Three Decades of Adolescent Health: Unveiling Global Trends Across 41 Countries in Psychological and Somatic Complaints (1994-2022).

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

This study examined (non-)monotonic time trends in psychological and somatic complaints among adolescents, along with gender differences.

Methods

Repeated cross-sectional Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) data from 1994 to 2022 covering 15-year-old adolescents from 41 countries (N = 470,797) were analysed. Three polynomial logistic regression models (linear, quadratic, cubic) were tested for best fit, including separate analyses by gender and health complaints dimension.

Results

Time trend patterns varied by gender and health complaints dimension. Increases were found in 82.3% of cases (linear 25%, quadratic U-shaped 28.7%, cubic 28.7%), while 14% showed no clear trend, and 3.7% decreased. Boys typically showed linear increases or no clear tre

SUBMITTER: Schrijvers K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11646713 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature