Department of Health Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden.
School of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Sep 16;24(1):2506. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20042-6.
Definitions and perceptions of health and mental health have not remained static over time. This is also true for statistics over Swedish children's and adolescents' health and mental health status. The majority of Swedish school-aged children and adolescents report good physical health and good life satisfaction. However, there are some warning signs when it comes to children's and adolescents' health and mental health status, for instance, an increased overweight or obesity in children and adolescents, as well as a higher proportion reporting psychological problems and stress. There is also a need for knowing more about the younger population's voices in this matter. The aim was therefore to explore children's and adolescent's conceptualizations and perceptions of health in general, and mental health in particular.
Open semistructured group interviews with 44 Swedish children and adolescents (10-14 years old) recruited from four schools were conducted. The interviews were conducted between April 2022 and January 2023. Data were analyzed with qualitative content analysis.
Children's and adolescents' conceptualizations of health included aspects of both the body and the mind, with a focus on the latter. Mental health was expressed as a state of being, illustrated by various lived experiences of emotions, moods, and thoughts. The social world was ever present in their understanding of health, e.g., through the lenses of social and gender norms.
This study revealed children's and adolescents' recognition of health terms and their ability to observe nuances between mental health problems and everyday struggles. The participants discussed mental health problems to a greater extent than positive mental health. An implication of this study is the highlighted need to focus more on mental health promotion in future preventive programs. These findings might potentially influence how school staff and student health teams communicate with children and adolescents about these concepts.
随着时间的推移，健康和心理健康的定义和观念并非一成不变。瑞典儿童和青少年健康和心理健康状况的统计数据也是如此。大多数瑞典学龄儿童和青少年报告身体健康状况良好，生活满意度高。然而，在儿童和青少年的健康和心理健康状况方面，也存在一些警告信号，例如儿童和青少年超重或肥胖的比例增加，以及报告心理问题和压力的比例更高。此外，还需要更多地了解年轻人群体在这方面的声音。因此，本研究旨在探讨儿童和青少年对健康（一般）和心理健康（特别是）的概念化和感知。
对来自四所学校的 44 名瑞典儿童和青少年（10-14 岁）进行了开放式半结构化小组访谈。访谈于 2022 年 4 月至 2023 年 1 月进行。使用定性内容分析对数据进行分析。
儿童和青少年对健康的概念化包括身体和心理两个方面，重点是后者。心理健康被表达为一种状态，通过各种情绪、情绪和思想的生活经历来体现。社会世界在他们对健康的理解中始终存在，例如通过社会和性别规范的视角。
本研究揭示了儿童和青少年对健康术语的认识以及他们观察心理健康问题和日常斗争之间细微差别的能力。参与者更多地讨论了心理健康问题，而不是积极的心理健康。本研究的一个含义是强调需要在未来的预防计划中更加注重心理健康促进。这些发现可能会影响学校工作人员和学生健康团队与儿童和青少年就这些概念进行沟通的方式。
