Adolescents’ online communication and well-being : Findings from the 2018 health behavior in school-aged children (HBSC) study

BackgroundDigital transformation has influenced all areas of adolescents' lives, including the ways adolescents maintain friendships. Interpersonal communication is one of the most common activities while online. Online communication may provide adolescents with opportunities to expand their social contacts, but these encounters can be risky, especially when the communication is with unknown people on the internet. This study examined the associations between different forms of online communication behavior and well-being. Materials and methodsData were collected from Finnish adolescents as part of the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study in 2018. The participants were 3,140 Finnish adolescents aged 11-15 years. Descriptive analyses were used to examine the frequency of different forms of online communication behaviors. The associations between online communications and individual factors were analyzed using the X-2 test and 95% confidence intervals. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the extent to which adolescents' online communication behavior explained the variance in adolescents' well-being indicators. ResultsOverall, 60% of the adolescents reported communicating intensively with close friends, with higher rates of intensive communication reported by girls, higher age groups, and the high health literacy group. 22% of adolescents reported intensive communication with friends they got to know through the internet (online friends), while intensive online communication with unknown people was reported by 13% of adolescents. Overall, around one-fourth of adolescents preferred sharing personal matters online rather than in face-to-face encounters, and 10% of adolescents reported using the internet daily to get to know new people, and to look for like-minded company. The SEM analysis showed that keeping online contact with offline friends was linked to a positive outcome in all the measured well-being indicators; however, intensive communication with people contacted only online (online friends and unknown people) was negatively associated with well-being indicators (lower self-rated health, lower life satisfaction, higher loneliness, and problematic social media use). ConclusionBoth positive and negative associations were observed between online communication and well-being, depending on the target and content of the communication. The results indicate that online communication has benefits for adolescents who have more offline social life. Overall, one should ensure that the impact of interventions is proportionately greater for adolescents at the bottom end of the health gradient.Peer reviewe

Discrepant views of social competence and links with social phobia

Adolescents’ biased perceptions about their social competence (SC), whether negatively or positively, serve to influence their socioemotional adjustment such as early feelings of social phobia (nowadays referred to as Social Anxiety Disorder-SAD). Despite the importance of biased self-perceptions in adolescents’ psychosocial adjustment, the extent to which discrepancies between self- and others’ evaluations of one’s SC are linked to social phobic symptoms remains unclear in the literature. This study examined the perceptual discrepancy profiles between self- and peers’ as well as between self- and teachers’ evaluations of adolescents’ SC and the interrelations of these profiles with self-reported social phobic symptoms. The participants were 390 3rd graders (15 years old) of Finnish lower secondary school (50.8% boys, 49.2% girls). In contrast with variable-centered approaches that have mainly been used by previous studies when focusing on this subject, this study used latent profile analysis (LPA), a person-centered approach which can provide information regarding risk profiles by capturing the heterogeneity within a population and classifying individuals into groups. LPA revealed the following five classes of discrepancy profiles: i) extremely negatively biased perceptions of SC, ii) negatively biased perceptions of SC, iii) quite realistic perceptions of SC, iv) positively biased perceptions of SC, and v) extremely positively biased perceptions of SC. Adolescents with extremely negatively biased perceptions and negatively biased perceptions of their own SC reported the highest number of social phobic symptoms. Adolescents with quite realistic, positively biased and extremely positively biased perceptions reported the lowest number of socio-phobic symptoms. The results point out the negatively and the extremely negatively biased perceptions as possible contributors to social phobic symptoms. Moreover, the association of quite realistic perceptions with low number of social phobic symptoms indicates its potential protective power against social phobia. Finally, positively and extremely positively biased perceptions of SC are negatively associated with social phobic symptoms in this study. However, the profile of extremely positively biased perceptions might be linked as well with the existence of externalizing problems such as antisocial behavior (e.g. disruptive impulsivity). The current findings highlight the importance of considering discrepancies between self- and others’ perceptions of one’s SC in clinical and research efforts. Interventions designed to prevent or moderate social phobic symptoms need to take into account individual needs rather than aiming for uniform treatment. Implications and future directions are discussed.Peer reviewe

