Trends over Time in Adolescent Emotional Wellbeing in the Netherlands, 2005-2017: Links with Perceived Schoolwork Pressure, Parent-Adolescent Communication and Bullying Victimization

International trends in male youth suicide and suicidal behaviour

OBJECTIVE

Suicide and suicidal behaviour strongly contribute to overall male youth mortality. An understanding of worldwide data contextualises suicide and suicidal behaviour in young men within any given country.

METHOD

Members and colleagues of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry's Task Force on Men's Mental Health review the relevant data from several regions of the world. The review identifies notable findings across regions of relevance to researchers, policymakers, and clinicians.

RESULTS

Male suicide and suicidal behaviour in adolescence and emerging adulthood within North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, Continental Africa, South Asia, East Asia, China, and Oceania share similarities as well as significant points of divergence.

CONCLUSIONS

International data provide an opportunity to obtain a superior understanding of suicide and suicidal behaviour amongst young men.

The Relation between Residential Mobility and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Adolescence: The Role of Subjective Moving Experience, Gender, and Friendship Quality

Adolescent residential mobility can be a stressful life event, potentially aggravating internalizing or externalizing problems. However, the longitudinal effects of residential mobility are understudied and may be context-dependent. This study investigates the longitudinal associations between adolescent residential mobility and internalizing and externalizing problems. Additionally, this study examines for whom residential moves are most detrimental by including subjective moving experience, gender, and friendship quality before the move as moderators. Longitudinal data from 2,029 adolescents (51% female) from the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS) were used (Mage [SD] at T1 = 11.1 [0.55], T2 = 13.6 [0.52], and T3 = 16.3 [0.70]). Results from stepwise multi-level random-effect models showed that adolescents who experienced an unpleasant move remained stable in internalizing problems, while others decreased over time. Adolescents who moved increased stronger in externalizing problems than adolescents who did not move, independent of whether they experienced the move as unpleasant. Gender and friendship quality before the move did not moderate the relation between residential mobility and internalizing or externalizing problem development. These results emphasize that residential moves in adolescence, especially when experienced as unpleasant, can have long-lasting negative effects on adolescent development.

Mental health profiles of 15-year-old adolescents in the Nordic Countries from 2002 to 2022: person-oriented analyses

BACKGROUND

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. The resulting health profiles were then subjected to a comparative analysis with regard to different measures of psychological and social adjustment. The mental health profiles were based on data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, which was conducted among almost 50000 15-year-olds in five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) between 2002 and 2022.

RESULTS

Mental health profiles exhibiting comparable content were observed in all Nordic countries, including profiles indicating adequate health, perceived good health, perceived poor health, high psychosomatic complaints, and dual health problems (defined as both high psychosomatic complaints and perceived poor health). These health profiles showed similar trends over time in the Nordic countries. Significant gender differences were observed. In 2002, adequate health was the dominant profile for both sexes. After 20 years, however, the high psychosomatic profile became the most common profile among girls. Among the three risk profiles, namely perceived poor health, high psychosomatic complaints and dual health problems, adolescents in the dual problems profile had the most psychological and social adjustment problems.

CONCLUSIONS

The comparatively lower incidence of adjustment problems among adolescents in the high psychosomatic profile relative to the dual mental health group challenges the prevailing view that there has been a sharp increase in mental health problems among Nordic adolescents. This view was largely based on the observed rise in psychosomatic symptoms. Indeed, there was a doubling in the proportion of adolescents in the high psychosomatic complaints profile between 2002 and 2022. This increase was considerably more pronounced than that observed for the dual health problems profile which exhibited most problems.

