Into the realm of social capital for adolescents: a latent profile analysis

Background Recent reports of increasing prevalence of frequent health complaints and mental health problems among adolescents call for directing more attention on determinants of adolescent health. The relationship between health and social capital has gained increased attention since the early 2000’s and research at review level confirms the importance of social capital for health outcomes, despite methodological heterogeneity. The aim of this study was to identify distinct profiles of family, school and peer social capital in a nationally representative sample of adolescents and to explore health outcomes in those profiles. Method Cross-sectional data from the Swedish Health Behaviour of School-aged Children 2013/14 was used for this study. The analytical sample consisted of 7,804 adolescents aged 11-, 13- and 15-years. Items representing sense of belonging and emotional support were assessed in three contexts; family, school and among peers. Latent profile analyses (LPA) were run to determine social capital profiles. Health outcomes included frequent health complaints and life satisfaction, while socioeconomic status and genders were included as predictors. Results The results show that five distinct profiles best represent the data for 11- and 15-year olds, while a four-profile model was optimal for 13-year olds. Some profiles were recurrent between age groups but unique profiles were also found. Health outcomes were significantly different between profiles depending on levels of social capital in the different contexts. Conclusions This study provides novel insight into how social capital co-occurs among adolescents within the contexts of family, school and peers and how this translates into differences in health outcomes. The national representativeness of the sample increases the implications of the results and contributes to meaningful insights that help explain the interactions of social capital in multiple contexts, complementing what is previously known about the relationship with adolescent health. © 2019 Ahlborg et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

SoCap YMH – youth mental health, social capital and help-seeking: a study protocol

Background: The increase in adolescents reporting mental health problems presents a major public health challenge. The complex association between mental health and social capital motivates further investigation of social capital as a crucial aspect in shaping adolescents' help-seeking knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. Aim: This protocol presents a project that aims to investigate social capital in relation to help-seeking and mental health in close collaboration with adolescents and key stakeholders in the school setting, in the southern part of Sweden. Methods: A mixed-method design with three interconnected work packages (WP) will be undertaken with an emphasis on co-production where adolescents are involved throughout the process. WP1 is a development and validation of two questionnaire instruments for assessing social capital and help-seeking in adolescence. WP2 is a longitudinal quantitative study involving 1,500 adolescents from two regions representing rural and suburban/urban settings. Adolescents aged 15 will be asked to complete questionnaires concerning social capital, mental health, and help-seeking in a baseline and one-year follow-up, allowing for investigation of the role of social capital for help-seeking. WP3 is designed to elucidate experiences and knowledge of adolescents and key stakeholders via collaborative World Café workshops. These will be held along the project to evolve the generated knowledge and maximize it's applicability during and after the project is finalized. Conclusion: The results are expected to further the understanding of the relationship between adolescents' social capital, mental health, and help-seeking, to contribute to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms behind the paradoxical help-seeking patterns among adolescents today and to narrow the gap between research and practice to produce sustainable and efficient strategies, which may facilitate help-seeking and improve the mental health of adolescents within existing organizational structures.</p

Socioeconomic inequalities in health among Swedish adolescents - adding the subjective perspective

Abstract Background Socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health predict future inequalities in adult health. Subjective measures of socioeconomic status (SES) may contribute with an increased understanding of these inequalities. The aim of this study was to investigate socioeconomic health inequalities using both a subjective and an objective measure of SES among Swedish adolescents. Method Cross-sectional HBSC-data from 2002 to 2014 was used with a total sample of 23,088 adolescents aged 11–15 years. Three measures of self-rated health (dependent variables) were assessed: multiple health complaints, life satisfaction and health perception. SES was measured objectively by the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) and subjectively by “perceived family wealth” (independent variables). The trend for health inequalities was investigated descriptively with independent t-tests and the relationship between independent and dependent variables was investigated with multiple logistic regression analysis. Gender, age and survey year was considered as possible confounders. Results Subjective SES was more strongly related to health outcomes than the objective measure (FAS). Also, the relation between FAS and health was weakened and even reversed (for multiple health complaints) when subjective SES was tested simultaneously in regression models (FAS OR: 1.03, CI: 1.00;1.06 and subjective SES OR: 0.66, CI: 0.63;0.68). Conclusions The level of socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health varied depending on which measure that was used to define SES. When focusing on adolescents, the subjective appraisals of SES is important to consider because they seem to provide a stronger tool for identifying inequalities in health for this group. This finding is important for policy makers to consider given the persistence of health inequalities in Sweden and other high-income countries

