Mental health inequalities in Slovenian 15-year-old adolescents explained by personal social position and family socioeconomic status

Abstract

IntroductionMental health inequalities are an increasingly important global problem. This study examined the association between mental health status and certain socioeconomic indicators (personal social position and the socioeconomic status of the family) in Slovenian 15-year-old adolescents.MethodsData originate from the WHO-Collaborative cross-national ‘Health Behavior in School-aged Children’ study conducted in Slovenia in 2010 (1,815 secondary school pupils, aged 15). Mental health status was measured by: KIDSCREEN-10, the Strength and Difficulties questionnaire (SDQ), a life satisfaction scale, and one question about feelings of depression. Socioeconomic position was measured by the socioeconomic status of the family (Family Affluence Scale, perceived material welfare, family type, occupational status of parents) and personal social position (number of friends and the type of school). Logistic regression and a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were performed.ResultsGirls had 2.5-times higher odds of suffering feelings of depression (p < 0.001), 1.5-times higher odds of low life satisfaction (p = 0.008), and a greater chance of a lower quality of life and a higher SDQ score than boys (p = 0.001). The adolescents who perceived their family’s material welfare as worse had 4-times higher odds (p < 0.001) of a low life satisfaction, a greater chance of a low quality of life, and a higher SDQ score than those who perceived it as better (p < 0.001). Adolescents with no friends had lower KIDSCREEN-10 and higher SDQ scores than those who had more than three friends.ConclusionsDespite the fact that Slovenia is among the EU members with the lowest rates of social inequalities, it was found that adolescents with a lower socioeconomic position have poorer mental health than those with a higher socioeconomic position. Because of the financial crisis, we can expect an increase in social inequalities and a greater impact on adolescents’ mental health status in Slovenia in the future.

The internalising and externalising problems of adolescents in Croatia: Socio‐demographic and family victimisation factors

“…For family financial status, most studies have found that low family financial income is related to greater problem behaviours in both parents and children (Bask, ; Ma et al, ; Reiss, ). These results are also confirmed in other former Yugoslavia countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Slovenia (Klanšček, Ziberna, Korošec, Zurc, & Albreht, ; Pranjić, Brković, & Beganlić, ). Ajduković and Rajhvajn Bulat () found that for externalising problems, both those adolescents who perceive their family as having low material status and those who perceive their family as having high material status have more problems than adolescents who believe that their families have the same amount of money as their peers' families.…”

Reliability and validity of Japanese versions of KIDSCREEN-27 and KIDSCREEN-10 questionnaires

“…Since these shorter versions are practical to use and have a low administrative burden while maintaining many of the advantages of the KIDSCREEN-52 [10], they have been used in many countries for large-scale population-based studies [11,12], studies that investigate factors that impact the HRQOL of children with chronic diseases or conditions [13,14], and interventional [15] and longitudinal studies [16,17]. In particular, the use of these questionnaires for studies of HRQOL of children with mental health problems has increased [18][19][20].…”

Unemployment, Parental Distress and Youth Emotional Well-Being: The Moderation Roles of Parent–Youth Relationship and Financial Deprivation

“…We investigated, in a sample of 112 unemployed parents of adolescents aged [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] years, the links between parental distress and change in youth emotional problems related to parental unemployment, and the moderation roles of parent-youth relationship and financial deprivation.…”

“…In that sense, adolescents are likely to become especially vulnerable to poorer well-being and more likely to develop mental health problems when their families are facing stress and socioeconomic deprivation (9-11). A recent study in Slovenia showed that adolescents who report living in socioeconomic deprivation exhibit lower life satisfaction and a poorer quality of life than those living in better socioeconomic conditions (12). Therefore, such adverse living situations constitute a serious threat that can undermine adolescents' development, well-being and future health outcomes in adult life (8).…”

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AbstractWe investigated, in a sample of 112 unemployed parents of adolescents aged [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] years, the links between parental distress and change in youth emotional problems related to parental unemployment, and the moderation roles of parent-youth relationship and financial deprivation.Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and correlations. Further, simple moderation, additive moderation, and moderated moderation models of regression were performed to analyze the effects of parental distress, parent-youth relationship and financial deprivation in predicting change in youth emotional problems related to parental unemployment.

Results show that parental distress moderated by parent-youth relationship predicted levels of change in youth emotional problems related to parental unemployment.

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