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. 2023 Mar 20:14:1095117.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1095117. eCollection 2023.

Inequalities in health complaints: 20-year trends among adolescents in Scotland, 1998-2018

Joanna C Inchley  1 , Malachi Willis  1 , Judith Mabelis  1 , Judith Brown  1 , Dorothy B Currie  2
Affiliations

Inequalities in health complaints: 20-year trends among adolescents in Scotland, 1998-2018

Joanna C Inchley et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

This study examined trends in inequalities in health complaints among early adolescents in Scotland from 1998 to 2018. We analysed data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey conducted in Scotland in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018. A self-report questionnaire was administered in schools to a nationally representative sample of 11-, 13-, and 15-year-olds (n = 29,250). Health complaints were measured using a scale comprising four psychological symptoms (feeling low, feeling nervous, irritability and sleep difficulties) and four somatic symptoms (headache, backache, stomachache and dizziness). Socio-economic status was measured using the Family Affluence Scale. Between 1998 and 2018, there were significant increases in the proportion of girls and boys reporting feeling low, feeling nervous, sleep difficulties and backache. Prevalence of the eight individual health complaints was higher among girls and adolescents from lower affluence families. Socio-economic inequalities increased over time, such that declines in mental health were greatest among low affluence adolescents. The data show worsening trends in health complaints among Scottish adolescents between 1998 and 2018, particularly for girls and adolescents from low affluence families. Increasing inequalities in mental health highlight the need to address the underlying social and structural determinants of adolescent mental health.

Keywords: HBSC; adolescents; health complaints; mental health; school survey; social inequalities.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trends in percentages of reported multiple health complaints (i.e., at least two of eight weekly symptoms), by gender and by Family Affluence Scale (FAS). 95% confidence intervals are depicted.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trends in percentages of reported psychological symptoms, by gender. 95% confidence intervals are depicted.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Trends in percentages of reported psychological symptoms, by Family Affluence Scale (FAS). 95% confidence intervals are depicted.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Trends in percentages of reported somatic symptoms, by gender. 95% confidence intervals are depicted.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Trends in percentages of reported somatic symptoms, by Family Affluence Scale (FAS). 95% confidence intervals are depicted.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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