Inequalities in Croatian pupils' unhealthy behaviours and health outcomes: role of school, peers and family affluence

Šimetin, Ivana Pavić; Kuzman, Marina; Franelić, Iva Pejnović; Pristaš, Ivan; Benjak, Tomislav; Dezeljin, Jagoda Dabo

doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckq002

Cited by 26 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The findings of previous studies [ 19 , 33 ] were also confirmed on comparing high- and low-income families, in that the latter were associated with higher odds of poor self-reported health and life dissatisfaction. In contrast with previous reports [ 24 , 34 ], however, our findings did not reveal an apparent socioeconomic gradient in multiple health complaints. From our study, it emerged that boys enjoyed a considerable advantage over girls in terms of health status, which confirms the results reported in the literature [ 26 , 35 ].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Respondents were regarded as suffering from multiple health complaints if they reported experiencing two or more symptoms “more than once a week” or “about every day” [ 24 ]. Respondents were assessed for eight symptoms on a five-point scale: difficulty in falling asleep, headache, feeling dizzy, stomach-ache, backache, depression, irritability or bad temper, and nervousness [ 25 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Factors associated with unhealthy behaviours and health outcomes: a cross-sectional study among tuscan adolescents (Italy)

Lazzeri

Azzolini

Pammolli

et al. 2014

Int J Equity Health

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BackgroundWe aimed to determine the extent to which three core variables (school environment, peer group and family affluence) were associated with unhealthy behaviours and health outcomes among Tuscan adolescents. The unhealthy behaviours considered were smoking, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle and irregular breakfast consumption; health outcomes were classified as self-reported health, multiple health complaints and life satisfaction. School environment was measured in terms of liking school, school pressure, academic achievement and classmate support; peer groups were evaluated in terms of the number of peers and frequency of peer contact. Family affluence was measured on a socioeconomic scale.MethodsData were taken from the Tuscan 2009/10 survey of “Health Behaviour in School-aged Children”, a WHO cross-national survey. A binary logistic multiple regression (95% confidence intervals) was implemented.ResultsThe total sample comprised 3291 school students: 1135 11-year-olds, 1255 13-year-olds and 901 15-year-olds. Peer group and school environment were associated with unhealthy behaviours such as smoking, alcohol consumption and sedentary lifestyle. Family affluence proved to have less impact on unhealthy behaviours, except in the case of adolescents living in low-income families. Poor health outcomes were directly related to a negative school environment. Regarding the influence of family affluence, the results showed higher odds of life dissatisfaction and poor self-reported health status in medium-income families, while low-income families had higher odds only with regard to life dissatisfaction. A consistent pattern of gender differences was found in terms of both unhealthy behaviours and health outcomes.ConclusionsUnhealthy behaviours are strongly related to the school environment and peer group. A negative school environment proved to have the strongest relation with poor health outcomes.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with unhealthy behaviours and health outcomes: a cross-sectional study among tuscan adolescents (Italy)

Lazzeri

Azzolini

Pammolli

et al. 2014

Int J Equity Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It could be that the school achievement is more important for gymnasium school pupils than it is for those in industrial or crafts and technical or related schools, therefore contributing to lower KIDSCREEN-10 scores. Some authors also report that a poor school environment increases the odds of lower self-rated health, multiple health complaints, and lower life satisfaction [54]. Thus, better KIDSCREEN-10 (higher) and SDQ scores (lower) might have an underlying dimension connected to the school environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental health inequalities in Slovenian 15-year-old adolescents explained by personal social position and family socioeconomic status

Klanšček

Žiberna

Korošec

et al. 2014

Int J Equity Health

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IntroductionMental health inequalities are an increasingly important global problem. This study examined the association between mental health status and certain socioeconomic indicators (personal social position and the socioeconomic status of the family) in Slovenian 15-year-old adolescents.MethodsData originate from the WHO-Collaborative cross-national ‘Health Behavior in School-aged Children’ study conducted in Slovenia in 2010 (1,815 secondary school pupils, aged 15). Mental health status was measured by: KIDSCREEN-10, the Strength and Difficulties questionnaire (SDQ), a life satisfaction scale, and one question about feelings of depression. Socioeconomic position was measured by the socioeconomic status of the family (Family Affluence Scale, perceived material welfare, family type, occupational status of parents) and personal social position (number of friends and the type of school). Logistic regression and a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were performed.ResultsGirls had 2.5-times higher odds of suffering feelings of depression (p < 0.001), 1.5-times higher odds of low life satisfaction (p = 0.008), and a greater chance of a lower quality of life and a higher SDQ score than boys (p = 0.001). The adolescents who perceived their family’s material welfare as worse had 4-times higher odds (p < 0.001) of a low life satisfaction, a greater chance of a low quality of life, and a higher SDQ score than those who perceived it as better (p < 0.001). Adolescents with no friends had lower KIDSCREEN-10 and higher SDQ scores than those who had more than three friends.ConclusionsDespite the fact that Slovenia is among the EU members with the lowest rates of social inequalities, it was found that adolescents with a lower socioeconomic position have poorer mental health than those with a higher socioeconomic position. Because of the financial crisis, we can expect an increase in social inequalities and a greater impact on adolescents’ mental health status in Slovenia in the future.

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“…This measure has been found to be associated with health behaviours and risk taking among adolescents, [ 35 , 36 ]. Due to the design of the response alternatives, as well as suggested in other research [ 37 ], the answers were recoded into fair/poor vs. good/excellent.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2017

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BackgroundSocioeconomic 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.MethodCross-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.ResultsSubjective 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).ConclusionsThe 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.

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Inequalities in Croatian pupils' unhealthy behaviours and health outcomes: role of school, peers and family affluence

Abstract: Compared to socioeconomic inequalities, greater inequalities in unhealthy behaviours were connected to school environment and peer group, and in health outcomes to school environment.

Cited by 26 publications

References 30 publications

Factors associated with unhealthy behaviours and health outcomes: a cross-sectional study among tuscan adolescents (Italy)

Factors associated with unhealthy behaviours and health outcomes: a cross-sectional study among tuscan adolescents (Italy)

Mental health inequalities in Slovenian 15-year-old adolescents explained by personal social position and family socioeconomic status

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

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