Does Bullying Victimization Accelerate Adolescents' Non-suicidal Self-injury? The Mediating Role of Negation Emotions and The Moderating Role of Submissive Behavior

Based on general strain theory, the current study examined whether bullying victimization was significantly related to adolescents' non-suicidal self-injury and whether negation emotions mediated this association and submissive behavior moderated this mediation process. A total of 1,984 adolescents completed a series of anonymous questionnaires regarding bullying victimization, negative emotions, non-suicidal self-injury, and submissive behavior. Results showed that bullying victimization was significantly and positively associated with non-suicidal self-injury and this relation was partially mediated by negative emotions. Submissive behavior moderated the relation between bullying victimization and non-suicidal self-injury as well as negation emotions and non-suicidal self-injury. Specifically, the victims of bullying with high submissive behavior were more likely to develop non-suicidal self-injury. Adolescents who had higher negative emotions were at greater risk of engaging in non-suicidal self-injury when they also had high submissive behavior. The positive association between negative emotions and non-suicidal self-injury was stronger in females than males.

Trends in adolescent emotional problems in Wales between 2013 and 2019: the contribution of peer relationships

BACKGROUND

Epidemiological evidence shows a substantial increase in adolescent emotional problems in many countries, but reasons for this increase remain poorly understood. We tested change in emotional problems in a national sample of young people in Wales in 2013, 2017 and 2019 using identical symptom screens, and examined whether trends were accounted for by changes in youth friendship quality and bullying.

METHODS

The present study of 230,735 11-16-year olds draws on repeat cross-sectional data obtained on three occasions (2013, 2017 and 2019) in national school-based surveys in Wales (conducted by the School Health Research Network). Emotional problems were assessed with a brief validated symptom screen (the SCL-4).

RESULTS

There was a significant increase in emotional problem scores between 2013 and 2019 (b[95% CI] = 1.573 [1.380, 1.765]). This increase was observed for all ages and was more pronounced for girls than boys (interaction b [95% CI] = 0.229 [0.004, 0.462]) and for young people from less affluent families (interaction b [95% CI] = -0.564[-0.809, -0.319]). Of the total sample, 14.2% and 5.7% reported frequent face-to-face and cyberbullying respectively. There were modest decreases in friendship quality and increases in rates of bullying between 2013 and 2019, but accounting for these changes did not attenuate estimates of the population-level increase in emotional problems.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence of a substantial increase in emotional problems among young people in Wales, particularly for young people from less affluent backgrounds. Changes in bullying or friendship quality did not explain this increase.

Trends in mental health problems among Swedish adolescents: Do school-related factors play a role?

AIM

The aim of this study is to investigate the extent to which school-related factors, such as school liking, participation in decision-making, school-related parental support, teachers' support, and school physical environment, explain trends in mental health problems. The problems considered are psychosomatic symptoms (PSS), depressive symptoms (DS), suicidal ideations (SI), and suicide attempts (SA) among Swedish adolescents of varying socioeconomic status (SES) from 2004 to 2020.

METHODS

We analyzed data collected through repeated cross-sectional surveys from 19,873 15-year-old students at schools in a county in Sweden. Boys and girls each constituted 50% of the participants. We fitted linear and logistic regression models to investigate associations between the school-related factors and trends in mental health problems.

RESULTS

Increased school-related parental support and school liking were cross-sectionally associated with decreased PSS, DS and SI, with school liking also associated with decreased SA. Conducive school physical environment was also found to be cross-sectionally associated with lower PSS and DS scores. Over time, mental health problems have shown a general increase among adolescents in the low SES group and a decrease among those in the high SES group. While school-related factors explained the improvement in mental health in the high SES group, we found such association only between parental support trends in PSS and DS, along with participation and trends in SA over time among adolescents in the low SES group.

CONCLUSIONS

The results show that school-related factors play significant roles in influencing adolescent mental health. The influence, however, varied across SES gradients over time. This suggests that working against inequities in school-related factors would help address inequities in mental health.

