Stattin Håkan, Eriksson Charli, Thorsteinsson Einar Baldvin
Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Front Public Health. 2025 May 16;13:1604785. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1604785. eCollection 2025.
The aim is to compare conclusions about the role of adolescent mental health in adverse psychosocial conditions depending on the analytic approach used (variable-centered vs. person-centered). In the variable-centered analyses, three mental health indicators (psychosomatic complaints, self-rated poor health, and low life satisfaction) were examined in relation to adverse physical, school, interpersonal, and personal conditions. In the person-centered analyses, the three health indicators were used to create mental health profiles using cluster analysis, which were examined in relation to the adverse psychosocial measures.
Data were drawn from the HBSC survey of 15-year-olds in 2022. Samples from five Nordic countries were used ( = 7,860). Correlational and cluster analysis were applied.
The variable-oriented analyses show that all three health indicators were interrelated (ranging between 0.45 and 0.53), form one common factor (with factor loadings ranging from 0.66 to 0.78), and that psychosocial problems do not stand out as having different associations from the other two indicators. Cluster analysis of the three health indicators revealed seven health profiles. These profiles were differentially associated with the outcome measures examined. The health profiles associated with lack of physical activity all included self-rated poor health. The health profiles associated with adverse school, interpersonal, and personal conditions all included high psychosomatic complaints. As a proxy for mental health, psychosomatic complaints have been the primary measure in many previous studies when associated with aversive psychosocial conditions. However, the mental health profile characterized by high levels of psychosomatic complaints exclusively had average levels of these adverse psychosocial measures.
Variable- and person-centered approaches to the study of adolescent mental health provide complementary insights into the role of the three health indicators in relation to adverse psychosocial conditions. The person-centered approach provides much needed additional information about when a specific health indicator is associated with adverse psychosocial conditions and when it is not. As such, person-centered analyses are needed for future studies in other domains that wish to tell a more complete story as part of their findings.
目的是根据所使用的分析方法（变量中心法与人中心法）比较关于青少年心理健康在不良心理社会状况中的作用的结论。在变量中心分析中，研究了三种心理健康指标（身心症状、自评健康状况差和生活满意度低）与不良身体、学校、人际和个人状况之间的关系。在人中心分析中，使用这三种健康指标通过聚类分析创建心理健康概况，并研究其与不良心理社会指标的关系。
数据取自2022年对15岁青少年的HBSC调查。使用了来自五个北欧国家的样本（n = 7860）。应用了相关分析和聚类分析。
以变量为导向的分析表明，所有三种健康指标相互关联（相关系数在0.45至0.53之间），形成一个共同因素（因子载荷在0.66至0.78之间），并且心理社会问题与其他两个指标的关联并无显著差异。对这三种健康指标的聚类分析揭示了七种健康概况。这些概况与所研究的结果指标存在不同的关联。与缺乏体育活动相关的健康概况都包括自评健康状况差。与不良学校、人际和个人状况相关的健康概况都包括高身心症状。作为心理健康的替代指标，身心症状在许多先前研究中与不良心理社会状况相关时一直是主要测量指标。然而，以高身心症状为特征的心理健康概况在这些不良心理社会指标方面仅处于平均水平。
研究青少年心理健康的变量中心法和人中心法为这三种健康指标在不良心理社会状况中的作用提供了互补的见解。人中心法提供了急需的额外信息，说明特定健康指标何时与不良心理社会状况相关以及何时不相关。因此，未来希望在其他领域进行更全面研究的研究需要采用人中心分析方法。
