| 1. |
- Arnarsson, Ársaell Már, et al.
(författare)
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Time-trends in Nordic adolescents’ communication with their parents
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nordisk välfärdsforskning | Nordic Welfare Research. - : Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS. - 1799-4691 .- 2464-4161. ; 4:2, s. 88-100
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adolescence is an important developmental period toward greater independence. However, the family is still very important in the life of young people. The aim of this study was to analyse changes over time in easy communication between adolescents and their parents in the Nordic countries.The study used the Nordic part of Health Behaviour in School-aged Children, carried out in four waves from 2002–2014. It included 109,446 adolescents. The adolescents were asked how easy it was to communicate with their mother or father about things that really bothered them. The results were analysed using descriptive statistics and binomial logistic regression.In all Nordic countries, the prevalence of easy communication between adolescents and their parents increased from 2002 to 2014. Although the positive change in parental communication was more pronounced among Nordic fathers, the data showed that mothers had markedly better communication with their adolescents than fathers did. In 2014, around three out of four adolescents found it easy to talk with their fathers, while four out of five found it easy to talk with their mothers. The results indicate that policies in the Nordic countries to support the role of both mothers and fathers in caring for their children are warranted.
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| 2. |
- Due, Pernille, et al.
(författare)
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Trends in high life satisfaction among adolescents in five Nordic countries 2002–2014
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nordisk välfärdsforskning | Nordic Welfare Research. - : Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS. - 1799-4691 .- 2464-4161. ; 4:2, s. 54-66
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)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 scale, was used as the measure of life satisfaction, and was dichotomised into two groups: high life satisfaction (scoring 9 or 10 on the scale) and medium/low life satisfaction (scoring <9).Over the 12-year period studied, between 28.6 and 44.8% of adolescents in the five countries rated their life satisfaction as high. Relatively large changes in prevalence levels occurred at the country level over the period. Denmark and Finland showed a steady, significant decline in the prevalence of high life satisfaction over the years. Iceland showed the highest prevalence in 2010. Norway and Sweden showed similar development until 2010, followed by a clear increase for Norway and a sharp decline in adolescent high life satisfaction for Sweden up until 2014. In all countries, high life satisfaction was most prevalent in 11-year- olds and least prevalent in almost all surveys among 15-year-old girls.
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| 3. |
- Eriksson, Charli, et al.
(författare)
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Building knowledge of adolescent mental health in the Nordic countries : An introduction to a Nordic research collaboration
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nordisk välfärdsforskning | Nordic Welfare Research. - : Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS. - 1799-4691 .- 2464-4161. ; 4:2, s. 43-53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adolescence is an important developmental period. Young people face many pressures and challenges, including growing academic expectations, changing social relationships with family and peers, and the physical and emotional changes associated with maturation. Mental health is a broad concept, including positive mental health, mental health problems and psychiatric diseases. This introductory paper addresses the issue of positive mental health, and how existing data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (HBSC) may be used to deepen our knowledge of developments in mental health among adolescents in the Nordic countries.The Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study is a WHO collaborative cross-national study that now includes 48 countries, collecting data every four years from 1984 to 2018 on health, well-being, health behaviour and social environments. Data collection is carried out in school classes via self-completion of questionnaires. An asset of the study is that the HBSC focuses on understanding young people’s health in their social context at family, peer, school, neighbourhood, and country levels. The investment in the HBSC study gives unique opportunities for high-quality research and monitoring in the Nordic countries.The on-going Nordic research collaboration on positive mental health among adolescents uses the HBSC study as the research infrastructure for analysing trends as well as collecting new data on positive mental health. This special issue reports on trends when positive perspectives have been guiding the analysis of available data. The present research explores the potential of Nordic collaboration and comparative studies of school-aged children in the Nordic countries.
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| 4. |
- Eriksson, Charli, et al.
(författare)
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Towards enhancing research on adolescent positive mental health
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nordisk välfärdsforskning | Nordic Welfare Research. - : Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS. - 1799-4691 .- 2464-4161. ; 4:2, s. 113-128
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- 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 studies reporting on different mental health-related measures. Third, the selection of measures of positive mental health employed in the 2017–2018 Health Behaviour among School-aged Children (HBSC) data collection in the Nordic countries. Using the Nordic HBSC data for 2002–2014, it was found that symptom and problem-oriented analyses of mental health can improve our understanding of the challenges adolescents face. However, there is also a need to examine positive aspects of mental health in order to enhance our understanding of different mental health-related dimensions. New measures were included in the 2017–18 HBSC data collection in the Nordic countries, enabling researchers to answer different research questions including analysing factors mediating and moderating positive mental health among school-aged children. Extending the perspective from a symptom- and problem-oriented view to a more positive and asset-based perspective adds additional value to studies of mental health.
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| 5. |
- Fismen, Anne-Siri, et al.
