Sadness and Other Health Complaints Among Swedish Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study

Overview

Journal Int J Environ Res Public Health

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Environmental Health
Public Health

Date 2021 Apr 30

PMID 33920254

Citations 2

Authors

Tide Garnow

Eva-Lena Einberg

Anna-Karin Edberg

Pernilla Garmy

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Health complaints are increasing among adolescents and are recognized as a global public health issue. Health complaints are an indicator for subjective ill-being, but little is known about the relationship between sadness and other health complaints. The aim of this study was to investigate sadness and other health complaints among Swedish adolescents. A survey with a cross-sectional design was completed by adolescents ( = 1489, 15-17 years old) in the south of Sweden. A logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between sadness and other health complaints. The result show that sadness and other health complaints were common among adolescents, and sadness was related to health complaints (headache (OR: 1.58), sleeping difficulties (OR: 2.00), reduced appetite (OR: 1.43), tension (OR: 2.44), and concentration difficulties (OR: 2.75)). When adolescents express sadness or other health complaints it is important to reflect on what these complaints are an expression of, and take into account the body as physical and psychological intertwined. This might entail person-centered support that hopefully leads to an improvement in adolescents' well-being. Future research that profoundly highlights adolescents' existential health is needed.

Citing Articles

Prospective associations between psychosomatic complaints in adolescence and depression and anxiety symptoms in young adulthood: A Swedish national cohort study.

Grigorian K, Ostberg V, Raninen J, Ahlen J, Laftman S SSM Popul Health. 2023; 24:101509.

PMID: 37720821 PMC: 10500464. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2023.101509.

Deeply lonely in the borderland between childhood and adulthood - Experiences of existential loneliness as narrated by adolescents.

Garnow T, Garmy P, Edberg A, Einberg E Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being. 2022; 17(1):2132653.

PMID: 36204822 PMC: 9553172. DOI: 10.1080/17482631.2022.2132653.

References

Bauer G, Braimoh J, Scheim A, Dharma C . Transgender-inclusive measures of sex/gender for population surveys: Mixed-methods evaluation and recommendations. PLoS One. 2017; 12(5):e0178043. PMC: 5444783. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178043. View

OKeeffe G, Clarke-Pearson K . The impact of social media on children, adolescents, and families. Pediatrics. 2011; 127(4):800-4. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2011-0054. View

Gross J . Emotion regulation: taking stock and moving forward. Emotion. 2013; 13(3):359-65. DOI: 10.1037/a0032135. View

Bor W, Dean A, Najman J, Hayatbakhsh R . Are child and adolescent mental health problems increasing in the 21st century? A systematic review. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2014; 48(7):606-16. DOI: 10.1177/0004867414533834. View

Miranda-Mendizabal A, Castellvi P, Pares-Badell O, Alayo I, Almenara J, Alonso I . Gender differences in suicidal behavior in adolescents and young adults: systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Int J Public Health. 2019; 64(2):265-283. PMC: 6439147. DOI: 10.1007/s00038-018-1196-1. View

Shore L, Toumbourou J, Lewis A, Kremer P . Review: Longitudinal trajectories of child and adolescent depressive symptoms and their predictors - a systematic review and meta-analysis. Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2020; 23(2):107-120. DOI: 10.1111/camh.12220. View

Breidablik H, Meland E, Lydersen S . Self-rated health in adolescence: a multifactorial composite. Scand J Public Health. 2008; 36(1):12-20. DOI: 10.1177/1403494807085306. View

Barrett L, Bliss-Moreau E . She's emotional. He's having a bad day: attributional explanations for emotion stereotypes. Emotion. 2009; 9(5):649-58. DOI: 10.1037/a0016821. View

Haugland S, Wold B . Subjective health complaints in adolescence--reliability and validity of survey methods. J Adolesc. 2001; 24(5):611-24. DOI: 10.1006/jado.2000.0393. View

10.

Hoeppner B, Kelly J, Urbanoski K, Slaymaker V . Comparative utility of a single-item versus multiple-item measure of self-efficacy in predicting relapse among young adults. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2011; 41(3):305-12. PMC: 3315352. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsat.2011.04.005. View

11.

Morris A, Ogden J . Making sense of children's medically unexplained symptoms: managing ambiguity, authenticity and responsibility. Psychol Health Med. 2012; 17(3):285-94. DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2011.608804. View

12.

Bernstein M, Graff L, Avery L, Palatnick C, Parnerowski K, Targownik L . Gastrointestinal symptoms before and during menses in healthy women. BMC Womens Health. 2014; 14:14. PMC: 3901893. DOI: 10.1186/1472-6874-14-14. View

13.

Connolly M, Zervos M, Barone 2nd C, Johnson C, Joseph C . The Mental Health of Transgender Youth: Advances in Understanding. J Adolesc Health. 2016; 59(5):489-495. DOI: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.06.012. View

14.

Samulowitz A, Gremyr I, Eriksson E, Hensing G . "Brave Men" and "Emotional Women": A Theory-Guided Literature Review on Gender Bias in Health Care and Gendered Norms towards Patients with Chronic Pain. Pain Res Manag. 2018; 2018:6358624. PMC: 5845507. DOI: 10.1155/2018/6358624. View

15.

Voyer D, Voyer S . Gender differences in scholastic achievement: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull. 2014; 140(4):1174-204. DOI: 10.1037/a0036620. View

16.

Hansson E, Garmy P, Vilhjalmsson R, Kristjansdottir G . Bullying, health complaints, and self-rated health among school-aged children and adolescents. J Int Med Res. 2020; 48(2):300060519895355. PMC: 7105741. DOI: 10.1177/0300060519895355. View

17.

Pekrun R, Lichtenfeld S, Marsh H, Murayama K, Goetz T . Achievement Emotions and Academic Performance: Longitudinal Models of Reciprocal Effects. Child Dev. 2017; 88(5):1653-1670. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12704. View

18.

Mansfield R, Patalay P, Humphrey N . A systematic literature review of existing conceptualisation and measurement of mental health literacy in adolescent research: current challenges and inconsistencies. BMC Public Health. 2020; 20(1):607. PMC: 7195735. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-08734-1. View

19.

Addis M, Mahalik J . Men, masculinity, and the contexts of help seeking. Am Psychol. 2003; 58(1):5-14. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066x.58.1.5. View

20.

Patton G, Sawyer S, Santelli J, Ross D, Afifi R, Allen N . Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing. Lancet. 2016; 387(10036):2423-78. PMC: 5832967. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00579-1. View