High and low levels of positive mental health: are there socioeconomic differences among adolescents?
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-10-2014-0041 |
| Published date | 21 March 2016 |
| Pages | 37-49 |
| Date | 21 March 2016 |
| Author | Line Nielsen,Sarah Stewart-Brown,Mathilde Vinther-Larsen,Charlotte Meilstrup,Bjørn E. Holstein,Vibeke Koushede |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Public mental health |
High and low levels of positive mental
health: are there socioeconomic
differences among adolescents?
Line Nielsen, Sarah Stewart-Brown, Mathilde Vinther-Larsen, Charlotte Meilstrup,
Bjørn E. Holstein and Vibeke Koushede
Line Nielsen is Post-Doctoral
Research Fellow at National
Institute of Public Health,
University of Southern
Denmark, Copenhagen,
Denmark.
Sarah Stewart-Brown is based
at Division of Health Sciences,
Warwick Medical School,
University of Warwick,
Warwick, UK.
Mathilde Vinther-Larsen,
Charlotte Meilstrup, Bjørn E.
Holstein and Vibeke Koushede,
are all based at National
Institute of Public Health,
University of Southern
Denmark, Copenhagen,
Denmark.
Abstract
Purpose –It is important within public health goals to promote adolescents’mental health and to reduce
socioeconomic inequalities in mental health. Among adults there are indications that the socioeconomic
pattern of low positive mental health (PMH) differs from the socioeconomic pattern of high PMH. Knowledge
regarding the social epidemiology of PMH among young people is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to
examine the socioeconomic patterning of aspects of low and high PMH among adolescents.
Design/methodology/approach –The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Methodology
Development Study 2012 provided data on 3,670 adolescents aged 11-15 in two municipalities in
Denmark. Socioeconomic differences in aspects of low and high PMH (self-esteem, social competence and
self-efficacy) were investigated by calculating sex-specific prevalence of PMH in socioeconomic groups
measured by parents’occupational social class. Using multi-level logistic regression analyses, odds ratios for
low and high PMH compared to moderate PMH were estimated.
Findings –In age-adjusted analyses there seemed to be a graded relationship with increasing odds for low
PMH with decreasing socioeconomic position, but no indication of a socioeconomicpatterning of high PMH.
The prevalence of high self-esteem and high self-efficacy was higher among boys than girls. High social
competence and high self-efficacy increased with age.
Research limitations/implications –Public health research has primarily focused on risk factors and
mental health problems. Research highlighting more detailed aspects of PMH is needed.
Originality/value –The socioeconomic pattern of high PMH may be different from the socioeconomic
pattern of low PMH.
Keywords Self-esteem, Self-efficacy,Socioeconomic inequalities, Mental wellbeing, Positive mental health,
Social competence
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
It is an important public health goal to promote adolescents’mental health, to prevent mental
illness and to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in mental health (Forsman et al., 2015; Levin
et al., 2009; WHO, 2010). Programmes to address these goals need to concern themselves with
both positive and negative aspects of mental health as the mental health of individual
adolescents is influenced by the mental health of their peers (Hill et al., 2015). The positive
aspects of mental health have been called both positive mental health (PMH) and mental
wellbeing. Although definitions of these can vary a little from one authority to another, they also
show them to be closely related, overlapping concepts (Barry, 2009; Friedli, 2009). PMH is both
Received 7 October 2014
Revised 29 June 2015
23 September 2015
Accepted 17 November 2015
The authors would like to thank all
participants in HBSC-MDS 2012.
We would also like to thank the
Mental Health Research Group,
National Institute of Public Health,
University of Southern Denmark,
for valuable discussions and
reflections during the development
and validation of the measures of
positive mental health.This study
was funded by the Nordea
Foundation (02-2011-0122). The
funders have had no influence on
study design, data collection,
analyses, interpretation of results
or writing of the manuscript.
DOI 10.1108/JPMH-10-2014-0041 VOL. 15 NO. 1 2016, pp. 37-49, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-5729
j
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC MENTALHEALTH
j
PAG E 37
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