‘There are many ways to make it’: young minority men’s aspirations and navigation of their low-income neighbourhood: a case study in Utrecht, The Netherlands

Young minority men from low-income neighbourhoods are often perceived as a uniform, disaffected group with antipathy towards mainstream education and occupations, while their own experiences are generally overlooked. Through in-depth interviews, we investigated how 14 minority young men (aged 16-23) from low-income neighbourhoods experience and navigate the impact of the neighbourhood social environment on their educational and occupational aspirations. Despite facing several challenges, the men felt that those conditions did not strongly affect their aspirations. Their narratives provided a nuanced picture of how the neighbourhood facilitated connections that influenced their aspirations and how this social environment was navigated by the young men in different and dynamic ways

Family affluence as a protective or risk factor for adolescent drunkenness in different countries and the role drinking motives play

Aims: Previous research has shown mixed results (positive, negative or no effects) regarding socio-economic disparities in adolescent drunkenness. This study investigates whether family affluence is differently associated with frequency of adolescent drunkenness in traditional countries, at a later diffusion of innovation adopter stage according to the Theory of Diffusions of Innovations by Rogers (2003), compared with more progressive countries at a more advanced stage. Furthermore, we investigated as to whether differences in this association can be explained by differences in adolescent drinking motives. Methods: This study used data from the 2009/2010 survey of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, including 25,566 alcohol-using adolescents aged 11–19 years old from 11 European countries. The Global Innovativeness Index was used to classify countries in progressive or more traditional countries. Multi-level regression analyses and structural equation modelling were conducted. Findings: In traditional countries, family affluence showed a positive association with adolescent frequency of drunkenness. A higher endorsement of social (drinking to celebrate an event) and enhancement motives (drinking to increase moods) by adolescents with a higher family affluence mediated this positive association between family affluence and frequency of drunkenness. In progressive countries, family affluence was negatively associated with frequency of drunkenness. In these countries, a higher endorsement of coping drinking motives by adolescents with a lower family affluence mediated this association. Conclusion: A country's diffusion of innovation stage (i.e., traditional vs. progressive) seems to shape the direction of the association between family affluence and adolescent drunkenness including the psychological pathways that explain these socio-economic inequalities. This is most likely due to a quicker and smoother adoption of the new ‘low drunkenness norms’ (‘it is not cool to drink to get drunk’) in progressive countries and among adolescents with a higher family affluence

National-level wealth inequality and socioeconomic inequality in adolescent mental well-being: a time series analysis of 17 countries

Purpose: Although previous research has established a positive association between national income inequality and socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health, very little is known about the extent to which national-level wealth inequalities (i.e., accumulated financial resources) are associated with these inequalities in health. Therefore, this study examined the association between national wealth inequality and income inequality and socioeconomic inequality in adolescents' mental well-being at the aggregated level. Methods: Data were from 17 countries participating in three consecutive waves (2010, 2014, and 2018) of the cross-sectional Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. We aggregated data on adolescents' life satisfaction, psychological and somatic symptoms, and socioeconomic status (SES) to produce a country-level slope index of inequality and combined it with country-level data on income inequality and wealth inequality (n = 244,771). Time series analyses were performed on a pooled sample of 48 country-year groups. Results: Higher levels of national wealth inequality were associated with fewer average psychological and somatic symptoms, while higher levels of national income inequality were associated with more psychological and somatic symptoms. No associations between either national wealth inequality or income inequality and life satisfaction were found. Smaller differences in somatic symptoms between higher and lower SES groups were found in countries with higher levels of national wealth inequality. In contrast, larger differences in psychological symptoms and life satisfaction (but not somatic symptoms) between higher and lower SES groups were found in countries with higher levels of national income inequality. Conclusions: Although both national wealth and income inequality are associated with socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent mental well-being at the aggregated level, associations are in opposite directions. Social policies aimed at a redistribution of income resources at the national level could decrease socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent mental well-being while further research is warranted to gain a better understanding of the role of national wealth inequality in socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine

Country-Level Meritocratic Beliefs Moderate the Social Gradient in Adolescent Mental Health: A Multilevel Study in 30 European Countries

Purpose: Adolescents with higher socioeconomic status (SES) report better mental health. The strength of the association—the “social gradient in adolescent mental health”—varies across countries, with stronger associations in countries with greater income inequality. Country-level meritocratic beliefs (beliefs that people get what they deserve) may also strengthen the social gradient in adolescent mental health; higher SES may be more strongly linked to adolescent's perceptions of capability and respectful treatment. Methods: Using data from 11–15 year olds across 30 European countries participating in the 2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (n = 131,101), multilevel regression models with cross-level interactions examined whether country-level meritocratic beliefs moderated the association between two individual-level indicators of SES, family affluence and perceived family wealth, and three indicators of adolescent mental health (life satisfaction, psychosomatic complaints, and aggressive behavior). Results: For family affluence, in some countries, there was a social gradient in adolescent mental health, but in others the social gradient was absent or reversed. For perceived family wealth, there was a social gradient in adolescent life satisfaction and psychosomatic complaints in all countries. Country-level meritocratic beliefs moderated associations between SES and both life satisfaction and psychosomatic complaints: in countries with stronger meritocratic beliefs associations with family affluence strengthened, while associations with perceived family wealth weakened. Conclusions: Country-level meritocratic beliefs moderate the associations between SES and adolescent mental health, with contrasting results for two different SES measures. Further understanding of the mechanisms connecting meritocratic beliefs, SES, and adolescent mental health is warranted

Perceived group discrimination and psychological well-being in ethnic minority adolescents

Few studies have examined the relation of perceived group discrimination and psychological well-being. Yet, there are theoretical reasons to expect such a relation, and members of ethnic minorities usually perceive higher levels of group discrimination than personal discrimination. In this research, we investigated the associations between perceived group discrimination and several indicators of psychological well-being among 354 Moroccan-Dutch adolescents controlling for perceived personal discrimination and testing the extent to which ethnic group identification moderated these associations. Our results showed that higher perceived group discrimination was associated with higher parent- and adolescent-reported internalizing (e.g., fear, worries) and externalizing problems (e.g., anger, aggression) but not with lower personal self-esteem. For personal self-esteem a negative association with perceived personal discrimination was found. Moreover, for adolescents with a strong ethnic group identification, there was no relationship between perceived group discrimination and parent- and adolescent-reported internalizing problems, while for those with a weak ethnic group identification, perceived group discrimination was associated with more parent- and adolescent-reported internalizing problems. Conversely, perceived group discrimination was unrelated to personal self-esteem among low identifiers, but positively related to it among high identifiers. Results indicate that minority group members can be negatively affected by discrimination, even if they do not experience it at first hand. Thus, future research on the psychological effects of discrimination should include group perceptions

Associations between Ethnic Minority Status and Popularity in Adolescence: the role of Ethnic Classroom Composition and Aggression

Although there are theoretical reasons to expect an association between ethnic minority status and popularity, research on this topic is scarce. Therefore, this association was investigated including the moderating role of the ethnic classroom composition and the mediating role of aggression. Data from the longitudinal Dutch SNARE (Social Network Analysis of Risk behavior in Early adolescence) project were used among first-year students (comparable to 5th grade) (N = 1134, Nclassrooms = 51, M = 12.5 years, 137 non-Western ethnic minority students). Popularity and aggression were assessed with peer nominations. Multi-level Structural Equation Models showed that ethnic minority status was indirectly associated with higher popularity, through higher aggression. Moreover, with increasing numbers of ethnic minority students in the classroom, popularity levels of both ethnic majority and ethnic minority students decreased. Only when differences in aggression between ethnic minority and majority students were included in the analyses, while the ethnic classroom composition was not included, lower popularity levels were found for ethnic minority than ethnic majority students. Scientific and practical implications of this study were addressed in the discussion