Psychological behavior patterns and coping with menopausal symptoms among users and non-users of hormone replacement therapy in Finnish cohorts of women aged 52-56 years

Objective: To identify subgroups of women who differ with respect to self-evaluated stress, hostility, optimism and sense of coherence, and to identify differences, if any, in whether these subgroups use or do not use hormone replacement therapy (HT). Study design and methods: This time-trend study is based on the Finnish national HeSSup study, in which nationwide cohorts of Finnish women aged 52-56 years randomly selected in 2000 (n = 1321) and in 2010 (n = 1389) responded to postal questionnaires related to four psychological behavior patterns. Main outcome measures: Relationships between psychological behavior patterns (stress, hostility, optimism and sense of coherence) and how menopausal symptoms are experienced and how this relates to the use of HT. Results: The proportion of HT users was higher among those with more stress and hostility and less optimism and sense of coherence than among those low in stress and hostility and high in optimism and sense of coherence. Conclusions: Differences in psychological behavior patterns influence the perception of menopausal symptoms and the use of HT. When the treatment of women at menopause is planned, psychological behavior patterns should be considered, as these reflect the ability to cope with menopausal symptoms.Peer reviewe

Parental Self-Efficacy and Intra- and Extra-Familial Relationships

Relationships are at the heart of well-being. Parental self-efficacy emerges as a powerful construct for understanding parenting and parent-child relationships. However, person-centered approaches that allow identification of different family-specific configurations of mothers' and fathers' parental self-efficacy and potential within-family discrepancies remain scarce. Families are more than the sums of their parts, and holistic approaches are needed to deepen our understanding of potential family-level accumulation of relationship well-being and vulnerability. A latent profile analysis of 249 families of preadolescents identified four family profiles of parental self-efficacy: (1) low-low, (2) low-average, (3) high-average, and (4) high-high (a mother's-a father's parental self-efficacy within the family). We further applied the Mplus auxiliary function to explore what characterizes mothers', fathers', and their preadolescents' intra- and extra-familial relationships within these profiles. Belonging to the balanced low parental self-efficacy family profile was associated with intra- and extra-familial relationship vulnerability: mothers, fathers, and preadolescents reported the highest social and emotional loneliness, parents perceived their family communication as less open, and preadolescents were evaluated as the least prosocial (in parent, teacher, and peer evaluations) and as the most antisocial (in parent evaluations). Mothers', fathers', and preadolescents' intra- and extra-familial relationship well-being was the strongest in high parental self-efficacy family profiles. Promoting parental self-efficacy can be a promising way to enhance all family members' relationship well-being. Moreover, as loneliness experiences accumulated in the balanced low parental self-efficacy family profile, efforts to tackle preadolescents' loneliness should acknowledge the well-being of all family members

Nuorten yksinäisyys on yhteydessä lisääntyneeseen oireiluun ja lääkkeiden käyttöön

LÄHTÖKOHDAT Yksinäisyys on merkittävä riski nuoren terveydelle. Selvitimme suomalaisnuorten kokeman yksinäisyyden yleisyyttä ja yhteyksiä psykosomaattiseen oireiluun sekä lääkkeiden käyttöön.MENETELMÄT Aineistona käytettiin kansallisesti edustavaa WHO-Koululaistutkimusta, johon vastasi 1 798 oppilasta 7. ja 9. luokilta keväällä 2018. Tilastollisina menetelminä käytettiin2-testiä ja 95 %:n luottamusvälitarkastelua.TULOKSET Yksinäisyys yleistyi yläkoulun aikana, ja lähes joka kuudes 15-vuotias tunsi itsensä vähintään melko usein yksinäiseksi. Yksinäiset nuoret raportoivat muita yleisemmin pää-, vatsa- ja selkäkipua sekä hermostuneisuutta ja nukahtamisvaikeuksia. He käyttivät niihin lääkkeitä jopa kolme kertaa yleisemmin kuin muut nuoret.PÄÄTELMÄT Nuorten yksinäisyyden kokemuksiin tulisi kiinnittää huomiota kotona ja koulussa. Ehkäisemiseen ja vähentämiseen on keinoja, mutta korjaavien toimenpiteiden käyttöönotto edellyttää, että yksinäisyys ja sen vaikutukset tunnistetaan