Secular trends in mental health problems among young people in Norway: a review and meta-analysis

There is a growing concern that the mental health of recent generations of youth is deteriorating, yet the etiology of these secular changes is not fully understood. We aimed to review the evidence on trends in mental health problems among young people in Norway. Seven large-scale repeated cross-sectional studies were included in this study, comprising 35 cross-sectional data collections between 1992 and 2019, with a total sample of 776,606 young people. Our study found a clear increase in mental health problems among young females in Norway over the past few decades, while the trends were less marked for males. The proportion of individuals scoring above the problematic symptom score threshold increased on average by 11.2% (range 2.2% to 21.9%) for females and 5.2% (range - 0.9% to 11.1%) for males, based on data from the individual studies. The results from a meta-regression analysis showed that across all surveys, mean symptom scores increased by 17% (95% CI 12 to 21%) among females and 5% (95% CI 1 to 9%) among males from 1992 to 2019. Overall, mental health problems have increased continually since the early 1990s among young people, especially among young females. The cause of these secular changes remains unknown but likely reflect the interplay of several factors at the individual and societal level.Protocol registration: Open science framework, November 8, 2021 ( https://osf.io/g7w3v ).

The Association Between Emotion Recognition and Internalizing Problems in Children and Adolescents: A Three-Level Meta-Analysis

Numerous studies have explored the link between how well youth recognize emotions and their internalizing problems, but a consensus remains elusive. This study used a three-level meta-analysis model to quantitatively synthesize the findings of existing studies to assess the relationship. A moderation analysis was also conducted to explore the sources of research heterogeneity. Through a systematic literature search, a total of 42 studies with 201 effect sizes were retrieved for the current meta-analysis, and 7579 participants were included. Emotion recognition was negatively correlated with internalizing problems. Children and adolescents with weaker emotion recognition skills were more likely to have internalizing problems. In addition, this meta-analysis found that publication year had a significant moderating effect. The correlation between emotion recognition and internalizing problems decreased over time. The degree of internalizing problems was also found to be a significant moderator. The correlation between emotion recognition and internalizing disorders was higher than the correlation between emotion recognition and internalizing symptoms. Deficits in emotion recognition might be relevant for the development and/or maintenance of internalizing problems in children and adolescents. The overall effect was small and future research should explore the clinical relevance of the association.

Time trends in associations between neighbourhood and school characteristics and mental health problems among Dutch adolescents

We investigated trends in associations between physical and social neighbourhood and school characteristics and adolescent mental health problems between 2005 and 2017. Nationally representative, repeated cross-sectional data collected in the Netherlands among primary (N = 5,871) and secondary school students (N = 20,778) were analysed through cross-classified multilevel models. Hardly any evidence was found for over-time changes in associations between neighbourhood and school characteristics and adolescent mental health problems. Findings showed that for both groups of students, only social characteristics within the two contexts were associated with adolescent mental health problems. For secondary school students, school effects were larger than neighbourhood effects, while the opposite was true for primary school students. Specifically, primary school students residing in more socially fragmented or lower socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods, and lower SES schools, reported more conduct problems and peer relationship problems. For secondary school students, only the SES of the neighbourhood and the school was associated with all four aspects of mental health problems. Remarkably, the direction of the associations between neighbourhood/ school SES and adolescent mental health problems varied across the different mental health outcomes. More research is warranted to replicate our findings.

Language skills and interpersonal trust in adolescents with and without mental illness

PURPOSE

The primary aim was to compare adolescents with mental illness and non-clinical adolescents on vocabulary, social problem-solving, trust in parents, attachment and mentalisation. A secondary aim was to investigate whether adolescents' language skills were associated with trust in parents.

METHOD

Seventy-eight adolescents (16-18 years) participated in this cross-sectional quantitative study: a clinical sample (n = 28, M = 16.7 years, 19F) recruited from a mental health service and a non-clinical sample (n = 50, M = 17.0 years, 28F). Standardised language measures and self-report measures of trust in parents; communication quality; attachment; and mentalisation were used. Primary and secondary aims were addressed through independent samples t-tests and Pearson's correlation analyses, respectively.

