Quality of life and self-perceived health of adolescents in Middle School

Abstract

Purpose Quality of life and self-perception of health are useful indicators for children and adolescents, as they are associated with objective and subjective states of health, including physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and environmental aspects. This study aims to characterize the adolescents at a Brazilian private financing school and to analyze the association between quality of life, health self-perception, and the sociodemographic profile. Methods This is a cross-sectional, observational study conducted with 124 elementary school students. The questionnaires of Characterization of the participants, Health Self-perception and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory ™ (PedsQL™) were applied to the adolescents and, to the parents or guardians, the Brazil Economic Classification Criteria questionnaires and PedsQLTM. Results The majority of the participants were female, belonged to economy class A, declared to have excellent health self-perception, and attributed a good score for their health. The majority of parents and adolescents evaluated positively the physical, psychosocial, and overall quality of life dimensions. Having a positive health self-perception increased the chances of having a good quality of life and the increase of one year in age decreased the chances of the adolescent having a positive quality of life assessment. Conclusion The study of adolescence is essential to broaden the understanding of aspects related to the quality of life, both in its physical and psychosocial dimension and to self-perception. This knowledge will provide adolescents with an incentive for their well-being, better performance of their activities, and greater preparation for adult life.

Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study to investigate how mental health, lifestyle, and socio-demographic factors shape students’ quality of life

“…Also, our results showed that students' better quality of life is associated with higher selfperceived health. This is consistent with a recent study by Fernandes et al 2022, which found that having a positive health self-perception improved the likelihood of having a good quality of life [62].…”

Quality of life and their relationships with depression, anxiety, and stress mediated by physical activity in adolescents: A systematic review

“…Our analyzes indicate that quality of life is most often seen from a perspective that resembles health, including physical, cognitive, social, emotional and environmental aspects (3) . These are one of the indicators that aim to promote understanding of different aspects of health conditions experienced by healthy people from all cultures, including children and adolescents (2,3) .…”

“…Our analyzes indicate that quality of life is most often seen from a perspective that resembles health, including physical, cognitive, social, emotional and environmental aspects (3) . These are one of the indicators that aim to promote understanding of different aspects of health conditions experienced by healthy people from all cultures, including children and adolescents (2,3) . On the other hand, the prevalence of depression among adolescents has increased in recent years and has become a public health problem worldwide, with the first episode of depression usually occurring in adolescence (9,13,33) .…”

“…Quality of life (QoL) has properties that cover a variety of aspects that can be analyzed and related within a given context that are complex to conceptualize, as they have been interpreted and defined in different ways, with no single definition (1) . From this perspective, QoL is often similar to self-perceived health, which are useful indicators for children and adolescents, as they are related to objective and subjective health, including physical, cognitive, social, emotional and environmental aspects (2,3) . health-related quality of lyfe (HRQoL) is defined as the level of well-being that an individual achieves when evaluating different areas of life considering their impacts on their health status (4) .…”

Longitudinal relationship between quality of life and negative life events among adolescents during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-lagged panel analysis

“…Previous studies have proved that interventions for adolescents can effectively improve the QoL in several dimensions [34]. Peer attachment [52], psycho-emotional status [53], health self-perception [54], social skills [55], and health-related behaviors, such as physical activity [56], are strongly correlated with QoL in adolescents or children. Therefore, measures such as increasing social and family support, reducing negative psychological emotions, improving emotion management skills, learning healthrelated knowledge, and developing healthy habits among adolescents may be effective ways to improve the QoL of adolescents.…”