Editorial: Community series in the consequences of COVID-19 on the mental well-being of parents, children and adolescents, volume II

CC BY</p

The impact of unemployment on school leavers' perception of health. Mediating effect of financial situation and social contacts?

Objectives: The main purpose of this paper is to explore whether unemployment influences adolescents' subjective perception of health and whether perceived financial stress and social contacts can mediate the effect of employment status on health. We are also interested in the differences in financial situation and social contacts between unemployed secondary school leavers and their employed and studying counterparts. Methods: Data were obtained from 844 adolescents (mean age 19.6) from Slovakia. The effect of unemployment on several health indicators was measured and subsequently controlled for perceived financial strain of respondents and their social contacts. Results: The results showed highest financial strain among unemployed, whereas only small differences in social contacts were found between three groups. Negative influence of unemployment on perceived health of respondents was confirmed. Nevertheless, strong influence was found only on long-term well-being and mental health. Financial situation and social contacts contributed to the prediction of almost all health outcomes, and to some extent mediated the effect of unemployment. Conclusions: Although unemployment was found to have a negative impact on health of adolescents, sufficiency of social contacts and good financial situation seem to decrease this effect and protect the health of unemployed people

The Role of Social Appearance Comparison in Body Dissatisfaction of Adolescent Boys and Girls

The main aim of the present study is to investigate the indirect effect of the association between thin-ideal internalisation (1), muscular-ideal internalization (2) and body dissatisfaction (BD) through the general social appearance comparison separately among boys and girls. 154 adolescents (mean age 18.2 years, SD = 0.73; 56.5% girls) provided information on the explored variables. Two hierarchical regression models were carried out for boys and girls separately. The general appearance comparison works as an important explanatory mechanism in the relationship between thin-ideal internalization and BD among girls as well as between muscular-ideal internalization and BD among both boys and girls. The more individuals internalize the societal ideals of appearance, the more they compare their physical appearance to others and thus the greater BD they perceive. The current results contribute to previous research findings by indicating the social appearance comparison as a risk factor which enhances BD among both boys and girls in late adolescence. The findings may facilitate identifying individuals who are vulnerable to body dissatisfaction earlier, before more serious eating problems occur

Resilience Factors, the School-Based Universal Prevention Program “Unplugged” and Healthy Behavior among Early Adolescents

The paper investigates the role of the internal asset (IA), perceived external resources (PER) of resilience, and the school-based universal prevention program known as ‘Unplugged’ in explaining persistent healthy behavior among early adolescence. A sample of 425 adolescents was collected in a repeated measure design study with a baseline (T1) and a six-month follow-up (T2) after the Unplugged implementation. Persistent healthy behavior was assessed by a change in the cumulative index of substance use created by combining alcohol use and cigarette smoking in the past 30 days and their change between T1 and T2. Four categories were created: non-users, permanent users, new users and ex-users. A multinominal logistic regression revealed that non-users were more likely to show higher self-esteem when compared to permanent users. Females had a higher probability of being non-users than either being permanent users or new users. Moreover, Unplugged intervention increased the probability of being a non-user rather than a new user. Regarding PER of resilience, non-users were more likely to have higher home support, prosocial peers, and school connectedness compared to permanent users. Non-users were also more likely to have higher levels of prosocial peers compared to new users. In summary, higher self-esteem, home support, prosocial peers and school connectedness are associated with persistent healthy behavior. To maintain this persistent healthy behavior, the school-based universal prevention program Unplugged has been effective; thus internal assets and external resources of resilience, and prevention program Unplugged, play an important role in the absence of alcohol or cigarette use in early teenage years

Reasons encouraging adolescents to take up smoking

Aim: To understand adolescents' smoking behavior by analyzing retrospective self-ratings of the reasons encouraging them to take up smoking. Method: Participating in the study were 883 students (373 boys) of elementary and secondary schools in Kosice, Slovak Republic (74.9% of adolescents in the sample reported having experience with smoking). Smoking status and reasons for taking up smoking were measured using questionnaires. Results: Boys and girls ranked as the most important reasons for taking up smoking novelty, curiosity, peer influence and enjoyment seeking. Significant effect of grade was found in boys' ratings of peer influence, parental influence, relaxation in social situation, older siblings' influence and media advertising, but no significant effect of grade was found in girls' ratings with the exception of media advertising. Significant effect of smoking status was found in boys' ratings of every reason for taking up smoking, and for girls' ratings of every reason except curiosity, parental influence and rebelliousness. Effective prevention strategies encouraging non-smokers to fulfill such urges as curiosity, novelty- and enjoyment-seeking in ways other than by smoking, need to be developed and implemented

Reasons encouraging adolescents to take up smoking

Aim: To understand adolescents' smoking behavior by analyzing retrospective self-ratings of the reasons encouraging them to take up smoking. Method: Participating in the study were 883 students (373 boys) of elementary and secondary schools in Kosice, Slovak Republic (74.9% of adolescents in the sample reported having experience with smoking). Smoking status and reasons for taking up smoking were measured using questionnaires. Results: Boys and girls ranked as the most important reasons for taking up smoking novelty, curiosity, peer influence and enjoyment seeking. Significant effect of grade was found in boys' ratings of peer influence, parental influence, relaxation in social situation, older siblings' influence and media advertising, but no significant effect of grade was found in girls' ratings with the exception of media advertising. Significant effect of smoking status was found in boys' ratings of every reason for taking up smoking, and for girls' ratings of every reason except curiosity, parental influence and rebelliousness. Effective prevention strategies encouraging non-smokers to fulfill such urges as curiosity, novelty- and enjoyment-seeking in ways other than by smoking, need to be developed and implemented