RESULT

Adolescents experiencing mental illness reported significantly poorer vocabulary, less trust in mother/father, greater attachment anxiety/avoidance, and poorer reflective functioning, than non-clinical adolescents. Expressive vocabulary of clinical (but not non-clinical) adolescents significantly negatively correlated with trust in mother (but not father).

CONCLUSION

Results highlight a role for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in supporting communication needs of adolescents with mental illness. SLPs should consider trust by: i) understanding adolescents with mental illness may have difficulty trusting them potentially impacting therapeutic engagement; and ii) delivering services in ways that might build trust, such as involving adolescents in treatment planning.

National-Level Schoolwork Pressure, Family Structure, Internet Use, and Obesity as Drivers of Time Trends in Adolescent Psychological Complaints Between 2002 and 2018

Little is known about societal processes that contribute to changes in adolescent mental health problems. This study aims to fill this gap using data from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children study between 2002 and 2018 (n_countries = 43, n_individuals = 680,269, M_age = 14.52 (SD = 1.06), 51.04% female), supplemented with other international data. National-level psychological complaints increased more strongly among girls than boys. National-level schoolwork pressure, single-parent households, time spent on internet, and obesity were generally rising. In both boys' and girls' samples, increases in national-level schoolwork pressure, obesity, and time spent on internet use were independently associated with increases national-level psychological complaints. However, national-level obesity and psychological complaints were more strongly related among girls than boys. Results highlight the potential impact of societal-level processes on adolescent mental health problems.

Trends in physical health complaints among adolescents from 2014 - 2019: Considering screen time, social media use, and physical activity

The rising rates of physical and mental health complaints among adolescents observed in many countries have coincided with an increased time spent on screen-based devices, including social media use. We sought to document recent trends in physical health complaints (PHC) and whether co-occurring trends in screen time, social media use, and physical activity may account for these trends. To achieve these aims, we used data from the nationwide Ungdata surveys conducted annually at the municipality level in Norway, comprising 419,934 adolescents aged 13-18 from six survey years (2014-2019). Six items assessed PHC, including neck and shoulder pain, headache, and abdominal pain, during the past month. To account for the nesting structure of Ungdata, and to exploit the variation within and between municipalities, we used multilevel analyses with adolescents nested in municipality-years (n = 669), nested in municipalities (n = 345). We found a small to moderate linear increase in number of PHC among boys and girls from 2014 to 2019. Screen time and social media use moderately attenuated the trend for girls, and to a lesser extent for boys. Screen time and social media use were further positively associated with PHC across the between and within-municipality levels, and social media use was more strongly associated with PHC for girls than boys across all levels of analysis. A similar pattern emerged when considering each symptom individually. The results suggest that the prevalence of PHC rose in tandem with a group-level shift towards higher screen time and social media use. Moreover, the results indicate that higher screen time and social media use may have led to changes in the youth culture with potential consequences for adolescents' well-being.

Family factors to predict adolescents’ emotional health by decision tree model: A comparison between normally developed group and chronic-condition group

The increasing trend of adolescents’ emotional symptoms has become a global public health problem. Especially, adolescents with chronic diseases or disabilities face more risks of emotional problems. Ample evidence showed family environment associates with adolescents’ emotional health. However, the categories of family-related factors that most strongly influence adolescents’ emotional health remained unclear. Additionally, it was not known that whether family environment influences emotional health differently between normally developed adolescents and those with chronic condition(s). Health Behaviours in School-aged Children (HBSC) database provides mass data about adolescents’ self-reported health and social environmental backgrounds, which offers opportunities to apply data-driven approaches to determine critical family environmental factors that influence adolescents’ health. Thus, based on the national HBSC data in the Czech Republic collected from 2017 to 2018, the current study adopted a data-driven method, classification-regression-decision-tree analysis, to investigate the impacts of family environmental factors, including demographic factors and psycho-social factors on adolescents’ emotional health. The results suggested that family psycho-social functions played a significant role in maintaining adolescents’ emotional health. Both normally developed adolescents and chronic-condition(s) adolescents benefited from communication with parents, family support, and parental monitoring. Besides, for adolescents with chronic condition(s), school-related parental support was also meaningful for decreasing emotional problems. In conclusion, the findings suggest the necessity of interventions to strengthen family-school communication and cooperation to improve chronic-disease adolescents’ mental health. The interventions aiming to improve parent-adolescent communication, parental monitoring, and family support are essential for all adolescents.

