The 2017/18 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study – Methodology of the World Health Organization’s child and adolescent health study

Abstract

The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study is an international research project in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) for over 35 years. HBSC is the largest study on child and adolescent health and one of the most important sources of data for the WHO’s international comparative health monitoring. Every four years, data on the health and health behaviour of students aged 11, 13 and 15, as well as the social contexts and conditions for growing up healthy, are collected. A total of 50 countries belong to the HBSC network, with 45 countries taking part in the 2017/18 survey. Germany has contributed to the HBSC surveys since 1993/94. For the most recent 2017/18 cycle, students at 146 schools in Germany were interviewed (response rate of schools: 15.6%). A net sample of n = 4,347 girls and boys was achieved for Germany (response rate: 52.7%). Participation was voluntary and the survey was conducted in German school years five, seven and nine (corresponding to ages 11, 13 and 15). A weighting procedure was applied to allow for representative findings on the health of children and adolescents in Germany. HBSC offers a valuable contribution to health monitoring and provides numerous starting points to identify needs, risk groups and fields of action to initiate targeted and actual needs-based measures of prevention and health promotion in the school setting.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of the Three-Wave Longitudinal COPSY Study

“…Prepandemic German population-based data were used for comparison [ 39 ] from the longitudinal BELLA study, conducted between 2014 and 2017 providing data of n = 1,020 participants (aged 11–17 years) on mental health and HRQoL; the German HBSC study [ 40 ] conducted between 2017 and 2018 provides data on psychosomatic complaints of n = 1,073 participants (aged 11, 13, and 15 years).…”

“…The German CO VID-19 and Psy chological Health (COPSY) study is one of the first population-based longitudinal studies to monitor HRQoL and mental health in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, covering three waves of data collection so far and having the advantage of prepandemic population-based data being available for comparison ( Behaviour and Well-being of Children and Adolescents in Germany [BELLA] study [ 39 ] and Health Behaviour in School-aged Children [HBSC] study [ 40 ]). The aim of this study is to examine the course of mental health and HRQoL in children and adolescents during the pandemic.…”

Health Enhancing Physical Activity Policies in Poland: Findings from the HEPA PAT Survey

“…Since 2010, Poland has been carrying out the regular monitoring of PA among children aged 11–15 using the HBSC methodology [ 50 ]. The studies were conducted in 2010, 2014, and 2018.…”

Pathways of Adolescent Life Satisfaction Association with Family Support, Structure and Affluence: A Cross-National Comparative Analysis

“…The surveys were administrated in school classrooms. Researchers strictly followed the standardised international research protocol to ensure consistency in survey instruments, data collection, and processing procedures [ 67 , 69 ]. Student response rates within participating classes varied between 53.7% (Germany) and 98.6% (Albania) (median 83.2%) [ 68 ].…”