Does social and professional establishment at age 30 mediate the association between school connectedness and family climate at age 16 and mental health symptoms at age 43?

Abstract

Background: The aim was to use a theoretical framework developed by Bronfenbrenner in order to investigate if the association between school connectedness and family climate at age 16 and mental health symptoms at age 43 is mediated by social and professional establishment at age 30.

Methods: Data were drawn from The Northern Swedish Cohort, a prospective population-based cohort. The present study included 506 women and 577 men who responded to questionnaires at age 16 (in year 1981), age 30 (in 1995) and age 43 (in 2008). Mediation was tested by fitting structural equation models (SEM) and estimating direct effects between proximal processes (school connectedness and family climate) and symptoms of depression and anxiety respectively, and indirect effects via social and professional establishment (professional activity, educational level, and civil status).

Results: The standardised estimate for the direct path from school connectedness to depression was -0.147 (p = .000) and the indirect effect mediated by professional activity -0.017 (p = .011) and by civil status -0.020 (p = .002). The standardised direct effect between school connectedness and anxiety was -0.147 (p = .000) and the indirect effect mediated by civil status -0.018 (p = .005). Family climate was not significantly associated with the outcomes or mediators.

Limitations: Self-reported data; mental health measures not diagnostic; closed cohort; intelligence, personality and home situation before age 16 not accounted for.

Conclusions: Professional and social establishment in early adulthood appear to partially mediate the association between adolescent school connectedness and mental health symptoms in middle-age.

Keywords: Anxiety; Depression; Family; Longitudinal; Mechanism; School.