The Role of Stress Experience and Demographic Factors for Satisfaction with Life in Norwegian Adolescents: Cross-Sectional Trends over a Ten-Year Period

BACKGROUND

The individual's perception of life satisfaction (LS) is regarded as a key indicator of one's overall experience of wellbeing, sensitive to the broad spectrum of functioning. Adolescence is particularly an important period for assessing LS and factors associating with LS. The present study investigated cross-sectional trends in adolescents' LS levels across three time points over a 10-year period, as well as the role of stress experience and socio-demographic differences in association with LS.

METHODS

The study used cross-sectional data from three time points: 2011 (n = 1239), 2016 (n = 1233), and 2022 (n =311), including adolescents from lower and upper secondary public schools, with an age range of 13-20 years.

RESULTS

There were relatively high and stable mean scores on LS across all time points; however, significant differences were found between 2011 and 2016. Results from the multivariate linear regression analysis showed that sex and age were moreover weakly associated with LS, where LS decreased slightly between the ages of 13 and 18 years and increased from 19 to 20 years. Of the stress domains, interpersonal and school-related stressors showed the strongest negative and significant association with LS; significant interaction effects of sex by stress domains were found, but not with sex by time.

CONCLUSION

This study supports the relatively high and stable level of LS in adolescents across the investigated time points. Demographic factors were moreover weakly associated with LS. The findings also contribute by showing the significant role of interpersonal and school-related stressors in association with LS.

The great decline in adolescent risk behaviours: Unitary trend, separate trends, or cascade?

In many high-income countries, the proportion of adolescents who smoke, drink, or engage in other risk behaviours has declined markedly over the past 25 years. We illustrate this behavioural shift by collating and presenting previously published data (1990-2019) on smoking, alcohol use, cannabis use, early sexual initiation and juvenile crime in Australia, England, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the USA, also providing European averages where comparable data are available. Then we explore empirical evidence for and against hypothesised causes of these declines. Specifically, we explore whether the declines across risk behaviours can be considered 1) a 'unitary trend' caused by common underlying drivers; 2) separate trends with behaviour-specific causes; or 3) the result of a 'cascade' effect, with declines in one risk behaviour causing declines in others. We find the unitary trend hypothesis has theoretical and empirical support, and there is international evidence that decreasing unstructured face-to-face time with friends is a common underlying driver. Additionally, evidence suggests that behaviour-specific factors have played a role in the decline of tobacco smoking (e.g. decreasing adolescent approval of smoking, increasing strength of tobacco control policies) and drinking (e.g. more restrictive parental rules and attitudes toward adolescent drinking, decreasing ease of access to alcohol). Finally, declining tobacco and alcohol use may have suppressed adolescent cannabis use (and perhaps other risk behaviours), but evidence for such a cascade is equivocal. We conclude that the causal factors behind the great decline in adolescent risk behaviours are multiple. While broad contextual changes appear to have reduced the opportunities for risk behaviours in general, behaviour-specific factors have also played an important role in smoking and drinking declines, and 'knock-on' effect from these behavioural domains to others are possible. Many hypothesised explanations remain to be tested empirically.

Among the swedish generation of adolescents who experience an increased trend of psychosomatic symptoms. Do they develop depression and/or anxiety disorders as they grow older?

