Lonely, but Not Alone: Qualitative Study among Immigrant and Native-Born Adolescents

From MDPI via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-10-19, pub-electronic 2021-10-30Publication status: PublishedFunder: Nordea-fonden; Grant(s): 02-2011-0122This paper explores loneliness as it is understood and experienced by adolescents, with a special focus on the importance of their migration status. We recruited students from five schools following a maximum variation sampling scheme, and we conducted 15 semi-structured, individual interviews with eighth-grade adolescents (aged 14–15 years) that were immigrants, descendants, and with a Danish majority background. A thematic analysis was applied with a special focus on differences and similarities in understanding and experiencing loneliness between adolescents with diverse migration status. The results showed more similarities than differences in loneliness. Generally, loneliness was described as an adverse feeling, varying in intensity and duration, and participants referenced distressing emotions. Feeling lonely was distinguished from being alone and characterized as an invisible social stigma. A variety of perceived social deficiencies were emphasized as causing loneliness, emerging in the interrelation between characteristics of the individual and their social context. The results add to the current literature by highlighting that it is not the presence of specific individual characteristics that causes loneliness; instead, loneliness is dependent on the social contexts the individual is embedded in. Differences across migration status were few and related to variations in the adolescents’ individual characteristics. The findings highlight the importance of (1) studying the characteristics of both the individual and the social context in research on the antecedents to adolescents’ loneliness, and (2) applying this perspective in other studies on the importance of migration status

Economics of mental well-being: a prospective study estimating associated health care costs and sickness benefit transfers in Denmark

Background: Previous literature has examined the societal costs of mental illness, but few studies have estimated the costs associated with mental well-being. In this study, a prospective analysis was conducted on Danish data to determine 1) the association between mental well-being (measured in 2016) and government expenditure in 2017, specifially healthcare costs and sickness benefit transfers. Methods: Data stem from a Danish population-based survey of 3,508 adults (aged 16 + years) in 2016, which was linked to Danish registry data. A validated scale (WEMWBS) was used for the assessment of mental well-being. Costs are expressed in USD PPP. A two-part model was applied to predict costs in 2017, adjusting for sociodemographics, health status (including psychiatric morbidity and health behaviour), as well as costs in the previous year (2016). Results: Each point increase in mental well-being (measured in 2016) was associated with lower healthcare costs ($− 42.5, 95$− 78.7, $− 6.3) and lower costs in terms of sickness benefit transfers ($− 23.1, 95% CI = $− 41.9,$− 4.3) per person in 2017. Conclusions: Estimated reductions in costs related to mental well-being add to what is already known about potential savings related to the prevention of mental illness. It does so by illustrating the savings that could be made by moving from lower to higher levels of mental well-being both within and beyond the clinical range. Our estimates pertain to costs associated with those health-related outcomes that were included in the study, but excluding other social and economic outcomes and benefits. They cover immediate cost estimates (costs generated the year following mental well-being measurement) and not those that could follow improved mental well-being over the longer term. They may therefore be considered conservative from a societal perspective. Population approaches to mental health promotion are necessary, not only to potentiate disease prevention strategies, but also to reduce costs related to lower levels of mental well-being in the non-mental illness population. Our results suggest that useful reductions in both health care resource use and costs, as well as in costs due to sick leave from the workplace, could be achieved from investment in mental well-being promotion within a year

ABC for mental sundhed i Danmark – eksempler på mental sundhedsfremme blandt unge

Abstract – DanskDet er gået i den forkerte retning med befolkningens mentale sundhed igennem de seneste årtier – særligt blandt børn og unge. Hvis den negative udvikling skal vendes, er der behov for mental sundhedsfremme som supplement til forebyggelse og behandling af psykisk sygdom. ABC for mental sundhed tilbyder tre enkle forskningsbaserede handleanvisninger til at styrke sin egen og andres mentale sundhed.Formålet med artiklen er at give en introduktion til ABC for mental sundhed og give konkrete eksempler på, hvordan rammen er omsat til praksis blandt unge i Danmark.ABC for mental sundhed har vist sig at være en god ramme for at arbejde med mental sundhed, som har potentiale til at fremme mental sundhed blandt børn og unge. Der er behov for yderligere forskning i længerevarende og omfattende tiltag rettet mod unge. Abstract - EnglishMental health has been declining over the past decades – especially among children and adolescents. If this negative development is to be changed, there is a need for mental health promotion as a supplement to prevention and treatment of mental illness. The ABCs of mental health offer three simple evidence-based messages to strengthen own and others mental health.The aim of this paper is to give a short introduction to the ABCs and present specific examples on how ABC has been translated from theory to practice among young people in Denmark.The ABCs of mental health has shown to be a promising frame for working with mental health with the potential to promote mental health among children and adolescents. Further research in long-term and extensive initiatives among young people is needed.

Loneliness and Scholastic Self-Beliefs among Adolescents: A population-based survey.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research on 18/10/2021, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2021.1983865Loneliness has previously been linked to cognitive and attentional bias, and such biases may have a detrimental impact on perceived scholastic self-beliefs. Little is known about the relationship in school-aged adolescents. The current study examined the association between loneliness and scholastic self-beliefs in a nationally representative Danish sample of adolescents (aged 11-, 13- and 15 years, n = 3815, collected by the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (HBSC, 2014). Through binary logistic regressions, results demonstrated that higher levels of loneliness, measured by a single item and a composite score, were associated with poorer self-reported achievement perception, higher feelings of school dissatisfaction, and greater feelings of school pressure. Results also suggested gender played a moderating role. The current study highlights the importance of loneliness for scholastic self-beliefs, and provides a novel insight by utilising distinct loneliness measures. The implications, in relation to research and practise, are discussed

Loneliness and Scholastic Self-Beliefs among Adolescents: A Population-based Survey

From Crossref journal articles via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: epub 2021-10-18, issued 2021-10-18, ppub 2023-01-02Article version: VoRPublication status: Publishe