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Subjective health complaints in adolescence: a cross-national comparison of prevalence and dimensionality

Subjective health complaints in adolescence: a cross-national comparison of prevalence and dimensionality
Subjective health complaints in adolescence: a cross-national comparison of prevalence and dimensionality
Background. The purpose of this work was to study the prevalence and dimensionality of subjective health complaints in a cross-national population of adolescents.
Method. The analyses were based on data from a WHO cross-national survey, Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC). The study included a representative sample of 11, 13 and 15-year-old adolescents from Finland, Norway, Poland and Scotland. Data were collected in 1993-1994 and the total sample included 20,324 adolescents. Subjective health complaints were measured by the HBSC Symptom Checklist (HBSC-SCL), including headaches, abdominal pain, backache, feeling low, irritability, nervousness, sleeping difficulties and dizziness. Descriptive analyses, MANOVA and structural equation modelling (EQS) were conducted.
Results. Patterns of reporting were consistent for all four countries. A large number of students reported a high level of symptoms. The reporting of most symptoms increased with age. Girls reported significantly more symptoms than boys and the gender differences also increased with age. Structural equation modelling suggests a model of two correlated factors, which can be labelled psychological and somatic.
Conclusion. The findings of this study indicate that students report a high level of subjective health complaints already at the age of 11 years. The reporting of most symptoms increases with age and more so for girls than for boys. The finding of two dimensions that differ qualitatively, suggests that these dimensions may have different etiologies.
adolescence, confirmatory factor analysis, cross-national, subjective health complaints
1101-1262
4-10
Haugland, S.
e6ba9c31-95d0-4405-af45-e21b2dd6fcd8
Wold, B.
0c3acace-0dc6-4404-b074-336d5519b857
Stevenson, J.
0c85d29b-d294-43cb-ab8d-75e4737478e1
Aaroe, L.E.
167b9b50-23bb-4310-af5f-3af737c95973
Woynarowska, B.
3b9ef55c-86ab-4d48-bce6-4feb440e6146
Haugland, S.
e6ba9c31-95d0-4405-af45-e21b2dd6fcd8
Wold, B.
0c3acace-0dc6-4404-b074-336d5519b857
Stevenson, J.
0c85d29b-d294-43cb-ab8d-75e4737478e1
Aaroe, L.E.
167b9b50-23bb-4310-af5f-3af737c95973
Woynarowska, B.
3b9ef55c-86ab-4d48-bce6-4feb440e6146

Haugland, S., Wold, B., Stevenson, J., Aaroe, L.E. and Woynarowska, B. (2001) Subjective health complaints in adolescence: a cross-national comparison of prevalence and dimensionality. European Journal of Public Health, 11 (1), 4-10. (doi:10.1093/eurpub/11.1.4).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background. The purpose of this work was to study the prevalence and dimensionality of subjective health complaints in a cross-national population of adolescents.
Method. The analyses were based on data from a WHO cross-national survey, Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC). The study included a representative sample of 11, 13 and 15-year-old adolescents from Finland, Norway, Poland and Scotland. Data were collected in 1993-1994 and the total sample included 20,324 adolescents. Subjective health complaints were measured by the HBSC Symptom Checklist (HBSC-SCL), including headaches, abdominal pain, backache, feeling low, irritability, nervousness, sleeping difficulties and dizziness. Descriptive analyses, MANOVA and structural equation modelling (EQS) were conducted.
Results. Patterns of reporting were consistent for all four countries. A large number of students reported a high level of symptoms. The reporting of most symptoms increased with age. Girls reported significantly more symptoms than boys and the gender differences also increased with age. Structural equation modelling suggests a model of two correlated factors, which can be labelled psychological and somatic.
Conclusion. The findings of this study indicate that students report a high level of subjective health complaints already at the age of 11 years. The reporting of most symptoms increases with age and more so for girls than for boys. The finding of two dimensions that differ qualitatively, suggests that these dimensions may have different etiologies.

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More information

Published date: 2001
Keywords: adolescence, confirmatory factor analysis, cross-national, subjective health complaints

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 18404
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/18404
ISSN: 1101-1262
PURE UUID: ab542116-c581-4d6e-8c30-542cc2163959

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Date deposited: 05 Jan 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 06:05

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Contributors

Author: S. Haugland
Author: B. Wold
Author: J. Stevenson
Author: L.E. Aaroe
Author: B. Woynarowska

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