Changes in millennial adolescent mental health and health-related behaviours over 10 years: a population cohort comparison study
Top Cited Papers
- 27 February 2019
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in International Journal of Epidemiology
- Vol. 48 (5), 1650-1664
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyz006
Abstract
Background: There is evidence that mental health problems are increasing and substance use behaviours are decreasing. This paper aimed to investigate recent trends in mental ill health and health-related behaviours in two cohorts of UK adolescents in 2005 and 2015. Methods: Prevalences in mental health (depressive symptoms, self-harm, anti-social behaviours, parent-reported difficulties) and health-related behaviours (substance use, weight, weight perception, sleep, sexual intercourse) were examined at age 14 in two UK birth cohorts; Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC, N = 5627, born 1991-92) and Millennium Cohort Study (MCS, N = 11 318, born 2000-02). Prevalences and trend estimates are presented unadjusted and using propensity score matching and entropy balancing to account for differences between samples. Results: Depressive symptoms (9% to 14.8%) and self-harm (11.8% to 14.4%) were higher in 2015 compared with 2005. Parent-reported emotional difficulties, conduct problems, hyperactivity and peer problems were higher in 2015 compared with 2005 (5.7-8.9% to 9.7-17.7%). Conversely, substance use (tried smoking, 9.2% to 2.9%; tried alcohol, 52.1% to 43.5%, cannabis, 4.6% to 3.9%), sexual activity (2% to 0.9%) and anti-social behaviours (6.2-40.1% to 1.6-27.7%) were less common or no different. Adolescents in 2015 were spending less time sleeping (<8 h 5.7% to 11.5%), had higher body mass index (BMI) (obese, 3.8% to 7.3%) and a greater proportion perceived themselves as overweight (26.5% to 32.9%). The findings should be interpreted bearing in mind limitations in ability to adequately harmonize certain variables and account for differences in attrition rates and generalizability of the two cohorts. Conclusions: Given health-related behaviours are often cited as risk factors for poor mental health, our findings suggest relationships between these factors might be more complex and dynamic in nature than currently understood. Substantial increases in mental health difficulties, BMI and poor sleep-related behaviours highlight an increasing public health challenge.Keywords
Funding Information
- UK Medical Research Council
- Wellcome (102215/2/13/2)
- University of Bristol
This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- National Trends in the Prevalence and Treatment of Depression in Adolescents and Young AdultsPEDIATRICS, 2016
- Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeingThe Lancet, 2016
- Mental Health Difficulties in Early Adolescence: A Comparison of Two Cross-Sectional Studies in England From 2009 to 2014Journal of Adolescent Health, 2015
- Are child and adolescent mental health problems increasing in the 21st century? A systematic reviewAustralian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 2014
- Prevalence, Persistence, and Sociodemographic Correlates of DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication Adolescent SupplementArchives of General Psychiatry, 2012
- Trends in adolescent emotional problems in England: a comparison of two national cohorts twenty years apartJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2010
- Discrepant Trends in Mental Health Complaints Among Younger and Older Adolescents in Sweden: An Analysis of WHO Data 1985–2005Journal of Adolescent Health, 2010
- Birth cohort increases in psychopathology among young Americans, 1938–2007: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the MMPIClinical Psychology Review, 2010
- Outcomes of conduct problems in adolescence: 40 year follow-up of national cohortBMJ, 2009
- Lifetime Prevalence and Age-of-Onset Distributions of DSM-IV Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey ReplicationArchives of General Psychiatry, 2005