The importance of childhood and adulthood aspects of gendered life for adult mental ill-health symptoms – a 27-year follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort
Abstract Background The increasing gender equality during the 20th century, mainly in the Nordic countries, represents a major social change. A well-established theory is that this may affect the mental health patterns of women and men. This study aimed at examining associations between childhood an...
Published in: | BMC Public Health |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
BMC
2012
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-493 https://doaj.org/article/698a74c1bbc644ada9feee548a5fd936 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:698a74c1bbc644ada9feee548a5fd936 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:698a74c1bbc644ada9feee548a5fd936 2023-05-15T17:45:05+02:00 The importance of childhood and adulthood aspects of gendered life for adult mental ill-health symptoms – a 27-year follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort Månsdotter Anna Nordenmark Mikael Hammarström Anne 2012-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-493 https://doaj.org/article/698a74c1bbc644ada9feee548a5fd936 EN eng BMC http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/493 https://doaj.org/toc/1471-2458 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-493 1471-2458 https://doaj.org/article/698a74c1bbc644ada9feee548a5fd936 BMC Public Health, Vol 12, Iss 1, p 493 (2012) Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2012 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-493 2022-12-30T23:48:56Z Abstract Background The increasing gender equality during the 20th century, mainly in the Nordic countries, represents a major social change. A well-established theory is that this may affect the mental health patterns of women and men. This study aimed at examining associations between childhood and adulthood gendered life on mental ill-health symptoms. Methods A follow-up study of a cohort of all school leavers in a medium-sized industrial town in northern Sweden was performed from age 16 to age 42. Of those still alive of the original cohort, 94% (n = 1007) participated during the whole period. Gendered life was divided into three stages according to whether they were traditional or non-traditional (the latter includes equal): childhood (mother’s paid work position), adulthood at age 30 (ideology and childcare), and adulthood at age 42 (partnership and childcare). Mental ill-health was measured by self-reported anxious symptoms (“frequent nervousness”) and depressive symptoms (“frequent sadness”) at age 42. The statistical method was logistic regression analysis, finally adjusted for earlier mental ill-health symptoms and social confounding factors. Results Generally, parents’ gendered life was not decisive for a person’s own gendered life, and adulthood gender position ruled out the impact of childhood gender experience on self-reported mental ill-health. For women, non-traditional gender ideology at age 30 was associated with decreased risk of anxious symptoms (76% for traditional childhood, 78% for non-traditional childhood). For men, non-traditional childcare at age 42 was associated with decreased risk of depressive symptoms (84% for traditional childhood, 78% for non-traditional childhood). A contradictory indication was that non-traditional women in childcare at age 30 had a threefold increased risk of anxious symptoms at age 42, but only when having experienced a traditional childhood. Conclusion Adulthood gender equality is generally good for self-reported mental health regardless of whether one ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Sweden Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles BMC Public Health 12 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Månsdotter Anna Nordenmark Mikael Hammarström Anne The importance of childhood and adulthood aspects of gendered life for adult mental ill-health symptoms – a 27-year follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort |
topic_facet |
Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Abstract Background The increasing gender equality during the 20th century, mainly in the Nordic countries, represents a major social change. A well-established theory is that this may affect the mental health patterns of women and men. This study aimed at examining associations between childhood and adulthood gendered life on mental ill-health symptoms. Methods A follow-up study of a cohort of all school leavers in a medium-sized industrial town in northern Sweden was performed from age 16 to age 42. Of those still alive of the original cohort, 94% (n = 1007) participated during the whole period. Gendered life was divided into three stages according to whether they were traditional or non-traditional (the latter includes equal): childhood (mother’s paid work position), adulthood at age 30 (ideology and childcare), and adulthood at age 42 (partnership and childcare). Mental ill-health was measured by self-reported anxious symptoms (“frequent nervousness”) and depressive symptoms (“frequent sadness”) at age 42. The statistical method was logistic regression analysis, finally adjusted for earlier mental ill-health symptoms and social confounding factors. Results Generally, parents’ gendered life was not decisive for a person’s own gendered life, and adulthood gender position ruled out the impact of childhood gender experience on self-reported mental ill-health. For women, non-traditional gender ideology at age 30 was associated with decreased risk of anxious symptoms (76% for traditional childhood, 78% for non-traditional childhood). For men, non-traditional childcare at age 42 was associated with decreased risk of depressive symptoms (84% for traditional childhood, 78% for non-traditional childhood). A contradictory indication was that non-traditional women in childcare at age 30 had a threefold increased risk of anxious symptoms at age 42, but only when having experienced a traditional childhood. Conclusion Adulthood gender equality is generally good for self-reported mental health regardless of whether one ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Månsdotter Anna Nordenmark Mikael Hammarström Anne |
author_facet |
Månsdotter Anna Nordenmark Mikael Hammarström Anne |
author_sort |
Månsdotter Anna |
title |
The importance of childhood and adulthood aspects of gendered life for adult mental ill-health symptoms – a 27-year follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort |
title_short |
The importance of childhood and adulthood aspects of gendered life for adult mental ill-health symptoms – a 27-year follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort |
title_full |
The importance of childhood and adulthood aspects of gendered life for adult mental ill-health symptoms – a 27-year follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort |
title_fullStr |
The importance of childhood and adulthood aspects of gendered life for adult mental ill-health symptoms – a 27-year follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort |
title_full_unstemmed |
The importance of childhood and adulthood aspects of gendered life for adult mental ill-health symptoms – a 27-year follow-up of the Northern Swedish Cohort |
title_sort |
importance of childhood and adulthood aspects of gendered life for adult mental ill-health symptoms – a 27-year follow-up of the northern swedish cohort |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-493 https://doaj.org/article/698a74c1bbc644ada9feee548a5fd936 |
genre |
Northern Sweden |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden |
op_source |
BMC Public Health, Vol 12, Iss 1, p 493 (2012) |
op_relation |
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/493 https://doaj.org/toc/1471-2458 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-493 1471-2458 https://doaj.org/article/698a74c1bbc644ada9feee548a5fd936 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-493 |
container_title |
BMC Public Health |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766147828021723136 |