Depression and loneliness may have a direct connection without mediating factors

Purpose of the article There is growing interest in loneliness and its various adverse effects on mental and physical health. While depression is one of the adverse health effects associated with loneliness, there have been some limitations in previous studies: 1) Research has mostly been carried out either in depressed patient samples or in general population samples with depressive symptoms as an outcome, 2) the follow-up times have been rather short, and 3) the mechanisms through which loneliness associates with depression are still unclear. Materials and methods We examined the association between loneliness and incident depression and possible mechanisms underlying this association in a population-based sample of middle-aged men (N = 2339; mean age 53; mean follow-up time 23.5 years). The association between loneliness and depression was explored with Cox proportional hazard analysis, and mediation analyses were performed with the PROCESS macro for SPSS. We used 13 health and lifestyle-related variables as covariates for adjustments in multivariate models and as mediators in simple mediation models. Results Those with depression as an outcome (n = 99) had significantly higher loneliness scale scores at baseline, and baseline loneliness was associated with depression, despite adjustments for potential confounding factors. No mediating factors were observed. Conclusions There was a strong direct association between loneliness and the incidence of depression. Based on our results, we encourage future researchers to look for possible mediators in wider range of variables.Peer reviewe

Parental Psychosocial Well-Being as a Predictor of the Social Competence of a Child

Our study examined the interrelations between the psychosocial well-being of parents at the time of pregnancy and the social competence of their three-year-old child. Whereas most previous studies have linked the psychosocial well-being of one parent to the social development of their child, newer research has highlighted the importance of examining the psychosocial well-being of both parents and its’ effects to the development of the child. This study used data from the Steps to the Healthy Development and Well-being of Children follow-up study (The STEPS Study, n = 1075) to examine the interrelations between the psychosocial well-being of both the mother and the father during the period of pregnancy and the social competence of their three-year-old child. The interrelations between the psychosocial well-being of one parent and the social competence of their child were studied with regression analyses, and family-level interrelations were modeled with a latent profile analysis of family-level psychosocial well-being. At the dyadic level, the poorer psychosocial well-being of one parent during the pregnancy period mostly predicted poorer social competence in their child. However, at the family level, these links were not statistically significant. The higher level of psychosocial well-being experienced by one parent seemed to protect the development of the social competence of their child. This study emphasizes the need to consider the psychosocial well-being of both parents as a factor that influences the social development of their child.</p

Loneliness, subjective health complaints, and medicine use among Finnish adolescents 2006-2018

Aims: Loneliness is an important public health challenge for all ages. This study reports time trends of loneliness among adolescents over a 12-year period and analyses the strength of the associations between loneliness, health complaints, and medicine use. Methods: Data were derived from the cross-sectional Finnish Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study conducted in 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018. The study population is based on a random sample of schools with 20,444 participants aged 11-15 years. The trends were analysed with a Mantel-Haenszel test, and the strength of the associations was evaluated by mixed-effects logistic and linear regressions. Results: An increasing prevalence in frequent loneliness (2006: 11%; 2018: 15%) was evident over the 12-year study period, especially in girls and 15-year-olds. Among all adolescents, loneliness was associated with a higher risk of recurrent health complaints and medicine use to treat the corresponding health issues, especially nervousness (odds ratio 5.8) and sleeping difficulties (odds ratio 7.6). Conclusions: Adolescence is a period of higher risk of frequent loneliness and associated health complaints. In this study, loneliness was common among adolescence and an increasing trend of loneliness was observed between 2006 and 2018. Also, psychosomatic health complaints and medicine use were strongly associated with loneliness. Persistent loneliness is a significant health risk and failure to resolve loneliness before entering adulthood may imply significant concerns for future well-being.</p