BACKGROUND

Despite an increase in mental health problems, with psychosomatic symptoms having been observed in new generations of Swedish youth, the extent to which these problems correspond to an increase in adult mental problems is unknown. The present study investigates whether Swedish adolescents with high levels of psychosomatic symptoms are at risk of developing depression and anxiety problems in adulthood and whether sex moderates any association. Moreover, we aim to understand whether different clusters of youth psychosomatic symptoms - somatic, psychological and musculoskeletal - have different impacts on adult mental health.

METHODS

One thousand five hundred forty-five Swedish adolescents - aged 13 (49%) and 15 (51%) - completed surveys at baseline (T1) and 3 years later (T2); of them, 1174 (61% females) also participated after 6 years (T3). Multivariate logistic models were run.

RESULTS

Youth with high levels of psychosomatic symptoms had higher odds of high levels of depressive symptoms at T2 and T3. Moreover, psychosomatic symptoms at T1 predicted a high level of anxiety symptoms and diagnoses of anxiety disorders at T3. When analyzed separately, musculoskeletal symptoms predicted higher odds of having high levels of depressive symptoms at T2 and T3 while somatic symptoms predicted high levels of anxiety symptoms at T2. Moreover, somatic symptoms at T1 predicted diagnoses of depression and anxiety disorders at T3. Sex did not moderate any of the relationships.

CONCLUSIONS

The study supports the idea that an increase in mental health problems, such as psychosomatic symptoms, can seriously impact the psychological health of new generations of young adults.

School burnout trends and sociodemographic factors in Finland 2006-2019

PURPOSE

To identify the changes of school burnout for Finnish adolescents in lower (grades 8-9) and upper secondary schools (grades 10-11) during years 2006-2019; and to examine the associations of personal-(gender, family socioeconomic, and immigrant status) and school-related (school level, urban-rural area) sociodemographic demands and resources in school burnout.

METHODS

We used nationally representative data on 949,347 students in secondary school in Finland between 2006 and 2019. Generalized Linear Models were used to assess the effects of year, gender, school level, parental education, unemployment, immigrant status, and urban-rural area and the interactions of year, gender, and school level with each of the remaining sociodemographic variables on school burnout.

RESULTS

School burnout increased among girls and slightly declined among boys. The increase intensified in girls and the decline in boys stagnated after 2011. The educational level of the parents had a constant protective impact over time, the gradient for boys slightly larger compared to girls. Urban areas contributed to the trend of increasing school burnout among girls but not among boys. Parental unemployment and immigration background were associated with the increasing trend of school burnout over time, although somewhat mitigated by parental education.

CONCLUSION

The results showed the trends in school burnout are often gendered and appeared to worsen aligned with the school budget cuts after 2011. In addition to considering school burnout related to lower parental education and urbanization, it is important to support those students in families experiencing unemployment and/or immigration, especially when concurring with lower parental education.

Life Satisfaction Development in the Transition to Adulthood: Differences by Gender and Immigrant Background

Life satisfaction is crucial for healthy development into adulthood. However, it is yet largely unknown how life satisfaction develops in the transition to adulthood. This study examined life satisfaction development in this transition and paid special attention to differences between boys, girls, children of immigrants, and nonimmigrants. Unique longitudinal data of seven waves (2010-2018) of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey Germany were used. Respondents (N = 3757, 54% girls, 78% nonimmigrants, Mage weighted = 14.6, SD = 0.6 at wave 1) were followed between ages 14 and 23 and multi-level random effect models were applied. Life satisfaction developed in a nonlinear way in the transition to adulthood (M-shape), with overall decreases between age 17 and 18 and between age 20 and 23. Girls reported lower life satisfaction levels in adolescence and more unstable trajectories than boys, where girls with immigrant backgrounds represented the least advantageous life satisfaction trajectory. Differences in life satisfaction between groups decreased from age 19 onwards.

