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Temporal trends in adolescents’ self-reported psychosomatic health complaints from 1980-2016: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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  • Thomas Potrebny
  • Nora Wiium
  • Margrethe Moss-Iversen Lundegård

Abstract

Objective: There is increasing concern that mental health may be deteriorating in recent generations of adolescents. It is unclear whether this is the case for self-reported psychosomatic health complaints (PSHC). Method: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published primary studies on PSHC in the general adolescent population over time. The primary databases were MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO, which were searched from inception to November 2016. Studies were included if they involved an observational design, presented self-reported data from participants aged 10–19 years and included data from at least two time points, five years apart. Inclusion and study quality were assessed by two independent reviewers. Results: Twenty-one studies were included; 18 reported trends on the prevalence of PSHC in a single country, while three studies reported on multiple countries. In total, over seven million adolescents from 36 countries in Europe, North America, Israel and New Zealand were represented, covering the period 1982–2013. In the descriptive analysis, 10 studies indicated a trend of increasing PSHC, eight showed a stable trend and three showed a decreasing trend at certain points in time. The results from the meta-analysis showed a mean odds ratio (OR) of 1.04 (K = 139, 95% CI 1.01–1.08) for PSHC from 1982 to 2013, thus indicating a minor increase in general. In the subgroup analysis, this minor increase was observed mainly between the 1980s and 2000s, while the trend appeared to be more stable between the 2000s and 2010s. Some differences were also found between multinational subregions. Findings from subgroup analysis, however, only supported a significant increasing trend in Northern Europe. Conclusion: There may have been a minor increasing trend in adolescent self-rated PSHC between the 1980 and 2000s, but has become more stable since the 2010s, from a multinational perspective. Northern Europe was the only region to show a clearly significant minor increasing trend, without being the region with the highest total prevalence of PSHC at the present time. The discrepant trends regarding PSHC between regions and the reliance on self-reported data may reflect true changes in the occurrence of PSHC in the adolescent population. However, they may also reflect changes in how adolescents perceive and report health complaints. Other: PROSPERO registration 2016: CRD42016048300.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Potrebny & Nora Wiium & Margrethe Moss-Iversen Lundegård, 2017. "Temporal trends in adolescents’ self-reported psychosomatic health complaints from 1980-2016: A systematic review and meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0188374
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188374
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    Cited by:

    1. Regina Winzer & Kimmo Sorjonen & Lene Lindberg, 2018. "What Predicts Stable Mental Health in the 18–29 Age Group Compared to Older Age Groups? Results from the Stockholm Public Health Cohort 2002–2014," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Högberg, Björn & Strandh, Mattias & Hagquist, Curt, 2020. "Gender and secular trends in adolescent mental health over 24 years – The role of school-related stress," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    3. Xiaojie Cao & Siduo Ji, 2024. "Bidirectional relationship between self-rated health and the big five personality traits among Chinese adolescents: a two-wave cross-lagged study," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Katrin Häggström Westberg & Maria Nyholm & Jens M. Nygren & Petra Svedberg, 2022. "Mental Health Problems among Young People—A Scoping Review of Help-Seeking," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-15, January.
    5. Högberg, Björn, 2021. "Educational stressors and secular trends in school stress and mental health problems in adolescents," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    6. Vilija Malinauskiene & Romualdas Malinauskas, 2021. "Predictors of Adolescent Depressive Symptoms," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-13, April.
    7. Hermann, Veronica & Durbeej, Natalie & Karlsson, Ann-Christin & Sarkadi, Anna, 2022. "Feeling mentally unwell is the “new normal”. A qualitative study on adolescents’ views of mental health problems and related stigma," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    8. Tide Garnow & Eva-Lena Einberg & Anna-Karin Edberg & Pernilla Garmy, 2021. "Sadness and Other Health Complaints among Swedish Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-10, April.
    9. Jose Marquez & Emily Long, 2021. "A Global Decline in Adolescents’ Subjective Well-Being: a Comparative Study Exploring Patterns of Change in the Life Satisfaction of 15-Year-Old Students in 46 Countries," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(3), pages 1251-1292, June.
    10. Dimitris Ballas & Ilias Thanis, 2022. "Exploring the Geography of Subjective Happiness in Europe During the Years of the Economic Crisis: A Multilevel Modelling Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 105-137, November.
    11. Cashman, Matthew & Strandh, Mattias & Högberg, Björn, 2023. "Have performance-based educational reforms increased adolescent school-pressure in Sweden? A synthetic control approach," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).

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