Abstract
AimTo examine differences in health‐related quality of life between boys and girls in the first and third years of upper secondary school.DesignProspective longitudinal study.MethodsThe KIDSCREEN‐10 was used to assess health‐related quality of life. Differences in health‐related quality of life over time were estimated using a linear mixed‐effects model for correlated measurements.ResultsIn the first‐year boys (N = 168) and girls (N = 228) reported a mean health‐related quality of life score of 76.3 (SD 10.7) and 69.8 (SD 11.5), respectively. In the third year, the mean health‐related quality of life score for boys and girls was 73.5 (SD 12.4) and 65.7 (SD 13.3), respectively. Boys had a significant decrease in health‐related quality of life mean score of −2.6 and girls a significant decrease of −3.8 (p < .001) over the 3‐year period. There was no significant difference between boys’ and girls’ health‐related quality of life changes (p = .39).
Highlights
Adolescents generally have good health and Health‐related quality of life (HRQoL), but there re‐ main health challenges in the adolescent population (Patton et al, 2016; WHO, 2014, 2017a)
Boys had a significant decrease in health‐related quality of life mean score of −2.6 and girls a significant decrease of −3.8 (p < .001) over the 3‐year period
Otto et al (2017) found that an increase in mental health problems was associated with reductions in children's and adolescents’ HRQoL over time and improvement in protective factors such as self‐efficacy and social support was positively associ‐ ated with improvement in HRQoL
Summary
Adolescents generally have good health and HRQoL, but there re‐ main health challenges in the adolescent population (Patton et al, 2016; WHO, 2014, 2017a). Studies have found that self‐reported mental health problems are related to decrease HRQoL (Otto et al, 2017; Sharpe et al, 2016). Males reported significantly higher HRQoL than females across three of five dimen‐ sions of the KIDSCREEN‐27 instrument: physical and psychological well‐being, autonomy and parent relations (Meade & Dowswell, 2016). Rajmil et al (2009) found that children and adolescents reported lower HRQoL after three years, but the decline was sharper for those with mental health problems. Otto et al (2017) found that an increase in mental health problems was associated with reductions in children's and adolescents’ HRQoL over time and improvement in protective factors such as self‐efficacy and social support was positively associ‐ ated with improvement in HRQoL. The study by Gillison et al (2008) indicates that quality of life of adolescents is stable over a one‐year period without health threats
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