(författare)
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Trends in food habits and their relation to socioeconomic status among Nordic adolescents 2001/2002-2009/2010
- 2016
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 11:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundIn the Nordic countries, substantial policy and intervention efforts have been made to increase adolescents' consumption of fruit and vegetables and to reduce their intake of sweets and soft drinks. Some initiatives have been formulated in a Nordic collaboration and implemented at national level. In recent years, social inequalities in food habits have been attracted particular governmental interest and several initiatives addressing the socioeconomic gradient in food habits have been highlighted. However, few internationally published studies have evaluated how trends in adolescents' food habits develop in the context of Nordic nutrition policy, or have compared differences between the Nordic countries.MethodsThe study was based on Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish cross-sectional data from the international Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study, collected via three nationally representative and comparable questionnaire surveys in 2001/2002, 2005/2006 and 2009/2010. Food habits were identified by students' consumption of fruit, vegetables, sweets and sugar sweetened soft drink. Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured with the Family Affluence Scale (FAS). Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze the data.ResultsTrends in fruit consumption developed differently across countries, characterized by an increase in Denmark and Norway and more stable trends in Sweden and Finland. Vegetable consumption increased particularly in Denmark and to a lesser extent in Norway, whereas Sweden and Finland displayed stable trends. Decreased trends were observed for sweet and soft drink consumption and were similar in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Sweet consumption decreased across all survey years, whereas soft drink consumption decreased between 2001/2002–2005/2006 and was stable thereafter. Denmark displayed an increase between 2001/2002–2005/2006 followed by a similar decrease between 2005/2006–2009/2010 for both sweet and soft drink consumption. Socioeconomic inequalities in fruit and vegetable consumption were observed in all countries, with no cross-country differences, and no changes over time. Small but not significant cross-country variation was identified for SES inequalities in sweet consumption. Reduced SES inequalities were observed in Sweden between 2005/2006 and 2009/2010. SES was not associated with soft drink consumption in this study population, with the exception of Denmark for the survey year 2009/2010.ConclusionDifferent trends resulted in increased country differences in food habits during the time of observations. In survey year 2009/2010, Danish students reported a higher intake of fruit and vegetable consumption than their counterparts in the other Nordic countries. Finnish students reported the lowest frequency of sweets and soft drink consumption. Despite the positive dietary trends documented in the present study, the majority of Nordic adolescents are far from meeting national dietary recommendations. Our findings underline the need for more comprehensive initiatives targeting young people's food habits as well as a more deliberate and focused action to close gaps in social inequalities that affect food choices.
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| 6. |
- Fismen, Anne-Siri, et al.
(författare)
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Trends in food habits and their relation to socioeconomic status among Nordic adolescents 2001/2002-2009/2010
- 2016
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 11:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background In the Nordic countries, substantial policy and intervention efforts have been made to increase adolescents' consumption of fruit and vegetables and to reduce their intake of sweets and soft drinks. Some initiatives have been formulated in a Nordic collaboration and implemented at national level. In recent years, social inequalities in food habits have been attracted particular governmental interest and several initiatives addressing the socioeconomic gradient in food habits have been highlighted. However, few internationally published studies have evaluated how trends in adolescents' food habits develop in the context of Nordic nutrition policy, or have compared differences between the Nordic countries. Methods The study was based on Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish cross-sectional data from the international Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study, collected via three nationally representative and comparable questionnaire surveys in 2001/2002, 2005/2006 and 2009/2010. Food habits were identified by students' consumption of fruit, vegetables, sweets and sugar sweetened soft drink. Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured with the Family Affluence Scale (FAS). Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze the data. Results Trends in fruit consumption developed differently across countries, characterized by an increase in Denmark and Norway and more stable trends in Sweden and Finland. Vegetable consumption increased particularly in Denmark and to a lesser extent in Norway, whereas Sweden and Finland displayed stable trends. Decreased trends were observed for sweet and soft drink consumption and were similar in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Sweet consumption decreased across all survey years, whereas soft drink consumption decreased between 2001/2002–2005/2006 and was stable thereafter. Denmark displayed an increase between 2001/2002–2005/2006 followed by a similar decrease between 2005/2006–2009/2010 for both sweet and soft drink consumption. Socioeconomic inequalities in fruit and vegetable consumption were observed in all countries, with no cross-country differences, and no changes over time. Small but not significant cross-country variation was identified for SES inequalities in sweet consumption. Reduced SES inequalities were observed in Sweden between 2005/2006 and 2009/2010. SES was not associated with soft drink consumption in this study population, with the exception of Denmark for the survey year 2009/2010. Conclusion Different trends resulted in increased country differences in food habits during the time of observations. In survey year 2009/2010, Danish students reported a higher intake of fruit and vegetable consumption than their counterparts in the other Nordic countries. Finnish students reported the lowest frequency of sweets and soft drink consumption. Despite the positive dietary trends documented in the present study, the majority of Nordic adolescents are far from meeting national dietary recommendations. Our findings underline the need for more comprehensive initiatives targeting young people's food habits as well as a more deliberate and focused action to close gaps in social inequalities that affect food choices.