Time trends in adolescent mental wellbeing in the Czech Republic between 2002 and 2018: gender, age and socioeconomic differences

OBJECTIVES

Recent literature indicates a decline over time in adolescent mental wellbeing but results are inconsistent and rely mainly on data from Western societies. This study investigates time trends in adolescent mental wellbeing (psychological and somatic complaints, life satisfaction) among Czech adolescents and explores the moderating role of gender, age and socioeconomic status.

METHODS

Nationally representative data from 29,376 Czech adolescents (50.8% girls, mean age = 13.43; SD = 1.65) across five Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) surveys (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018) were used. Hierarchical regression models estimated national trends in adolescent mental wellbeing and established the moderating role of gender, age and socioeconomic status.

RESULTS

From 2002 to 2018, an increase in the psychological complaints was observed. Life satisfaction decreased over time up to 2014 only, whereas somatic symptoms increased until 2010, followed by a decline in 2014 and 2018. Girls, older adolescents and those from low family affluence reported poorer mental wellbeing. Gender gap increased over time for psychological complaints and life satisfaction. Socioeconomic inequalities gap remained stable over the investigated timeframe.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings do not provide evidence for substantial temporal changes in mental wellbeing among adolescents in the Czech Republic. Yet, the increase in psychological complaints has been consistent which is an indicator of a small decline over time in adolescent mental wellbeing. Furthermore, the gender gap in mental wellbeing increased over time, whereas the age and socioeconomic differences remained relatively stable. This calls for the attention of public health professionals and policy makers from the Czech Republic.

Adolescent screen time: associations with school stress and school satisfaction across 38 countries

This study examined associations of watching television, electronic games, computer uses with school stress, and satisfaction among adolescents. Nationally representative data from 38 European and North American countries that participated in the 2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey were analysed. School stress and school satisfaction were each assessed using a 4-point self-reported item and then dichotomised. Participants reported discretional time spent on different screen-based activities. Of the 191,786 participants (age 13.6 [1.6] years; 51% girls), 35% reported high levels of school stress, while 30% reported high satisfaction with their school. Multilevel multivariable logistic regression modelling showed that adolescents reporting watching television > 4 h/day (≤ 1 h/day as reference) had 31% higher odds of school stress (OR 1.31; 95% CI: 1.27-1.35) and 36% less odds of school satisfaction (OR 0.64; 95% CI: 0.62-0.67). Prolonged electronic gaming (> 4 h/day) increased the odds of school stress by 26% (OR 1.26; 95% CI: 1.22-1.30) and decreased the odds of school satisfaction by 37% (OR 0.63; 95% CI: 0.61-0.65). Adolescents with prolonged computer use had 46% higher odds of school stress (OR 1.46; 95% CI: 1.42-1.50) and 39% lower odds of school satisfaction (OR 0.61; 95% CI: 0.59-0.63). Association estimates were more evident among younger adolescents than their older counterparts with no apparent gender differences.

CONCLUSION

Prolonged screen use, irrespective of type, was positively associated with school stress and inversely associated with school satisfaction with high computer use showing the highest adverse associations. Prospective research is needed to understand directionality and mechanisms of these relationships.

WHAT IS KNOWN

• Screen-based activities are adversely associated with various health and wellbeing indicators in adolescents.. • The relation between screen time and school-related outcomes is yet to understand fully.

WHAT IS NEW

• Prolonged screen time is associated with increased school stress and decreased school satisfaction in adolescents. • Computer use showed higher adverse associations than watching television or playing electronic games.

Leisure Time Use and Adolescent Mental Well-Being: Insights from the COVID-19 Czech Spring Lockdown

BACKGROUND

As leisure-one of the crucial life domains-was completely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, our study aimed to investigate how adolescents spent their leisure time during the Spring 2020 lockdown. Secondly, we aimed to investigate the associations between the perceived changes in leisure time use, the leisure activities adolescents engaged in, and the associations with well-being during the Spring 2020 lockdown in Czechia.