Social capital and inequalities in mental health among young adolescents in Sweden

The aim of this thesis was to explore social capital and inequalities in mental health among young adolescents in Sweden. This is a compilation thesis comprising four studies. Studies I and II are quantitative studies of crosssectional data from the Swedish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey. The aim of Study I was to investigate socioeconomic inequalities in health using both a subjective and an objective measure of socioeconomic status among Swedish adolescents. The findings showed that subjective socioeconomic status robustly and independently predicted mental health problems, poor life satisfaction and poor general health perception. The association between objective socioeconomic status and mental health was weakened, and even reversed, when subjective socioeconomic status was accounted for in regression models. A Latent Profile Analysis was applied in Study II with the aim of identifying distinct profiles of family, school and peer social capital in a nationally representative sample of adolescents and to explore health outcomes in those profiles. The findings showed that five distinct profiles best represented the data for 11 and 15-year olds, while a four-profile model was optimal for 13-year olds. Significant inequalities were identified between profiles when these were examined in terms of mental health problems and life satisfaction. The design of Study III was a qualitative semi-structured interview study. The aim was to explore social capital from the perspective of adolescents in relation to mental health. Adolescents spoke of having access to a safe space, feeling connected to others and predictability as important aspects of social relationships and networks in relation to mental health. The aim of Study IV was to identify and evaluate the design and psychometric properties of instruments for assessing social capital specifically developed and validated for self-reporting among adolescents (10-19 years). The design was a systematic review, in which 20 instruments were identified. The results revealed a lack of instruments that covered both the multidimensionality of social capital and contextual relevance in relation to adolescents. The conclusion from this thesis is that social capital may be useful for identifying vulnerable individuals and for differentiating between the natural imbalance of adolescence and what may lead to serious illness. Longitudinal research and refinement of the operationalization of the concept are, however, needed to enhance the understanding of these findings

Social capital and inequalities in mental health among young adolescents in Sweden

The aim of this thesis was to explore social capital and inequalities in mental health among young adolescents in Sweden. This is a compilation thesis comprising four studies. Studies I and II are quantitative studies of crosssectional data from the Swedish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey. The aim of Study I was to investigate socioeconomic inequalities in health using both a subjective and an objective measure of socioeconomic status among Swedish adolescents. The findings showed that subjective socioeconomic status robustly and independently predicted mental health problems, poor life satisfaction and poor general health perception. The association between objective socioeconomic status and mental health was weakened, and even reversed, when subjective socioeconomic status was accounted for in regression models. A Latent Profile Analysis was applied in Study II with the aim of identifying distinct profiles of family, school and peer social capital in a nationally representative sample of adolescents and to explore health outcomes in those profiles. The findings showed that five distinct profiles best represented the data for 11 and 15-year olds, while a four-profile model was optimal for 13-year olds. Significant inequalities were identified between profiles when these were examined in terms of mental health problems and life satisfaction. The design of Study III was a qualitative semi-structured interview study. The aim was to explore social capital from the perspective of adolescents in relation to mental health. Adolescents spoke of having access to a safe space, feeling connected to others and predictability as important aspects of social relationships and networks in relation to mental health. The aim of Study IV was to identify and evaluate the design and psychometric properties of instruments for assessing social capital specifically developed and validated for self-reporting among adolescents (10-19 years). The design was a systematic review, in which 20 instruments were identified. The results revealed a lack of instruments that covered both the multidimensionality of social capital and contextual relevance in relation to adolescents. The conclusion from this thesis is that social capital may be useful for identifying vulnerable individuals and for differentiating between the natural imbalance of adolescence and what may lead to serious illness. Longitudinal research and refinement of the operationalization of the concept are, however, needed to enhance the understanding of these findings

