Dataset Information

Socioeconomic and sex inequalities in parent-reported adolescent mental ill-health: time trends in four British birth cohorts.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Studies using symptom-based screeners have suggested that mental ill-health has increased in adolescents in recent decades, however, few studies have tested the equivalence of their instruments, which is critical for inferring changes in prevalence. In addition, little research has explored whether socioeconomic position (SEP) and sex inequalities in adolescent mental health have changed over time.

Methods

Using structural equation modelling, we explored SEP and sex differences in harmonised parent reports of emotional and behavioural problems, using data from four UK birth cohorts: the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS'58; n = 10,868), the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS'70; n = 8,242), the 1991-92 Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC'91; n = 5,389), and the 2000-01 Millennium Cohort Study (MCS'01; n = 9,338).

Results

Compared with the two earliest cohorts, members of MCS'01 had higher latent mean scores on emotional problems (both sexes), and lower scores on behavioural problems (females only). The associations between four indicators of SEP and emotional problems were strongest in MCS'01, with housing tenure having the strongest association. All four SEP indicators were associated with behavioural problems in each cohort, with housing tenure again more strongly associated with problems in the MCS'01. Mediation analyses suggested that the increase in emotional problems occurred despite broadly improving socioeconomic conditions.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that parent reports of adolescent emotional problems, but not behavioural problems, have risen in recent generations and this trend is not solely due to reporting styles. A failure to address widening social inequalities may result in further increases in mental ill-health amongst disadvantaged young people.

SUBMITTER: McElroy E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10952603 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Socioeconomic and sex inequalities in parent-reported adolescent mental ill-health: time trends in four British birth cohorts.

McElroy Eoin E Tibber Marc M Fearon Pasco P Patalay Praveetha P Ploubidis George B GB

Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines 20221220 5

<h4>Background</h4>Studies using symptom-based screeners have suggested that mental ill-health has increased in adolescents in recent decades, however, few studies have tested the equivalence of their instruments, which is critical for inferring changes in prevalence. In addition, little research has explored whether socioeconomic position (SEP) and sex inequalities in adolescent mental health have changed over time.<h4>Methods</h4>Using structural equation modelling, we explored SEP and sex dif ...[more]

PMID: 36538943

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Project description:BackgroundSocioeconomic inequalities in childhood body-mass index (BMI) have been documented in high-income countries; however, uncertainty exists with regard to how they have changed over time, how inequalities in the composite parts (ie, weight and height) of BMI have changed, and whether inequalities differ in magnitude across the outcome distribution. Therefore, we aimed to investigate how socioeconomic inequalities in childhood and adolescent weight, height, and BMI have changed over time in Britain.MethodsWe used data from four British longitudinal, observational, birth cohort studies: the 1946 Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (1946 NSHD), 1958 National Child Development Study (1958 NCDS), 1970 British Cohort Study (1970 BCS), and 2001 Millennium Cohort Study (2001 MCS). BMI (kg/m2) was derived in each study from measured weight and height. Childhood socioeconomic position was indicated by the father's occupational social class, measured at the ages of 10-11 years. We examined associations between childhood socioeconomic position and anthropometric outcomes at age 7 years, 11 years, and 15 years to assess socioeconomic inequalities in each cohort using gender-adjusted linear regression models. We also used multilevel models to examine whether these inequalities widened or narrowed from childhood to adolescence, and quantile regression was used to examine whether the magnitude of inequalities differed across the outcome distribution.FindingsIn England, Scotland, and Wales, 5362 singleton births were enrolled in 1946, 17 202 in 1958, 17 290 in 1970, and 16 404 in 2001. Low socioeconomic position was associated with lower weight at childhood and adolescent in the earlier-born cohorts (1946-70), but with higher weight in the 2001 MCS cohort. Weight disparities became larger from childhood to adolescence in the 2001 MCS but not the earlier-born cohorts (pinteraction=0·001). Low socioeconomic position was also associated with shorter height in all cohorts, yet the absolute magnitude of this difference narrowed across generations. These disparities widened with age in the 2001 MCS (pinteraction=0·002) but not in the earlier-born cohorts. There was little inequality in childhood BMI in the 1946-70 cohorts, whereas inequalities were present in the 2001 cohort and widened from childhood to adolescence in the 1958-2001 cohorts (pinteraction<0·05 in the later three cohorts but not the 1946 NSHD). BMI and weight disparities were larger in the 2001 cohort than in the earlier-born cohorts, and systematically larger at higher quantiles-eg, in the 2001 MCS at age 11 years, a difference of 0·98 kg/m2 (95% CI 0·63-1·33) in the 50th BMI percentile and 2·54 kg/m2 (1·85-3·22) difference at the 90th BMI percentile were observed.InterpretationOver the studied period (1953-2015), socioeconomic-associated inequalities in weight reversed and those in height narrowed, whereas differences in BMI and obesity emerged and widened. These substantial changes highlight the impact of societal changes on child and adolescent growth and the insufficiency of previous policies in preventing obesity and its socioeconomic inequality. As such, new and effective policies are required to reduce BMI inequalities in childhood and adolescence.FundingUK Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, and Academy of Medical Sciences/the Wellcome Trust.

Dataset Information

Socioeconomic and sex inequalities in parent-reported adolescent mental ill-health: time trends in four British birth cohorts.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Socioeconomic and sex inequalities in parent-reported adolescent mental ill-health: time trends in four British birth cohorts.

Similar Datasets

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