: Our findings do not provide evidence for substantial declines in mental well-being among adolescents. Yet, the small declines in mental well-being and increases in schoolwork pressure appear to be quite consistent across high-income countries. This calls for the attention of public health professionals and policy-makers. Country differences in trends in both adolescent mental well-being outcomes and schoolwork pressure were considerable, which requires caution regarding the cross-national generalization of national trends.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | S50-S58 |
Journal | Journal of Adolescent Health |
Volume | 66 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020
Funding
The work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund-Project “Effective Use of Social Research Studies for Practice” (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_025/0007294). I.G.M. has received financial support from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the Ramon y Cajal Programme (RYC-2017-21626). J.I. was supported by the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12017/12) and the Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU12). This work was also supported by the MRC Mental Health Data Pathfinder Award (MC_PC_17217). Disclosure: This supplement was supported by the World Health Organization European Office and the University of Glasgow. The articles have been peer-reviewed and edited by the editorial staff of the Journal of Adolescent Health. The opinions or views expressed in this supplement are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the funder. Disclosure: This supplement was supported by the World Health Organization European Office and the University of Glasgow. The articles have been peer-reviewed and edited by the editorial staff of the Journal of Adolescent Health. The opinions or views expressed in this supplement are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the funder. The work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund -Project “Effective Use of Social Research Studies for Practice” (No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_025/0007294 ). I.G.M. has received financial support from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the Ramon y Cajal Programme ( RYC-2017-21626 ). J.I. was supported by the UK Medical Research Council ( MC_UU_12017/12 ) and the Chief Scientist Office ( SPHSU12 ). This work was also supported by the MRC Mental Health Data Pathfinder Award ( MC_PC_17217 ).
Funders | Funder number |
---|---|
European Regional Development Fund-Project | |
Ramon y Cajal Programme | RYC-2017-21626 |
World Health Organization European Office | |
Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades | |
Medical Research Council | MC_PC_17217, MC_UU_12017/12 |
Chief Scientist Office | SPHSU12 |
University of Glasgow | |
European Regional Development Fund | CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_025/0007294 |
Keywords
- Adolescence
- Adolescent
- Country variation
- Cross-national
- HBSC
- Life satisfaction
- Mental health
- Mental well-being
- Multilevel analysis
- Psychosomatic health complaints
- Schoolwork pressure
- Trends
- Well-being