METHODS

Data from 3438 participants were included in this study (54.2% girls; mean age = 13.45, SD = 1.62). First, the initial number of items measuring leisure, electronic media use, and sports was reduced through Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Multivariate linear regression models tested the associations between leisure domains and mental well-being Results: The amount of leisure time, together with socially active leisure and sports and physical activity, formed the strongest positive predictors of mental well-being, whereas idle activities and time spent on electronic media acted as negative predictors. The amount of time spent doing schoolwork was unrelated to mental well-being.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, our results support the idea that leisure as a promoting factor for well-being is not just a matter of its amount but rather of engagement in meaningful and fulfilling activities.

Parent-Adolescent Communication Quality and Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Roles of Autonomy and Future Orientation

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have suggested that family communication quality is an important factor that can influence adolescents' life satisfaction. However, relatively few studies have examined this relationship in the Chinese cultural context or explored the potential mechanisms underlying this relationship. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether family communication quality is closely linked to Chinese adolescents' life satisfaction and whether this link was mediated by autonomy and future orientation.

METHODS

This study recruited 442 Chinese college students (67.19% girls) as participants. Based on a longitudinal design, the participants reported family communication quality at Time 1 and reported autonomy, future orientation, and life satisfaction at Time 2.

RESULTS

The results of correlation analysis showed the existence of a positive correlation between family communication quality, autonomy, future orientation, and life satisfaction. The mediation models showed family communication quality predicted adolescents' life satisfaction through the mediating effects of autonomy and future orientation. Furthermore, autonomy and future orientation not only independently mediated the relationship between family communication quality and life satisfaction but sequentially mediated this relationship.

CONCLUSION

Autonomy and future orientation mediated the relationship between family communication quality and life satisfaction. The findings of the present study highlight the significance of elevating family communication quality and promoting adolescents' development of autonomy and future orientation to enhance their life satisfaction.

Time trends in schoolwork pressure among Dutch adolescents, 2001-2017: Gender and educational differences

AIMS

This study investigated gender and educational differences in trends in schoolwork pressure between 2001 and 2017 in nationally representative samples of Dutch adolescents in secondary education.

METHODS

Data from five surveys of the Dutch Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study were used.

RESULTS

Across the surveys, an increase in perceived schoolwork pressure was observed. Girls and adolescents enrolled in the higher educational levels reported higher levels of perceived schoolwork pressure and the strongest increase in schoolwork pressure over time. Especially for girls, there was a stronger increase in schoolwork pressure for those enrolled in higher educational tracks.

CONCLUSIONS

Increases in schoolwork pressure over time were stronger among Dutch girls and students in the higher educational levels. Over time, schoolwork pressure increased most among girls in the highest educational levels. Explanations and implications for these results are discussed.

Contributions of Individual, Family, and School Characteristics to Chilean Students' Social Well-Being at School

Schools are an essential part of students’ lives and can promote and facilitate their well-being. Although research on well-being among school-aged children and adolescents has distinguished subjective well-being from social well-being, very few studies examined student’s social well-being at school (SWS). SWS is understood as students’ valuation of the circumstances and functioning of their school. This framework posits that the context of the schools can shape students’ perception of feeling integrated and making significant contributions to their schools. However, not much is known regarding the joint contribution of individual, family, and school characteristics to students’ SWS. This study analyzed these joint contributions in a nationally representative sample of 6,389 children and adolescents enrolled in 5th–11th grades. Findings show that being female and younger were individual predictors of SWS. Students’ satisfaction with their family and fewer changes of schools were also significant contributors. When students’ perceptions of their schools were incorporated, the individual and family characteristics decreased or lost significance. In the full model, the highest contribution to SWS was explained by the school-level aggregated perception of school climate. These findings call for integrated policies and practices to foster students’ sense of belonging, feeling integrated, and contribution to their schools, with a focus on school-level interventions to improve SWS through positive and engaging school climates that foster students’ sense of agency.