Abstract
IntroductionMental health inequalities are an increasingly important global problem. This study examined the association between mental health status and certain socioeconomic indicators (personal social position and the socioeconomic status of the family) in Slovenian 15-year-old adolescents.MethodsData originate from the WHO-Collaborative cross-national ‘Health Behavior in School-aged Children’ study conducted in Slovenia in 2010 (1,815 secondary school pupils, aged 15). Mental health status was measured by: KIDSCREEN-10, the Strength and Difficulties questionnaire (SDQ), a life satisfaction scale, and one question about feelings of depression. Socioeconomic position was measured by the socioeconomic status of the family (Family Affluence Scale, perceived material welfare, family type, occupational status of parents) and personal social position (number of friends and the type of school). Logistic regression and a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were performed.ResultsGirls had 2.5-times higher odds of suffering feelings of depression (p < 0.001), 1.5-times higher odds of low life satisfaction (p = 0.008), and a greater chance of a lower quality of life and a higher SDQ score than boys (p = 0.001). The adolescents who perceived their family’s material welfare as worse had 4-times higher odds (p < 0.001) of a low life satisfaction, a greater chance of a low quality of life, and a higher SDQ score than those who perceived it as better (p < 0.001). Adolescents with no friends had lower KIDSCREEN-10 and higher SDQ scores than those who had more than three friends.ConclusionsDespite the fact that Slovenia is among the EU members with the lowest rates of social inequalities, it was found that adolescents with a lower socioeconomic position have poorer mental health than those with a higher socioeconomic position. Because of the financial crisis, we can expect an increase in social inequalities and a greater impact on adolescents’ mental health status in Slovenia in the future.
Highlights
Mental health inequalities are an increasingly important global problem
The adolescent’s personal social position (PSP) Personal social position was measured using the number of really close friends and by school type
Our results show that perceiving the familial financial position as poor decreases adolescent's life satisfaction and increases the risk of mental health problems
Summary
Mental health inequalities are an increasingly important global problem. This study examined the association between mental health status and certain socioeconomic indicators (personal social position and the socioeconomic status of the family) in Slovenian 15-year-old adolescents. Mental health determines and is determined by a wide and diverse network of personal (e.g. genetic, lifestyle, psychological), social and community-related (e.g. family structure, friends, isolation), larger societal, and environmental factors (e.g. education, employment), as well as by demographics such as age, gender, and ethnicity [1]. In 2009 Slovenia was confronted by the financial and economic crisis, which is still progressively weakening the material welfare of households and increasing the risk of poverty. The consequences can be seen in both the drop in socioeconomic position and in the increase of poverty. In 2013 Slovenia had the lowest rates of social inequalities of all the EU members, when considering various welfare indicators, social exclusion, and income inequality indicators [11]
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