Kronström K, Multimäki P, Ristkari T, Parkkola K, Sillanmäki L, Sourander A. Ten-year changes in the psychosocial well-being, psychopathology, substance use, suicidality, bullying, and sense of coherence of 18-year-old males: a Finnish population-based time-trend study.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2021;
30:313-325. [PMID:
32232581 PMCID:
PMC7932936 DOI:
10.1007/s00787-020-01517-4]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2019] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
We studied Finnish 18-year-old males attending obligatory military call-up assessments in 1999 (n = 2340) and 2009 (n = 4309) on time-trend changes in psychosocial well-being, psychopathology, substance use, suicidality, bullying, and sense of coherence. Subjects filled in questionnaires, including the Young Adult Self-Report (YASR) for psychopathology and the Orientation to Life Questionnaire (SOC-13) for sense of coherence. The prevalence of minor mental health problems in the last 6 months decreased from 22.3% in 1999 to 18.6% in 2009 (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.7-0.9), whereas severe mental health problems remained stable. Suicidal thoughts decreased from 5.7 to 3.7% (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.5-0.8). The use of illicit drugs decreased from 6.0 to 4.7% (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.6-0.95), but being drunk at least once a week increased from 10.3 to 13.4% (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0-1.5). Attention problems increased in YASR syndrome domains (mean score 2.9 vs 3.2, p < 0.001) and so did somatic complains (mean score 1.7 vs 1.9, p = 0.005). The SOC-13 scores remained stable. The percentage of males who had studied during the past 6 months increased from 91.4 to 93.4% (OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.1-1.6), while being employed decreased from 64.9 to 49.4% (OR 0.5, 95% CI 0.5-0.6). The positive findings included reductions in the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and the use of illicit drugs, but being drunk at least once a week increased. Self-reported somatic problems and attention problems increased. Despite changes in society and family structures, there were only minor overall changes in psychopathology.
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