Gender Differences and Predictors of Self-Rated Health Development Among Swedish Adolescents

Jerdén, Lars; Burell, Gunilla; Stenlund, Hans; Weinehall, Lars; Bergström, Erik

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2010.06.005

Cited by 59 publications

(64 citation statements)

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“…In comparison, Breidablik et al [51] suggest that adolescents incorporate a broad health definition when describing their health, and that their constructs of self-rated health are associated with several medical, social and psychological background factors. Since self-rated health is seen as an important health indicator, both positive and negative self-rated health during adolescence need to be further studied [51,56,57]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden

et al. 2012

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BackgroundNegative 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.MethodsData 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).ResultsA 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).ConclusionsThe 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 ill-health. The gender gap in subjective adolescent health needs to be further explored.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden

et al. 2012

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“…"lthough several studies have found that women have poorer self-rated health than men [49,53,54], this is not the case in all countries [11,55,56]. Evidence of poorer self-rated health in women with respect to men has been found from adolescence [57] to old age [54], but gender diferences in self-rated health vary depending on other family, behavioral, and psychosocial variables such as empowerment, stress levels, physical activity, or social capital [49,57]. Moreover, they vary according to educational level [58] and sexual orientation [59,60].…”

Section: Gender Diferences In Self-rated Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender and Health

Matud¹

2017

Gender Differences in Different Contexts

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Research has found diferences between women and men in some health indicators. Women's life expectancy is higher than men's, but research on diferences in morbidity has proved less consistent than on the diferences in mortality. These diferences vary in terms of the type of health indicator used, the life cycle period analyzed, and even the country where research is conducted. Generally, men have more life-threatening chronic diseases at younger ages, including coronary heart disease, as well as more externalizing mental health problems and substance use disorders. Women present higher rates of chronic debilitating conditions such as arthritis, frequent or severe headaches, gallbladder conditions, and also more internalizing mental problems such as afective and anxiety disorders. Results of research on the diferences between women and men in self-rated health have also highlighted the complexity of gender diferences in health. "lthough several studies have shown that women have poorer self-rated health than men, this is not the case in all countries. "lso, diferences in self-rated health vary depending on other psychosocial and demographic variables. The present study reviews the main diferences in women's and men's health as well as the most relevant factors that may account for them.Keywords: gender, physical health, mental health, self-rated health, well-being, masculinity, femininity . IntroductionThe existence of gender diferences in health, and the reason for such diferences, is a complex issue whose research and explanations are not bias-free. Studies conducted in several countries have revealed diferences between women and men in some health indicators. In spite of the fact that women's life expectancy is higher than men's, it has been traditionally believed that women had poorer health, and higher morbidity and incapacity rates than men, and used © 2017 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.© 2017 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.health services much more often than men. "s proposed by Lahelma et al. [1], such a belief was so much deep-seated that no further explanation was required. However, the research conducted from the 1990s onwards has questioned such a belief and has shown the complexity of gender diferences in health [2], whose presence, magnitude, and/or direction depend on, among other variables, the health indicator used, stage of life span development, and even the country where the study is conducted. "esides, women and men show a high intra-group variability, and there exist signiican...

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“…However, this seems less plausible in Sweden where a huge proportion ofimmigration in recent decades has been refugee immigration. Factors suggested in the introduction such as psychosomatic and mental health problems (6), musculoskeletal pain, sleep disorders, anxiety (6,12,13,14) may be less common among female adolescents with immigrant background, but only future studies can explore this possibility.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Country of birth, parental background and self-rated health among adolescents: A population-based study

Lindström

Modén

2014

Scand J Public Health

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The aim of this study was to investigate differences according to country of birth and parental country of birth, in relation to poor self-rated health (SrH), in Swedish adolescents. Methods: The Scania public health survey among children and adolescents, conducted in 2012, is a cross-sectional study including most pupils in grade 9 (15 years old), including in 32 of 33 municipalities. The participation rate was 83% (9,791 of 11,735). We performed logistic regressions to investigate the association between the students' country of birth, parental country of birth and poor SrH. Results: Boys born outside Europe had an odds ratio (Or) 2.1 (1.6-2.8) of poor SrH in the unadjusted model, which was reduced to 0.7 (0.4-1.3) in the multiple model, as compared to boys born in Sweden with both or one parent born in Sweden. Boys born in Europe had an Or 0.4 (0.2-0.9) of poor SrH, after multiple adjustments. girls born in Sweden with both parents born abroad, and girls born outside of Europe had significantly lower Ors of poor SrH in the multiple model. In particular, adjustment for socio-demographic and psychosocial factors reduced the Ors of poor SrH among boys, but did so to a lesser extent among girls. Conclusions: Differences in socio-demographic and psychosocial factors explained the higher odds of poor SRH among boys born outside of Europe. Girls born in Sweden with both parents born abroad, and girls born outside Europe, had significantly lower ORs of poor SRH. Our results indicate that there are gender differences in the factors behind poor self-rated health, according to the country-related background of adolescents in Sweden.

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Gender Differences and Predictors of Self-Rated Health Development Among Swedish Adolescents

Cited by 59 publications

References 16 publications

Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden

Subjective health complaints in older adolescents are related to perceived stress, anxiety and gender – a cross-sectional school study in Northern Sweden

Gender and Health

Country of birth, parental background and self-rated health among adolescents: A population-based study

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