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| 7. |
- Granvik Saminathen, Maria, 1983-
(författare)
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Effective schools in a segregated landscape : Studies of academic achievement and psychological well-being among adolescents in Sweden
- 2020
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Equitable educational opportunities necessitate equitable access to a favourable academic and social school environment. This thesis aims to explore the role of the school as an educational and social arena for the academic achievement and psychological well-being of lower secondary school students in Sweden. Using survey data, four empirical studies assessed contextual and compositional aspects of schools and their associations with adolescent outcomes.Study I examined the relevance of indicators of school effectiveness for student academic achievement. Teachers’ ratings of effectiveness indicators and student-reported marks in core subjects were shown to be lower in more sociodemographically disadvantaged schools compared to schools with a more privileged student body. However, even when adjusting for the school’s student intake and students’ own family backgrounds, students performed better, on average, in schools that were rated as more effective. School ethos was found to partly mediate the relationship between school student composition and academic achievement. Furthermore, analyses indicated that students attending one of the most socially deprived schools performed better when their school was rated as more effective, regardless of their own family backgrounds.Study II focused on school ethos, exploring the mediating effect of students’ academic achievement on the levels of internalising and externalising indicators of poor psychological well-being among students. Teacher-rated school ethos was found to be predictive of students’ academic achievement, even when taking the school’s sociodemographic student composition into account. Moreover, students’ levels of psychological distress were shown to be indirectly associated with the school’s ethos, via academic achievement. No such mediating relationship was identified for students’ levels of aggressive behaviour.Study III assessed the significance of the sociodemographic school environment for adolescents from socially disadvantaged residential areas in Stockholm. Students who chose to commute to more prestigious schools outside of their residential areas performed better academically compared to their peers who enrolled in one of their neighbourhood schools, an association that was partly mediated by teacher-rated school ethos. However, the commuting students reported lower school satisfaction and more psychological complaints than students who stayed behind, even when taking academic achievement and school ethos into account.Study IV investigated the implications of classroom immigrant density for adolescents in Sweden who were foreign-born and/or had parents who were foreign-born. Analyses found that students with an immigration background reported fewer psychological complaints when the proportion of immigrant students in their class was higher, an association that was partly mediated by the experience of classmate acceptance.This thesis has illustrated the importance of the functioning of schools for adolescents’ achievement and well-being, in line with school effectiveness theories. However, schools’ capacity to build an effective school context is closely linked with their student intake, undermining the school’s compensatory mission. Furthermore, the sociodemographic composition of schools can be essential for the psychological well-being of certain groups of adolescents, potentially counteracting the social mixing of students.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Löfstedt, Petra, et al.
(författare)
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Trends in perceived school stress among adolescents in five Nordic countries 2002–2014
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nordisk välfärdsforskning | Nordic Welfare Research. - : Scandinavian University Press / Universitetsforlaget AS. - 1799-4691 .- 2464-4161. ; 4:2, s. 101-112
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)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 lower prevalence of school stress compared to Finland and Iceland. There was an increase in Iceland, Finland and Denmark, whereas adolescents from Sweden showed a decreasing trend. In Norway, the level was stable. Boys showed a marginal decline in school stress whereas girls showed an increase, and school stress increased by age for the whole period. It is a challenge for the public education systems in the Nordic countries to develop policies and practices that provide children with the necessary tools to achieve knowledge and skill, and at the same minimise stress in school.
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| 10. |
- Ottová-Jordan, Veronika, et al.
(författare)
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Trends in health complaints from 2002 to 2010 in 34 countries and their association with health behaviours and social context factors at individual and macro-level
- 2015
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Ingår i: European Journal of Public Health. - : Oxford University Press. - 1101-1262 .- 1464-360X. ; 25:2, s. 83-89
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: This article describes trends and stability over time in health complaints in adolescents from 2002 to 2010 and investigates associations between health complaints, behavioural and social contextual factors at individual level and economic factors at macro-level.METHODS: Comprising N = 510 876 11-, 13- and 15-year-old children and adolescents in Europe, North America and Israel, data came from three survey cycles of the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. Age- and gender-adjusted trends in health complaints were examined in each country by means of linear regression. By using the country as the random effects variable, we tested to what extent individual and contextual variables were associated with health complaints.RESULTS: Significant associations are stronger for individual level determinants (e.g. being bullied, smoking) than for determinants at macro-level (e.g. GDP, Gini), as can be seen by the small effect sizes (less than 5% for different trends). Health complaints are fairly stable over time in most countries, and no clear international trend in health complaints can be observed between 2002 and 2010. The most prominent stable determinants were being female, being bullied, school pressure and smoking.CONCLUSION: Factors associated with health complaints are more related to the proximal environment than to distal macro-level factors. This points towards intensifying targeted interventions, (e.g. for bullying) and also targeting specific risk groups. The comparably small effect size at country-level indicates that country-level factors have an impact on health and should not be ignored.
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