Meade Tanya, Dowswell Elizabeth
School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia.
Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2016 Jan 25;14:14. doi: 10.1186/s12955-016-0415-9.
Adolescence is a significant developmental stage marked by physical, psychological and social changes. While adolescents are generally perceived to be healthy, this stage of development is also associated with an emergence of risk factors that may have long-term consequences for their wellbeing. The aim of this study was to assess health related quality of life (HRQoL), and possible gender and age differences, in a sample of secondary school-aged adolescents over a three-year time period.
Australian adolescents (n = 403, aged 12-15 at baseline) across six New South Wales high schools completed the KIDSCREEN-27 Questionnaire at three time points. The KIDSCREEN-27 measures five HRQoL domains (physical wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, autonomy and parents relations, social support and peers, and school environment). Mixed-between-within-subjects ANOVA analyses were employed to examine HRQoL over time and across age and gender.
HRQoL rates were comparable to the European-based KIDSCREEN norms with the exception of psychological wellbeing, which was considerably lower in this study's sample. Over time, for the total sample, there were significant changes on only one of the five dimensions (social support and peers). However, gender differences were found to be significant across three dimensions (physical wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, and autonomy and parents relations), with females reporting lower scores than males (i.e. lower HRQoL). Females' scores also declined over the three time points across two of the five HRQoL dimensions (social support and peers, and school environment), indicating reductions in HRQoL over time. Age differences were found across all but one dimension (autonomy and parents relations).
Although statistically significant, the changes in HRQoL may not be clinically significant, as the effect sizes were small and therefore those changes would not be readily noticeable. Those changes, however, suggest that, while HRQoL is predominantly stable over time, fluctuations and declines, such as those found for females, may be early indicators of physical and psychological vulnerabilities. If such vulnerabilities are detected timely; they may be addressed with preventative measures or appropriate interventions.
青春期是一个以身体、心理和社会变化为特征的重要发育阶段。虽然青少年通常被认为是健康的，但这一发育阶段也伴随着一些风险因素的出现，这些因素可能会对他们的幸福产生长期影响。本研究的目的是在三年时间内，对一组中学年龄的青少年样本进行健康相关生活质量（HRQoL）评估，并探讨可能存在的性别和年龄差异。
来自新南威尔士州六所高中的澳大利亚青少年（n = 403，基线年龄为12 - 15岁）在三个时间点完成了儿童生活质量量表（KIDSCREEN - 27）问卷调查。KIDSCREEN - 27量表测量五个HRQoL领域（身体健康、心理健康、自主性与亲子关系、社会支持与同伴关系、学校环境）。采用混合组内 - 组间方差分析来研究HRQoL随时间以及年龄和性别的变化。
除心理健康外，HRQoL评分与基于欧洲的KIDSCREEN常模相当，本研究样本中的心理健康评分显著较低。随着时间推移，对于整个样本，五个维度中只有一个维度（社会支持与同伴关系）有显著变化。然而，在三个维度（身体健康、心理健康、自主性与亲子关系）上发现了显著的性别差异，女性得分低于男性（即HRQoL较低）。在五个HRQoL维度中的两个维度（社会支持与同伴关系、学校环境）上，女性的得分在三个时间点上也有所下降，表明随着时间推移HRQoL降低。除了一个维度（自主性与亲子关系）外，在所有其他维度上均发现了年龄差异。
尽管HRQoL的变化在统计学上具有显著性，但可能在临床上并不显著，因为效应量较小，因此这些变化不太容易被注意到。然而，这些变化表明，虽然HRQoL在一段时间内主要是稳定的，但波动和下降，如女性中发现的情况，可能是身体和心理脆弱性的早期指标。如果能及时发现这些脆弱性，就可以采取预防措施或适当干预来解决。
