Mental health problems among economically disadvantaged adolescents in an increasingly unequal society: A Swedish study using repeated cross-sectional data from 1995 to 2011
(2018) In SSM - Population Health 6. p.44-53- Abstract
- Increasing inequality in many societies highlights the importance of paying attention to differences in mentalhealth between the economically disadvantaged adolescents and the non-disadvantaged adolescents. Also im-portant is to understand how changing inequality in society over time influences adolescents’mental health atthe population- and individual-level. The current study examined to what extent increased societal-level incomeinequality over time, individual-level experiences of economic disadvantage and the cross-level interactionbetween the two explained Swedish adolescents’mental health problems from 1995 to 2011. We used repeatedcross-sectional data collected 6 times between 1995 and 2011 in Sweden. Each time, approximately 2500... (More)
- Increasing inequality in many societies highlights the importance of paying attention to differences in mentalhealth between the economically disadvantaged adolescents and the non-disadvantaged adolescents. Also im-portant is to understand how changing inequality in society over time influences adolescents’mental health atthe population- and individual-level. The current study examined to what extent increased societal-level incomeinequality over time, individual-level experiences of economic disadvantage and the cross-level interactionbetween the two explained Swedish adolescents’mental health problems from 1995 to 2011. We used repeatedcross-sectional data collected 6 times between 1995 and 2011 in Sweden. Each time, approximately 2500 stu-dents in grade 9 completed a questionnaire during the spring semester. The adolescents provided self-report dataon the frequency of their experiences of unaffordability of daily leisure activities (concert, movie, sports, anddance). They also reported their psychosomatic symptoms, which was used as a measure of mental healthproblems. We used the household equalised disposable income Gini coefficient as an indicator of societal incomeinequality. A real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was controlled for in order to rule out potential effectsof economic growth in the society over time. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted in which studentswere nested in years of investigations. Adolescents who experienced unaffordability of daily leisure activitiesreported more mental health problems. Societal income inequality was not directly associated with the ado-lescents’mental health. However, among girls the effects of experiences of unaffordability on mental health werestronger for all but one (sports) activities, and among boys for one activity (sports) when societal-level inequalitywas greater. Individual-level economic disadvantage are detrimental for adolescents’mental health, both di-rectly and interactively with societal-level economic inequality. Some suggestions for practice and future studiesare made for mental health among adolescents in societies where increasing inequality is observed. (Less)
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https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/214f2731-0912-4ced-a85a-014e4b43f515
- author
- Kim, Yunhwan LU and Hagquist, Curt
- publishing date
- 2018
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Mental health problems, Inequality, Unaffordability, Economic disadvantage
- in
- SSM - Population Health
- volume
- 6
- pages
- 10 pages
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85052616845
- ISSN
- 2352-8273
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.08.006
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 214f2731-0912-4ced-a85a-014e4b43f515
- date added to LUP
- 2021-12-12 06:38:26
- date last changed
- 2022-04-27 06:38:41
@article{214f2731-0912-4ced-a85a-014e4b43f515,
abstract = {{Increasing inequality in many societies highlights the importance of paying attention to differences in mentalhealth between the economically disadvantaged adolescents and the non-disadvantaged adolescents. Also im-portant is to understand how changing inequality in society over time influences adolescents’mental health atthe population- and individual-level. The current study examined to what extent increased societal-level incomeinequality over time, individual-level experiences of economic disadvantage and the cross-level interactionbetween the two explained Swedish adolescents’mental health problems from 1995 to 2011. We used repeatedcross-sectional data collected 6 times between 1995 and 2011 in Sweden. Each time, approximately 2500 stu-dents in grade 9 completed a questionnaire during the spring semester. The adolescents provided self-report dataon the frequency of their experiences of unaffordability of daily leisure activities (concert, movie, sports, anddance). They also reported their psychosomatic symptoms, which was used as a measure of mental healthproblems. We used the household equalised disposable income Gini coefficient as an indicator of societal incomeinequality. A real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita was controlled for in order to rule out potential effectsof economic growth in the society over time. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted in which studentswere nested in years of investigations. Adolescents who experienced unaffordability of daily leisure activitiesreported more mental health problems. Societal income inequality was not directly associated with the ado-lescents’mental health. However, among girls the effects of experiences of unaffordability on mental health werestronger for all but one (sports) activities, and among boys for one activity (sports) when societal-level inequalitywas greater. Individual-level economic disadvantage are detrimental for adolescents’mental health, both di-rectly and interactively with societal-level economic inequality. Some suggestions for practice and future studiesare made for mental health among adolescents in societies where increasing inequality is observed.}},
author = {{Kim, Yunhwan and Hagquist, Curt}},
issn = {{2352-8273}},
keywords = {{Mental health problems; Inequality; Unaffordability; Economic disadvantage}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{44--53}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{SSM - Population Health}},
title = {{Mental health problems among economically disadvantaged adolescents in an increasingly unequal society: A Swedish study using repeated cross-sectional data from 1995 to 2011}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.08.006}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.08.006}},
volume = {{6}},
year = {{2018}},
}