Socio-Economic Inequalities in Adolescent Summer Holiday Experiences, and Mental Wellbeing on Return to School: Analysis of the School Health Research Network/Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey in Wales.

Simon Murphy,G Melendez-Torres,Kelly Morgan,Amy Bond,Jemma Hawkins,Graham Moore,Gillian Hewitt

doi:10.3390/ijerph16071107

Simon Murphy, G Melendez-Torres + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071107

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Abstract

The socioeconomic inequalities found in child and adolescent mental wellbeing are increasingly acknowledged. Although interventions increasingly focus on school holidays as a critical period for intervention to reduce inequalities, no studies have modelled the role of summer holiday experiences in explaining socioeconomic inequalities in wellbeing. For this study, we analysed survey data of 103,971 adolescents from 193 secondary schools in Wales, United Kingdom, which included measures of family affluence, experiences during the summer holidays (hunger, loneliness, time with friends and physical activity) and mental wellbeing and internalising symptoms on return to school. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. Although family affluence retained a direct inverse association with student mental wellbeing (r = −0.04, p < 0.001), 65.2% of its association with mental wellbeing was mediated by the experiences over the summer holidays. FAS score was not directly associated with the student’s self-reports of internalising symptoms (r = 0.00, p > 0.05). Of all summer holiday experiences, the strongest mediational pathway was observed for reports of loneliness. Although more structural solutions to poverty remain essential, school holiday interventions may have significant potential for reducing socioeconomic inequalities in mental health and wellbeing on young people’s return to school through reducing loneliness, providing nutritious food and opportunities for social interaction.

Highlights

Childhood and adolescent inequalities have worsened internationally in recent years [1], resulting in adverse psychosocial, physical and educational consequences for young people and families [2].Socioeconomic inequalities in a range of health risk behaviours as well as mental health and wellbeing emerge and widen throughout childhood and adolescence [3,4,5,6,7]
Our analyses are the first to examine the importance of summer holiday experiences, such as hunger, loneliness, participation in exercise and time with friends as mediators of young people’s mental wellbeing on return to school
Summer holiday experiences appear to explain a large proportion of the relationship between socioeconomic status and mental health and wellbeing

Summary

Introduction

Childhood and adolescent inequalities have worsened internationally in recent years [1], resulting in adverse psychosocial, physical and educational consequences for young people and families [2]. Socioeconomic inequalities in a range of health risk behaviours as well as mental health and wellbeing emerge and widen throughout childhood and adolescence [3,4,5,6,7]. Following the recent international financial crisis and periods of austerity in many countries, food insecurity [8] (i.e., “insufficient and insecure access to nutritionally adequate food due to resource constraints” (p.523) [9]) is a growing problem. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 1107; doi:10.3390/ijerph16071107 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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