Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden
Abstract Background Negative trends in adolescent mental and subjective health are a challenge to public health work in Sweden and worldwide. Self-reported mental and subjective health complaints such as pain, sleeping problems, anxiety, and various stress-related problems seem to have increased ove...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:cb2f1b0fb64a4cd39a04a0b935715a1a 2023-05-15T17:44:23+02:00 Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden Wiklund Maria Malmgren-Olsson Eva-Britt Öhman Ann Bergström Erik Fjellman-Wiklund Anncristine 2012-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-993 https://doaj.org/article/cb2f1b0fb64a4cd39a04a0b935715a1a EN eng BMC http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/993 https://doaj.org/toc/1471-2458 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-993 1471-2458 https://doaj.org/article/cb2f1b0fb64a4cd39a04a0b935715a1a BMC Public Health, Vol 12, Iss 1, p 993 (2012) Sweden Adolescent School students Self-reported health Psychosomatic Stress Pain Mental health Anxiety Depression Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2012 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-993 2022-12-30T21:41:10Z Abstract Background Negative trends in adolescent mental and subjective health are a challenge to public health work in Sweden and worldwide. Self-reported mental and subjective health complaints such as pain, sleeping problems, anxiety, and various stress-related problems seem to have increased over time among older adolescents, especially girls. The aim of this study has therefore been to investigate perceived stress, mental and subjective health complaints among older adolescents in Northern Sweden. Methods Data were derived from a cross-sectional school-based survey with a sample consisting of 16–18 year olds (n = 1027), boys and girls, in the first two years of upper secondary school, from different vocational and academic programmes in three public upper secondary schools in a university town in northern Sweden. Prevalence of perceived stress, subjective health complaints, general self-rated health, anxiety, and depression were measured using a questionnaire, including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results A large proportion of both girls and boys reported health complaints and perceived stress. There was a clear gender difference: two to three times as many girls as boys reported subjective health complaints, such as headache, tiredness and sleeping difficulties and musculoskeletal pain, as well as sadness and anxiety. High pressure and demands from school were experienced by 63.6% of girls and 38.5% of boys. Perceived stress in the form of pressure and demands correlated strongly with reported health complaints (r = 0.71) and anxiety (r = 0.71). Conclusions The results indicate that mental and subjective health complaints are prevalent during adolescence, especially in girls, and furthermore, that perceived stress and demands may be important explanatory factors. Future studies should pay attention to the balance between gender-related demands, perceived control and social support, particularly in the school environment, in order to prevent negative strain and stress-related ... 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 |
Sweden Adolescent School students Self-reported health Psychosomatic Stress Pain Mental health Anxiety Depression Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Sweden Adolescent School students Self-reported health Psychosomatic Stress Pain Mental health Anxiety Depression Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Wiklund Maria Malmgren-Olsson Eva-Britt Öhman Ann Bergström Erik Fjellman-Wiklund Anncristine Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden |
topic_facet |
Sweden Adolescent School students Self-reported health Psychosomatic Stress Pain Mental health Anxiety Depression Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Abstract Background Negative trends in adolescent mental and subjective health are a challenge to public health work in Sweden and worldwide. Self-reported mental and subjective health complaints such as pain, sleeping problems, anxiety, and various stress-related problems seem to have increased over time among older adolescents, especially girls. The aim of this study has therefore been to investigate perceived stress, mental and subjective health complaints among older adolescents in Northern Sweden. Methods Data were derived from a cross-sectional school-based survey with a sample consisting of 16–18 year olds (n = 1027), boys and girls, in the first two years of upper secondary school, from different vocational and academic programmes in three public upper secondary schools in a university town in northern Sweden. Prevalence of perceived stress, subjective health complaints, general self-rated health, anxiety, and depression were measured using a questionnaire, including the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results A large proportion of both girls and boys reported health complaints and perceived stress. There was a clear gender difference: two to three times as many girls as boys reported subjective health complaints, such as headache, tiredness and sleeping difficulties and musculoskeletal pain, as well as sadness and anxiety. High pressure and demands from school were experienced by 63.6% of girls and 38.5% of boys. Perceived stress in the form of pressure and demands correlated strongly with reported health complaints (r = 0.71) and anxiety (r = 0.71). Conclusions The results indicate that mental and subjective health complaints are prevalent during adolescence, especially in girls, and furthermore, that perceived stress and demands may be important explanatory factors. Future studies should pay attention to the balance between gender-related demands, perceived control and social support, particularly in the school environment, in order to prevent negative strain and stress-related ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wiklund Maria Malmgren-Olsson Eva-Britt Öhman Ann Bergström Erik Fjellman-Wiklund Anncristine |
author_facet |
Wiklund Maria Malmgren-Olsson Eva-Britt Öhman Ann Bergström Erik Fjellman-Wiklund Anncristine |
author_sort |
Wiklund Maria |
title |
Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden |
title_short |
Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden |
title_full |
Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden |
title_fullStr |
Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden |
title_full_unstemmed |
Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden |
title_sort |
subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in northern sweden |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-993 https://doaj.org/article/cb2f1b0fb64a4cd39a04a0b935715a1a |
genre |
Northern Sweden |
genre_facet |
Northern Sweden |
op_source |
BMC Public Health, Vol 12, Iss 1, p 993 (2012) |
op_relation |
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/12/993 https://doaj.org/toc/1471-2458 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-993 1471-2458 https://doaj.org/article/cb2f1b0fb64a4cd39a04a0b935715a1a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-993 |
container_title |
BMC Public Health |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766146600502034432 |