Musikens effekt på postoperativ smärta

Efter ett kirurgiskt ingrepp uppkommer alltid smärta, som ett svar på vävnadsskada, som ökar risken för postoperativa komplikationer. Därav har det blivit patientens rätt att få postoperativ smärtlindring. På de flesta sjukhus används huvudsakligen analgetika som postoperativ smärtlindring. Det förekommer inadekvat postoperativ smärtlindring vilket kräver nya strategier och förbättringar inom postoperativ smärthantering. Musik har visat sig kunna minska oro, sänka hjärtfrekvens och blodtryck samt bidra till ett ökat välbefinnande. Baserat på den här kunskapen är det lockande att framhäva om musik möjligen kan ha positiva effekter på postoperativ smärta. Syftet med studien var att belysa musikens effekt på postoperativ smärta hos kirurgpatienter, som ett komplement till analgetika. Studien genomfördes som en litteraturstudie där 19 vetenskapliga artiklar granskades och analyserades. Resultatet visar tydligt att patienter som genomgår ett kirurgiskt ingrepp och får musikbehandling i genomsnitt uppskattar sin smärtintensitet lägre än de patienter som inte får musikbehandling. Musik som behandling kan även minska patienters behov av analgetika efter ett kirurgiskt ingrepp. Förslag till vidare forskning kan vara att undersöka vilken dosering och typ av musik som ger optimal smärtlindrande effekt samt om musikbehandling kan förkorta patientens sjukhusvistelse efter ett kirurgiskt ingrepp

Current Conceptualization and Operationalization of Adolescents’ Social Capital: A Systematic Review of Self-Reported Instruments

There is a great heterogeneity in the conceptualization and operationalization of social capital in empirical research targeting adolescents. There has not yet been an attempt to systematically map and psychometrically evaluate the existing instruments for measuring social capital that have been developed and validated for adolescent samples. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and evaluate the design and psychometric properties of self-reported instruments for social capital, specifically developed and validated for use among adolescents. The design of this study was a systematic review guided by the COSMIN methodology for systematic reviews of Patient Reported Outcome Measures. The search included six electronic databases and no time frame was applied. Twenty studies were identified as describing the development and validation of a social capital instrument for adolescent samples. The results reveal common denominators, but also great variation in the design and validation of the instruments. Adolescents were only involved in the development procedures of four instruments. There is a lack of social capital instruments that cover both the multidimensionality of social capital and contextual relevance in relation to adolescents. Careful examination of instruments should thus precede a decision when designing studies and further instrument development involving the target group is encouraged

Resilience in children of parents with mental illness, alcohol or substance misuse—An integrative review

Abstract Aim The aim of this integrative review was to investigate how resilience has been researched and explore experiences of resilience, in children of parents with mental illness or alcohol or substance misuse. Design An integrative review. Method The search included three major electronic databases, PubMed, Scopus and PsycINFO with the aim of identifying peer‐reviewed studies where the concept of resilience was explored as resilience, coping, adaptation or protective factors. Results Out of 4016 studies, 14 were included after meeting predetermined criteria and methodological quality evaluation. The findings are presented in five categories: characteristics of the studies, operationalization and interpretation of resilience, individual resources, family resources and resources outside the family. Patient or public contribution Resilience in children of parents with mental illness or substance misuse refers to coping strategies, protective factors and absence of symptoms or risk behaviour despite being exposed to risk. We suggest a three‐level approach for mapping of resilience resources in the target group: the individual level, family level and outside of the family that includes both non‐professionals and professionals. The use of disengagement or avoidance strategies implies poor resilience but may be necessary in absence of support, as acts of self‐preservation during chaotic periods or harmful situations