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- Mustonen, Ulla, et al.
(författare)
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Elämänkulku, mielenterveys ja hyvinvointi. Seurantatutkimus 16-vuotiaista tamperelaisnuorista 22-, 32- ja 42-vuotiaina (TAM-projekti)
- 2013
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The development of children and young people and the conditions in which they are brought up lay the foundation for future well-being. People's educational and lifestyle choices in adolescence and early adulthood influence their health and social status far into their adult years. Adulthood and adult well-being are defined by roles at work, in interpersonal relationship, in family, and in other communities as well as by individual needs for change and development. This research report describes the life cycle and well-being from youth to early middle-age of one age group of pupils in Tampere, totalling some 2200 persons. The report summarises key results from a 25-year-long longitudinal study. The survey examines different kinds of risk factors in family backgrounds, adolescence, early adulthood and adult life and their links with mental health and psychosocial well-being. It also studies factors that protect against problems in mental health and well-being in young people's development and in their life cycle. The target group consisted of all Finnish-speaking pupils in the 9th grade of comprehensive school in the city of Tampere in spring 1983 (n = 2269). The research data was collected with a survey questionnaire, which a total of 2194 pupils (96.7%) filled in during one lesson at school. The first follow-up was carried out as a postal questionnaire when the respondents were 22 years old (n = 1656), and the second when the respondents were 32 years old (n =1471). The most recent followup was carried out in 2009 when the respondents were 42 years old (n = 1334). Key topics in all the follow-up surveys have been physical and mental health, health behaviour, social relationships, life situation, and psychosocial resources. The research findings indicate so far that most of the respondents have fared well at the developmental tasks and challenges they have faced in the different stages of their life. It seems, however, that there are risk factors associated with young people's growth and development and the environment in which they grow up, and that these risk factors may have negative effects on well-being in adolescence and far into adulthood. For example, the results indicate that a family's low socio-economic THL – Raportti 17/2013 9 Elämänkulku, mielenterveys ja hyvinvointi status is linked with unhealthy lifestyles in adolescence and a lower level of educational attainment in adulthood. Childhood experience of parents' divorce foretold a higher risk of problems in mental health, interpersonal relationships, and other relationships, as well as a lower socio-economic status in later life. It was also discovered that multiple social deprivation in adolescence is associated with higher mortality in adulthood. Adult depression was linked with depressive symptoms and low self-esteem especially in adolescence. Also, a link was discovered between long-term diseases and mental health. Young people with a long-term disease reported psychosomatic symptoms more often than their peers. In adulthood, a long-term disease was linked with depression among men, but not among women. Men with a long-term disease made more use of emotional means of coping than healthy men, and they had a lower sense of control over their own lives. The most important factors associated with a high level of alcohol consumption were male gender, childhood experience of divorce, depressive symptoms in adolescence, as well as regular binge drinking already at young age. With regard to binge drinking, different kinds of development paths were identified from adolescence to early middle-age. Two kinds of development paths were identified to be associated with various dimensions of social deprivation in early middle-age. These were regular binge drinking from adolescence to early middle among women and men and increasing regular binge drinking during the life-cycle among men. However, no similar link was observed when binge drinking decreased from early adulthood and adulthood. When studying factors that protect against problems of mental health and wellbeing, it was discovered, for example, that good relationship with parents, high selfesteem, and an intimate relationship protected young people against depression in later life. These factors had also an indirect link with the quality of intimate relationships in adult life. In the group of people with a long-term disease, factors protecting against depression included active problem-solving perspective to coping among men and experienced access to social support among women. Changes in individual resources, such as self-esteem, sense of control, and experiencing life as meaningful, were associated with the development of socio-economic inequalities in health in early adulthood. If these resources remained unchanged, also the socio-economic inequalities in health remained unchanged, while an increase in the resources signified a narrowing of the socio-economic inequalities in health. The analysing and reporting of the longitudinal study continue still, and two related dissertations are under way. A number of articles on the study have been published in distinguished scientific journals both in Finland and abroad. The research material has been used in several thesis studies, and the findings have been reported extensively both nationally and internationally. This report includes a list of these THL – Raportti 17/2013 10 Elämänkulku, mielenterveys ja hyvinvointi publications. Those interested in learning more about the research and its themes can study the original publications. The research material forms an internationally valuable follow-up material, and the research results can be utilised especially in social welfare and health care services that aim to promote the mental health and wellbeing of young people and adults. The result can also be used in education services and youth services. The research project and individual researchers have received funding from various sources. We are grateful for all the financial support to our research project. We would like to thank especially the Academy of Finland, the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation and the Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation for their significant support in enabling the data collection in different stages of the research, as well as the Tampere University School of Health Sciences and the National Public Health Institute/National Institute for Health and Welfare for providing the premises for conducting the research. We extend our warmest thanks to those who took part in this longitudinal study for their long-term interest in the study and for the valuable information they gave about their own lives.
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