Adolescent Socioeconomic Status and Mental Health Inequalities in the Netherlands, 2001-2017

Even in wealthy countries there are substantial socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent mental health. Socioeconomic status (SES) indicators-parental SES, adolescent subjective SES and adolescent educational level-are negatively associated with adolescent mental health problems, but little is known about the interplay between these SES indicators and whether associations have changed over time. Using data from the Dutch Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) studies (n = 27,020) between 2001 and 2017, we examined associations between three SES indicators and six indicators of adolescent mental health problems. Linear regressions revealed that adolescent subjective SES and adolescent educational level were independently negatively associated with adolescent mental health problems and positively associated with adolescent life satisfaction, but parental SES had negligible independent associations with adolescent mental health problems and life satisfaction. However, when interactions between SES indicators were considered, high adolescent subjective SES was shown to buffer the negative association between parental SES and adolescent mental health problems and the positive association between parental SES and life satisfaction. Despite societal changes between 2001 and 2017, socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent mental health were stable during this period. Findings suggest that all three SES indicators-parental SES, adolescent subjective SES and adolescent educational level-are important for studying socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent mental health

‘I Think It’ll All Blow Over in the End’: How Young People Perceive the Impact of COVID-19 on Their Future Orientations

Since the beginning of 2020, the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and its lockdowns have changed the current lives of young people drastically. Given the importance of future orientations for young people’s mental well-being, it is important to investigate if and how this lockdown affected young people’s future orientations. In this study, 34 Dutch young people (aged 16–24) with diverse backgrounds were interviewed during the lockdown of spring 2020 in the Netherlands. Results showed that young people experienced effects of COVID-19 on their current lives and short-term futures, but according to these young people, their long-term futures would not be affected by the first COVID-19 lockdown. The latter finding may be explained by young people’s assumed temporality of the pandemic, their general optimistic attitudes, two-track thinking, strong feelings of agency and flexibility

Time trends in schoolwork pressure among Dutch adolescents, 2001–2017: Gender and educational differences

Aims: This study investigated gender and educational differences in trends in schoolwork pressure between 2001 and 2017 in nationally representative samples of Dutch adolescents in secondary education. Methods: Data from five surveys of the Dutch Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study were used. Results: Across the surveys, an increase in perceived schoolwork pressure was observed. Girls and adolescents enrolled in the higher educational levels reported higher levels of perceived schoolwork pressure and the strongest increase in schoolwork pressure over time. Especially for girls, there was a stronger increase in schoolwork pressure for those enrolled in higher educational tracks. Conclusions: Increases in schoolwork pressure over time were stronger among Dutch girls and students in the higher educational levels. Over time, schoolwork pressure increased most among girls in the highest educational levels. Explanations and implications for these results are discussed

The complex association between social media use intensity and adolescent wellbeing: A longitudinal investigation of five factors that may affect the association

The present study examined five possible explanations for the mixed findings on the association between adolescents' social media use (SMU) intensity and wellbeing. Particularly, it investigated whether the association between SMU intensity and life satisfaction depended on (1) the type of SMU activity the adolescent engaged in, (2) the (non)linearity of the association, (3) individual differences, (4) inclusion of SMU problems, and (5) the level of analysis. Data from four waves of longitudinal data among 1419 adolescents were used (Mage(T1) = 12.51 (0.60), 45.95% girl). Multilevel analyses showed that at the within-person level, on average, changes in different types of SMU activities were not associated with changes in life satisfaction. Within individuals, the associations ranged from negative to positive across adolescents. In general, this variation could not be explained by adolescents' engagement in upward social comparisons. At the between-person level, the higher adolescents' average intensity of certain SMU activities, the lower their average level of life satisfaction. However, these associations were confounded by adolescents’ SMU problems. No curvilinear associations were found. Overall, the findings underline that to enhance our understanding of the association between SMU and wellbeing in adolescence, it is important to acknowledge the heterogeneity of effects, distinguish between SMU intensity and SMU problems, and disentangle within-from between-person effects