Schrijvers, Karen

Cosma, Alina

Potrebny, Thomas

Thorsteinsson, Einar Baldvin

Catunda, Carolina

Reiss, Franziska

Hulbert, Sabina

Kostičová, Michaela

Melkumova, Marina

Bersia, Michela

Klanšček, Helena Jeriček

Gaspar, Tania

Dierckens, Maxim

2024-12-02

<p><b>Objectives:</b> This study examined (non-)monotonic time trends in psychological and somatic complaints among adolescents, along with gender differences.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> Repeated cross-sectional Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) data from 1994 to 2022 covering 15-year-old adolescents from 41 countries (N = 470,797) were analysed. Three polynomial logistic regression models (linear, quadratic, cubic) were tested for best fit, including separate analyses by gender and health complaints dimension.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Time trend patterns varied by gender and health complaints dimension. Increases were found in 82.3% of cases (linear 25%, quadratic U-shaped 28.7%, cubic 28.7%), while 14% showed no clear trend, and 3.7% decreased. Boys typically showed linear increases or no clear trend over time, whereas girls generally showed cubic or U-shaped trends. Psychological complaints often displayed U-shaped or cubic patterns, whereas somatic complaints mostly showed linear increases. </p> <p><b>Conclusion:</b> Psychological and somatic complaints demonstrated diverse time trend patterns across countries, with non-monotonic patterns (U-shaped and cubic) frequently observed alongside linear increases. These findings highlight the complexity of changes within countries over three decades, suggesting that linear modelling may not effectively capture this heterogeneity.</p>

International journal of public health, v.69, p. 1-14

1661-8564

1661-8556

39687284

https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/69014

Frontiers Research Foundation

Attribution 4.0 International

Three Decades of Adolescent Health: Unveiling Global Trends Across 41 Countries in Psychological and Somatic Complaints (1994–2022)

Journal Article

Publication