Centre for Research on Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden.
J Adolesc Health. 2010 Mar;46(3):258-64. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.07.003. Epub 2009 Oct 6.
To elucidate the time trends in self-reported mental health complaints (internalizing problems) among school children in Sweden during a time characterized by economic downturns and upturns, with a focus on possible differences across grades and genders.
The study uses nationwide and repeated cross-sectional data collected five times during 1985-2005 among students in Sweden in grades 5, 7, and 9. The number of participating students each year varied between 2,933 and 4,421. The attrition rates varied between 10% and 15% in the participating schools. Data were subjected to descriptive analysis and multinomial logistic regression using a composite measure of self-reported mental health complaints.
The study results show significantly higher rates of mental health complaints in 2005/2006 compared with 1985/1986 among older adolescents, in particular girls, whereas the rates are almost unchanged among younger boys and girls. Only among girls in grade 9 has there been a successively (linear) increase of mental health complaints across years of investigations.
The increasing rates of mental health complaints among older adolescents, in particular girls, are a cause for concern and a challenge for public health work. By showing discrepant time trends among younger and older adolescents, the results of the study nuance the predominant and unambiguous notions about continuously deteriorating mental health among children and adolescents in Sweden. To address hypotheses concerning the causes of the discrepant time trends, suggestions are made for comparative cross-country analyses based on data from Sweden and other European countries.
在经济衰退和复苏时期，阐明瑞典在校儿童自我报告的心理健康问题（内在问题）的时间趋势，并重点关注不同年级和性别的差异。
该研究使用了在 1985 年至 2005 年期间，在瑞典五年级、七年级和九年级学生中五次收集的全国性和重复的横断面数据。每年参与的学生人数在 2933 至 4421 人之间不等。参与学校的辍学率在 10%至 15%之间不等。使用自我报告心理健康问题的综合衡量标准，对数据进行描述性分析和多项逻辑回归分析。
研究结果显示，在 2005/2006 年，与 1985/1986 年相比，年龄较大的青少年，特别是女孩，心理健康问题的发生率明显更高，而年龄较小的男孩和女孩的发生率几乎没有变化。只有在九年级的女孩中，心理健康问题的发生率才呈现出逐年（线性）增加的趋势。
年龄较大的青少年，特别是女孩，心理健康问题发生率的增加令人担忧，也是公共卫生工作的挑战。研究结果表明，青少年的心理健康状况在不同年龄群体之间存在差异，这对瑞典儿童和青少年心理健康状况持续恶化的普遍且明确的观念提出了质疑。为了解释这种不一致的时间趋势的原因，提出了基于瑞典和其他欧洲国家数据进行比较性跨国分析的建议。
